Out in the Open

Hearing the others whisper among themselves, Su Yun no longer felt embarrassed about having just dressed as a girl. She greeted everyone openly.

"Monkey! A Hu! Old Six..."

When Su Yun called them by their nicknames, the children were all dumbstruck, their faces filled with bewilderment.

Su Yun could only sigh helplessly and speak again.

"It's me, Su Yun."

At the sound of that name, the children thought they must have misheard.

"Su Yun?"

"You're Yun... Brother Yun?"

Old Six rubbed his eyes, then looked at the girl before him again. He could vaguely make out Su Yun's features, and couldn't help sucking in a sharp breath.

After a month together, he'd thought he already knew Su Yun well. But who could have imagined...

Monkey was the first to react. He smacked Old Six on the head.

"What do you mean, Brother Yun? From now on, call her Sister Yun!"

At Monkey's words, the whole group respectfully called out,

"Sister Yun!"

A few of the bolder children even praised Su Yun.

"Sister Yun, you're so pretty!"

"Sister Yun! You're the prettiest girl I've ever seen!"

[Friendship Points +0.5 from Zhang Ningyuan.]

[Friendship Points +0.4 from Ma Rui.]

[Friendship Points +0.3 from Jiang Bo.]

...

Her Friendship Points climbed again, and Su Yun was delighted. Even a mosquito was meat, however small. The seven children had given her a total of 3 Friendship Points, so she immediately waved a hand grandly.

"Great! After you awaken your Martial Souls, I'll play Monopoly with you."

"Yay!"

"Sister Yun is the best!"

The children cheered.

Tang San stood quietly to one side, gazing at Su Yun, a trace of sympathy appearing in his eyes.

From their earlier conversation, he'd already learned about Su Yun's background. Her family had once been quite wealthy, but for certain reasons, they'd left their original city and planned to settle in Nuoding City. Then bandits had attacked them on the way, killing her entire family and leaving only her, a six-year-old girl, alive.

She's even more pitiful than I am!

Tang San thought about his own circumstances. Although Tang Hao didn't pay much attention to him and he usually had to take care of himself, his situation was still countless times better than that of the girl before him!

No matter what, he still had his father, while the girl before him had lost everything!

She loves making friends so much. She must be afraid of being lonely!

[Friendship Points +20 from Tang San.]

Huh?

A new line of text suddenly appeared on the panel, making Su Yun very happy. Her Friendship Points had finally passed 201!

Su Yun immediately opened the system panel and selected the Beginner Gacha Interface.

[Beginner Martial Soul Lottery.]

[Beginner Soul Skill Gacha.]

[Beginner Soul Bone Gacha.]

[Beginner Soul Tool Gacha.]

Looking at the four options before her, Su Yun used her mind to select the first one.

[Beginner Martial Soul Lottery]

That's right, Su Yun planned to draw another Martial Soul to tide her over.

Just like Tang San: she could cultivate Blue Silver Grass as usual, then add Spirit Rings to the Clear Sky Hammer after her level rose.

The Superman Physique was far more powerful than the Clear Sky Hammer, so she naturally had to cultivate it properly. That meant making up for its weaknesses, and Su Yun had already thought of several suitable Spirit Skills.

[Growth Spirit Skill · Soul Forge.

Description: Absorbs souls to increase maximum health. Can be actively activated to create a defensive shield that absorbs damage (the shield's value is 30% of maximum health), then detonated to deal massive damage to nearby enemies.

Price: 1,000,000 Friendship Points]

[Growth Spirit Skill · Calculated Punch

Description: The Spirit Skill's level rises with health. Converts 100% of damage taken into "Grit," up to a maximum of 50% of maximum health. Then delivers a powerful punch in a chosen direction, dealing defense-ignoring true damage to enemies along the centerline of the affected area and physical damage to enemies on either side. Also grants a shield equal to the amount of Grit released. The shield slowly decays over 10 minutes.

Price: 500,000]

[Growth Spirit Skill · Darkness Shield: Continuously consumes Soul Power to provide a Soul Power shield. It can absorb magic damage and grants immunity to all restriction and control skills.

Price: 800,000]

All three Spirit Skills came from hero skills in League of Legends, a game Su Yun knew inside and out. They could make up for the flaws in her [Superman Physique].

After all, absorbing sunlight with the [Superman Physique] only increased her resistances, strength, and speed.

Health, spirit, and magic resistance were all weak points.

But with these three Spirit Skills, the [Superman Physique] would have no weaknesses left. She'd be absurdly tanky, while [Darkness Shield] would grant her immunity to all mental control and restriction effects.

After her opponent went to all that trouble to break through the [Soul Forge] shield, they'd discover Su Yun glowing with golden light from head to toe.

Good grief!

She didn't even dare imagine how terrifying the [Calculated Punch] from Superman would be!

Of course, these Spirit Skills were powerful, but they were expensive too! Even the cheapest cost 500,000. Even if she squeezed 180 Friendship Points out of Tang San every day, she'd still need seven years to buy one.

Could Su Yun really stay stuck at level 10 for all seven years? So drawing a Martial Soul to tide her over was a necessity.

Unlike the [Top-tier Martial Soul Lottery], the [Beginner Martial Soul Lottery] was a huge slot machine stuffed with all kinds of prizes. Su Yun spotted plenty of good things, like the Tool-type Martial Soul · Demon Blade Thousand Blades, the Tool-type Martial Soul · Sleeve White Snow, and the Food-type Martial Soul · Potion...

It was just that the odds of winning any of these Martial Souls were 0.02%. She could admire them, and that was about it.

Su Yun had already prepared herself to draw ordinary Martial Souls like the Refined Iron Bow, Ox Horse, or Wisteria.

As 100 Friendship Points were deducted, the huge slot machine began to turn slowly.

Su Yun wasn't feeling particularly nervous. She already had the [Superman Physique], so she could accept whatever Martial Soul came next.

But when the huge slot machine stopped and a gray orb popped out, Su Yun realized she'd been too naive!

[Better luck next time.]

F***!!

Su Yun trembled with rage. Just like that, 100 Friendship Points had gone down the drain!

What a garbage gacha! It had ruined her youth!

Tang San, standing nearby, saw Su Yun like this and assumed she was nervous. He immediately came over and said with determination,

"Xiao Yun, don't be afraid.

I'll stay with you."

The sudden voice made Su Yun instinctively want to step back. Especially that line, "I'll stay with you," which gave her goosebumps all over. But in the end, she steadied herself, put on a sweet smile, and nodded lightly.

"Mm..."

[Friendship Points +10 from Tang San.]

Another batch of Friendship Points came in, and Su Yun felt a little less disgusted.

By then, Old Jack had finished speaking with the Soul Master who'd come to awaken the children. Su Yun took the chance to glance at the legendary "Blind Douluo," Su Yuntao, who'd awakened countless god-level Martial Souls across the myriad worlds.

He was in his twenties, with sharp brows and bright eyes, and wore a white outfit that fit him snugly. He was quite handsome.

Su Yuntao then shifted his gaze to the children. When he saw Su Yun, a flash of admiration crossed his eyes. He seemed surprised that such a pretty girl could appear in a little village like this.