Xiao Wu, Be My Accessory

Su Mo accepted this calmly.

At first, he had not wanted to get involved with Xiao Wu.

But Xiao Wu had something he needed.

He had disliked Xiao Wu before because he thought there was something wrong with her head. Her actions in the original story had been utterly brainless.

She trusted humans too easily. Even knowing her identity might be exposed, she still dared to participate in the Soul Master Tournament.

She herself had not known that the Soul Beast aura on her body could be concealed by the Lovesick Heartbreak Red.

She had clearly entered the human world to cultivate, grow stronger, and avenge her mother's death, yet she had ultimately thrown all of that aside.

All she wanted was to fall in love!

She had completely become someone else's accessory.

But to be fair, when Xiao Wu directed that love-struck mindset at him, Su Mo felt that those were not flaws at all.

They were clearly advantages!

Who would not want a woman whose entire heart and attention were focused on him?

And once Xiao Wu became an adult, that face, that figure, those long legs—he definitely would not lose out by getting his hands on her!

She was free, anyway. There was no reason not to take her.

He could keep plucking rabbit fur from Xiao Wu, too!

Xiao Wu's remaining Soul Skills were also quite good.

Invincible Golden Body and Intangibility were both incredibly rare life-preserving Soul Skills.

"Really? It can really conceal the Soul Beast aura on my body?"

Upon hearing Su Mo's words, Xiao Wu's face immediately lit up with delight.

"It's true!"

Su Mo nodded with certainty.

That was established in the original story, so it had to be true.

"Mhm, mhm!"

Xiao Wu jumped happily, then held the Lovesick Heartbreak Red in her palm as Su Mo had instructed.

Soon after, the Lovesick Heartbreak Red automatically took root in Xiao Wu's body.

"It really grew on me!"

Xiao Wu bounced excitedly as she told Su Mo about the changes brought by the Lovesick Heartbreak Red parasitizing her body.

It was as though it had taken root within her.

After hearing that, Su Mo found himself unable to understand the incident in the original story where the Lovesick Heartbreak Red fell from Xiao Wu's body.

Ning Fengzhi had merely summoned his Martial Soul and used a Soul Skill, yet it had somehow shaken the Lovesick Heartbreak Red right off Xiao Wu.

That was obviously unreasonable.

Perhaps there had been some other special circumstance at the time!

Su Mo did not dwell on it.

"Keep the Lovesick Heartbreak Red on you and do not absorb it. Absorb this Narcissus Jade Muscle Bone instead!"

Su Mo then picked another Immortal Herb for Xiao Wu.

He did not dare let Xiao Wu directly absorb the Lovesick Heartbreak Red, worried that absorbing it would eliminate its ability to conceal her Soul Beast aura.

He chose the Narcissus Jade Muscle Bone for Xiao Wu because, in the original story, Tang San had originally prepared this Immortal Herb for her.

Clearly, this Immortal Herb was the most suitable for Xiao Wu.

In the original story, it had increased her Soul Power the most. And just from its name, one could tell it also had beautifying effects, making it even less worth missing.

"Mhm, mhm! I'll eat it!"

After realizing her feelings, Xiao Wu was clearly starting to look like Su Mo's accessory. Whatever Su Mo said, she obeyed.

Meanwhile, in Spirit City.

An unprecedented grand gathering began in Spirit City.

The main gates of Spirit City had been thrown wide open since dawn. On either side of the gates stood two rows of Spirit Hall deacons dressed in Platinum Deacon robes, solemn and respectful.

The main road within the city had long been cleared and covered with a brand-new red carpet that stretched all the way from the city gates to the enormous square before Pope Palace.

At the center of the square stood a majestic temporary circular council hall.

The entire hall was built from white stone, with a dome over thirty meters high and enough room inside for hundreds of people.

Above its main entrance hung a massive banner bearing eight gilded characters: "Soul Masters Under Heaven, Gather for This Grand Occasion."

From dawn onward, Titled Douluo began arriving one after another.

The first to arrive was Sword Douluo Chen Xin of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. Dressed in snow-white robes, with the Seven Kill Sword at his waist, he descended slowly from the clouds through the air. Behind him followed Ning Fengzhi, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's leader, along with more than ten sect disciples.

Ning Fengzhi wore a gentle smile and carried himself with elegant grace. After exchanging a few pleasantries with the Spirit Hall deacons who came to greet them, he entered the hall under their guidance.

Then, the heavens suddenly changed.

The sky to the northwest was abruptly shrouded in purple-gold thunderclouds. Lightning serpents writhed within them as thunder boomed. A thick bolt of purple-gold lightning crashed down into the very center of the square. When the lightning faded, it revealed a tall, burly figure.

The newcomer was none other than Yu Yuanzhen, leader of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan and a level ninety-six assault-type Titled Douluo.

"So that's Yu Yuanzhen, the leader of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan? What terrifying pressure!"

"A level ninety-six Titled Douluo... one of the continent's greatest existences..."

Waves of astonished cries erupted from the crowd.

Yu Yuanzhen stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze sharp as lightning as it swept over the crowd in the square. Then he strode into the hall.

Several elders of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan followed behind him.

Major sects, family factions, academy factions, independent powerhouses... nearly every strong figure on the Douluo Continent had gathered here.

Three long chimes of a bell rang throughout Spirit City, officially beginning the grand gathering.

Under the gaze of the masses, Yu Xiaogang stepped onto the platform at the center of the circular hall.

He still wore that faded long robe, washed so often that it had turned pale. His hair was far whiter than it had been a year ago, and his figure looked even thinner. Yet his back remained perfectly straight, and his eyes held an almost obsessive resolve.

"Xiao Gang!"

When Liu Erlong saw Yu Xiaogang appear, her gaze immediately locked tightly onto him.

She noticed how much thinner Yu Xiaogang had become, as well as the heavy dark circles under his eyes. Everything showed just how much effort he had poured into his work over the past year.

Yet even so, Yu Xiaogang had failed to produce any results. Otherwise, there would not have been this grand gathering today.

But regardless, seeing Yu Xiaogang stand at such an important event, becoming the center of everyone's attention, still made Liu Erlong happy and proud for him.

After all, nearly every important figure on the Douluo Continent was gathered here!

When Yu Yuanzhen saw his son become the focal point of such an occasion, his expression was equally complicated.

There was pride, worry, anger... in short, it was complicated.

The entire hall was silent. Everyone's gaze converged on this man who had once been ridiculed by countless people as trash.

Yu Xiaogang spoke.

"Everyone." His voice was not loud, yet it reached every ear clearly. "I invited you here today because the Soul Master Creation Institute has encountered a bottleneck."

Yu Xiaogang did not exchange pleasantries or offer formalities. He went straight to the point. "A year ago, the Creation Institute established the research direction of Self-Condensed Soul Rings. But after a year, there has been little progress, so we need everyone's help!"

Low murmurs rose from below the stage.

The direction was certainly correct. Most of those present had similar speculations.

How to achieve it was the true difficulty.