At that moment, Shi Bantian was on his knees, his face as pale as paper, his right hand raised high against his will!
It hurt—so much!
It was an agonizing pain that reached straight into his soul. Shi Bantian felt as though his Martial Soul was being stripped away. A Martial Soul was the foundation of a person; if it were stripped away... it practically meant death.
Shi Bantian's face was filled with terror, but this was not something he could stop.
Yet in the next moment, what he feared did not happen.
The Seven Star Gourd Vine Martial Soul in his palm erupted with Golden Light. Soon after... a seed glowing green suddenly emerged from his palm and flew into the soil on its own.
The seed quickly began to sprout. It desperately absorbed moisture and nutrients from the surrounding soil, growing at a rate visible to the naked eye. It swiftly broke through the stone and outer layer confining it, revealing the tender tip of a Gourd Vine sprout. Even more astonishingly, the lake water beside it flew over by itself to water the vine.
Then the Gourd Vine slowly extended its branches, growing into a massive vine with seven little flower buds. They grew at a visible speed, eventually transforming into seven small gourds!
The whole process took less than seven minutes!
Shi Bantian stood there with his mouth hanging open... staring at the scene in disbelief. He had actually not died.
And wasn't this exactly what had happened when his Martial Soul mutated before? It had now actually become physical!
What... was going on?
Elsewhere, inside Spirit Hall.
When the strange change occurred on Shi Bantian's side, Qian Renxue, who had been temporarily confined by Qian Daoliu, reacted almost at the same time.
She suddenly opened her eyes and instinctively reached for her abdomen with one hand.
"What a strange feeling... Why do I suddenly feel a bloodline resonance coming from afar, as if I've gained a bloodline inheritance... Could it be something happening to Bantian?"
However, Qian Renxue quickly shook her head. She had only just consummated her marriage with Shi Bantian. How could she possibly have a child so soon? Besides, if anyone were to bear a child, it would be her.
Qian Renxue shook her head. Perhaps she had become sick with longing. Looking at the cell before her, she could not help thinking of her Bantian, and her yearning for him seemed to grow even stronger.
She had no mind to cultivate at all. Her brows furrowed slightly as an inexplicable unease surged into her heart, as though something were about to burst forth from the depths of her soul.
"Grandfather, I want to see Bantian. Is he all right?" Qian Renxue pleaded bitterly, her eyes reddening as tears welled up inside them. She did her utmost to restrain herself and keep them from falling.
"Xiao Xue, what matters most to you right now is cultivation—improving your strength, then completing the Angel God's trial. Trash like Shi Bantian is not someone you should be thinking about! He isn't worthy!"
Hearing Qian Renxue's pleading voice, Qian Daoliu flew to her at incredible speed and spoke viciously.
Qian Daoliu was furious beyond measure. His precious granddaughter had actually been deceived by a worthless fool. It was simply a disgrace to the Angel Bloodline. After his son, Qian Xunji, died—
Qian Renxue had become the only thing sustaining his life. He had hoped that she could inherit the Angel God's power in his hands and allow the Qian family to continue flourishing.
At first, he had wanted to erase Shi Bantian immediately. But his granddaughter was too infatuated with him and had even threatened suicide. Left with no choice, he could only threaten Qian Renxue instead, saying in frustration, "Xiao Xue, if you keep making trouble like this and refuse to cultivate properly, then don't blame Grandfather for being ruthless... and taking action against Shi Bantian!"
"No, Grandfather, don't!"
Qian Renxue cried out in panic. She knew that perhaps only by becoming stronger could she protect the person she loved. "Grandfather, I understand. I will definitely become stronger. I will prove myself."
Qian Renxue quickly made up her mind.
"Bantian, wait for me. Once I become stronger, I'll come back for you. We'll return to Spirit Hall openly and hold a grand wedding! By then, no one will be able to stop us from being together!"
Inside Star Soul Village!
Shi Bantian stared at the familiar yet unfamiliar Gourd Vine before him and cried out, "Isn't this my Seven Star Gourd Vine Martial Soul? Why has it grown gourds? What does this mean? Seven Gourd Babies???"
As someone who had transmigrated from Blue Star, Shi Bantian had naturally watched that cartoon before. How could he not know?
It was just hard to imagine that this had been produced by his own Martial Soul. That was right—Shi Bantian was certain this was his Martial Soul. It looked exactly the same.
It had simply become physical. After his shock subsided, Shi Bantian almost instinctively stepped forward and touched the gourds that had grown out.
Shi Bantian frowned slightly, his eyes flashing with shock. He could sense a connection binding him tightly to the seven little gourds, a feeling of familial affection.
"Th-this... could these be my children with Xiao Xue?"
"After Xiao Xue and I got together, our children actually became gourds?"
Holy shit!
Shi Bantian was certain that this feeling was not wrong. The gourds truly gave him a sense of bloodline connection, as though they were his own children. They even carried Xiao Xue's aura.
Thinking back on what had happened these past few days, Shi Bantian could not help but realize that these changes had all happened after he and Xiao Xue had become husband and wife.
Xiao Xue possessed the Six-winged Angel Martial Soul, a legendary Divine Level Martial Soul and one of the most powerful Martial Souls in existence. The Six-winged Angel symbolized the spokesperson of the gods, and those who possessed it all had Innate Full Soul Power at level twenty.
Could it be that my Martial Soul underwent a second awakening after combining with a Divine Level Martial Soul? Perhaps that was the only explanation.
Still stunned, Shi Bantian instinctively sat down cross-legged and carefully sensed the changes brought by his Martial Soul. His Soul Power had been too low before, so it could only grow a Gourd Vine, and even at its best, it only had seven vines.
But now it had grown seven gourds, each several times thicker than the previous vines. His Soul Power had also broken through level ten. This was the first time his Soul Power had improved in twenty years. Thinking carefully about everything that had happened lately—
While he sat cross-legged and sensed his Martial Soul, the seven little gourds swayed happily in the wind. Looking closely, they were red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple.
However, some of the gourds were slightly larger while others were smaller. The seven gourds swayed in the breeze like a rainbow floating through the air, breathtakingly beautiful.
"Father... Father... Father..."
In the next moment, several crisp and pleasant children's voices suddenly rang out. Startled by the unexpected cries, Shi Bantian sprang up from the ground.
Before he could even make out what they were saying, he shouted, "Who is speaking? Come out now!"
"Father... Father!"
The voices soon rang out again, as though surrounding him in three-dimensional sound.
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