"Young Yan, say, this paper duck of yours, why is it this big?" Turning it around in his hands, this was the one thing that bothered him the most.

Paper cranes needed to have a certain size because you were writing on them. But with paper ducks, you didn’t need to do that. Sure, there would be some writing on it to allow them to work in the first place and to link them together, but it shouldn’t take this much space, should it?

Yan Hong Min glanced at the left duck and wondered what the Sect Master was trying to insinuate here. "Why shouldn’t they be this big?"

Zhang Guan Yu tilted his head, not quite sure how to explain this. Anyway, it should be obvious, right? But Yan Hong Min didn’t seem able to understand that, so he clearly needed to say the obvious. "Well, they are a bit unwieldy. Usually, wouldn’t you want them to be smaller so you can carry them around more easily? They are more practical than the paper cranes when it comes to transmitting information so they should be especially useful on missions. But having to hold ducks this big in situations where you might need to react quickly to changes in your environment, it seems a bit … impractical."

Yan Hong Min gave a drawn-out hum in response. "Well, but you gotta fold it."

Zhang Guan Yu furrowed his brows, wondering if he had heard that right. "You mean to say that you made them this big not because of some special reason but because you didn’t want to fold the smaller ones?"

The other side suddenly went crickets.

At that, the Sect Master couldn’t help but sigh. It seemed that he had hit the nail on the head. Actually, this was a bit surprising. Yan Hong Min was able to make this kind of device to track spiritual energy, but he wasn’t able to fold a smaller paper duck? Or maybe this was pure laziness? "Actually, how big are your paper cranes?" Because the cranes were likely more difficult to make than the duck. If he already couldn’t do the latter, he didn’t even want to imagine how the former must look.

Yan Hong Min pursed his lips and refused to answer. "Anyway, I can still see the spiritual energy imprint. It seems that we haven’t reached the cut-off point yet."

The Sect Master sighed again, feeling that maybe he had been a little too forthright in his questions. Clearly, he had hurt the child, and now, he didn’t even want to answer his questions. But considering how helpful these ducks might be in the future, he didn’t want to let go of the opportunity. It seemed like it was high time to backpedal.

"So, what you’re saying is that if somebody else folded them, we could theoretically make them smaller? Are you able to add the array on the paper beforehand so they would really only need to be folded by somebody else?"

Yan Hong Min couldn’t help but wonder what exactly the Sect Master was trying to get it. "Well, of course, that would be possible. But if you write too small, nobody could read the instructions, couldn’t they?"

The Sect Master stared at the duck’s forehead, wondering if these were the instructions that Yan Hong Min was talking about. "Well, I’m sure if the disciples were told about how to use these, they wouldn’t need written instructions. Just mark the place where to insert spiritual energy. They’ll be able to do the rest."

Yan Hong Min gave another hum, but he was slowly feeling better. Clearly, the Sect Master wouldn’t be asking about this if he didn’t intend to make use of his paper ducks. So even though he was being a bit demanding in regard to their looks, this still meant that he had realized just how good his paper ducks were. That was something worth being proud of, no?

Reassuring himself like this, Yan Hong Min didn’t mind the slight as much anymore. "Anyway, how far have you gotten yet?"

Mei Chao Bing piped up now that he finally had the chance to do his part in this conversation. "I should be about halfway through the sect grounds. The path next to me is the one that leads up to Elder Huyan’s mountain."

"Great, so that’s how far we can definitely reach. Just continue walking then. Maybe we’ll be able to cover the whole sect grounds. In that case, we would be able to prepare really well for whatever they are doing there in the border region."

Mei Chao Bing gave a hum and then continued to walk forward.

On the other hand, the Sect Master looked up to try and find out where exactly he was. He actually hadn’t been paying attention before because he was so focused on the paper duck in his hands. "I’d say I’m also about halfway through. The sect grounds don’t reach as far in all directions, so that doesn’t have to say much."

He fell silent for a moment and then eyed the duck once again. Ah, he just couldn’t help it! If Yan Hong Min showed him something new that actually turned out to be useful, then of course, as the Sect Master, he would want to get his hands on more of them.

"Say, young Yan, these ducks, what is their reach? Could they be used to communicate with the people in the border region?" Paper cranes had the one advantage that they could be sent over long distances, even if it would take quite a bit of time for them to arrive. Still, you could stay where you were while sending a message. These ducks … he wasn’t sure if they would be able to do the same.

At that, Yan Hong Min sighed. "These? I’m afraid not. Although I guess it should be possible in theory. I’d have to take a closer look at that. And I might need more materials. I don’t think I have the right things in stock."

Yes, this was the one bane of being a genius: Because he was holed up in his own house every day, he hardly went out on missions and thus didn’t get many resources. If not for the fact that he would often ask his first senior martial brother to gather some things for him, he really wouldn’t be able to experiment to his heart’s content.

Ah, he couldn’t wait for his first senior martial brother to finally return to the sect. They should better solve this matter in the border region soon!