"Are you getting sick of me?"
Tian Meng's expression fell, and her voice grew choked with tears.
Compared to Bingbing, she really was useless. She couldn't play with ice without Ultimate Ice, and she was only half-competent when it came to spiritual power.
A million years of cultivation might have seemed like a legend to others, but she knew the truth: she was just a lucky weakling who couldn't fight.
But how could Jiang Yi look at her like that? When the two of them made their pact, he hadn't said anything like this...
"Of course not."
Looking at Tian Meng's pitiful expression, Jiang Yi couldn't help laughing. He wiped away her tears with his hand.
"Then what do you mean?"
Tian Meng lifted her head and looked at him sadly.
"I want you to try learning about Soul Tools, Sister Tian Meng. With your spiritual power, you'll definitely learn twice as fast."
Jiang Yi placed his hands beneath her arms and lifted her up in front of him, meeting her eyes with an encouraging look.
Tian Meng had cultivation but no powerful Soul Skill. She was practically born to be a Soul Engineer.
As far as cultivation went, hardly anyone on Douluo Continent could match her. That million years of accumulation was like a nuclear power source.
There was a limit to Soul Tools, too. Twenty thousand years from now, there would be a remarkable person who achieved mechanical ascension as an ordinary person and became a super-god-level powerhouse.
In terms of total energy alone, a super-god-level being was equivalent to a First-Level God without a divine throne.
"Soul Tools?"
Tian Meng paused.
She had seen human Soul Tools with Jiang Yi at Shrek Academy, but could this stuff really work?
"I heard that the Sun Moon Empire has Ninth-Level Soul Tools powerful enough to threaten Limit Douluos."
"And as the times progress, maybe one day Soul Tools will be able to threaten even gods..."
Jiang Yi smiled and patiently explained.
Then he lifted his face, showing off his profile at a precise forty-five-degree angle. His gaze suddenly turned melancholy.
"Maybe I won't live to see that day, but you will, Tian Meng. Soul Beasts like you live for so long..."
As he spoke, he lowered his eyes to Tian Meng, his face showing a touch of acceptance, a little tenderness, and a great deal of sincerity.
"Sister Tian Meng, I don't want you to be bullied by someone else after I'm gone."
Those words were a soft blade, stabbing straight into Tian Meng's heart.
"Jiang Yi..."
Seeing him act as if he were making his final arrangements, Tian Meng's nose stung. The emotions she had been holding back all this time finally burst forth.
"Waaah—!!!"
She flung her arms around Jiang Yi's neck and buried her face in his chest, fat tears pouring down without end.
"Wuwuwu... No! Even if I have to die, I won't let you leave me...!"
Talk of lifespan always struck at the heart.
But deep down, she knew that Jiang Yi could be right. The lifespans of humans and Soul Beasts were worlds apart.
Maybe one day, they would emerge from seclusion to find that Jiang Yi was already gone.
"I'll learn! I'll definitely learn!"
Tian Meng sniffled as she clenched her fists with determination. A light unlike any she had known before blazed in her golden eyes.
She couldn't hold Jiang Yi back. She had to help him become a god.
Only by becoming stronger could she keep Jiang Yi by her side. If one day Jiang Yi really was gone... then she would create a world where he still existed.
"Mm, Sister Tian Meng. Once we get back in a few days, I'll find some Soul Engineer materials for you at Shrek Academy."
Jiang Yi held the little girl in his arms and looked at her fired-up face, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.
Done!
Give someone a fish, and you feed them for a day; teach them to fish, and you feed them for a lifetime.
Now he wouldn't have to supervise Tian Meng's studies. She'd probably be working around the clock on her own.
After comforting Tian Meng, the two of them set to work and mined every last Ice Pole Divine Crystal from the cave.
While the forging system had yet to take shape, these were the finest materials available.
Jiang Yi put the final Ice Pole Divine Crystal away, quickly left Earth Dragon Gate, and slipped off into the night.
Dawn was just breaking.
A pair of beautiful eyes slowly opened in the room.
"Qiuqiu!"
Nan Shuishui abruptly sat up, her gaze darting around in a panic until she saw Nan Qiuqiu and finally let out a breath.
"Thank goodness you're all right!"
She checked her daughter's body. Seeing that she was merely asleep, Nan Shuishui finally sagged against the headboard in relief.
"Phew... That senior seems to have kept his word, at least."
Nan Shuishui let out a breath. A glimmer passed through her beautiful eyes as she recalled the previous night, still shaken by what had happened.
Compared to a true powerhouse, she was far too weak. She hadn't even seen the black-robed man's Martial Soul.
"Ultimate Ice."
She raised a slender finger and gently touched her fair neck, recalling how it had felt.
That bone-deep cold had unquestionably been the property of Ultimate Ice. Otherwise, her Rouge Dragon Martial Soul wouldn't have been defeated so easily.
"A Super Douluo with Ultimate Ice... I wonder which faction on the continent he belongs to."
A trace of envy flashed in Nan Shuishui's eyes. Then a blush spread across her still-lovely face.
Only now did she notice the chill across her chest. Her bodice had been tied backward... but the Soul Tool necklace was still there.
"Hmm?"
Nan Shuishui pulled the necklace from her chest and sent her spiritual power into it. Her expression slowly turned strange.
Only a few bank drafts remained inside the Soul Tool. Everything else had vanished.
Why had he taken only things that weren't worth much?
"Hopefully... this will be the end of it."
Nan Shuishui fell silent for a moment, then rose and straightened her disheveled clothes. Her expression was calm, and she didn't make a fuss.
Against a powerhouse like that, Earth Dragon Gate could do nothing. Making a scene would only invite trouble.
A few more days passed in a flash.
"Finally, I'm back."
Jiang Yi looked up at the city in front of him, a smile appearing on his face.
It had been more than half a month since he'd asked for leave and left Shrek Academy.
This trip had been fruitful indeed.
He'd originally planned to stop by the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Eye on the way, but after thinking it over, he decided against it.
Given Tang San's nature, the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Eye most likely had safeguards in place. Otherwise, no one would have gone in for ten thousand years.
Next time, he'd make proper preparations and bring either Tang Wutong or Tang Ya along to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Eye.
Shrek City was still as bustling as ever.
Along both sides of the street outside the academy, street vendors called out one after another, while the enticing aroma of hot food filled the air.
"Nannan, this is the grilled fish you love! I waited in line for ages to get it, so hurry up and have a few bites while it's hot—"
Xu Sanshi held up several skewers of grilled fish, bending forward with a shameless grin as he followed two young women. His expression was both lecherous and lovesick.
Some distance behind him, a well-mannered young man followed along. At least he looked much more respectable.
"Stop following me! I don't know you, Xu Sanshi!"
Jiang Nannan gave him a disgusted look and warned him in a cold voice.
This guy was absolutely revolting.
Ever since their first year at the academy, when she'd glanced at him once, he'd stuck to her like a dog-skin plaster.
She could usually give ordinary suitors a few gentle words of advice, but this kind of person made her sick.
What did he even like about her? She'd change it, for crying out loud!
"Nannan, you know my name, and you still say we're not close~ Don't say things you don't mean, Nannan, sweetheart~"
Xu Sanshi didn't take it to heart. His simpering smile only grew wider.
He truly loved Jiang Nannan. For her sake, he had even chosen to postpone the awakening ceremony his family had arranged.
His perfect first time had to be for his goddess.
(Contradiction with the original setting: this version uses the timeline where awakening happens at fourteen, with a few additional fanfic changes.)
"Bei Bei, can you drag this pest away and stop him from following us? Please, I'm begging you..."
Tang Ya took Jiang Nannan's arm and looked at Bei Bei, who was following at a distance.
Because of the camaraderie they'd shared that night, her relationship with Jiang Nannan had somehow become strangely closer.
Over the past few days, she'd also felt Jiang Nannan's pain.
"Teacher Xiao Ya!"
When Bei Bei saw Tang Ya speak to him first, his eyes lit up. Even his previously haggard complexion flushed with color.
He adjusted his collar, then strode toward Xu Sanshi, who was still buzzing away like a fly, like a knight answering a sacred command.
"Ow—Bei Bei! What are you doing~?!"
Xu Sanshi cried out as he and Bei Bei started wrestling.
"We'd better go!"
Tang Ya seized Jiang Nannan's hand and prepared to make a run for it, only to find her standing stock-still.
"What's wrong, Nannan?"
She followed Jiang Nannan's gaze and saw a familiar figure approaching from the other end of the street.
"Sister Nannan, I'm back."
Jiang Yi hurried over, spread his arms, and swept Jiang Nannan into a hug.
"It's good you're back."
Jiang Nannan smiled and wrapped her arms around him, too.
Jiang Yi had been gone for more than half a month. It would have been impossible for her not to worry.
Just as the siblings were reuniting in a warm embrace—
A hysterical roar burst out beside them, so shrill it sounded like a pig being slaughtered.
"Bei Bei, get the hell away from me!"
Xu Sanshi wrenched himself free and stared at the two embracing figures, his eyes bloodshot and his breathing as heavy as an ox's.
I haven't even held her hand, and you're hugging her? What the hell?!
"Damn it—"
Gritting his teeth, he pointed at Jiang Yi, his veins bulging, his whole body like a volcano on the verge of eruption.
"You brat! Get your filthy hands off her, now!!!"
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