A Girl's Invitation

"Isn't that Wang Sheng and his bunch of poor wretches?"

Hmm? Looks like there's a show to watch. Nan Li turned toward the stairs.

On the staircase between the first and second floors, a group of upperclassmen were looking down on Tang San and his group, mocking them.

Nan Li watched it all with interest. As for whether she would step in to help, the answer was—no.

What did it have to do with her?

She barely knew Tang San.

That morning outside the gates, she had only acted because the gatekeeper had rubbed her the wrong way, and because she had felt some sympathy for Old Jack.

Besides, perhaps because they shared the same body, Jiang E Li's emotions had influenced her to some extent, leaving her with little interest in Tang San as well.

Still, in recent years, Spirit Hall had become increasingly unscrupulous under the leadership of former Pope Qian Xun Ji and current Pope Bibi Dong.

Sun Island had nearly been half destroyed in that great battle more than twenty years ago. The living beings on the island desperately needed time to recover.

Sea God Island had the Sea God's protection, but Sun Island did not. The island's inhabitants and the Soul Beasts of the nearby seas were protected by the Flame Feather Sparrow and Xumi Raven clans. Yet consecutive wars had rapidly depleted both clans' strength, and Sun Island urgently needed stronger forces to guard it.

Otherwise, Jin Wu Dong Yun and she would never have chosen to assume Humanoid Form after living for nearly two hundred thousand years.

In another thousand years, they would completely lose the ability to take human form.

Tang San and she probably would not become enemies, but neither would they have much to do with one another.

Spirit Hall was their shared enemy. The enemy of an enemy was an ally.

Nothing more.

After throwing out a few mocking remarks, the upperclassmen turned and headed upstairs.

A middle-aged man entered through the cafeteria doors. He was of average height, with short black hair and an ordinary face, yet he carried himself like some lofty expert. With his hands clasped behind his back and his gaze fixed straight ahead, he strode inside.

It was Yu Xiaogang.

Tch.

What bad luck.

If Yu Xiaogang had possessed any real ability and truly researched something worthwhile, that would have been one thing. But his prized "Ten Core Competitiveness Theories" were things any family with even a little influence already knew. They were practically common knowledge in the Soul Master world, yet he flaunted them as his own achievements.

Most ironic of all was his saying, "There are no useless Martial Souls, only useless Soul Masters." Then wasn't a Soul Grandmaster like him, who had yet to break through to Soul Elder, worse than useless?

A Martial Soul changed as Soul Power increased and Soul Rings were obtained. Yu Xiaogang had not even acquired his Third Soul Ring, yet he dreamed of fully researching Soul Masters with nine Soul Rings.

Did he even understand the gap between a Titled Douluo and a Soul Grandmaster?

How laughable.

As she was thinking that, Yu Xiaogang had already reached the second floor.

Nan Li had only registered today and was still wearing her own clothes. The vivid, flamboyant red and gold stood out sharply among the students in school uniforms; she was impossible to miss.

The moment he saw that figure and recalled the humiliation from that morning, Yu Xiaogang's face visibly stiffened.

"Little sister, all by yourself? Want to eat with your seniors?"

Several delinquent-looking boys approached with their arms around each other's shoulders. The leader raised his brows and ran a hand through his hair, clearly thinking he looked handsome.

"Get lost."

Nan Li watched Xiao Wu downstairs without sparing the boys a glance.

"You!"

The students who could afford to eat on the second floor generally came from well-off families. Having been pampered since childhood, how could they tolerate such contempt? They immediately prepared to lash out.

Before the leader's hand could touch even the edge of Nan Li's clothes, the pressure of Soul Power had already locked onto them.

This little girl's Soul Power was actually stronger than all of theirs!

With those people blocking her view, Nan Li naturally failed to notice the mocking, disdainful look Yu Xiaogang cast in her direction.

Turning around, Nan Li pretended to think for a few seconds. Then she suddenly withdrew the Soul Power lock and smiled sweetly at them. "How about this, seniors... why don't we have a chat in the woods behind the hill?"

The leader was a sixth-year student named Xiao Chen Yu, known as the Little Tyrant of Nuoding Academy.

He had been somewhat intimidated when the Soul Power locked onto him, but the little girl had released it after only a few breaths. She was probably only slightly stronger than them.

Then he remembered his title as the Little Tyrant. Who in the entire academy did not know his name?

His family was among the most influential in all of Nuoding City, and even the academy's teachers had to show them some consideration. Surely she would not dare offend him.

Hearing her invitation, Xiao Chen Yu recalled every somewhat influential family and sect in Nuoding City. When he found none that matched the girl before him, he smugly raised his brows.

"Little sister, you're quite sensible. This is for the best. If we started fighting, it would be bad if your senior accidentally hurt you."

"..." Nan Li felt disgusted. She had only eaten half her lunch, but she had completely lost her appetite. She could not swallow another bite.

"Fine, fine. Hurry up and lead the way." Just a brat—what was he putting on airs for?

Nan Li was thoroughly disdainful.

The so-called hill behind Nuoding Academy was really just a small mound. It was lunchtime, and there was no one in the woods. The place was silent.

Nan Li deliberately chose a relatively open clearing before stopping.

The "Little Tyrant" and his lackeys followed behind Nan Li. When she stopped, Xiao Chen Yu casually shrugged.

He carefully examined the little girl before him. Though she was just a little brat, she was fairly pretty. If he kept her around for a few years, she would grow into a beauty.

"If it were anyone else, I'd at most let her be my pet. But since you're so sensible, I'll reluctantly acknowledge you as my little sister. What do you think?"

As he spoke, Xiao Chen Yu and the lackeys behind him all lifted their chins, looking at Nan Li with smug satisfaction, as if she had stumbled upon an enormous stroke of luck.

Nan Li merely smiled indifferently.

In the years since taking Humanoid Form, because she outwardly appeared to be an infant or young child, she had never sparred with anyone on Sun Island as she had before. Other than stretching her limbs in the forest on the way to Nuoding Academy, she had not fought at all. But against a few children, there was no need to make a big fuss.

Like she was teasing children, Nan Li crooked a finger at them.

Xiao Chen Yu froze for a moment. He did not rush forward, instead asking cautiously, "What do you mean?"

"Nan Li, First Year Freshman. Martial Soul: Flame Feather Vermilion Bird. Level sixteen, one-ring Battle Soul Master."

A dark yellow Soul Ring lit up beneath her feet, circling continuously from her feet to above her head.

The benefits brought by a Soul Ring of more than eight hundred, nearly nine hundred years could not compare to those of a three- or four-hundred-year Soul Ring. Though every increase in Soul Power required more power than the last to advance further, her first Soul Ring had still raised her Soul Power by nearly five levels.

Furthermore, to conceal the Soul Beast aura on her body, she drank water from the Heavenly Pool in the clan's Holy Land every day after leaving Sun Island.

The pool water flowed through every part of her body, its misty presence concealing her Soul Beast bloodline like the haze over the Heavenly Pool's surface. At the same time, she felt her mind grow clearer, as though even her cultivation speed had increased somewhat.

Earlier, it said they were Soul Beasts at the hundred-thousand-year "level." In reality, Nan Li and Dong Yun had already lived for nearly two hundred thousand years, so this was not a mistake.