Budding Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum

Su Yan returned to the Martial Soul inner world, where only four gray orbs still floated in the air. The gray orbs belonging to Xiao Chenyu and the enforcer from just now had not appeared.

It seemed that merely making contact was not enough to obtain the gray orb of another's Martial Soul; there were still prerequisite conditions to fulfill.

Su Yan had no time to dwell on it. He removed the White Gem of the Blue Silver Grass, swapped it for the Wolf's Blue Gem, and returned to the outside.

"Is there any way to unlock the door and get out?" Zhu Zhuqing, who rarely moved from her spot, had also come up to the door.

Su Yan turned his palm upward, and a burning Blue Silver Grass appeared in his hand: "With this."

"That's... Blue Silver Grass." Zhu Zhuqing's usually cool eyes gradually grew heated. As she watched the swaying Blue Silver Grass, a force etched into her very soul drove her to reach out and scratch at it.

She half-threw herself toward Su Yan, raising one hand to paw at the tip of the Blue Silver Grass, her fingers entwining with it.

Almost instantly, a trace of clarity returned to her flushed pupils. She jerked back as if shocked, sitting down in her original spot.

Zhu Zhuqing's cheeks burned, flushing a rosy red. Her slightly pale lips parted as she said, "I'm sorry... I still can't fully control myself."

Su Yan was stunned for a moment. He watched the flame-wreathed Blue Silver Grass twist in its graceful, flowing curves, not quite understanding. When he looked closely, he noticed that the Blue Silver Grass was crookedly covered in three characters: Cat Teaser Stick!

He looked at Zhu Zhuqing and laughed silently.

He hadn't expected this little kitten to be so adorable.

Zhu Zhuqing's Martial Soul was the Hell Spirit Cat, a top-tier beast Martial Soul that preserved the innate nature of a little cat etched into her bones.

Perhaps sensing Su Yan's unabashed stare, Zhu Zhuqing seemed a little flustered. She clutched at her clothes with both hands, hung her head, and tried her best not to look at the Blue Silver Grass.

"You... how are you going to use this to unlock the door?" Zhu Zhuqing asked.

Hearing this, Su Yan focused his mind and gathered his energy: "If it were ordinary Blue Silver Grass, there would be no way. But this Martial Soul of mine is different."

Zhu Zhuqing watched as the cat teaser stick transformed into the shape of a key. Most of her interest faded, leaving only the part that cared about being able to open the lock.

She said excitedly, "Then we can get out!"

As soon as she said this, the other children all lifted their heads and looked over.

Out. What a foreign word.

"Out? How do we get out?"

Not far away, a small boy who looked extremely thin and frail was covered in dirt. His face, body, and clothes all had bloodstains of various sizes.

"When the door opens, we can get out," Zhu Zhuqing said.

"The guards outside are tight. At the very least, they're all two-ring Soul Grand Masters. We're just kids who don't even have one ring. We can't run away," the dirty-faced boy said. His eyes held only endless emptiness and deep despair.

Su Yan turned around and said seriously, "Have you been out before? Do you remember what it's like outside?"

"I have been out, but I couldn't get far at all. Outside, it's all people—all their people." The dirty-faced boy leaned against a pile of hay and sighed. "If we go out, we'll die."

"Die..."

The flame of hope that had just been kindled in some of the children was instantly extinguished. But another part of them still longed for freedom.

"Even if I die, I still want to get out."

"Me too."

Those children who wanted to leave all gathered at the door, waiting for Su Yan to open it so they could surge out in a flood. After that, each would rely on their own abilities, life or death be damned.

"No. This time, only I can go out," Su Yan said, ignoring the voices of doubt. "Quiet. If we all go out together, the target is too big. Not a single one of us will escape. Let me go out first to find the Martial Soul Hall and have them send people here. Then everyone can be saved!"

"This..." The children hesitated.

"What if you run out on your own and don't come back..."

"Trust me. I will definitely come back," Su Yan said. Looking at the children's hesitant and helpless faces, he took the Red Crystal Pendant from around his own neck and placed it in Zhu Zhuqing's hand.

"This is a pendant my master gave me. It's very important to me. I'm leaving it with Zhuqing. You can rest assured now, right?"

Hearing this, the children exchanged glances. In the end, they reached a consensus and placed all their hope on Su Yan.

One by one, they returned to their original spots and sat down. Only Su Yan and Zhu Zhuqing remained by the door.

"Let me go. I'm fast," Zhu Zhuqing said, pushing the pendant back to Su Yan. "An ordinary one-ring Soul Master can't keep up with my speed."

"Do you know where the Martial Soul Hall is?" Su Yan asked.

Zhu Zhuqing shook her head.

"Do you know who to ask for help?" Su Yan asked again.

Zhu Zhuqing shook her head again.

"Then how will you find rescue once you're out?" Su Yan asked once more.

"I..." Zhu Zhuqing couldn't answer.

She wasn't familiar with Notting City at all.

"Take this. It's for saving your life." Su Yan took a budding chrysanthemum from his belt and pressed it into Zhu Zhuqing's hand. "This is a Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum. Inject your Soul Power into it, and it will bloom, forming a protective light barrier. With your current Soul Power Level, an ordinary Soul Ancestor won't be able to break through its defense."

"What about you?"

"I still have my own. Be careful—this is one-time use." As Su Yan spoke, after confirming no one was outside, he controlled the flame-wreathed Blue Silver Grass to seep through the crack in the door, find the keyhole, surge in and take its shape, then twist.

Click.

The copper lock clicked open.

Su Yan cautiously opened the door, craning his neck to observe left and right. Only after confirming there was truly no one around did he step outside.

Before leaving, he said, "Take good care of my pendant."

With those words, Su Yan locked the door again, turned, and vanished into the night.

Zhu Zhuqing hung the crystal pendant around her neck, clutching the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum tightly in her hand, silently praying that everything would go smoothly.

The Lord's mansion was no small place. Su Yan hid in a small grove of trees, his pitch-black eyes scanning the pitch-black surroundings, relying only on the moonlight to barely make out the path.

He entered the Spirit Soul World, reached up, and grabbed the gray orb of light that had just appeared. Curled up inside it was a cat.

A Hell Spirit Cat.

For walking the night road, there was no more fitting spirit soul than this.

He sank his qi into his dantian, controlling his soul power as it surged into the orb.

The gray orb gradually brightened, radiating an orange glow.

Su Yan's own soul power plummeted sharply, stopping only when it had dropped to the fourth rank.

In his hand now rested an orange gem.

Su Yan removed the White Gem of the Blue Silver Grass and embedded the orange gem of the Hell Spirit Cat in its place.

"Blazing Spirit Cat, incomplete possession!"

Su Yan said softly. A pair of orange-red cat ears sprouted from his head, his pupils turned fiery red, red fur grew along his limbs, and thick paw pads formed on his hands.

The road that had been hard to see before was now crystal clear under the enhancement of his cat eyes.

His ears could hear farther, and the paw pads allowed him to move without a sound.

With everything ready, Su Yan followed the path he had come from, heading outward.

He had already taken many twists and turns when he came during the day. Though Su Yan had tried his best to memorize the features of each intersection, he still inevitably got lost.

Before he knew it, he had been wandering the grounds for over ten minutes, brushing past two patrols along the way.

Just what did Lord Xiao want with these children, to set up such a grand operation?

As he reached the outside of a courtyard, Su Yan heard a woman softly sobbing from inside the building.

Su Yan initially wanted to leave directly to avoid any unnecessary trouble, but then he heard the woman muttering to herself, "I don't know where they've taken Xiao Ran. I have to escape, tell his grandparents about this, and have them come raze the Lord's mansion to the ground!"