Fox-Eared Girl

"You're the junior sister?"

Su Wen got up, looking a little embarrassed.

He jumped off the bed and looked her up and down.

Hu Liena nodded, pinching the hem of her clothes as she cautiously looked back at Su Wen.

She looked shy and bashful, her pink lips parting slightly.

"S-Senior Brother, I'm Hu Liena. You can call me Nana..."

As she spoke, Hu Liena held out her little hand. In her palm lay the candy from that day.

"Mm, Hu Liena. Nana... Senior Brother remembers you."

Su Wen took another piece of candy from his Soul Tool, peeled off the wrapper, and held it to Hu Liena's lips.

"Mmm~"

Hu Liena's little face flushed pink as she obediently bit down on the candy.

Seeing how timid she was, Su Wen knew that Hu Liena wasn't yet the confident genius she would become. She was still just a little girl who had recently left the orphanage.

Su Wen knew there was still time to set her straight.

Time passed.

Before long, the next day arrived.

Su Wen was tinkering with something in the courtyard.

As the sun rose, Hu Liena arrived in the courtyard right on time.

She had short orange hair and a petite face.

A faint smile lit up her little face as she followed close behind Su Wen.

"Senior Brother, what are you doing?"

"Wait a moment, Nana. I'll be done soon!"

"Mm."

Hu Liena nodded obediently.

"All done!"

After a short quarter of an hour, Su Wen clapped his hands, satisfied.

"Nana, today I'm going to teach you the two rules of our sect!"

Su Wen suddenly stopped smiling. His expression turned solemn, and his voice grew stern, entirely unlike his earlier gentle self.

"Nana will remember them carefully."

Hu Liena tensed and hurriedly clenched her little hands. Her childish face was full of earnestness.

"Mm. The first rule of our sect is loyalty!"

"Nana will be loyal to Spirit Hall!"

"No, no. You only need to be loyal to Teacher and Senior Brother!"

"Nana... Nana understands!"

"Just remembering isn't enough. Every night, write 'loyal to Senior Brother' a hundred times. You need to make it a habit!"

"N-Nana will write it tonight!"

Su Wen nodded in satisfaction and raised his index finger. "The second rule: Nana, you have to remember our sect's enemies!"

"Enemies?"

"That's right. Anyone who carries a hammer is bad, especially that guy named Tang Yin, the one with blue hair."

"Senior Brother, is this the clay figure you made?"

Hu Liena noticed that the clay figure in front of her was holding a hammer.

Su Wen didn't answer.

He suddenly realized that Tang San's blue hair had to be connected to the Blue Silver King.

He could find the Blue Silver King first.

Heh heh heh!

I'm such a bad person!

Hidden nearby, Bibi Dong's expression was complicated. That little rascal had actually made up sect rules on his own.

But those rules suited her just fine.

Now that she had become Pope, the Clear Sky Sect was Spirit Hall's greatest enemy.

Still, she didn't know Tang Yin and had never heard of anyone by that name. Why had Su Wen told Nana to remember him in particular?

Bibi Dong walked into the courtyard. "Heh, looks like you're getting along well!"

"Teacher!"

Hu Liena's eyes lit up at the sight of Bibi Dong. She went over and bowed respectfully, her voice timid. "Teacher, Nana has memorized the sect rules. Nana will always remember them!"

Bibi Dong: "..."

Su Wen: "..."

"Ahem, Teacher, do you know where the Blue Silver Forest is?"

Su Wen hurriedly changed the subject.

Bibi Dong parted her red lips. "The Blue Silver Forest lies on the edge of the Star Dou Forest, among the mountains of the Star Dou Mountain Range's branches. You're still a long way from reaching level twenty, and the Blue Silver Forest is full of plant Spirit Beasts. They might not be suitable for your Second Soul Ring."

Su Wen quietly memorized the location. He'd ask Aunt Ye to fly him there later.

"All right. Today, I'll teach you your first lesson: the basics of Martial Souls."

Bibi Dong cleared her throat and began explaining Martial Souls and the different types of Spirit Beasts.

She could have had someone else teach them.

But Bibi Dong felt it was better to teach them herself.

Both children were still young.

This was also the easiest time to grow closer to them.

Su Wen breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed Bibi Dong approved of the sect rules he'd made up.

He listened closely. Knowledge of Martial Souls was important.

Aunt Ye usually explained things well, too, but everyone had different experiences and perspectives.

When he heard that only Beast Martial Souls could possess their users, Su Wen asked, "Teacher, what category does my Martial Soul belong to?"

"Probably the special category!"

Bibi Dong knew that only three people on the continent possessed humanoid Martial Souls.

The first was the Qian Family's Six-Winged Angel. The second was this little fellow's Ghost Emperor of the Wedding Dress Martial Soul.

"Teacher, can I use Martial Soul Possession?"

"You should be able to. At present, only Beast Martial Souls can do it, but there's one exception: special Martial Souls. You can give it a try."

At that,

Su Wen summoned his Martial Soul. As the Ghost Emperor of the Wedding Dress appeared,

a gust of sinister wind swept into the courtyard.

Hu Liena's little body couldn't help shivering.

Staring at the Martial Soul in its blood-red wedding dress, Hu Liena's mouth fell open.

She hadn't expected her senior brother's Martial Soul to look so hauntingly beautiful!

"Martial Soul Possession!"

Boom!

A surge of dark red power radiated from the Martial Soul.

Wherever the red power passed, a festive red carpet and lanterns appeared over the surrounding buildings and across the ground.

Ghostly Souls emerged from the earth, letting out shrill cries.

The Martial Soul's figure rapidly expanded.

Fox-Eared Girl

Under Bibi Dong and Hu Liena's astonished gazes, the Ghost Emperor of the Wedding Dress Martial Soul grew to a hundred meters tall.

It wore a Phoenix Coronet and Rosy Cloud Cape, its long red skirt trailing over the ground, blood dripping from its slender toes.

As the red veil on its head swayed in the wind, its eyes could just barely be seen, glowing with a hazy blood-red light as they fixed on Bibi Dong.

A cold wind howled around Bibi Dong, and Ghostly Souls drifted toward her from time to time.

The sinister wind also reached Hu Liena, making her little body tremble nonstop.

The Martial Soul held its hands together, palms facing upward. Su Wen stood in the middle of them.

A red Oil-paper Umbrella and blood-red Other Shore Flowers floated around him in midair.

The Martial Soul's enormous figure loomed over Spirit Hall.

The souls of fierce ghosts darted back and forth around it.

Su Wen had never imagined his Martial Soul could grow this big.

He looked down. Quite a few Palace Guard Knights had been startled by him.

This wasn't Martial Soul Possession at all. It was clearly Martial Soul Protection.

Standing in the palm of the Martial Soul, he could feel his defensive capabilities had increased dramatically.