Zhu Zhuqing quickly changed clothes, tidied herself up, and came to the table, where she polished off the nutritious meal.
Absorbing a Soul Ring was physically demanding. After pushing herself all night, she really did need to replenish her strength.
"Let's go see Master."
After eating quickly, Zhu Zhuqing wanted to share the good news with Chen An and, while they were at it, check out her Soul Skill's effects. After all, she was the first person in history to successfully use a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring as her third Soul Ring.
Ning Rongrong had no objections. She wanted to see the power of a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring for herself, and Chen An had told her earlier to come by once Zhu Zhuqing woke up.
"Master, I'm here."
Chen An was on the training ground, helping Luo Xiaoshi teach martial arts.
While Zhu Zhuqing had been unconscious, Chen An remembered that he'd promised to let his disciple teach students. But he'd gone into seclusion for a few days and completely forgotten about it. So he'd taken the opportunity to let Luo Xiaoshi fulfill that wish.
"How are you feeling?"
Zhu Zhuqing replied with a smile.
"Back to one hundred percent."
Seeing her so full of life and spirits, Chen An relaxed. His tone grew lighter, no longer as serious as before.
"Then congratulations on becoming the youngest recorded Soul Elder."
Zhu Zhuqing was about to turn twelve, so she truly deserved the title of youngest. Come to think of it, her birthday should be coming up soon.
"Hehe, thank you, Master. But you said 'recorded'—does that mean there are people who aren't recorded?"
Zhu Zhuqing replied instinctively, then followed up with the question. Chen An hadn't deliberately led her to it.
He thought about it. In his memories, Qian Renxue had possessed Innate Full Soul Power at level twenty. He just didn't know how old she'd been when she became a Soul Elder. But that wasn't important. He'd only meant to congratulate Zhu Zhuqing.
"I'm not sure, but I know someone had Innate Soul Power at level twenty."
His words shook the two girls' worldviews again. Everyone said that Innate Full Soul Power was level ten, and the two of them had always thought themselves somewhat gifted. It was hard not to feel a little discouraged.
"Really?"
"Whether it's true or not, it doesn't have much to do with us. Let's go to the usual spot in the back hills. You want to test your new Soul Ring's power, don't you?"
He'd hit the nail on the head. Someone else's talent had nothing to do with them. What mattered most was whether talent could be turned into strength.
So he brought the topic back around. He was curious about Zhu Zhuqing's third Soul Skill. She was his first student to use a God-Condensed Soul Ring, and she'd broken through her limits so many times to obtain it.
They arrived at their usual spot, which was deserted. After all, only Chen An and his disciples knew about this place.
"Master, my Soul Ring is 18,888 years old."
That might not seem particularly impressive, but for a Soul Elder, it was incredible. Chen An was delighted for her. What teacher wouldn't be happy to see their student succeed?
As she spoke, Zhu Zhuqing paused, as if unsure how to describe her Soul Skill.
"My Soul Skill is 'Lotus of Inner and Outer Killing.' I don't know exactly what it does yet."
Chen An wasn't surprised by the name of the Soul Skill, since it sounded a lot like skills belonging to Akali and Child Zed.
Besides, Zhu Zhuqing's Shadow Flow Profound Truth had hit a bottleneck. It wasn't surprising that she'd developed an ultimate move.
"Use it on me. Let's see how powerful it is."
Since Zhu Zhuqing didn't know its exact effects, and he'd never seen the technique in real life, he wanted to experience it for himself.
But after Chen An said that, Zhu Zhuqing's face clouded with displeasure, and she pouted slightly.
"Master... I can't hold back with this move. I can only go all out."
She didn't want to attack Chen An at all. Going all-out against her master—what would that be, a betrayal of all propriety?
Seeing her expression, Chen An guessed what was going through her mind and smiled warmly.
"Don't worry. You're only a Soul Elder. How could you hurt me?"
Even now, after breaking through to Titled Douluo, she couldn't have broken his defenses with a Soul Skill from a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring. And back when he'd only been a peak Soul Douluo, she couldn't have done it either.
Hearing that, Zhu Zhuqing understood. Right—how could a mere Soul Elder like her seriously injure her master, a Soul Douluo, and perhaps now a Titled Douluo?
Chen An hadn't told his disciples that he'd become a Titled Douluo. They only had their suspicions.
"Okay."
Zhu Zhuqing took up her stance. Now that she knew she couldn't hurt him, going all out was no problem.
Still harboring her usual resentment toward Chen An for hogging the good stuff, she activated the Nine Nether Profound Technique and her advanced Shadow Flow Profound Truth.
"My Style Ultimate Technique! Lotus of Inner and Outer Killing!"
Chen An was startled by how serious Zhu Zhuqing was. She was going for the kill!
But he still relaxed his guard and took the attack head-on. Otherwise, his body would instinctively retaliate, and he might hurt the girl.
In the blink of an eye, Zhu Zhuqing broke free of his lock. A shadow appeared alongside her as she launched a series of attacks. He could only faintly sense where she was.
"Death Mark and Perfect Execution?"
Chen An recognized what was happening. So Zhu Zhuqing's third Soul Skill combined the ultimate moves of those two characters.
Death Mark was Child Zed's signature ultimate move, while Perfect Execution was Akali's.
The power of combining the two went without saying. No wonder there was no conventional way to lock onto her real body.
"Master, how was it?"
After finishing the combo, Zhu Zhuqing was running low on Soul Power. Maintaining the shadow while coordinating its attacks was too much for her right now. She could only use it as a killing move.
"Very good. Ow, I think I'm grievously injured. I won't be able to cook for the next few months."
He couldn't say how much damage it could do, because its untraceable nature was simply too outrageous.
And both her real body and shadow had used Killing Chaos. Even a Soul Ancestor would probably have been defeated.
Zhu Zhuqing had been about to thank him earnestly, but Chen An's antics killed the mood. Now she just wanted to roll her eyes at her master.
Seeing that Little Zhu wasn't in the mood for any heartfelt dramatics, he went back to normal.
"What are you making such a fuss for? What level are you now?"
Chen An couldn't be bothered to check her level, so he simply asked.
"Level thirty-two."
"Mm. Once you reach level forty, you should be able to pull off two full combos in a row."
Zhu Zhuqing nodded, for now classifying the move as one to keep in reserve.
Ning Rongrong, standing nearby, was dumbfounded. What did it mean to wake up and discover that her senior sister's third Soul Ring was a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring, and that her Soul Skill was ridiculously powerful?
She didn't come back to her senses until Chen An walked up to her.
"Master."
"Don't just stand there in a daze. Your senior sister's matter is settled. Now it's time to deal with your problem."
Still only half-understanding and completely bewildered, Ning Rongrong followed Chen An and Zhu Zhuqing to the Technique Pavilion.
Still in a daze, she received a technique called the Nine Heavens Immortal Scripture, whose full name was the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden Immortal Scripture.
Then Chen An gave her two martial arts techniques.
One was called the Tianshan Plum-Plucking Hand, and the other was the beginner version of the Golden Light Divine Incantation.
"As a special auxiliary Soul Master, there's nothing wrong with having only support Soul Skills. But you can't hide behind others forever. If someone gets close, you need to be able to protect yourself."
Chen An explained it to Ning Rongrong as best he could.
Most importantly, these techniques didn't take up any Soul Skill slots. She could cultivate them on her own.
"Then, Master, could I have a few more techniques to cultivate?"
Ning Rongrong asked once she understood.
So she got a loving greeting from Chen An. He only spoke after seeing her clutch her forehead in pain.
"More isn't always better. If you bite off more than you can chew, you'll choke. Come back for more when you've mastered these two."
Ning Rongrong was still in pain, looking every bit like a poor, pitiful little girl.
Before you continue