The Mysterious Orb

Looking at the completed task displayed on the panel, the Beautiful Woman gently shook her head and cast aside the distracting thoughts in her mind.

"Submit."

As soon as the Beautiful Woman finished speaking, a pile of miscellaneous items suddenly appeared in the System Space.

"Ding. The Novice Gift Pack has been delivered. Please check and receive it, Host."

"Ding. Next task: successfully enroll in Nuoding City Junior Academy."

Nuoding City Academy?

She might not have known much about other places, but she remembered this place all too clearly. Wasn't this where Xiao Gang was?

At that moment, surprise flickered in the Beautiful Woman's eyes.

However, she quickly came to her senses. This was not a bad opportunity. It seemed that even Heaven wanted her to see Xiao Gang again.

Come to think of it, they had been apart for so many years. She had not seen Xiao Gang in more than a decade, and she wondered how he was doing. If she entrusted her daughter to Xiao Gang, then with his abilities, perhaps he could raise her better than she could at the Pope's Palace.

At that thought, a strange glint flashed through the Beautiful Woman's eyes.

With that in mind, she casually checked the so-called Novice Gift Pack. After just one look, disgust flashed across her eyes.

Postpartum Care for Sows

???

What the hell was this? Did it expect her, a dignified pope, to raise pigs?

She immediately shifted her gaze away in disgust and looked at the other items.

The Compendium of Soul Beasts, the Encyclopedia of Soul Masters, a small golden orb, and a pitiful 1,000 Gold Soul Coins.

Of all of them, the most valuable in her eyes was undoubtedly the small golden orb.

After absorbing it, one could increase the age of any Soul Ring by one thousand years. Compared to it, the other items were simply not worth mentioning. However, this was not the time to absorb it. It would not be too late once she returned to the Pope's Palace.

Meanwhile, after Ye Xinyu entered the kitchen, she recalled her mother's strange behavior earlier and subconsciously raised her left hand. Her delicate little hand was clean, without anything unusual.

Yet after awakening her Soul Power, she had been able to sense something akin to a Martial Soul within her body. However, it did not feel as intimate as a Martial Soul.

Tentatively using her Soul Power to communicate with that strange thing, an odd object slowly emerged in her previously empty hand in an instant.

It was shaped like an orb, shrouded in mist, with mysterious halos flowing around it. Looking closely, several streams of purple energy seemed to swim inside it like tiny fish.

However, as she stared at it, she felt as though her entire soul was about to be sucked in. Frightened, she hurriedly looked away.

Although this thing did not feel like a Martial Soul, she could sense an inexplicable connection between herself and it. It was faint, but she knew she was not mistaken.

Thinking carefully, the thing seemed strangely familiar, as though she had seen it somewhere before.

Suddenly, she looked at it again.

It was it!

It really was it!

The last thing she had glimpsed in her previous life seemed to have been this very thing! Though she had only caught a fleeting glimpse, she remembered it vividly!

The reason she had transmigrated was because this stone had fallen from the rooftop and struck her squarely. There was no need to think about it—how could she have survived a fall from that height? That was how she ended up on this continent.

She had never expected this stupid stone to follow her here.

She had no idea which uncivilized person had carelessly thrown a stone around. Otherwise, she would not have been crushed to death.

Looking at the stone in her hand made her angry. She raised her hand, intending to throw it away, but the next moment, she discovered that it seemed glued to her palm. No matter how hard she shook it, she could not shake it off.

After struggling with it for a long time without any result, she finally realized something.

"Could this be some kind of treasure?"

After all, how could an ordinary stone follow a soul through transmigration?

Fang Yuan's Golden Finger was a cicada, Han Xin's Golden Finger was a little green bottle, and her Golden Finger being a stone did not seem impossible to understand, right?

If it really was her Golden Finger, then it should have some unique function.

With that thought, Ye Xinyu subconsciously poured the Soul Power she had just learned into it. After all, novels always said that this was how one used any magical treasure.

As her Soul Power entered it, Ye Xinyu felt a powerful suction force the next moment. Her consciousness was instantly drawn into the Orb.

After a brief blackout, she regained awareness and suddenly found herself in an unfamiliar space. This space was boundless. As far as the eye could see, the land was flat and vast, seemingly without end. The sky was a chaotic grayish white, and heavy clouds hung low overhead, creating a stifling, oppressive feeling.

The great plain where she stood was a deep brown, its soil fertile yet utterly lifeless. Not a blade of grass or grain of sand could be seen on the ground; it was clean to an almost eerie degree. In the distance, the outlines of rolling mountain ranges appeared and disappeared through the haze. Their peaks soared into the clouds, yet there was not the slightest touch of green, only bare rock that exuded desolation and barrenness.

This land was terrifyingly silent. There was not a trace of wind or a single sound, as though time itself had frozen here.

A broad river wound through the plain. Its water was clear enough to reveal the bottom, yet no fish swam within it. The sandy banks were fine and soft, but bore no tracks of any living creature.

The entire world seemed to be asleep. Though there were no living creatures, she could sense a latent vitality. The air was filled with a primitive, pure aura, as though it were waiting for some opportunity, waiting for the seeds of life to take root and sprout here.

Looking at her surroundings, Ye Xinyu, who had received nine years of compulsory education, keenly sensed that this place was unusual.

She finally realized it. Could this be the Inner Space inside that Orb?

Filled with curiosity, Ye Xinyu willed it, and on her first attempt, she reappeared in the kitchen.

To test it again, she picked up the chicken cage beside her, poured Soul Power into the Orb once more, and returned to that mysterious space. When she arrived, she was stunned.

The chicken was still lively and energetic inside the cage, without any discomfort. Clearly, this place could hold living things.

Having suddenly gained such a huge treasure capable of storing living creatures, she was overjoyed. Yet after only a few minutes, Ye Xinyu came back to her senses.

The space inside this damn thing was a little too big. With just her two short little legs, there was no way she could explore it to the end anytime soon. She should hurry and cook now, then study it later when she had time. Otherwise, her mother would start urging her again.

She had finally managed to build a good relationship with her mother. If she made her mother angry again and was ignored for days like before, that would be awful.

With that thought, Ye Xinyu hurriedly put down the Orb and deftly began preparing the ingredients. She lit the fire, washed the rice, and chopped the vegetables, her movements practiced and quick. She could not let this unexpected discovery delay what actually needed to be done.

Cooking was second nature to Ye Xinyu. Before long, several exquisite dishes had been placed on the table.

At the dining table, the Beautiful Woman only tasted the food lightly.

"In about two months, Nuoding City Junior Academy will begin its term. Spend the next few days packing. After I take you to obtain a Soul Ring, you can go to school."

"Huh?" Ye Xinyu froze.

Nuoding City?

Wasn't that the academy where Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang was? Why did her mother insist on sending her there instead of Spirit Hall Academy, which was so much closer?

Yes, although her mother usually did not let her go outside, after so many years, she had roughly figured out where they lived. She was not entirely sure, but they were probably near Spirit City, not too far away.

"Why do I have to go somewhere so far away?"

At her words, her mother said,

"After joining Spirit Hall Academy, you must serve Spirit Hall after graduation. You also have to work four days every week, for a full three shichen each day. And Spirit Hall does not even pay that month's wages until the end of the month. This workload simply does not treat Soul Masters as people."

"So, for the sake of your future freedom, I decided to send you to an academy outside. In Nuoding City, there is a Grandmaster who has some ties with me. With your Innate Full Soul Power talent, he will be willing to teach you."