The Shui Sisters: Even If They Have to Haul Bricks, They'll Send Them Away

Once the Snow Empress officially began her studies, Wei Lin picked up Qingfeng and set off for Skywater City.

The trip to the Far North had been exceptionally fruitful. Qingfeng and Qingyu had each obtained a Soul Ring of their own.

They had also gotten two External Soul Bones for free. That was right, two sets of External Soul Bones.

The Eternal Night Time Falcon had given Qingfeng a set of Time Wings.

They granted Qingfeng a Soul Skill called Time Lag.

When activated, the skill stopped time within a range centered on the user and determined by the user's level.

Qingyu, meanwhile, had obtained a tail.

Xu Qingyu

Age: 6

Martial Soul: Qian Jun Dragon Emperor

Soul Ring: purple

Soul Spirit: Frost-Ashen Black Dragon

First Soul Skill: Frostflame Stance

This Soul Skill allows the user to freely choose between three attribute states.

First: Ultimate Strength. Loads the Frost-Ashen Black Dragon's Ultimate Strength, increasing all of the user's attributes by the user's level × 10.

Second: Ashen Flame. Loads the Frost-Ashen Black Dragon's Ultimate Fire and Ashen Flame attributes, increasing the user's fire-attribute damage by the user's level × 10 and adding the Ashen Annihilation attribute.

Third: Frost. Loads the Frost-Ashen Black Dragon's Ultimate Fire and Frost attributes, increasing the user's ice-attribute damage by the user's level × 10 and adding the Frost attribute to the ice.

Soul Bone: Frost-Ashen Black Dragon External Tail Bone

Qingyu had truly struck it rich.

No mechanics, just raw stats.

The Frost-Ashen Black Dragon Soul Bone came with only one skill, called Dragon Bone Spear.

It was essentially a weapon prepared just for Qingyu.

"Brother, are you sure Sister Snow will be all right?"

When Qingfeng had first seen Wei Lin leave with five people and return with three, she had thought something had happened.

"She'll be fine. They should be cultivating in that ice cavern now. They'll come out in a little over three months, and they'll definitely be much stronger than they are now."

Wei Lin patted the little one's head, telling her not to worry.

The Snow Empress and Ice Empress had also gained a great deal this time. They had been reborn, down to their very bones.

They had won while lying down.

As for who had taken a crippling loss, Wei Lin reckoned everyone knew without him saying it.

"Rather than worrying about other people, you two should think about how you're going to get through the days ahead. Now that you have Soul Skills, your lessons will need to double from here on out. Six in the morning to ten at night."

Qingyu's eyes went wide. Six in the morning to ten at night? Brother, are you sure you didn't misspeak?

Seeing the wicked grin on Wei Lin's face, Qingyu felt that her future had turned pitch-black.

By the time they returned to Skywater City, Shui Yun'er had long been waiting for them.

After briefly discussing a few things, Wei Lin and the others prepared to say goodbye.

Before leaving, he gave the Shui sisters a phone and briefly taught them how to use it.

He was planning to unify the currency of the Douluo Continent, after all.

Goods produced by Tianshu itself would be a dimensionality-reduction strike on the Douluo Continent.

After Wei Lin and the others left, Shui Wuyue and Shui Yun'er got together and started playing with the phone.

The phone Wei Lin had given them was essentially an obsolete "senior phone," but to these Douluo natives, it was genuine high technology.

"Little sister, what do you think of Tianshu?"

"It's powerful. Terrifyingly powerful."

Shui Yun'er put down the phone.

After receiving the phone, they had tried to learn about Tianshu and discovered that it was the world core of the Douluo world.

Wei Lin hadn't hidden anything. Their phone had every function a phone was supposed to have.

They could look up or view whatever they wanted and learn about it whenever they pleased.

Wei Lin had no intention of hiding anything, either.

Or rather, he no longer ate beef.

It was already an act of kindness that he hadn't simply made the Douluo Continent take his surname.

"But... sister, the things in this shop really are tempting."

The first thing Shui Yun'er saw was the most basic section for pills.

They could still understand pills like the Mystic Water Pill and Soul Ascension Pill... probably...

But wasn't the Marrow-Cleansing Pill a bit much? It guaranteed at least level-eight Soul Power.

Of course, access to pills like that required authorization, but the requirements weren't high.

According to the authorization rules, anyone who registered an adventurer party with the Adventurers' Guild, or belonged to a sect certified by the alliance, could gain access.

The former was intended for ordinary commoners, while the latter was for people of some means, like them.

But...

"Sister, their currency is different from ours. Our Gold Soul Coins would be valued at the price of gold at most, and that price isn't high."

Skywater City had always been rather poor, but in Tianshu, they were truly penniless.

They didn't have a single Credit Point.

They could exchange material goods for them, but... the treasures in their eyes were a dime a dozen in Tianshu!

Surely they couldn't have two beautiful young men like themselves go haul bricks in Tianshu? Though that did pay 300 Credit Points a day.

Wait? Hauling bricks? That might actually work!

Shui Wuyue's and Shui Yun'er's eyes lit up.

Of course, they were only a little tempted. Just a little.

"What a pity. We're not citizens recognized by Tianshu, or we could get the Basic Body Tempering Technique and Soul Refining Art for free."

Shui Wuyue didn't reply. This was the first time she had learned just how vast the Douluo Continent was, and how many hidden sects lay beneath its tranquil surface.

Then... what did they amount to on the Douluo Continent?

Natives from the countryside? Or perhaps... livestock raised in captivity?

Shui Wuyue's thoughts ran a little too far, but the more she thought, the more despair and helplessness she felt.

If she had never learned that this world had another side to it...

Perhaps she would have spent her whole life in Skywater City. But now...

"Yun'er."

"Hmm? Sister, you..."

Seeing the different light flickering in her sister's eyes, Shui Yun'er sat up a little straighter.

"Sister, could it be..."

"Yun'er, don't you want to see what that flourishing continent is like?"

Shui Wuyue walked slowly over to the window and looked at Skywater City, which she had guarded all her life. Suddenly, she felt it was a little less important.

The home she regarded as the most important thing in her life was so insignificant in the hands of the true players that it couldn't even make it onto the chessboard.

The disparity was too great. The fact that her Dao heart hadn't collapsed on the spot was already a testament to her mental fortitude.

"We've reached our limit. No matter how hard a frog at the bottom of a well tries, it can't climb out. But we can give the children a step up, let them see this vast world.

"Yun'er, can you understand what I'm thinking?"

Shui Yun'er fell silent for a moment, then gently embraced her sister.

Her sister had suffered a great blow, but had hers been any less?

"Yes, sister. We can help give them a step up too. We ask for nothing else, only that they leave this forgotten land."

The Shui sisters had made their decision: they would use everything Skywater City had to send their children out of this forgotten place.

They were now like an isolated village in the mountains, pooling the strength of the whole village to send someone beyond the mountains.