"It's just evolution. You think I don't know that?"
Xiao Xiao replied with a laugh.
[Good. Actually, your Martial Soul has a chance to awaken, too. I can guarantee it.]
"Hehe, I knew you were hiding something from me. Hurry up and tell me how to evolve it. Then I'll give Xiao Sheng a bridal-carry bear hug."
Xiao Xiao's plan was to add Soul Rings to her Gauntlet Martial Soul first, then give her other Martial Souls higher-level Soul Rings.
With the special trait of her Gauntlet Martial Soul, every level she gained would also improve her physical fitness.
If it could evolve, just how strong would she become? Then, when she and Xuanyuan Sheng were together...
Her little brain was full of naughty thoughts.
Hehe... Just thinking about Xiao Sheng calling her a weakling someday made her grin from ear to ear.
Xuanyuan Sheng felt an inexplicable wave of malice.
Who?
Who wanted to harm me?
Could it be that Three-Eyed Golden Lion? She hadn't spoken to him in ages because he wouldn't help her get her pig back. She must have left by now, right?
"Three-Eyed? Are you still there?"
Three-Eyed Golden Lion, who was hiding nearby, heard Xuanyuan Sheng call out to her and immediately wanted to launch herself into his arms.
But when she thought of going to wreck Xuanyuan Sheng's home, she stayed right where she was.
Your home and that Soul Beast are both mine. Just wait. The esteemed Auspicious Beast will make you regret this.
Xuanyuan Sheng couldn't sense any displeasure from Three-Eyed Golden Lion nearby. Only then was he sure she had really left.
After Zhang Lexuan and Ma Xiaotao finished packing everything up,
they came over to them.
"Xiao Sheng, Xiao Xiao, let's head back."
Xuanyuan Sheng merely reached out, and the Mecha Arm Xiao Xiao had been holding returned to his hand and vanished.
The group of them
followed the route they had taken on the way there, leaving the core area and heading back toward the academy.
"We're finally back."
Life in the wilderness had its charms, but there was nothing like a place where people lived to make you feel at home.
"Xiao Xiao, you don't have to feel nostalgic, do you?" Ma Xiaotao teased, looking at her.
Of everyone there, only Xiao Xiao lived in the Outer Courtyard, crammed into a small dormitory with other people. The rest of them lived in decent detached lofts.
Xiao Xiao's wistful expression froze.
Right. What was she feeling nostalgic about?
When she'd been living in the Star Dou Great Forest, shouldn't she have been celebrating that she'd finally escaped her Outer Courtyard dorm?
Why was she getting sentimental now?
Ma Xiaotao glanced at Xuanyuan Sheng, then lowered her voice. "If you don't want to live there, just call me 'big sister.' My spacious detached loft would be more than happy to welcome you. More importantly, it's not far from Xiao Sheng and the others."
Ma Xiaotao said that last part almost in a whisper, sharing something incredibly tempting that only the two of them could hear.
Close by?
A phrase popped into Xiao Xiao's mind.
Being close to the water meant getting the moon first.
If she lived nearby, wouldn't her relationship with Xuanyuan Sheng improve by leaps and bounds?
Zhang Lexuan watched the two schemers with amusement.
She reached out and smoothed Xiao Xiao's wind-tossed hair.
"Xiao Xiao, you can move into my loft and live with us."
"Really?"
Zhang Lexuan's suggestion thrilled Xiao Xiao. She could hardly imagine living in the same place as the person she admired.
Zhang Lexuan said gently, "After all, I'm your teacher now, too. I can take the two of you into the Inner Courtyard and have you stay by my side, just like Xiaotao."
Ma Xiaotao, who had suddenly been brought into it, awkwardly rubbed her cheek. She sounded like a student who hated going to class.
It was just that, whenever she taught, her students slept through the lessons.
Now that Xiao Xiao was Zhang Lexuan's student, she could go to Sea God Island, too. No one would object if she lived with Zhang Lexuan.
Without the slightest hesitation, Xiao Xiao wrapped both arms around Zhang Lexuan's.
"Sister Lexuan, please let me live with you."
Zhang Lexuan gently patted her on the head. "Of course. So, are you going to pack your things now and come with us to the Inner Courtyard?"
"I'm packing."
Xiao Xiao declared it without hesitation.
She couldn't imagine living in the Outer Courtyard for a few days, let alone staying there long enough for it to leave even the slightest memory in her heart.
Once she'd made up her mind,
the group decided to accompany Xiao Xiao to the mixed-gender dormitory building in the Outer Courtyard so she could pack her things.
"Xiao Sheng, I can't bring it inside. Could you look after it for me for a while?" Xiao Xiao handed the little pig to Xuanyuan Sheng and spoke playfully.
"Sure." Xuanyuan Sheng took the little pig, now tucked inside a box, and nodded.
Then he carried it over to the grass beside the road and sat down.
Xiao Xiao might have wanted to raise the little pig for a particular reason, but she had clearly decided to take good care of it.
Xuanyuan Sheng couldn't let her down.
He sat quietly nearby, keeping an eye on it so it wouldn't run off.
After a long while, the others still hadn't come down.
Xuanyuan Sheng guessed that Xiao Xiao was busy compressing all her belongings into zip files. At this rate, who knew how long it would take them to finish packing and come down?
"Hey, how much for that little pig?"
Just as Xuanyuan Sheng was thinking, a strong smell of alcohol drifted from beside him to the tip of his nose.
He turned his head slightly and saw a drunkard standing next to him. At some point, the man had appeared there, a chicken leg dangling from his mouth as he stared at the little pig in Xuanyuan Sheng's arms with shining eyes.
"Not for sale."
When he saw it was the drunkard Xuan Zi, Xuanyuan Sheng refused without a second thought. He didn't want to get tangled up with that unlucky fellow any more than necessary.
But the little pig in front of Xuanyuan Sheng became extremely excited when it saw Xuan Zi.
It kept pawing at the ground and leaping toward him.
Xuan Zi was delighted by the sight. "See? The little pig wants to come with me, too."
Xuanyuan Sheng calmly smacked the little pig.
"It doesn't want to come with you now. Move along. It's not for sale."
Xuan Zi sighed and had no choice but to leave.
What a pity.
Xuan Zi had only walked a dozen or so meters away when a flock of little birds flew in circles over his head above the trees.
After dropping a load of white stuff on him, they all flew back into the woods.
Xuan Zi was left standing there, dumbfounded.
As soon as Xuanyuan Sheng saw the flock overhead, he had already stepped back.
Those birds looked dangerous.
Still, what they'd done was pretty satisfying. They'd caught Xuan Zi off guard and dropped a sky-borne payload right on him.
For someone like him, who couldn't even tell what kind of behavior was appropriate, this was practically a blessing.
The real culprit behind it all muttered under her breath, "That'll teach you to try to steal my pig."
Before you continue