Fate's Attraction

Jiang Nannan clenched her fists tightly before her chest, watching her mother with a worried expression.

The blue-green Green Light symbolizing healing gradually adjusted her mother's body, plugging the continuously draining life force.

As Jiang Nannan watched her mother's complexion grow increasingly rosy, excitement filled her heart. But when she saw the Hall Master's grave expression, her heart, which had just settled, rose again.

Ten minutes later.

Once the woman on the bed's breathing gradually steadied, her deathly pale face regained its color, and her life force flowed normally through her body again, Xu Wei withdrew his healing Soul Power.

Xu Wei stood at the foot of the bed, pondering for a long while. In the end, he could only sigh.

At that sigh, Jiang Nannan's hanging heart completely died.

At a medical hall, doctors complaining was not frightening. What was frightening was their silence and sighs.

Jiang Nannan asked in a trembling voice, "Hall Master, how is my mother?"

Xu Wei led Jiang Nannan out of the ward. At the door, he shook his head and said:

"Your mother is fine for now. I used a Soul Skill to stop her life force from draining away and replenished some of it."

"But Miss Jiang, your mother's heart condition is congenital and involves her Life Essence."

"In this situation, healing Soul Skills can only treat the symptoms, not the root cause. Moreover, your mother's heart is still deteriorating, and its functions are continually weakening."

"I estimate that in a week, today's situation will happen again—and it will only grow more severe in the future."

Jiang Nannan's body went limp, and she nearly fainted. Fortunately, a Soul Elder's physique was not so fragile.

"Hall Master, is there any other way?"

Seeing the fragility and unwillingness in Jiang Nannan's eyes, Xu Wei closed his eyes and began searching through the relevant medical texts in his mind.

Before long, he opened his eyes and said, "Since ancient times, there has only been one way to resolve such congenital problems: strengthen the foundation, nourish the body, and improve one's constitution."

"For example, some Soul Masters have flaws in their Martial Souls, but they can make up for them by absorbing Soul Rings and consuming the appropriate Heavenly Treasures."

"As for your mother's congenital heart problem, the only thing I remember that would definitely work is the Mysterious Turtle Divine Pill of the Xuan Ming Sect."

"But the Xuan Ming Sect has long secluded itself deep within the forests and ignored the affairs of the continent. Finding them and trading for a Mysterious Turtle Divine Pill would be harder than ascending to the heavens!"

When Xu Wei mentioned the Mysterious Turtle Divine Pill, a man who happened to be collecting medicinal herbs under the guidance of a Medical Hall apprentice suddenly stiffened. Then, from the corner of his eye, he secretly glanced at Jiang Nannan.

After getting a clear look at Jiang Nannan's appearance, his heart immediately surged with excitement.

"Top-grade! Absolutely stunning!"

"Her looks and temperament perfectly meet the Sect Master's and Second Young Master's requirements."

This man was called Chen Wen, the personal bookboy of Xu Sanshi, the Second Young Master of the Xuan Ming Sect.

Recently, he had been fretting over Xu Sanshi's Martial Soul Evolution Ceremony. The Sect Master had ordered him to find a young girl with passable talent and breathtaking beauty for Xu Sanshi's Martial Soul Evolution.

Once the Second Young Master's Martial Soul evolved into the Mysterious Turtle Shield, he would become the Young Sect Master of the Xuan Ming Sect. As his foremost attendant, Chen Wen would soar along with him through that connection.

With his heart burning, he bought the herbs and immediately left for the Xuan Ming Sect.

He had heard that the girl needed a Mysterious Turtle Divine Pill. Although such a pill was an exceptionally precious medicinal treasure even to the Xuan Ming Sect—

Considering how much the Sect Master valued the Second Young Master, one Mysterious Turtle Divine Pill was nothing.

He would report to the Sect Master at once, then draw a Mysterious Turtle Divine Pill from the treasury in exchange for this stunning girl willingly becoming a crucial part of the ceremony.

Chen Wen's departure did not alert anyone in the Medical Hall. Jiang Nannan's body trembled slightly, and she did not know what to do.

She feared that her mother might leave her just like that. She had clearly promised her mother that she would become strong in the future and give her a good life.

Yet now...

Xu Wei could not bear to watch her, as though she might shatter at a touch. He thought very highly of this girl's potential.

"Miss Jiang, there is actually another place you can go."

"A Little Huo Medical Clinic has opened in the South District market of Xuanfeng City."

"It has become quite renowned in Xuanfeng City lately, and many people have gone there seeking treatment and medicine."

"According to some Soul Masters from the Battle Arena, the Hall Master of that medical clinic can heal any injury without side effects."

"Some say that even if someone lost a finger, he could make it grow back. His medical skills are extraordinarily impressive."

"Though I have not witnessed it myself, I believe that no reputation is gained without merit."

At his words, hope rekindled in Jiang Nannan's deadened eyes.

She gave Xu Wei a deep bow, then entered the room, supported her mother, and slowly left.

They headed straight for the South District.

At that moment, Huo Yuhao had no idea that another "acquaintance" was about to be drawn here by fate.

He was currently giving someone advice about a Martial Soul.

"Hall Master Huo, what should we do about my son?"

A richly dressed Middle-aged Woman looked sorrowfully at Huo Yuhao. Beside her stood a thirteen-year-old boy with a face full of disdain.

"You mean your son has Blue Silver Grass as his Martial Soul, innate level-two Soul Power, and now he wants to hunt a Venomous Snake Soul Ring?"

Huo Yuhao could barely keep his expression together.

The Middle-aged Woman sighed and glared at the boy beside her in exasperation.

"This brat read a few passages about the Sea God and became dead set on hunting Snake Soul Rings."

"Your mother's ancestors came from the Tang Sect. Among all the Blue Silver Grass Soul Masters throughout the Tang Sect's generations who imitated Patriarch Tang San, not a single one reached six Soul Rings."

The boy immediately became unhappy at his mother's words and retorted, "That's because they were trash. I'm different."

Huo Yuhao was having an old-man-on-the-subway-staring-at-a-phone moment.

You had innate level-two Soul Power and a Prison Nine Gates Martial Soul. Where did you get the nerve to say that?

Unless you had some Blue Silver King bloodline, Huo Yuhao would not believe even thirty percent of it.

But sticking to the matter at hand, Huo Yuhao still had to offer some advice.

"Madam, and this... young friend, innate level-two Soul Power with Blue Silver Grass means the source of his Martial Soul is relatively weak."

"Absorbing a Venomous Snake Soul Ring could indeed allow his Martial Soul to evolve to a certain extent, because this Martial Soul simply cannot degenerate any further."

"However, Venomous Snake Soul Rings usually leave some toxins in your body. Your Martial Soul is too weak and may not be able to suppress those toxins."

"Those toxins may make you wish you were dead."

Not content with mere words, Huo Yuhao also took out a copy of One Hundred Ways a Soul Master Can Die, which he had picked up at a Xuanfeng City bookstore some time ago, and showed it to him. It included a case of a Blue Silver Grass Soul Master being poisoned to death by his own Martial Soul.

He had heard that the book's author was a Titled Douluo from a hundred years ago. It was widely circulated and highly authoritative.

After seeing the agonizing method of death that Huo Yuhao had enlarged and bolded, the boy grew afraid.

"You think I'm scared of that? They're just toxins."

"But then again, now that I think about it, Venomous Snake Martial Souls really don't seem to suit me. Recommend something else for me."

Huo Yuhao did not know whether to laugh or cry. "A Sunpetal Flower would be a good choice for your first Soul Ring. Its recorded Soul Skills include Photosynthesis Healing, Absorb, and more. It is a fine life-type Soul Beast."

As he spoke, Huo Yuhao took out another book, Encyclopedia of Soul Beast Skills, a foot thick, and flipped to the page on Sunpetal Flowers.

Huo Yuhao had bought this book secondhand from a merchant.

It was worth one hundred Gold Soul Coins.