The Soul Fighting had just ended when the scene made another abrupt leap. There was no warning, no explanation or lead-in—not even a pause in between.
But the rabbit quickly adapted, because most of what followed was presented this way: a series of extremely brief snippets stitched together.
[In the woods behind the training field, Huang Tian moved in a string of bizarre, unsynchronized steps, hopping from tree to tree. He wore no shoes; with every step, Soul Power burst from the soles of his feet, kicking up dust from the ground.
After running for a while, he suddenly stopped and clutched his head in frustration. "No, no, that's still not right. What exactly is going wrong?"]
[In the same woods, at the same spot, all kinds of obstacles and structures had been assembled out of stones, packed earth, and rotten trees. She followed Huang Tian, performing a series of extremely strange movements.]
[A gentle evening breeze stirred. She and Huang Tian sat side by side on a tree branch that stretched across the ground. The branch swayed with each gust, like a rocking chair.
A rather mischievous smile played on Huang Tian's lips. He leaned over and bumped her shoulder with his.
"Your name's Xiao Wu. Can you dance? Want me to choreograph a dance for you to perform?"]
[Xiao Wu was dancing for Huang Tian, her supple waist bending like a noodle, her rounded hips swinging wildly.
When she finished, she was just about to ask if it had looked good, hoping for some praise, when he insisted that from then on, she could only ever dance for him. She absolutely wasn't allowed to let anyone else know.
A moment ago, his expression had been so stern he seemed utterly resolute.
"No means no. It just won't happen. Do you even know what exclusive copyright means? I taught you this, so I'm the only one who gets to watch.
"If you dare do that, you'll never get anything from me again."
The next moment, his face suddenly blossomed into a smile. He tugged at her sleeve.
"Xiao Wu, will you please agree to this? I'll choreograph three more dances for you... No, five!"]
As the rabbit watched, she suddenly spotted the catch.
"Wait a minute. Why is Huang Tian in every single one of these? Where is everyone else?"
"And what's with this guy? He's so weird."
"But that dance looked pretty good. I could find a way to trick Huang Tian into making it.
"Heh, I really am clever."
The footage continued.
Halfway up a low hill stood two graves side by side. Their surfaces showed signs of recent repairs, and a great deal of freshly cut weeds lay scattered nearby.
Huang Tian held her little hand, his expression sorrowful yet hopeful.
"Xiao Wu, my parents died when I was four. I've lived alone ever since. When I look back on my memories, the clearest ones are of sitting all by myself in the courtyard, waiting for the sun to set.
"Sometimes I'd be lying in bed alone in the middle of the night, eyes open, waiting for dawn.
"I waited and waited, and time seemed to stand still. Everything in front of me stayed the same.
"When I got too bored, I'd talk to the chickens at home, but they never answered. They only stared at the food in my hand.
"So I'd grab a handful of corn and toss out just one kernel at a time. I'd watch them scramble for it, then toss out another after they'd eaten. I could keep doing that for half an hour.
"Xiao Wu, I've always wanted a family member. I suspect your family situation isn't any happier than mine. Otherwise, you wouldn't have forgotten to bring a blanket. You wouldn't have had no idea how to protect yourself.
"We can be friends to each other, rely on each other, and become each other's bond.
"One person is just one person, but two people can make a home.
"Xiao Wu, would you be willing to be my little sister?"
"So this guy really is an orphan. No wonder he got an extra ten-year Soul Ring."
"I guess I count as an orphan now, too?"
The rabbit didn't notice that, without realizing it, her resistance and wariness toward these strange scenes had vanished. She was immersed in them, happy when the characters were happy and sinking into sadness when they were sad.
Huang Tian's heartfelt confession immediately moved Xiao Wu. Her hand tightened ever so slightly around his.
The rabbit could clearly feel the stirrings of her own heart in the scene. She wanted to agree at once, because she, too, needed the comfort of family.
She was alone, drifting far from home, never knowing when she might be discovered and hunted down. The loneliness and fear in her heart were far greater than Huang Tian's.
But Xiao Wu still forced down her impulse and asked one question.
"If one day lots of people wanted to kill me, and they were all stronger than you, what would you do?"
"Then they'll have to step over my dead body first."
Huang Tian's voice was firm as a nail, without the slightest hesitation.
The footage abruptly ended there. But from that scene onward, Xiao Wu always called Huang Tian either "Brother" or "Brother Tian."
[Huang Tian successfully created a set of footwork that let him dodge faster and change direction suddenly. He taught it to Xiao Wu.]
[Tang San tried to trick Xiao Wu into revealing how to perform the footwork. Remembering that it was exclusive, she flatly refused.]
[Tang San used an iron mechanism to ambush Huang Tian, and the two clashed fiercely, nearly fighting to the death. Both suffered severe injuries.
But strangely, afterward, a great deal of talk that cast Huang Tian in a bad light suddenly spread around the academy.]
[When Huang Tian's Soul Power reached level twenty, he sought the academy's help in hunting a Soul Ring. Tang San's teacher, Yu Xiaogang, sternly tried to stop him.
He turned down Xiao Wu's offer to help, since she had obtained her Soul Ring first, and chose to enter the Soul Hunting Forest alone. Fifteen days later, he returned with a Hundred-Year Soul Ring.]
[Six years passed. The two were about to graduate from the junior Soul Master Academy when the principal offered to help them hunt their third Soul Rings. He was very friendly.
Afterward, he recommended an extremely unconventional advanced Soul Master Academy, one established specifically to cultivate the very best geniuses. It was called Shrek Academy.
To their surprise, as soon as they joined, they discovered that Tang San was also at the academy—and its principal, Flender, was an old friend of Tang San's teacher, Yu Xiaogang.]
[Soul Masters' bodies developed far faster than ordinary people's. At twelve, the two of them both reached adulthood, and some wonderful things happened.]
[Huang Tian's method of controlling Blue Silver Grass astonished Ning Rongrong, princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
She practically clung to him, asking how he did it whenever he appeared. She even tried bribing him with large amounts of Gold Soul Coins, Storage Soul Tools, and all kinds of books.]
[Huang Tian questioned Yu Xiaogang's lessons. After several discussions came to nothing, he decided to stop participating in the academy's training and cultivate his own way.]
[Something that greatly troubled Xiao Wu happened: the two other female students at the academy seemed to be growing unusually close to Huang Tian.
Take training, for example. At first, she was the only one who followed Huang Tian. Before long, Huang Tian was leading three girls, while Yu Xiaogang led the remaining boys.]
[Huang Tian created a special Meditation Method that was at least thirty percent faster than the version she cultivated.]
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