Good Sister

"Why..."

Her vision blurred, and suffocating darkness encroached from the edges toward the center. She turned her head with great difficulty, only to catch a glimpse of a blond figure letting out a continuous roar.

What was she saying?

"Ah?"

Bibi Dong jolted awake, her eyes snapping open. She sprang up from the soul power throne, scanning her surroundings. The unfamiliar sewer and the water covering her ankles brought her memories into sharp focus.

That's right... she had survived...

Clutching her forehead, Bibi Dong shook her head and let out a long sigh, her body sinking back into the soft soul power sofa.

Had she actually fallen asleep?

Since she began her soul master cultivation at the age of six, Bibi Dong had rarely slept, usually replacing it with meditation. But now, she was unable to meditate.

No matter how she tried, the dead, silent space offered no response from her soul power. No matter how much she could endure the loneliness, it didn't change the fact that meditation had become a meaningless act of clearing her mind, and in the end, she had actually fallen asleep.

Rubbing her brow, Bibi Dong recalled the scene from her dream.

That must have been... Xiaoxue...

If she died, would Xiaoxue shed tears?

Bibi Dong couldn't help but think this, but she immediately frowned and extinguished the thought. She had truly become weak; how could such a naive idea even form?

She needed to think more about her current situation.

Bibi Dong furrowed her brows in thought. Her current state could be described as—completely bewildered. The long-winded content that brat spouted yesterday was utterly useless. What Uzumaki Clan?

What Jinchuriki?

She had never even heard of these things!

Had that brat never thought to explain a little? He'd just shaken her hand after talking and brushed her off like that?

After spending a long time yesterday sorting through the events of the past few days, Bibi Dong realized the fact that she had been played. The information she urgently needed, that brat hadn't said a single word about. It was truly hateful!

However, Bibi Dong was helpless at the moment. She had experienced the power of this so-called seal firsthand, and she had even tried to escape last night.

The facts proved it was all in vain. Aside from the gray-white stone walls and the rusted pipes clinging to them, there were no exits to be found. The edges of the entire space felt as if they had been cast and solidified from molten iron.

She had probed with her spiritual power for a long time, but it was like a stone sinking into the sea. She couldn't even understand the logic behind the seal, let alone escape.

Ultimately, it came down to a lack of intelligence...

Bibi Dong tapped her fingertips against the armrest unconsciously. The only way forward was to find a way to pry some information out of that brat.

Shifting her attention, Bibi Dong did not see Naruto's field of vision. This was to be expected; when Naruto intended to bathe yesterday, he had blacked out Bibi Dong's vision, and it still hadn't recovered.

This was also a major reason why Bibi Dong had accidentally fallen asleep last night; in this empty, dead space, it was truly boring.

Just as she was thinking this, bright sunlight suddenly shone before her eyes, covering the dark and damp sewer scene.

Her vision had returned.

Whoosh!

In the courtyard, Naruto raised his hand and flicked his wrist. Three pitch-black chains erupted from his palm, carving a graceful arc through the air before clattering as they wrapped tightly around the stone millstone!

Gripping his martial soul, Naruto tensed his arm, and the Chains of Heaven pulled taut, yet the millstone didn't budge an inch.

"Tch."

Naruto clicked his tongue. Abandoning the posturing, he grabbed the martial soul with both hands, his face turning beet red as he exerted all his strength!

Screech!

Under his full effort, the solid millstone, which was the size of a washbasin, finally showed some movement, shifting just a tiny bit.

Even this was Naruto's current limit.

"Hah..."

As the breath in his chest escaped, Naruto lost his strength. His body went limp, and he panted heavily, raising his hand to retract his martial soul. The Chains of Heaven flexibly loosened from the millstone, whizzing through the air before clattering back around Naruto's right arm, forming a pitch-black gauntlet.

Exhaling a few ragged breaths, Naruto looked down to examine his martial soul.

Although he had given it the imposing name "Chains of Heaven," it clearly couldn't live up to the title yet. The strength of the martial soul was about the same as ordinary chains, and it didn't enhance his own physical power.

In fact, because it was difficult to exert force while using the chains, Naruto, who could normally push the entire millstone with his bare strength, now found he could only move it slightly.

How should he proceed on this path of martial soul cultivation?

Just as he was pondering, Bibi Dong's somewhat surprised voice suddenly echoed in his mind, "Little... little friend, this martial soul of yours is actually quite interesting."

You just wanted to call me a brat, didn't you?

Naruto half-lowered his eyelids, revealing a deadpan expression. Suppressing the urge to retort, Naruto shook the martial soul on his arm. "How is it interesting?"

"The flow of soul power in your right arm... it actually slowed down."

Bibi Dong's tone was hesitant.

Naruto blinked, suddenly realizing what she meant. He calmed his mind and immediately controlled his soul power to gather in his arm. The moment it touched the martial soul, the soul power that had been flowing smoothly through his meridians felt as if it had been dragged into a swamp, slowing to a crawl...

Not only that, but the soul power required to manifest the martial soul also began to increase.

Was this truly the ability of his own Martial Soul?

"The characteristics of your Martial Soul are quite rare. Slowing down the flow of soul power... it has a hint of the fusion skill used by the Chrysanthemum and Ghost Douluo." Bibi Dong's interest was slightly piqued; she rested her chin on her hand and added, "If your soul skills turn out well, you should be able to become a Control-system or Support-system Soul Master."

"So, I should aim for the Control or Support path? I can't try to walk the more domineering Power-attack path?"

Faced with Naruto's matter-of-fact retort, Bibi Dong froze, her expression turning strange.

"Why are you asking me?"

The words had barely left her lips when the spiritual energy she had extended solidified in mid-air, and she bolted upright from her seat. "Wait! Why hasn't your soul power increased at all? Did you not cultivate yesterday?"

Naruto spread his hands and shrugged, wearing a speechless expression. "School hasn't started yet, and I don't even know how to meditate. How do you expect me to cultivate?"

"Huh?"

Bibi Dong could no longer keep her composure.

Inside the sealing space, ignoring the resentful gaze of Bibi Dong beside him, Naruto was entirely focused on the small booklet made of soul power in front of him. Having flipped through only a few pages, he could tell just by looking at the dense, elegant handwriting that this thing was no simple matter!

"Good sister, is the Spirit Hall's meditation technique really this powerful?"

Naruto turned his head, asking with a shameless grin.

Jiang Naruto's knowledge of the Douluo Continent came entirely from novels and the memories of his original self. In fact, his cultural level was not much different from an illiterate person. At the very least, he was unaware of the common knowledge that meditation techniques varied wildly between different factions.

It couldn't be helped; Tang San had been a god for tens of thousands of years and was still using his Mysterious Heaven Technique. What was a meditation technique? It was never really mentioned...

How could this person's skin be so thick?

Compared to yesterday, he was like a completely different person!

Meeting Naruto's enthusiastic gaze, Bibi Dong's eye twitched. She subconsciously shrank back, her face showing disgust. "This Seat truly cannot understand you! You don't even know a single meditation technique? How was I sealed here by you?"

"Didn't I tell you?"

Naruto widened his eyes, looking righteous, as if he were stating common knowledge.

"I'm just a Jinchuriki, right? Sealing a powerhouse isn't something a Jinchuriki does, is it?"

Bibi Dong raised a hand to cover her forehead, unable to stop herself from shaking her head slightly. "This Seat... will just pretend your story is true..."

From a rational perspective, regardless of whether the story was true or false, given her current status as a prisoner, the fact that this brat could negotiate with such a normal, friendly attitude was already good news.

But...

For some reason, this brat's words always managed to make her furious.

"In other words, you don't know who cast this seal? How I ended up here? Who the mastermind is? You actually know nothing at all?"

"I can control this seal... does that count?"

"Count for nothing!"

Bibi Dong waved her hand and slammed it down, shattering the armrest of the soul-power sofa into pieces.

Seeing the flickering black-purple soul power before him, Naruto gave an awkward, sheepish laugh and raised his hands, trying to appease the furious Bibi Dong. He was telling the truth!

He really didn't know that stubborn, confused idiot!

Why did no one believe him when he told the truth these days?

"Calm down, why don't we continue discussing this meditation technique?" Naruto pointed at the manual in his hand, trying to change the subject.

The enraged Bibi Dong hooked her finger, and the meditation manual, which was composed of her own soul power, instantly dissolved into specks of light, slipping through Naruto's fingers.

Seeing this, Naruto wanted to stop it, but he was completely unable to. He could only watch helplessly as the manual appeared in Bibi Dong's hand, went pop, and vanished into soul power.

"That's going too far!" Having only managed to read the beginning, Naruto sprang up from the ground and cursed, "At the end of the day, I'm your savior! You would have been dead long ago without me!"

"What's wrong with me wanting a copy of your meditation technique? I haven't even charged you rent for living here yet!"

Bibi Dong ignored his tantrum, suppressed her anger, and stared at him coldly.

"You want it?"

Feeling a chill from her gaze, Naruto temporarily halted his offensive. With a subtle expression, he tugged at his clothes and assumed a strange, triangular defensive stance. "What are you doing? I sell my skills, not my body!"

Crack!

The remaining half of the soul-power sofa's armrest was also crushed to pieces by Bibi Dong.

This brat was truly infuriating!