Tang Clan's Failed Recruitment

Sky Dream Ice Silkworm chuckled in Huo Yuqing's mind. "I calculated the maximum limit your body could withstand and integrated the sealed origin power into your body, improving your physical qualities across the board. Naturally, that includes Soul Power!"

"Thank you, Brother Sky Dream!" Huo Yuqing replied happily.

"My, looks like little Yuhao had been stuck at the level-ten bottleneck for quite a while!" Tang Ya said with a smile, reaching out to pat Huo Yuqing's head.

"According to the theory of Yu Xiaogang, the master who founded Shrek Academy, once a Soul Master reaches a bottleneck, their Soul Power will continue accumulating even if they have not obtained a Soul Ring. Once they break through, their level will rise all at once," Beibei explained.

"Mm-hm, I have my first Soul Ring now. I'm a Soul Master too!" The little girl grinned foolishly, barely listening to what the two of them were saying.

With a Soul Ring, she had officially embarked on the path of cultivation, bringing her another step closer to her goal.

Huo Yuqing suppressed her excitement and released her Martial Soul.

Clear golden light shone from the girl's eyes, while a crystalline white ring rose from beneath her feet.

Sure enough, the four skills Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had mentioned were imprinted in Huo Yuqing's mind. However, with Beibei and Tang Ya still beside her, she temporarily put aside the idea of testing her Soul Skills.

Then, she secretly glanced at Wang Rui, who was standing nearby.

Ever since her fusion with Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had ended, she had faintly felt as though some tangible force of attraction was drawing her toward Wang Rui.

Now that she had released her Martial Soul, the sensation became even more obvious. It was as though Wang Rui had turned into a giant magnet, and she wanted to press her whole body against him... This was far too strange.

Huo Yuqing glanced again at Wang Rui's well-defined hand and desperately wanted to tuck her own hand into his palm.

...That was far too rude. The tips of the girl's ears grew a little warm.

She did have a favorable impression of the red-haired boy her age, but this thought seemed a little excessive.

Huo Yuqing felt as though a tiny version of herself was frantically banging her head against a wall, condemning her for such ridiculous thoughts, yet she could not ignore the feeling of attraction coming from Wang Rui.

"It's not strange for you to feel that way," Sky Dream Ice Silkworm suddenly said. "That human's Soul Power and yours are complementary... You're like the yin and yang poles that depend on each other. Once you fuse together, you'll inevitably erupt with even more terrifying power. You humans seem to call that Martial Soul Fusion?"

Of course, Huo Yuqing knew about Martial Soul Fusion—the Hell White Tiger Martial Soul Fusion Skill was the Dai Clan's signature technique. Her half-brother, Dai Huabin, had a fiancée who could perform Martial Soul Fusion with him.

Mm... From what she knew, any pair capable of performing the Hell White Tiger had to get married.

...Get married.

Aaaah, Huo Yuqing, stop thinking! How could you have such offensive thoughts about a stranger you had known for less than a day?! What decent girl would think like that?!

By now, the girl's ears had turned completely red.

At her age, she did not really understand what liking someone meant. She simply felt instinctively shy when the thought occurred to her.

The Auspicious Beast was really lucky. Little Qing clearly had a favorable impression of him. When would my wife Bingbing finally accept me? Sky Dream Ice Silkworm bitterly wrung an imaginary handkerchief in Huo Yuqing's Sea of Consciousness.

"Um... then how can we perform a Martial Soul Fusion Skill?" Huo Yuqing asked timidly.

"Uh, well, I don't know either," Sky Dream Ice Silkworm said, stumped.

He did not know the answer either. Better to just ask the Auspicious Beast himself. "How about finding an opportunity to send your Soul Power into his body and try? Though maybe that human will bring it up himself. He can definitely feel the attraction just like you can, and he looks like he has plenty of secrets... He should know quite a lot."

Wang Rui could naturally feel that pull, but he had not paid much attention to it. Instead, he looked somewhat puzzledly at Huo Yuqing's flushed cheeks.

Was one Soul Ring really enough to make this kid blush with excitement?

Uh, a million-year Soul Ring... Actually, that really was enough.

But why did Huo Hang keep glancing at me like he wanted to say something?

Three-Eyed Big Kitty confused.jpg

"Little Yuhao, is your Martial Soul spirit-type?" Tang Ya's delighted voice rang out.

"Mm... yes. My Martial Soul is Spirit Eyes, a spiritual attribute," Huo Yuqing replied, finally coming back to her senses and nodding.

Beibei had clearly realized something as well and said regretfully, "So it's a body Martial Soul... I really didn't expect that. It's a pity we arrived too late. Otherwise, we should have helped little brother Huo find a better soul beast to fuse with. This opossum was still too weak. I wonder what Soul Skill it provided?"

"The Leaf-Patterned Tree Opossum isn't bad either." Wang Rui spoke up to patch up the story for the actor he had found. "These little creatures live in trees to avoid all sorts of natural enemies, and their senses are incredibly sharp. Some special individuals serve as sentries for the group. They can detect their surroundings, and when danger approaches, use special spiritual fluctuations to notify their companions to flee without alerting predators... If the Soul Skill is related to that, it would be quite good for a spirit-type Martial Soul."

Beibei thought for a moment, then showed an expression of sudden realization. "I remember now. The Leaf-Patterned Tree Opossum does seem to have that trait. I vaguely recall it being mentioned in a book, but this kind of soul beast is too weak, so I never paid it much attention."

"Who would deliberately remember something like that?" Tang Ya made a face. "I didn't pay attention when I read about them either. It's already impressive that you remembered even a little."

Only then did Huo Yuqing notice the soul beast corpse by her feet.

"Quick, go along with it. Don't let the lie fall apart!" Sky Dream Ice Silkworm hurriedly said. "This is the actor the Auspicious Beast found to cover for you. I forgot to tell you. Since someone brought it up now, just say it played dead after encountering you, and you strangled it to death."

Huo Yuqing hurriedly followed Tian Meng's explanation.

"Heh, little Yuhao, you're pretty lucky!" Tang Ya said cheerfully. "We've known each other for so long, but I haven't even asked where you're from."

"I'm a Star Luo Citizen," Huo Yuqing answered obediently.

"Little Yuhao, why did you come hunt a Soul Ring alone? Do you know how dangerous this is?" Tang Ya scolded her with concern, carrying more than a hint of settling accounts after the fact. "Why didn't you come with your family or elders?"

"I... I don't have any family anymore. It's just me," Huo Yuqing said softly, lowering her head and scuffing the ground with her toes.

Perhaps Tang Ya's warmth had stirred something in her as well. Loneliness and sorrow filled the girl's deep blue eyes.

Ah... here came the infamous scene, Wang Rui thought as he watched Tang Ya cozying up to Huo Hang with half-lidded eyes.

Sure enough, just like in the original story, Tang Ya's face lit up and she blurted out, "Then that's wonderful!"

Honestly, before seeing it happen in person, Wang Rui would never have believed that someone in the world could have such disastrously low emotional intelligence... Tang Ya becoming an Evil Soul Master later on might not have been solely because of her Martial Soul.

Perhaps it was, in the most literal sense, that pitiful people had hateful aspects to them.

Meanwhile, Huo Yuqing's eyes widened as she stared at Tang Ya in shock.

The girl remembered her mother's ashen face before death, as well as her weak, trembling instructions...

Tang Ya thought that was "wonderful"? Earlier, she had even treated her most important family member as a backup Soul Ring...

In an instant, dark emotions crept into Huo Yuqing's heart. The hatred buried deep within her surged out like black mud, spreading toward Tang Ya.

She watched coldly as Beibei reached out and knocked Tang Ya on the head, scolding her with a laugh. "Watch what you say."

Tang Ya merely stuck out her tongue and said, "I didn't mean it."

"What kind of person is she?! Someone says their parents are gone, and she says that's wonderful, then claims she didn't mean it?" Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's indignant shouting in her Sea of Consciousness brought Huo Yuqing back to her senses.

Yes... What a fine excuse, saying she did not mean it. Huo Yuqing lowered her eyes and swiftly hid the chill in them.

Wang Rui raised an eyebrow. Unlike Beibei and Tang Ya, who had not noticed Huo Yuqing's reaction, every flicker of expression on the girl's face had fallen into his eyes. Naturally, he had caught the resentment that flashed through her gaze.

It seemed Tang Ya's favorability had firmly dropped into the negatives.

That was normal. The original Huo Hang cared so much about his mother, yet when Tang Ya said the same thing, he did not show any anger at all... Wang Rui did not know how to evaluate that. Maybe Tang Ya had some kind of halo in the original story, or maybe this was the start of Huo Hang being mentally conditioned.

Right now, he felt a little irritated.

Saying something like that to a child whose mother had died early and whose father might as well have been absent, having only met her a handful of times, was truly excessive.

Tang Ya's own parents were both dead, yet she could still speak like that... There was something wrong with her.

If someone stood in front of him and said Tiger Empress Dark Cloud's death was wonderful... he guaranteed that person would not still be standing a second later.

Yet Tang Ya was completely unaware that a single sentence had offended two people. She earnestly invited Huo Yuqing to join the Tang Clan.

"Four thousand years later, the Tang Clan has declined. Our estate and foundation have been taken away." Thinking of her hatred and mission, Tang Ya's eyes reddened. "Now, only Beibei and I remain..."

"Really? Then that's wonderful!" Wang Rui raised his eyebrows and said with an exaggerated, smiling tone.

Everyone looked at him in shock.

"You—what do you mean?!" The Tang Clan had been insulted, and Tang Ya's entire face flushed red with anger.

"I didn't mean it," Wang Rui said in an exaggerated imitation of her tone.

"You!" With both boomerangs flying right back into her, Tang Ya's face turned green, then white. It was quite a sight.

A faint blue flash appeared, and two yellow Soul Rings rose beside her. Blue vines stood up one after another like snakes, filled with menace. Tang Ya raised a hand and brushed across the Twenty-Four Bridges Moonlight Night at her waist, several Bone-Penetrating Needles gleaming with dangerous cold light appearing in her hand.

Yet a trace of satisfaction flashed through Huo Yuqing's eyes. Then she looked worriedly at Wang Rui—but the red-haired boy gave her a playful wink.

The girl's heart immediately skipped a beat.

He was clearly standing up for her!

"Oh my, these are the Tang Clan's hidden weapons? Not bad. Still inferior to Soul Tools." Wang Rui mocked coldly, his tone so sharp and caustic that he was the spitting image of his father, who was imprisoned inside the seal.

"Bastard!" Tang Ya shouted furiously, moving both hands—

"Watch out!" Golden light instantly flared in Huo Yuqing's eyes, and a white Soul Ring flashed. Everything within thirty meters immediately appeared in Wang Rui's mind.

Wang Rui looked at her in surprise. He was quite startled that Huo Yuqing would step in to help at this moment—this was practically the same as openly falling out with Beibei and Tang Ya.

He said no more. Guided by the shared Spiritual Detection, he dodged the incoming Bone-Penetrating Needles, then leaned forward and pulled Huo Yuqing behind him.

Huo Yuqing stared tensely at Beibei and Tang Ya, while Sky Dream Ice Silkworm made a string of extremely ill-timed strange whimpering noises in her mind. Once again, the girl suspected that her Wisdom Soul Ring might be a little deranged.

Tian Meng: This mouthful of worm food slapped Brother right in the face, cold as ice! The Auspicious Beast could have just burned that thing away, but he still followed Little Qing's shared Spiritual Detection and dodged several steps—he really... I'm crying to death!

"Xiaoya!" Beibei stepped forward, seized Tang Ya's wrist, and pulled her behind him. His emotional intelligence was much higher than Tang Ya's, so he naturally understood why Wang Rui had mocked her.

He looked at Wang Rui warily.

Shrek's school motto might be that those who dared not cause trouble were mediocre, but Wang Rui, who seemed to come from a reclusive clan... was truly intimidating. The other party clearly understood the dangers of the Star Dou Great Forest and still dared to enter the buffer zone outside it alone. At the very least, he had to be a Soul Elder like Beibei.

On top of that, he had casually evaded Tang Ya's hidden weapons, making him even less someone to underestimate.

As for Huo Yuhao, who had revealed his Soul Ring... although he only had a ten-year Soul Ring, the methods of a Spirit-Type Soul Master could not be judged by common sense. He could not be ignored either.

They still needed to take Xiaoya hunting for a Soul Ring afterward... After a brief consideration, Beibei made his decision.

"We were at fault first in this matter. I apologize on Xiaoya's behalf," Beibei said politely but firmly. "However, we cannot simply ignore an insult to the Tang Clan's ancestors. Let us consider ourselves even. The buffer zone of the Star Dou Great Forest is full of danger at every step, and there is no need for us to settle things here."

Tang Ya looked dissatisfied, but she was not stupid beyond saving. She understood that her boyfriend had his own considerations and did not object. Instead, she glared viciously at Huo Yuqing. "I didn't expect you to be this kind of person. Good thing we didn't accept you into the Tang Clan."

"I think so too," Huo Yuqing said coldly. "Not joining the Tang Clan was my good fortune."

"You! You don't know what's good for you!" Tang Ya trembled with anger, yanking on Beibei's arm. "Let's go!"

"Then we'll meet again someday." Beibei spoke meaningfully, leaving along with Tang Ya's pull.

Wang Rui snorted. The Eye of Destiny beneath his forehead guard opened, and a speck of light representing misfortune quietly landed on Tang Ya.

He had only just gained the ability to affect human fortune. If he accidentally used too much force... there was nothing he could do about that.

"About earlier... thank you," Huo Yuqing said softly.

Only then did Wang Rui realize that he was still holding her wrist. He hurriedly let go. "Ahem, it was nothing. Anyone would have found it hard to listen to her talk like that."

Somewhat embarrassed, he pushed up his forehead guard. "Speaking of which, you're already a Soul Master now. Do you have any plans?"

"Um, I want to go take a look at Shrek Academy," the girl said quietly.

"Why?" Wang Rui looked at her with slight surprise.

"Mm..." Huo Yuqing kicked at a stone on the ground with the tip of her shoe, conflicted. After a while, she finally found suitable words. "There's someone I don't get along with very well. He'll also enroll at Shrek Academy this year, so I want to go see what he's really like."

Yes! Tang Ya finally got called out!

Tang Ya really is a character I deeply do not understand. Her own parents are dead too, so how could she tell a child who had just said she had no other family that it was wonderful?

How did she do that? Does she have no empathy at all?

Huo Yuhao was even stunned for a moment, then had no reaction whatsoever?

Isn't Tang Ya making an enemy by doing this... Someone with a worse temper would have just slapped her across the face... She's really carrying out Shrek's school motto to the letter...

Of course, her life was genuinely miserable. She was controlled as a murder weapon for so many years. I'm not trying to blame the victim or anything. But objectively speaking, she suffered terribly, and it is also true that she showed no empathy in this scene.

Of course, different people have different levels of tolerance. Some might find this carefree personality cute—like Third Young Master, who clearly considered it an endearing trait when he wrote it—but I definitely don't (:з"∠)

Also, please keep reading! This week the story is in its trial recommendation period, and continued reading is really important!