Xiao Wu: "I Want to Have Children with You!"

The deathly still surface of Lake of Life reflected Rogue Rabbit's pale, lost face.

The icy water soaked the hems of her pants, yet she did not notice at all. She only cried futilely toward the empty center of the lake, her voice broken and hoarse, carrying the despair of a young beast that had lost its clan's protection.

"Da Ming... Er Ming... answer me..."

"Big Sister Xiao Wu is back... stop hiding..."

Only the hollow echoes of the valley answered her, along with the wind's whimper through the dead forest, as if countless Soul Beasts' lingering cries were mourning.

Her tears burst forth like a breached dam, blurring her vision.

She collapsed onto the cold lakeshore, her small body curling into a ball. Her shoulders shook violently, and her suppressed sobs eventually became heart-wrenching, wailing cries.

Right now, she was just a little girl who had lost everything, lost and helpless.

Who knew how long she cried before Xiao Wu finally staggered to her feet, then turned around in a daze and headed toward Nuoding City.

The bustle of Nuoding Academy did not affect Su Mo in the slightest.

At that moment, Su Mo was on the training grounds, studying the Broken Sword Martial Soul in his hand.

Su Mo knew that after the Soul Beasts went extinct, Soul Skills could no longer be acquired by hunting Soul Rings. Every Soul Skill he had would have to be created by himself.

Su Mo planned to start with something simple.

Since his Martial Soul was the Broken Sword Martial Soul, he would first create some basic sword moves.

The Soul Masters of this world basically fought using Soul Skills.

However, those whose Martial Souls were weapons such as sabers, spears, swords, and staffs also learned and mastered a few weapon techniques.

It was simply that beginner Soul Master Academies did not teach those things.

Su Mo closed his eyes and tried hard to recall the basic sword moves he had seen in television dramas and game footage in his previous life.

Flashes of saber light and sword shadows, clean and fierce movements, rapidly passed through his mind: the weight of splitting Mount Hua, the swiftness of sweeping through a thousand armies, the precision of a single glint of cold light, the trickiness of slashing low and thrusting at the throat...

As for powerful sword techniques like Sword Twenty-Three and Ten Thousand Swords Return to Origin from Wind and Cloud, Su Mo could not gain much insight from merely recalling them.

After all, he had no way of knowing how the corresponding Internal Energy Method circulated.

Therefore, the flashy swordplay scenes in his memories were of no use to Su Mo right now. He could not create the corresponding sword techniques himself.

But the basic sword moves performed through physical movements—chopping, slashing, thrusting, and lifting—could bring Su Mo tremendous insight.

[ Ding~ The host is analyzing basic swordsmanship movements... ]

[ Ding~ Congratulations, host, you have comprehended basic swordsmanship... ]

The cold system prompt sounded at just the right moment.

Su Mo felt as though his thinking had been infinitely expanded and accelerated. Under the system's assistance, those vague impressions became incomparably clear and began automatically breaking down, analyzing the principles of force and combat intent within them.

He opened his eyes, his gaze as sharp as a sword.

"Chop!"

"Slash!"

"Thrust!"

"Lift!"

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~~~

Holding the Broken Sword Martial Soul, Su Mo made the broken sword dance in his hand. From initial awkwardness to proficiency, each move swiftly became second nature.

After comprehending basic swordsmanship, he had gone from a rookie who did not even know how to fight with a sword to a master swordsman.

All manner of basic sword techniques came effortlessly to his hand.

The eight foundational moves—chop, slash, thrust, lift, parry, sweep, raise, and deflect—evolved into endless sword techniques after he fully mastered them.

"Ha ha ha, that felt great!"

After unleashing a flurry of sword moves, Su Mo felt utterly exhilarated.

Not only did he feel that he had become stronger, he also felt that he looked incredibly cool right now.

It was just that the Broken Sword Martial Soul in his hand left Su Mo somewhat dissatisfied.

The broken sword in his hand looked rusty and worn, with even a small chip missing from its tip.

Originally, his Martial Soul could have evolved step by step by absorbing Soul Beast Soul Rings.

But now, that was no longer possible.

"If I want to evolve my Martial Soul, then aside from Soul Rings, there are Immortal Herbs!"

Thinking of this, Su Mo hurriedly asked the system, "System, are the Immortal Herbs in the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well still there? They did not all perish along with those Soul Beasts, did they?"

Su Mo asked this because he knew that those Immortal Herbs would also be classified as Soul Beasts in the future.

[ Ding~ The system is scanning... ]

[ Ding~ The Immortal Herbs in the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well do not possess self-awareness and are not Soul Beasts. They remain where they were. ]

The system quickly gave Su Mo an answer.

"Good, good, good. That's great!"

Su Mo immediately became excited upon receiving the answer.

This way, both his Martial Soul and his cultivation aptitude could evolve and transform.

However, after his initial excitement, Su Mo quickly calmed down.

It was certainly good that the Immortal Herbs were still there.

But with his current strength, picking those Immortal Herbs would not be easy.

There were no Soul Beasts left in Sunset Forest, so there was no danger from Soul Beasts. But the greatest danger was Dugu Bo!

Before he possessed sufficient strength, he definitely would not dare touch Dugu Bo's things.

Unless he could lure the tiger away from the mountain and draw Dugu Bo elsewhere.

After mastering basic swordsmanship, Su Mo threw himself into intensive cultivation once more, striving to accumulate Soul Power.

It had already been many days since he broke through level 10. He needed to condense his Soul Ring quickly.

"Waaah, Su Mo..."

Su Mo's orderly cultivation days were disrupted only when Xiao Wu returned.

The moment Rogue Rabbit came back, she threw her arms around Su Mo and burst into tears.

"Waaah..."

"Su Mo, all the Soul Beasts are gone..."

"All the Soul Beasts are gone. My entire clan is gone..."

"I can't find them no matter what I do... waaah... I have no clansmen left..."

Rogue Rabbit cried as if her heart had been torn apart!

Hearing those miserable cries, Su Mo felt a little sorry for her, but he felt even more of a headache.

He did not know how to comfort girls!

"Cough, cough..."

"Xiao Wu, you should think about it this way..."

"Every Soul Beast met with disaster, but you escaped it. You should be happy instead!"

Patting Rogue Rabbit on the shoulder, Su Mo still tried to comfort her.

"But... but I have no clansmen anymore..."

"From now on, I'll be all alone... waaah..."

Rogue Rabbit was not comforted at all and continued crying in Su Mo's arms.

Su Mo's head throbbed from her crying. If not for the fact that Xiao Wu had helped him comprehend the Self-Condensed Soul Ring and trick Tang San into giving him his Internal Energy Method, he truly would not have wanted to bother with her.

"How could that be? You're a girl. When you grow up, just find a man and have children with him..."

"When the time comes, you can have as many children as you want..."

Su Mo could only continue trying to comfort her.

His words seemed to have some effect, and Xiao Wu's crying gradually softened.

"Then... then when I grow up, I want to have children with you!"

At last, Xiao Wu raised her head, looked at Su Mo, and spoke.

"..."

Su Mo was speechless. When had their relationship become this good?

Had Rogue Rabbit turned her love-struck brain onto him?