Qian Renxue shook her head, no longer paying attention to those things. After coming ashore and changing her clothes, she studied the unfamiliar terrain for a moment, then headed downhill.
Although this place was rarely visited, there were still a few signs of human presence. Just as the saying went, there had been no road in the world to begin with; where enough people walked, a road would form.
Following the tracks worn into the ground, Qian Renxue soon made her way from the cliff to a narrow mountain path.
Just then, a hunched figure hurried toward her from up ahead. Seeing Qian Renxue, the old man immediately let out a relieved breath.
The old man looked a little annoyed. "You child, you're all grown up now. How could you forget it was time to eat? You must've fallen asleep somewhere again and lost track of time, right?"
Hearing the old man's scolding, Qian Renxue looked bewildered. He seemed to know the person whose body she was in.
The old man didn't notice anything different about Ye Yang. Seeing that Ye Yang was safe and sound, he relaxed.
"All right, now that you're back, hurry up and come eat with me. The food will be cold soon." The old man turned to look at Ye Yang following behind him and shook his head helplessly.
Qian Renxue wanted to find out who the owner of this body was, so she followed the old man.
Soon, the two arrived at a small village. This was the village where Ye Yang lived—Holy Soul Village.
Along the way, plenty of villagers greeted the two of them.
From the villagers, Qian Renxue learned that the old man's name was Jack. The villagers called him Old Jack, and he was the village chief.
The name of the body she was in was Ye Yang.
She also learned a few things about Ye Yang from the villagers' chatter. For instance, Ye Yang wasn't Old Jack's grandson; Old Jack had found him as a baby. When Ye Yang was six, he had failed to awaken his Martial Soul. He hadn't just been without Soul Power—he hadn't even possessed a Martial Soul.
That was what caught Qian Renxue's attention most. No Martial Soul?
As they walked, Qian Renxue looked astonished. If Ye Yang had no Martial Soul, then what was the Soul Power she could feel within this body?
Could he have been hiding it on purpose? Why? Qian Renxue's mind was full of questions.
The person whose body she had exchanged with seemed to have plenty of secrets.
But this wasn't the time to dwell on them. The two entered the house, and Qian Renxue looked around. Even for a village chief, the living conditions were simple and meager.
Qian Renxue didn't mind that. But when she saw the dishes steaming on the wooden table ahead, she couldn't help feeling a stir in her heart.
"You child, you haven't said a word this whole way. Why are you acting like a completely different person? Go wash your hands. It's time to eat."
Old Jack looked at Qian Renxue, who was standing there in a daze, and seemed puzzled. Then he shook his head, not giving it much thought, assuming she was still groggy from just waking up.
"Got it, uh... Grandpa." Qian Renxue came back to her senses. She didn't know what to call Old Jack, but given their relationship, "Grandpa" seemed right.
Old Jack didn't react much, and Qian Renxue breathed a sigh of relief. She had guessed correctly.
She quickly found a place to wash her hands, gave them a quick rinse, then came to the wooden table and sat down.
Looking at the two simple dishes and a soup in front of her, she thought of the delicacies she had eaten before. The difference was like heaven and earth.
And yet, somehow, she could feel that the atmosphere around this meal was different from what she was used to. It wasn't stern or cold. It was warm.
It was... home.
People said there was no affection in the imperial family. Qian Renxue knew that all too well. Before every meal, someone would taste the food for poison. By the time it reached her, it was already cold. Never once had she eaten a meal as steaming hot as this.
Holding her bowl and chopsticks, Qian Renxue didn't know where to begin.
"You child, why are you acting bewitched? These are all dishes you like. Why haven't you touched a single bite today?" Old Jack asked, frowning slightly.
"No, I'm just feeling a little unwell." As she spoke, Qian Renxue picked up a dish and put it in her mouth.
Old Jack nodded and didn't think much of it. To the villagers, feeling a little unwell meant nothing serious. You just had to tough it out, and it would pass.
After finishing the meal in silence, Qian Renxue put down her bowl and chopsticks. Old Jack then said, "You really do seem a little off. Go get some rest. You don't have to do the dishes today."
In a place like this, people worked from sunrise to sunset. After dinner, it was about time to get ready for bed.
Qian Renxue nodded. After briefly looking over the layout of the house, she found the room that had belonged to the body's original owner.
Once she shut the door, Qian Renxue let out a long breath. For the first time, she realized how exhausting it was to pretend to be someone else. This place wasn't as cold as the imperial palace. She could tell that Old Jack genuinely cared about her.
But that care was utterly unfamiliar to Qian Renxue. She was used to the scheming and intrigue of the imperial palace; when she suddenly felt this kind of warmth, she didn't know how to handle it.
She stopped thinking about it and looked around from the middle of the room. Like the rest of the house, it was sparsely furnished: a bed built from stone bricks, covered with a layer of soft cotton padding and then a bamboo mat. That was the bed.
The only other things were a table, a chair, and a chest for clothes. There was nothing else.
"If I still haven't switched back in a few days, I'll find a chance to leave." Qian Renxue murmured. She could stay here, but sitting around waiting had never been her nature.
If there really was no way to switch back, she would have to go to Spirit Hall and ask Qian Daoliu if there was another way.
With her next goal settled, Qian Renxue turned her attention back to this body.
"The villagers said earlier that Ye Yang never successfully awakened his Martial Soul. But what is this Soul Power?" Qian Renxue furrowed her brow, sank her consciousness into her body, and traced the source of that pure light Soul Power.
Soon, she "saw" it!
Deep in the sea of consciousness, there was no emptiness. Instead, a majestic, sacred presence coiled there, radiating boundless light and the aura of the five elements... a dragon-shaped phantom!
"A dragon? A light-attribute Dragon Martial Soul? And... such a powerful pressure! This feeling..." Qian Renxue's mind trembled.
As the owner of an Angel Martial Soul, she was exceptionally sensitive to light.
The light contained within the Dragon Martial Soul before her was far purer and more noble than the light of her own Martial Soul.
"Radiant Emperor War Dragon..." A name surfaced naturally in her mind.
After withdrawing from the sea of consciousness, Qian Renxue held out her hand and began summoning the Martial Soul.
"Buzzz—!"
An invisible ripple spread out from her in an instant.
A battle dragon phantom, its entire body covered in brilliant golden scales, its form majestic and imposing, and radiating boundless light and the power of the five elements, slowly took shape before Qian Renxue!
Radiant Emperor War Dragon!
Before you continue