Residual Soul

Seeing the well-behaved, adorable little girl before him, Gui Mei crouched slightly, his face brimming with a kindly smile and his eyes full of affection as he gently rubbed her head.

"It's only been a few days, and Nana has become even prettier. Tell Grandpa, have you been working hard in your cultivation lately?"

Hearing this, Hu Liena lowered her head somewhat bashfully, fiddling with the hem of her clothes as she spoke softly.

"I'm sorry, Elder Ghost. I've only cultivated my Soul Power to level 28 so far. I've disappointed you." A faint blush rose to her face, and her brows furrowed slightly, making her look rather guilty.

Reaching level 28 Soul Power at eleven years old was already quite an impressive cultivation speed. But as the Pope's disciple, the resources she received far exceeded those available to other students, and naturally, the pressure she bore was greater as well.

At this moment, Yue Guan walked over with a gentle expression.

"What's there to be disappointed about? Cultivation can't be achieved overnight. As long as you lay a solid foundation early on, that's what matters."

Gui Mei raised a brow and shot Yue Guan a glare. "Enough nonsense. Hurry up and take it out."

"Alright, alright. You're so naggy." Yue Guan rolled his eyes at Gui Mei. Though he complained, he still waved his hand, and an exquisite wooden box appeared before them.

Seeing the brand-new Soul Tool on Yue Guan's hand, Gui Mei could not help asking, "Chrysanthemum Pass, did you get a new Storage Soul Tool?"

Yue Guan nodded slightly.

"Yes. The old Storage Soul Tool was a little too small, so I bought a new one at the auction house."

Gui Mei asked curiously, "What about the old one?"

"I wasn't using it anymore, so of course I sold it. Auction houses now offer doorstep pickup—they'll come collect it themselves as long as you notify them, and the price was fair enough."

As Yue Guan spoke, he turned his gaze toward Hu Liena.

"Alright, enough about irrelevant things. Nana, come open it and see your gift."

Hu Liena slowly walked over and opened the box. When she saw what was inside, she froze.

"What is this?"

Inside the box were two lumps of something that looked somewhat like the whale glue she had eaten before. However, the whale glue she had eaten previously had been purple, while these two lumps before her were black.

Besides the two black lumps, there were also several unfamiliar medicinal herbs.

Yue Guan explained with a smile, "Nothing much. Just a few pieces of whale glue, along with some century-old cultivation herbs."

Upon hearing Yue Guan's words, Hu Liena was immediately stunned, her face filled with shock and disbelief.

"Th-this... I can't accept this. Teacher already gave me several pieces of Thousand-Year Whale Glue before."

Gui Mei stepped forward, gently took Hu Liena's hand, and said, "Nana, this is different. This is Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Glue, and it's of a quality exceeding thirty thousand years. After absorbing these two pieces of whale glue, your physical constitution should improve tremendously. Combined with these herbs, your Soul Power should reach level 30 in a short time."

"With that, your third soul ring will be able to absorb one that is at least three thousand years old."

"But..." Before Hu Liena could say anything further, Gui Mei solemnly said, "No buts. His Holiness the Pope personally entrusted these to us. Don't let Her Holiness down."

That was right. These items had indeed been given to them by Bibi Dong. However, they had not been meant for Hu Liena, but for them to deliver to Yu Xiaogang.

There was also a simple solution for someone whose level had become stuck due to their talent.

They could directly absorb a soul bone and use its energy to break through the barrier between levels 29 and 30.

Naturally, soul bones were far too precious for that to be possible.

The next option was to use precious medicinal herbs. Though the Soul Power they increased was not as great as that of a soul bone, forcibly raising someone from level 29 to level 30 would not be much of a problem.

The moment they saw these items, they understood Bibi Dong's intentions.

Leaving aside whale glue, a special medicinal material whose uses had yet to be discovered, even the cheapest of these herbs had sold at auction for more than one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins.

Did that trash Yu Xiaogang deserve to consume something so precious?

It was even more impossible for them to take them themselves. Even if they consumed these things now, they would not be of much use to them.

Giving them to a junior like Nana could not have been better. Even if the Pope found out, she could not do anything to the two of them.

Yue Guan nodded slightly in agreement.

"That's right, Nana. This is Your Holiness the Pope's expectation of you. You must not disappoint Her Holiness."

Hu Liena bit her lip, tears of emotion shimmering in her eyes.

"But this is far too precious. I..."

Gui Mei patted Hu Liena on the shoulder. "Silly child, you are Spirit Hall's hope for the future. You deserve all of this. As long as you cultivate diligently and become a pillar of Spirit Hall as soon as possible, that will be the greatest repayment you can give us."

Hu Liena took a deep breath, then nodded firmly. "Elder Ghost, Elder Chrysanthemum, I definitely won't disappoint you or Teacher! I'll work hard in my cultivation!"

After Hu Liena accepted it, both Yue Guan and Gui Mei could not help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Inside the Nuoding City Academy dormitory.

By then, night had fallen, and most of the students in Dormitory Seven had already drifted off to sleep.

Yet at that very moment, Ye Xinyu was quietly meditating.

After more than two hours of cultivation, as Soul Power circulated through her limbs and bones, the Soul Power within her body had increased somewhat as well.

Sure enough, diligence made up for shortcomings.

Although she did not know exactly what level her talent was at, a book her mother had given her earlier had said this.

Martial souls varied in quality. It was not merely a matter of innate level; the amount of time one could cultivate also differed.

The poorer a martial soul's quality, the less time one could cultivate each day, and the less Soul Power one would gain from cultivation. The reverse was also true.

After her martial soul mutated, its quality seemed fairly good. While traveling by carriage, she had tried cultivating during every moment except mealtimes.

On her most intensive day, she had cultivated her martial soul for over ten shichen—twenty hours.

Yet her martial soul still showed no signs of fatigue.

With a martial soul this capable, and with Mother placing such high expectations on her, how could she face Mother if she did not work hard?

Grind! If she wanted to surpass those her age, all she could do was push herself harder!

From now on, this lady would sleep only two shichen a day. She refused to believe she could not outwork her peers.

With a soft snort, Ye Xinyu once again focused her mind on meditation.

What she did not know was that, as she cultivated diligently, a purplish-black mist was slowly condensing deep within her Spiritual Sea. As that violet, hazy aura continued to swirl, the figure within the mist gradually became more solid.

At that point, the outline of a person could already be vaguely discerned.

In an instant, the humanoid form made of mist slowly opened its eyes, which radiated an incomparably evil aura.

"Who would have thought that although that strange ball prevented me from successfully carrying out Body Seizure, it also allowed my soul to begin recovering. I have even faintly touched upon the threshold of the God King through that purple aura. Once I gain a little more insight, becoming a God King will be within reach."

"Asura God, the day I return to the God Realm will be the day you perish!"