"Senior, I imagine you've already noticed that my Martial Soul is rather special. I don't need to hunt Soul Beasts and absorb Soul Rings.
"It can form a contract with a Soul Beast and draw on its energy to condense a Soul Ring.
"A Soul Beast that contracts with me becomes my Beast Tamer companion and fights for me. I'm their Beast Tamer, helping them grow. First, my companion is that white tiger from earlier..."
With circumstances forcing his hand, Xu Bai could only reveal the abilities of his Beast Tamer Martial Soul to an outsider—though only in part, and only what Sword Douluo might have seen just now.
"A Martial Soul that can form contracts with Soul Beasts..."
A flash of astonishment crossed Sword Douluo's eyes. There were all kinds of strange Martial Souls in the world, but he'd never imagined one that could command Soul Beasts in battle.
He wondered if the help Xu Bai had mentioned, helping Soul Beasts grow, was another ability of his Martial Soul. If it could indeed help Soul Beasts grow, then its abilities were astonishing.
And then there was his Soul Power Level. Perhaps his Martial Soul's abilities explained how he'd advanced so quickly.
Calling this talent unprecedented would hardly be an exaggeration.
Still, the kid wasn't being entirely honest. Even now, in this situation, he dared to keep things from him—and was trying to fool him, too.
Thinking this, Sword Douluo narrowed his eyes. "Kid, you're humoring me."
"Humoring you? I-I am? I wouldn't dare, Senior..."
Xu Bai looked flustered, and inside, he was panicking a little.
Could Titled Douluo read minds? He'd never told anyone what his Martial Soul could do.
And that was nothing compared to the Manual in his mind. How had Sword Douluo figured out he was hiding something?
But Sword Douluo's next words put Xu Bai at ease. "You said you can form contracts with Soul Beasts and make them your companions. Are you telling me my great-grandfather's tombstone was a Soul Beast?"
"Senior, if I told you your great-grandfather's tombstone had gained sentience, would you believe me?"
Xu Bai asked cautiously, then paused as a thought struck him.
Wait. Sword Douluo was a Titled Douluo. How could he not sense the Soul Beast aura coming from the Sword Spirit?
Or did a Sword Spirit not count as a Soul Beast, but rather as a spirit of heaven and earth...
But that didn't add up either. The Snow Empress was a spirit of heaven and earth, too. And in Douluo II, several of the Immortal Herbs at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well had gained sentience, yet they were still Soul Beasts, with the aura of Soul Beasts.
Xu Bai couldn't figure it out, so he forced himself to accept an explanation that seemed at least somewhat reasonable: a sword was forged by people, so when it gained sentience, it was fundamentally different from those naturally formed spirits nurtured by heaven and earth.
Meanwhile, Sword Douluo could no longer keep his expression calm. He stared hard at Xu Bai. "Kid, do you know what happens when you try to fool me?"
"This junior wouldn't dare. If you don't believe me, I can swear on my Martial Soul. Right now, my Martial Soul can only form contracts with Soul Beasts."
Xu Bai cleared his mind of distractions and spoke earnestly.
Seeing this, Sword Douluo gave a slight nod and stopped questioning him.
On the Douluo Continent, swearing on one's Martial Soul might mean little to a nobody, but for a genius, it was every bit as serious as swearing on one's Dao Heart in a xianxia novel.
He slowly turned around, his back to Xu Bai, and said softly, "Come with me."
"Where?" Xu Bai asked without thinking.
"Back to my sect."
"Back to your sect..."
Xu Bai hesitated, then tried to refuse. "Senior, um... could I not go?"
"Don't go? All right." Sword Douluo turned around, smiling.
Xu Bai froze. Though secretly delighted, he hadn't expected Sword Douluo to be so easygoing.
He put on a show of thanking him and expressing his gratitude, only for Sword Douluo to continue:
"Then let's discuss the matter of you stealing my great-grandfather's tombstone."
As he spoke, he gave Xu Bai a meaningful look. At some point, the Seven Kill Sword had appeared in his hand.
Xu Bai fell silent. After a long while, he managed a smile more painful than a grimace.
"Ahem, I was only joking just now. Actually, I've admired your sect since I was a child, Senior. I've just never had a way in..."
"So you've recognized who I am?"
"'The Seven Kill thunder roars; one sword splits the sky.' Who on the continent hasn't heard of the Seven Kill Sword? I've simply read a few more books than most and happen to know what it looks like."
Sword Douluo chuckled, then turned and entered the cave. His calm voice drifted back. "Follow me."
Xu Bai could only follow, helpless. It was his own fault for getting grabby and stealing someone's ancestral tombstone.
Now he'd been caught. He couldn't beat the man, and he couldn't run away. All he could do was leave it to fate...
But then he thought about it again. Maybe this wasn't such a bad thing.
Judging by the situation, barring any surprises, he was bound to become one of the handful of people at the very top of this world someday. Becoming a god wasn't out of the question, either.
So what was someone with such a bright future most lacking right now?
For other peerless geniuses, before they'd grown strong, what they lacked most was surely time.
But for a cheat like him, time might matter, but what he really lacked was Gold Soul Coins.
And the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, as luck would have it, had no shortage of Gold Soul Coins. What they lacked was talent.
This was a perfect match.
Once he'd thought it through, Xu Bai's mood brightened.
"Kid, come up."
Once they emerged from the cave, Sword Douluo raised a hand slightly. The Seven Kill Sword instantly grew large, then lifted him up.
"Senior, could we wait a moment before we leave...?"
Xu Bai hesitated. He still wanted to record some Soul Beasts and boost his mental strength. More than anything, he was afraid he didn't have enough mental strength to bear the cost of deducing a way to cultivate the Sword Spirit.
"What else is there?" Sword Douluo asked.
Xu Bai considered it for a moment, then chose his words. "I want to collect some Soul Beast samples to help with my research. I came to the Sunset Forest this time not only to find a suitable Soul Beast to become my companion, but also to collect some Soul Beast samples."
"You still have time to study Soul Beasts?"
Sword Douluo asked in surprise. In his view, Xu Bai might owe part of his reaching Soul Elder at this age to his unusual Martial Soul, but most of it must have come from diligent cultivation.
When Sword Douluo himself was ten, he'd only been a Soul Grandmaster, still some way from becoming a Soul Elder—and that was despite how fiercely he'd pushed himself.
Now it seemed this kid's talent was even greater than he'd thought.
At this, Xu Bai wore an appropriately bashful expression.
"Um, Senior knows my Martial Soul is special. Because of it, I only need to increase my companions' ages to raise my Soul Power Level. So I don't cultivate much in my spare time."
He'd already decided to rely on the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's resources to grow stronger. There was no point in hiding his abilities anymore.
What he needed now was to show how exceptional he was and increase his value in Sword Douluo's eyes—and in the eyes of Sect Master Ning, whom he hadn't met yet.
Of course, he absolutely couldn't let anyone find out about the Manual. No outsider could know he had a cheat.
If anyone asked, it was because he was exceptionally gifted—and because "everything I've achieved today is thanks to my own hard work."