Finalizing the Journey, the Bed Was Too Soft

"Good child, you suffered before. From now on, I'll stand up for you in Fish Village. If anyone dares bully you, come tell me."

Old Man Yu was so moved by the barrage of melodramatic tragic stories Yu Yan had made up that tears glimmered faintly in his eyes. He looked lovingly at the pitiful Xiao Wu.

The Bala River, which connected to the sea, ensured the villagers had no worries about food or clothing. As a result, Fish Village had an excellent atmosphere, with villagers living in harmony and helping one another. Old Man Yu, who had never left the village in his life, had never heard such a tragic story.

Seeing Yu Yan's story move Old Man Yu to the verge of tears, Xiao Wu could not help looking at Yu Yan, wanting to ask what she should do.

This had not been part of their agreed-upon plan.

Yu Yan had not expected this either. He looked away, not knowing how to deal with the situation before him.

"Okay. Thank you, Grandpa Yu."

Unable to get any help from Yu Yan, Xiao Wu replied as obediently as she could.

Xiao Wu's attitude made Old Man Yu pity her even more. Pitiful yet sensible children always made people's hearts ache.

Thinking of this, Old Man Yu looked at Yu Yan again and could not help sighing. He lamented how similarly tragic the two children's fates were, and how alike their sensible personalities were as well.

"Grandpa Yu, because of those events, Xiao Wu still hasn't awakened her Martial Soul. When the villagers next head into the city, I want to take her to Spirit Hall in Balaque City to awaken it and see whether she can become a Soul Master."

Hearing Old Man Yu's sigh and clearly sensing that things were heading in an unfavorable direction, Yu Yan decided to steer the conversation back on track and brought up the reason they had come to see him.

"Yes, yes, this is indeed very important."

At the mention of Martial Soul awakening, Old Man Yu's expression immediately turned serious. He returned to his room, took out a small notebook, and began flipping through its records.

Because of his age, Old Man Yu wrote down many matters concerning the village in the notebook, lest he forget them.

Old Man Yu read very slowly. After flipping through it back and forth for a third time, he finally confirmed the next date to go to Balaque City.

"You two are lucky. A merchant caravan traveling between Balaque City and Suotuo City will pass through our village in three days. You can leave with the caravan then. It'll be safer that way."

"Yu Qiqiang from the eastern end of the village will be going to Balaque City with the caravan. I'll ask him to look after you two. Once you reach Balaque City, go awaken your Martial Souls. Don't wander around."

Old Man Yu found the next opportunity to travel to Balaque City and arranged Yu Yan and Xiao Wu's trip in advance.

"Grandpa Yu, don't worry. We definitely won't run around."

Yu Yan nodded in response to Old Man Yu's concern.

Standing beside Yu Yan, Xiao Wu nodded repeatedly as well, indicating that she would not wander off either.

After chatting at Old Man Yu's place for over half an hour, Yu Yan was chased away on the grounds that he was already a Soul Master and should stop lingering there and go do something useful.

Outside Old Man Yu's door, Xiao Wu burst into laughter as she watched the somewhat dejected Yu Yan. It was the first time she had seen that expression on his face. It was amusing—very amusing.

Listening to that grating laughter, Yu Yan strode forward.

Late at night, Yu Yan lay in bed, recalling everything that had happened that day. It all felt somewhat unreal.

So much had happened, despite it having been only a single day.

Yu Yan did not know how to evaluate those events, but he knew they were all beneficial to him.

After reviewing his plan and finding no issues with it, Yu Yan yawned and drifted into sleep.

Meanwhile, Xiao Wu lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep.

Many things had happened to Yu Yan today, and just as many had happened to Xiao Wu. Their states of mind were actually not that different.

In Xiao Wu's mind, two little Rabbits were arguing over what had happened today.

One said that Yu Yan was truly kind and someone worthy of trust;

The other said that Yu Yan was human, while she was a Soul Beast who had taken human form, so she needed to remain wary of him.

On the soft bed, Xiao Wu thought about many things before eventually falling asleep amid her chaotic thoughts.

"Hey, Xiao Wu, get up!!!"

The next morning, after washing up and preparing to head up the mountain to cultivate, Yu Yan checked the time and realized Xiao Wu was still not awake. He went to her room and knocked on the door.

Xiao Wu herself had said yesterday that she wanted to go up the mountain this morning to carefully see how Yu Yan cultivated, yet she was still not out of bed at this hour.

Before long, Xiao Wu's sleepy, soft voice came from inside the room.

After waiting two or three minutes, Xiao Wu opened the door and appeared before Yu Yan, her face still drowsy and her hair a mess.

"Um, well, I... the bed was just too soft."

Facing Yu Yan's scrutinizing gaze, Xiao Wu remembered what she was supposed to do that morning. After thinking for a moment with a stammer, she gave a remarkably wise explanation.

"Fine, fine, I get it. Hurry up and get ready. If we're any later, we'll miss the rising Morning Sun."

Yu Yan did not directly reveal the secret of the Purple Qi. He was not yet familiar enough with Xiao Wu to that extent. He merely said that his cultivation method was related to the rising Morning Sun.

Once they became familiar enough, and once Yu Yan figured out how to cultivate using Purple Qi, he would tell her about this special cultivation method.

Xiao Wu said nothing more. She took two minutes to quickly tidy herself up, then followed Yu Yan to the mountaintop to wait for the sunrise.

As the Morning Sun was about to rise, Yu Yan sat cross-legged and began cultivating using the Purple Qi that accompanied the rising sun.

When the Purple Qi was drawn into his body and began circulating, Xiao Wu, who had been watching Yu Yan closely, clearly sensed the Soul Power fluctuation from yesterday morning.

To sense it more clearly, Xiao Wu moved closer to Yu Yan and observed him more carefully.

Xiao Wu's perception was not weak. She could sense that the Soul Power fluctuations emanating from Yu Yan were entirely different from those produced during normal cultivation.

Xiao Wu had seen quite a few powerful human Soul Masters. Judging solely by the quality of Soul Power itself, this particular Soul Power was clearly of higher quality.

After carefully observing him, Xiao Wu became certain that the method Yu Yan had accidentally mastered—using the Morning Sun to cultivate—would definitely be of enormous help to her.

Seeing that she could not discern anything more, Xiao Wu sat cross-legged beside Yu Yan, wanting to see if she could comprehend this cultivation method herself.

Closing her eyes, Xiao Wu could sense that the surrounding Soul Power fluctuations were somewhat denser and slightly higher in quality than usual.

As she traced the source of this special Soul Power, Xiao Wu discovered in surprise that it seemed to originate from Yu Yan?!?

Sensing that this special Soul Power fluctuation was gradually dissipating, Xiao Wu had no time to ponder why. She hurriedly began cultivating.

This special Soul Power came from the Purple Qi being of too high a quality. Yu Yan had not fully absorbed it, causing some of the Soul Power to dissipate. Other Soul Masters could gain slight benefits by cultivating with this Soul Power.

The Soul Power transformed from Purple Qi that dissipated from Yu Yan had been filtered by him, so it no longer carried that scorching sensation.