The Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldron?
Hearing Zhou Yi mention it, Fan Yu recalled the Martial Soul. It was also a top-tier Tool Martial Soul.
And Xiao Xiao seemed to be the little genius in her class.
After listening to Zhou Yi analyze the students in her class every day, there were several names he could never forget.
"Are you planning to take that girl named Xiao Xiao as your disciple too?" Fan Yu asked seriously, as if he had guessed what Zhou Yi was thinking.
Zhou Yi nodded. "That's right. I did plan to take her on after accepting Xuanyuan Sheng."
But that wasn't what she wanted Fan Yu to ask about right now.
"She has Twin Martial Souls."
"Hm? But you never mentioned that before," Fan Yu said.
"Fan Yu, that's what I learned from studying that rare book." Zhou Yi's wrinkled old face creased in satisfaction.
Fan Yu simply stared at her.
He didn't believe her until Xiao Xiao did exactly as Zhou Yi had said and used her Second Martial Soul to crush the Soul Beasts.
Then he was more than halfway convinced.
Zhou Yi paused, then said gravely, "I don't know where these kids picked up the bad habit of hiding who they really are."
Every one of them was like that.
Wang Dong, who had started asking her for leave after only a few lessons, Xiao Xiao, and even Xuanyuan Sheng from the neighboring Class Nine all liked to hide their true selves.
"I see." Fan Yu laughed heartily. "I never imagined the Teacher Selection Meeting you came up with would have such a powerful effect on the Outer Courtyard students."
He had never considered that students might be concealing their abilities. After all, who wouldn't want to show what they could really do and earn a chance to become an Inner Courtyard disciple?
But the Teacher Selection Meeting let any teacher who wanted disciples choose students who had been overlooked, according to their own preferences.
Zhou Yi shook her head. "There's another reason. I did it for you, Fan Yu."
The Soul Tool Department was a place most people had forgotten. The Teacher Selection Meeting would change that—it had given them an opportunity.
That way, Fan Yu wouldn't have to compete with the Spirit Master Department and get into arguments with them.
Everyone could openly select their disciples. If the Soul Tool Department found good ones, the Spirit Master Department couldn't shamelessly demand they hand them over.
"But if we pick all the good students, what will happen to your Spirit Master Department?" Fan Yu still had some doubts.
Finding geniuses showed she had the ability to gather them all up, and Shrek had more than just the Soul Tool Department.
If all the geniuses joined the Soul Tool Department, the Spirit Master Department would surely have plenty to say.
"Where the husband goes, the wife follows." Zhou Yi answered calmly.
She had indeed spent all her time in the Spirit Master Department, but when she had to choose between the two, she would rather help the husband who shared her bed.
"Fine, then. I'll take all these geniuses into our Soul Tool Department."
Fan Yu could already picture the Soul Tool Department filled not with the handful of people it had now, but with crowds of students, its teachings flourishing far and wide.
But none of that had anything to do with them at the moment.
Fan Yu didn't ask Zhou Yi how she planned to do it. He trusted her to handle everything.
When something seemed off in the view through the Soul Tool Telescope, Fan Yu asked, "What's that little girl Xiao Xiao doing now? Why isn't she moving?"
Zhou Yi took a Soul Tool Telescope from her storage tool and looked toward Xiao Xiao. Just as Fan Yu had said, Xiao Xiao was standing still.
They were too far away to see anything but Xiao Xiao standing motionless. They couldn't see that her big eyes were tightly shut.
But the next moment, they saw Xiao Xiao turn into a ball of light and float upward.
Xiao Xiao felt the resonance inside her growing stronger. It was just like the feeling she'd had that day when the Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldron and Xiao Sheng's Xuanyuan Sword resonated—a perfect match.
Her Soul Power began draining rapidly.
She was still a little excited about it.
The first time she used a Martial Soul Fusion Skill, her body had been too "weak," and she hadn't even remembered how they'd fused.
"Will I get to see myself using the Martial Soul Fusion Skill with Xiao Sheng this time?" Xiao Xiao asked the Love System.
She'd been unable to use the Martial Soul Fusion Skill last time, and that had left her upset for quite a while.
The Love System gave her a strange response.
[Of course. Have you forgotten what pills you snuck from that senior Alchemist of yours? They were all supplements...]
"Enough... enough."
Having her secret exposed left Xiao Xiao feeling rather embarrassed.
"As long as I stay conscious, that's all I need. Don't talk so much. Haven't you heard that family secrets should stay in the family?" Xiao Xiao lectured the Love System in a grown-up tone.
Seeing her like that, the Love System didn't finish what it had been about to say. It fell silent.
Xiao Xiao poured all her Soul Power into it.
Light radiated from her, and her aura spread toward Xuanyuan Sheng in the tree like a vast web of spider silk.
Then...
Xiao Xiao saw her body begin to fade away, transforming toward the ball of light.
Like a drifting duckweed, the ball of light floated over and settled on Xuanyuan Sheng.
"Wasn't a Martial Soul Fusion Skill supposed to fuse two Martial Souls together? Why did I turn into a ball of light?"
Xiao Xiao was bewildered by what was happening. She remembered it hadn't been like this before. How was she supposed to openly cling to Xiao Sheng now?
So that's what you were thinking about?
The Love System swallowed the words it had been about to say to warn her.
Xuanyuan Sheng looked at the ball of light before him.
To his senses, it resonated with his Martial Soul.
But was this a Martial Soul Fusion?
Why did it feel a little like piloting a Mecha—except he was the one being piloted?
He summoned the Xuanyuan Sword into his hand.
The ball of light approached the Xuanyuan Sword obsequiously. The moment it touched the blade, it transformed into its current form.
Xuanyuan Sheng held the Xuanyuan Sword, while Xiao Xiao became a special presence, a sword spirit floating beside the blade.
Like a dragonfly skimming the water.
He walked toward the Copper-Toothed Pig, which was charging around mindlessly.
He swept his sword lightly to the side.
The tree beside the thousand-year Copper-Toothed Pig split in two and slid apart first. A moment later, the beast itself crashed to the ground, shaking the earth.
"That's... it?"
Before Xiao Xiao could even process what had happened, she changed from her intangible sword-spirit state back into her physical form, and Xuanyuan Sheng caught her securely.
Xuanyuan Sheng felt that Xiao Xiao was like some high-grade fusion material. He could try combining her with any Soul Skill.
That state just now had been absolutely invincible.
Of course, he wasn't talking about himself, but Xiao Xiao.
An intangible sword spirit that could even attack on its own.
That was a whole different kind of strength.
The only downside was that this little girl was still too weak. She had used Soul Power this time, but that had only been a simple application of it.
As for skills, Xiao Xiao was still too far below him in rank. She needed to be no more than one major rank behind him; otherwise, she'd pass out as soon as they used one.
At least Xiao Xiao had experienced a few seconds of invincibility.
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