So This Is the Punishment for Having My Cover Blown

The moment the two thousand-year soul rings appeared, Ning Tian's expression changed.

Although Wu Feng had raised her soul power by two levels through the diary's rewards and had now reached level twenty-six, she still only had two hundred-year soul rings. Against her opponent's two thousand-year soul rings, she had no advantage whatsoever!

She had almost forgotten: just like her, Wang Dong'er had received a reward that increased her soul rings' ages by a thousand years!

Without her help, Wu Feng would very likely come off worse!

Wu Feng's pupils also contracted slightly, but she showed no intention of backing down. Her martial soul instantly possessed her body, and as swathes of dragon scales appeared, two yellow soul rings emerged with them.

Two yellows against two purples, a gap in soul power, and no absolute suppression from her martial soul-Wu Feng's defeat was inevitable.

Seeing that Wu Feng was about to get hurt, Ning Tian could no longer restrain herself, her heart burning with anxiety. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda instantly appeared in her palm, and the three soul rings behind her lit up in succession.

"Seven treasures turn forth, glazed tiles shine! First: Strength! Second: Speed! Third: Attack!"

The three purple soul rings were especially dazzling.

The smile on Aoyao's face gradually froze. He rubbed his eyes in disbelief and sucked in a breath of cold air.

Was Ning Tian's soul ring configuration this outrageous too?

When he had helped Ning Tian hunt for a soul ring in the Star Dou Great Forest a few days earlier, perhaps he simply had not paid much attention, or perhaps the forest had been too dim. Either way, Aoyao had noticed nothing amiss.

But now, those three purple soul rings were shining brightly right before his eyes!

Aoyao immediately realized something was wrong.

When Wang Dong'er's soul rings had changed just now, he could still find an explanation for her: some unexpected event had increased their ages. After all, Wang Dong'er was part of Tang San's daughter. Such an anomaly was strange, but not entirely incomprehensible.

But Ning Tian's... there was no way to explain this.

Even if my appearance caused a butterfly effect, surely it couldn't be this ridiculous?

Could introducing a single variable like me really let Ning Tian absorb her first two soul rings beyond the usual limits and straight-up get two purple rings?

Don't tell me Ning Rongrong got tired of being a god and decided to pass the Nine-Colored Goddess's God Position to Ning Tian, and that Ning Tian increased her soul rings' ages through a God Examination.

Not even a dog would believe that!

Then what exactly made Ning Tian's soul ring configuration so outrageous...?

Surely my diary system wasn't giving rewards to Ning Tian as well as me?

Aoyao's expression instantly stiffened.

Because he realized that this might be the most reasonable explanation.

There was only one truth! Once every other answer was ruled out, this... was the truth!

Then here was the question: if Ning Tian really got those soul rings through my diary, how exactly did she receive them?

I got rewards for writing in the diary... so, correspondingly, Ning Tian got rewards for reading it?

That was a little too absurd... surely Ning Tian hadn't bound herself to some one-click follow system?

Whatever the method or channel, the point was that Ning Tian could get rewards through me!

Verifying it would be simple enough.

[Ning Tian is an idiot!]

Ning Tian, who was boosting Wu Feng, froze, then shot Aoyao a bewildered look.

Okay, confirmed, folks!

Aoyao finally understood why Ning Tian had been so eager when they first met. It turned out she was linked to his diary!

So that meant Ning Tian could actually read all my previous entries?

Aoyao suddenly remembered the only diary entry he had written in his previous life-the one that had cost him his gentle, considerate landlady forever...

I knew I shouldn't write a diary!

Oh, no.

That wasn't quite right either.

Without the diary, he would still be a little level-ten Soul Scholar with an innate soul power of two and a half and a trash glass bead for a martial soul.

It looked like I still had to keep writing this diary... it just felt inexplicably embarrassing to have someone else read its contents.

Aoyao could not help taking a deep breath, and his gaze grew more complicated as he looked at Ning Tian.

While Aoyao was still agonizing over someone reading his diary, he had no idea that towering waves were already surging through Ning Tian's heart.

[Diary Copy owner Ning Tian has been discovered by diary host Aoyao to be capable of reading the diary. Punishment mechanism triggered. As Ning Tian did not voluntarily reveal the existence of the Diary Copy, the punishment has been reduced...]

[Ning Tian has received a punishment: martial soul regression.]

[The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda has regressed into the Six Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda. Cultivation cap: level sixty-nine.]

Ning Tian felt as though she had been struck by lightning, and fear appeared on her face.

She stared in horror at the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda in her palm. The seven-story pagoda had been radiating an exquisite, jewel-like glow, but the light on its topmost floor abruptly vanished. In its place was a gray haze, as though a layer of gray mist had obscured it.

Wang Dong'er and Wu Feng, who had still been locked in fierce combat, both stopped, shock appearing in both pairs of eyes.

Their reactions differed slightly, however. Wu Feng immediately released her martial soul possession and came to Ning Tian's side. She opened her mouth to say something, but had no idea what to say, so she could only hold Ning Tian's delicate hand. Though Wang Dong'er felt some sympathy for Ning Tian's plight, she inwardly grew wary.

Presumably, the change in Ning Tian's soul ring colors had allowed Aoyao to notice something unusual.

And after Aoyao suddenly wrote that Ning Tian was an idiot, Ning Tian's reaction had confirmed his suspicions, allowing him to uncover her secret.

Martial soul regression was no light punishment.

In that case... I would have to be more careful from now on.

As for why she herself had not aroused Aoyao's suspicions, Wang Dong'er felt that it might have something to do with her identity.

Although Wang Dong'er was deeply unwilling to acknowledge that she was part of Tang San's daughter, applying that identity to her soul rings did provide a barely plausible explanation.

As long as she paid closer attention from now on and did not let Aoyao spot any clues, she would not end up like Ning Tian.

Ning Tian felt her hands turn ice-cold. Even with Wu Feng, whose martial soul had a fire attribute, warming them, they would not warm up at all.

Now, she truly wanted to cry but had no tears.

She had first approached Aoyao because she thought he could help her evolve the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda into the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, allowing her to recreate the splendor of her ancestor Ning Rongrong and restore the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan's former glory!

But now, before her martial soul could evolve, it had regressed instead.

The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda already had a limit, only allowing me to cultivate to level seventy-nine. Now you're telling me I could only reach level sixty-nine, and couldn't even have a Martial Soul Avatar?

Was this the punishment for having my cover blown?