Wang Dong'er

Xue Xiao Ran coughed lightly and awoke from his cultivation state.

"Young Master, did you succeed?"

There was a trace of urgency in Cang Xue's voice behind him.

"I did." Xue Xiao Ran spread open his hand. The mist was still a faint white, but within it, a yellow Soul Ring flickered in and out of view.

With a thought, the yellow Soul Ring glowed faintly. The white mist gradually changed color, shifting from white to a deep azure blue, dreamlike in hue and odorless.

"This is... Cold Poison."

There was a faint hint of delight in Xue Xiao Ran's voice. His mother had never taught him this kind of poison. It seemed this Soul Ring had been a tremendous help to him.

He had flipped through the poison cultivation technique left behind by his maternal great-grandfather hundreds and thousands of times, imprinting every kind of poison clearly into his mind.

Yet there had been no Cold Poison among them.

That was only natural. His mother's martial soul was Jade Scale Snake Poison, which limited the range of poisons she could use. Xue Xiao Ran had no such restriction. The Extreme Poison elemental martial soul represented the strongest poison-element martial soul, one that encompassed every poison in the world.

"Cold Poison..."

Cang Xue looked at the dreamlike blue mist and reached out to feel it, but sensed nothing. Though one hand entered the mist, he could not touch anything.

"Uncle Cang Xue, Cold Poison enters an enemy's body when they breathe, inflicting cold damage upon their internal organs. It isn't something that poisons people through touch," Xue Xiao Ran explained patiently.

"Mm-hm, not bad."

Cang Xue rubbed his nose, making it clear that he understood none of it. Despite having lived so long, he had indeed never encountered a Soul Master with a poison-element martial soul.

He had broadened his horizons today.

"My Soul Power Level has also soared to Level Sixteen. Is that because of the Ice Empress?" Xue Xiao Ran gazed at his hand and spoke calmly.

"That's right. You could say so." Cang Xue nodded with a smile.

"Young Master, the three months will be up soon. Do you wish to return to the Carefree Sword Sect first, or go directly to the Clear Sky Sect?"

Only after Cang Xue's reminder did Xue Xiao Ran recall that Niu Tian of the Clear Sky Sect had told him to visit the sect after three months. He had been paying attention to new developments across the continent lately and had completely forgotten about it.

"Then we'll go directly to the Clear Sky Sect." Xue Xiao Ran withdrew his martial soul. It seemed he would need to spend some time familiarizing himself with Cold Poison.

At present, the First Soul Ring of Extreme Poison allowed him to create gases or mist such as Paralysis Poison and stimulants. Poisons beyond that were still beyond what his current cultivation could produce.

Poison was originally colorless and odorless. Xue Xiao Ran kept his Extreme Poison white only so that he could clearly see the mist churning and better understand his martial soul.

Half a month later, Xue Xiao Ran successfully arrived at the Clear Sky Sect. Although there were few disciples within the sect, they clearly shared the Carefree Sword Sect's philosophy: quality over quantity.

Cang Xue followed behind Xue Xiao Ran like a bodyguard. The latter walked with steady steps toward the stone fortress he remembered.

As they drew near, a burst of laughter came from within the stone fortress.

It was laughter Xue Xiao Ran knew well, laughter he had heard every day in the God Realm in recent years.

Hearing it seemed to relax him. He then knocked on the stone fortress's door.

Before long, the door was pulled open.

Niu Tian, wearing a gentle smile, opened the door. When he saw Xue Xiao Ran standing outside alongside Cang Xue's sour expression, the smile on his face widened.

"Xiao Ran, Brother Cang Xue, please."

He made a welcoming gesture and invited the master and servant standing outside into the stone fortress.

"Your Soul Ring hunt seems to have gone very smoothly. As expected of Brother Cang Xue." Niu Tian appeared very familiar with Cang Xue. After faintly sensing Xue Xiao Ran's current aura, he knew the age of the First Soul Ring he had obtained.

"It was my duty." Cang Xue shrugged.

"Wang Dong'er has already awakened, but she doesn't remember the past. Since she could remember, she had grown up in the Clear Sky Sect. She had suffered from a strange illness since childhood, and her parents traveled all over Douluo Continent seeking medicine for their daughter. They have yet to return." Niu Tian laid out Wang Dong'er's history—or rather, her assigned backstory.

"The only person she remembers now is you. According to the setting, you are a genius disciple who grew up in the Carefree Sword Sect. You were betrothed before either of you was born, and you are currently the person closest to her."

After reading through the long string of papers in his hand as concisely as possible, Niu Tian could not help but let out a sigh of relief. This character setting was far too long.

"I'll go see her."

Xue Xiao Ran smiled faintly and walked into the inner room.

"Does Xiao Ran resemble his father more, or his mother more?" Niu Tian asked curiously.

Cang Xue thought for a moment before answering, "Probably the Mistress. The pride in the Young Master's heart is very similar to the Mistress when she was young. But like his father, the Young Master never wears his joy, anger, sorrow, or happiness on his face."

Niu Tian sighed. "But people like that live the most tiring lives."

"The Young Master is no ordinary person. The pride in his heart may be beyond all of us."

Xue Xiao Ran passed through the corridor and slowly walked toward the source of the laughter.

"Second Uncle, aren't I amazing?"

"Yes, yes, our Dong'er is the most amazing."

Titan's hearty laughter came from the courtyard.

Xue Xiao Ran pushed open a nearby window and looked down through the sunlight.

Under the sun, a head of pink-blue hair stood straight beside the young girl's ears, gleaming with a warm luster in the sunlight.

Seeing Tang Wu Tong—now Wang Dong'er—looking so happy, Xue Xiao Ran smiled faintly. It seemed that losing her memories had not changed her personality. Though the person before him no longer possessed Tang Wu Tong's memories, she was exactly the same as Tang Wu Tong had been in the God Realm.

The purity of that smile was something Xue Xiao Ran would spend his entire life protecting.

He stood at the entrance to the courtyard, watching that pink-blue hair sway in the breeze, yet he did not know how to speak.

Should he say this was their first meeting? Or should he say it had been a long time?

"Oh, Xiao Ran, you're here."

Titan spotted the blue-haired, Jade-Eyed youth standing outside the courtyard and quickly called out to him.

At that moment, Wang Dong'er noticed Xue Xiao Ran's figure. A deeply familiar feeling rose in her heart, as though she had seen him somewhere before.

But she quickly remembered that he was the genius disciple from the Carefree Sword Sect, someone with whom she had a very close relationship.

"Uncle Titan, Wang Dong'er." Xue Xiao Ran did not know how to address Wang Dong'er, so he called her by her full name.

"Didn't you always call me Dong'er before? Why are you calling me by my full name today?" Wang Dong'er followed Titan over to Xue Xiao Ran. She leaned close to him and stared at him with her pink-blue eyes.

"I always called you Dong'er before? Oh."

Xue Xiao Ran shifted his gaze to Titan, who nodded lightly.

"Mm. Then, Dong'er, long time no see."

"It really has been a long time. You didn't come play with me at all during the past three months. I was bored to death." Wang Dong'er grabbed Xue Xiao Ran's hand and pulled him into the sun-drenched courtyard.

How similar was this scene to the one in the God Realm?

Bathed in sunlight, Xue Xiao Ran watched Wang Dong'er pout as if in displeasure. Even his flawless poker face thawed like ice in a spring breeze.