"Shopping"

A few days later

"In the end, I still fell for it." Xiao Yan trudged through the streets of Wutan City with a dejected face, looking utterly lifeless as he let the Blue-haired Girl ahead of him look around curiously at everything nearby. The sight was rather strange.

"Hehe, kid, don't take your blessings for granted. All you have to do is accompany a girl shopping, and you get to learn a Soul Dou Technique. You've taken all the good fortune in the world for yourself." Old Man Yao's voice came from the ring.

Hearing this, Xiao Yan viciously rubbed the ring in his hand as though he were grinding the head of that unscrupulous Teacher. "You're a Soul Body, yet you can't even understand the contents of a Soul Dou Technique. I'm starting to suspect you conspired with her to trick me."

"Hah, you brat, and now you're blaming me." Though he could not see Old Man Yao's expression, he was surely blowing his beard and glaring.

"Ordinary Soul Dou Techniques would naturally be no problem for me. It's just that the Soul Dou Technique that girl gave you is rather unusual. It concerns her background, so you can only ask her about it personally."

"Tsk, hiding behind her background again. Ruoruo really does have a few similarities with that girl Xun'er."

Xiao Yan curled his lip and added, "Of course, I mean their air of mystery."

Since Hun Ruoruo had taught Xiao Yan the Soul Dou Technique, nearly a week had passed. During that time, thanks to the battle where he had pushed his potential to the limit and fought above his level, Xiao Yan easily broke through his bottleneck and successfully advanced to the Fifth Stage of Dou Qi.

While his cultivation improved, he had not neglected his Dou Technique training either. In just a few days, he was already able to follow the technique's circulation route and condense a faint aura at his elbow.

That kind of progress could only be described as astonishingly swift.

While all his other training progressed in an orderly fashion, he still had no idea how to even begin using that Soul Dou Technique. At most, he could keep reading it without vomiting.

He wanted to learn it, but he could not get started. Left with no other choice, he could only compromise with Hun Ruoruo.

Thinking back on the bold words he had declared before, Xiao Yan could only laugh bitterly. He practically wanted to dig a hole and bury himself in it.

"Third Young Master, what are you muttering to yourself about?" The Girl had stopped walking at some point and was looking at him curiously.

Her sudden action gave the thoughtful Xiao Yan quite a fright. He instinctively raised his voice. "Yao Ruoruo, could you stop scaring me? We were walking perfectly fine."

"You said we were coming out shopping together, but Third Young Master hasn't taken the initiative to say a single word to me yet." Hun Ruoruo clutched her long skirt, her expression aggrieved.

"...Sorry."

Knowing he was in the wrong, Xiao Yan scratched his head awkwardly. Just as he was about to say something, he sensed countless gazes around him turning toward him after the Girl's words.

His entire body stiffened, and he hurriedly lowered his voice. "Y-You removed that Invisibility Spell?"

"Didn't you say you didn't want people treating you like a lunatic anymore? Of course I listened to you."

At those words, Xiao Yan's eyelids twitched violently several times. He felt awful all over.

Just as he expected, the people around them looked at him with envy mixed with fury, as though they wanted to devour him alive.

Clearly, his sudden shout had made everyone mistake him for some ill-tempered Young Master, while Hun Ruoruo was the pitiful Girl being scolded.

"Third Young Master, the people around us seem very angry."

"Isn't that all your doing?"

His expression shifting, Xiao Yan simply gritted his teeth and led Hun Ruoruo quickly through the street, running straight toward the only intersection.

After quite some time, the two finally crossed the entire street and reached the junction.

This was the border region between Wutan City's Three Great Families. Though there were usually plenty of people passing through, most were in a hurry and did not linger for long.

Having finally escaped the crowd's strange stares, Xiao Yan let out a long breath and could not help but sigh inwardly—

Miss Ruoruo had kept herself invisible before, making him overlook just how attractive she appeared to passersby. That innocent yet alluring girlish charm of hers was probably even more captivating than Xun'er's.

After all, Xun'er did not possess that seductive allure which was so devastating to men.

"Really..." Xiao Yan smiled bitterly and turned to look at Hun Ruoruo behind him.

As if she had anticipated it all along, the Girl turned halfway toward him and met his gaze. Her eyes curved into crescents, playful yet sly, like a Little Fox secretly rejoicing after catching her prey.

Sunlight fell across the Girl's soft, hanging hair, reflecting a faint sheen. Carrying a trace of fragrance and summer's humid heat, it caught him off guard and pierced straight into the boy's heart.

In that moment, the words that had reached his lips could no longer be spoken.

Xiao Yan secretly swallowed and looked elsewhere somewhat unnaturally.

"Um... Ruoruo."

"Third Young Master, go ahead~" Hun Ruoruo replied as though she had noticed nothing.

"It seems we're in trouble."

When Xiao Yan had casually glanced around earlier, he suddenly spotted, not far ahead, a Luxurious Youth standing at the center of a crowd of Guards gathered around him like stars surrounding the moon.

The youth appeared to be around twenty years old and had handsome features, though his complexion was somewhat pale. At that moment, he was staring at the Girl beside Xiao Yan with blazing eyes.

"Oh?" Hearing this, Hun Ruoruo finally turned and looked in the direction of Xiao Yan's gaze. "This Young Master is a One-star Fighter. You probably can't beat him."

Xiao Yan lowered his head slightly and remained silent.

A Dou Zhe was indeed not someone he could contend with yet.

"Why are you hanging your head?" Hun Ruoruo smiled brightly, her voice carrying a faint, elusive seduction. "Don't you want to learn the Soul Dou Technique? This is the perfect opportunity."

"Now?"

"Yes, now." The Girl half-lowered her eyelids, and an indescribable meaning showed in her deep eyes.

"That look again..."

For some reason, the fleeting glimmer in the Girl's eyes made Xiao Yan feel inexplicably irritated.

After being teased for so long, Xiao Yan had gradually developed an indescribable feeling toward this clever and eccentric girl. Every one of her alluring gestures held an incredibly powerful attraction.

However, he truly disliked the feeling of being led around by the nose by her. It made him very uncomfortable.

It felt as though he were being treated as some special toy—perhaps more favored than the others...

But in the end, he was still only a toy.

Thinking of a certain possibility, the boy's breathing grew slightly heavy, and his fists unconsciously clenched.

He raised his head and looked at the Luxurious Youth, who had stopped not far away. In a cold voice, he said, "Young Master Jia Lie Ao, why have you suddenly blocked our path?"

"..."

The Luxurious Youth Xiao Yan had called Jia Lie Ao did not respond. Instead, as if possessed, he stared fixedly at the Blue-haired Girl behind Xiao Yan, his eyes revealing an undisguised desire to possess her.