First Kiss

"Brother Xu... it seems like it can talk. Did you hear that?"

Meng Hongchen poked her head out from behind Xu Qing, staring in shock at the toad on the ground, croaking nonstop.

"A Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast that's already developed intelligence?!"

"Croak—!"

The Ice Clear Red Toad steeled its resolve and suddenly unleashed the ice-and-fire Soul Power inside its body. In an instant, its red body was streaked with blue and red as it writhed frantically, spewing flames from its enormous mouth without pause.

The orange-red flames struck the ice, scorching it into a smooth mirror that reflected the terrifying human figure behind the Ice Clear Red Toad.

"Human! How about you let me go? I have a fire attribute! You came to the Far North, so you must be looking for an ice attribute. I'm not compatible!"

Struggling in vain, the Ice Clear Red Toad had no choice but to resort to sweet-talking.

It hoped to persuade the humans with words. But the only ones with that kind of silver tongue were protagonists!

A mere toad.

"How about I take you to find the Vermilion Clear Ice Toads? My clan members are much stronger than me!"

I haven't even married a beautiful, rich toad, or made my way to...

Pfft—!

Four ice spikes appeared, pinning its limbs firmly to the ground. Now it couldn't move at all.

Xu Qing withdrew his pressure and spread out his spiritual power. Within a ten-mile radius, apart from the Vermilion Clear Ice Toad clan hidden in a crevice between glaciers and the Ice Silkworm buried in the snow, there were no other Soul Beasts.

"Finish it off. A Soul Beast like this, an oddity among its kind, is a rare find."

Xu Qing stepped back and folded his arms, ignoring the Ice Clear Red Toad's croaking curses on the ground. He lifted his chin and nodded at Meng Hongchen.

"Its cultivation really is at the ten-thousand-year level, around thirteen thousand years. It couldn't be more suitable for you. And with intelligence like that, it might even drop a Soul Bone."

"Mm-hmm, I'll listen to you, Brother Xu."

Meng Hongchen suppressed her curiosity about talking to the Ice Clear Red Toad.

She drew a fifth-grade Soul Tool longsword, its blade gleaming coldly. Before it even touched the toad, it began wailing.

"Croak, croak, croak! I'm useless, croak! I never got to support my croak-dad in his old age! I'm unfilial, croak! I never got to repay my croak-mom for raising me..."

"So noisy."

Meng Hongchen's eye twitched. Why did this toad remind her of her obnoxious older brother?

They were both such chatterboxes...

Swish—!

A dazzling silver gleam flashed, slicing cleanly through the toad's body and splitting it in two.

Thus fell a legendary croak.

Whoosh—

A deep black Soul Ring appeared. It was a rather peculiar ring, with flickering red light visible along its edge.

It shimmered in delicate strands, quite beautiful.

Hiss, hiss, hiss...

On the ground, the toad's body was corroded by the poison inside it, gradually vanishing into a wisp of smoke—and leaving behind a Soul Bone.

"A hand Soul Bone?!" Meng Hongchen cried, quickly picking it up and holding it out to Xu Qing. "It really dropped one!!"

"Thanks, Mother Nature, for the gift." Xu Qing took it. "Though its age is a little low, there's no doubt it's the most suitable Soul Bone for you."

Xu Qing examined the special Soul Bone. It was a left-hand Soul Bone.

It was covered entirely in layers of ice-blue bone armor, extending all the way to the wrist. But its inner surface was a vivid red.

That streak of red ran from the wrist through the metacarpal bones and finger bones, all the way to the fingertips. Each finger joint had a small raised spot, with green poison flowing inside.

"Don't rush. Absorb the Soul Ring first, then the Soul Bone. I'll keep watch."

Xu Qing tapped Meng Hongchen, who could barely restrain herself from leaning in to inspect the Soul Bone, and issued his order. She pouted, but obeyed.

Two and a half hours later.

Boom—!

Meng Hongchen rose to her feet. Her silvery strands stirred without a breeze, and her bright red eyes gleamed with an arresting light!

Level fifty-two!

"Give it to me, give it to me, Brother Xu! I can't wait!"

Half an hour later.

Boom—!

Level fifty-three!

"Phew..."

Meng Hongchen held out her left hand and stretched her slender, pale fingers. A faint blue glow flowed across them—the Soul Bone.

"Brother Xu..."

Her eyes sparkled. "This Soul Bone is so pretty..."

"I'm glad you like it. Want to try out the Soul Skill or anything?" Xu Qing asked.

"Mm... no." Rarely, Meng Hongchen refused. She gave a playful smile. "The selection exam is coming up soon. Brother Xu will find out then."

"Of course, if you can't wait, Xiao Meng would be very happy to tell you."

"Hehe, if it weren't for you, Brother Xu, I wouldn't have gotten such a great reward. Mmm... how should Xiao Meng thank you?"

"Brother Xu, I have a toad at home that dances at night~"

The stars shifted and time passed.

Meng Hongchen waited outside Xu Qing's villa. Brother Xu had said he wanted to give her a parting gift.

She figured he was only doing it because he felt shy. Hehe, understandable. After all, Xiao Meng was just so hard to resist.

Hehe, what could it be?

Clothes? Jewelry? Boys like Brother Xu usually gave girls those sorts of gifts, right?

Could it be... Brother Xu himself?

Meng Hongchen patted her daydreaming head and leaned against the wall, eagerly waiting.

"Good afternoon, Miss Meng. Here to see Xu Qing again?"

"Mm-hmm~"

Ye Guyi had just gotten off work. She'd seen this scene countless times over the past two months.

A lovely young woman boldly pursuing love—how enviable.

When will I meet someone like that...

No! Guyi, Guyi, how can you think like this? You're still so young, and already falling in love?!

That kind of thing is absolutely forbidden!

As long as Evil Soul Masters remain, the Angel Clan must never rest!

Bearing the mission of restoring the Angel Clan, I, Guyi, must never lose myself in a life of tenderness!

"Good afternoon."

Xu Qing appeared and greeted the Angel girl he hadn't seen in a while, then handed Meng Hongchen a box containing the Titan Snow Demon Soul Bone.

"Open it when you get home..."

He didn't get to finish. Meng Hongchen, too impatient to wait, had already discreetly opened a small gap.

Boom—!

A wave of dense Soul Power, almost solid, surged through the opening like an invisible gust of wind, sweeping across her face and lifting a few strands of silver-white hair.

A Soul Bone!!!

A storm surged through Meng Hongchen's heart!

It was nothing like that Soul Bone that had been only ten thousand years old.

As the apple of Mingde Hall's eye, she wasn't exactly free to pick and choose ten-thousand-year Soul Bones, but she certainly wasn't short of them.

So when the toad had dropped one, Meng Hongchen had only been surprised that Xu Qing had called it.

But the Soul Power coming from this box was stronger than that of the several Soul Bones, seventy or eighty thousand years old, in her grandfather's collection room!

Could it be... a hundred-thousand-year Soul Bone!?

This, this, this...

Meng Hongchen didn't dare think any further.

She drew a deep breath, her gaze growing firmer.

I have to reward Brother Xu! That's what the heroines in storybooks do!!

She put the box back into her Storage Soul Tool, swept her hair behind her ear, grabbed Xu Qing by the collar with both hands, and rose onto her tiptoes.

Mwah~