Bo Saixi listened quietly, her face betraying no emotion.
When he finished, she merely smiled faintly, turned around, and gazed at the distant horizon where sea and sky met. Her voice gave away nothing: "Qian Daoliu, we've known each other for more than a day. Do you really think you can fool me with that story?"
She turned her face toward him, her eyes clear as she looked at him. "If I'm not mistaken, you didn't come here to see me. You came for the child who stirred the light of the Sea God Inheritance, didn't you?"
The smile on Qian Daoliu's face faltered, then turned into a helpless, bitter smile.
He knew how clever the woman before him was. Lies always looked pale and feeble in front of her.
Now that she had seen through him, trying to cover it up would only make him look worse.
He nodded and admitted it frankly. "That's right, Bo Saixi. You've always been so perceptive. I did come for that child. The Sea God's divine light descending is no small matter. I wanted to see with my own eyes what kind of peerless talent could earn such favor from the Sea God."
Bo Saixi fell silent for a moment, as if weighing the matter.
The sea breeze swept at her skirt, making it crackle in the wind.
After a long while, she spoke softly, her voice seeming almost ethereal amid the sound of the waves. "By rights, he is the Son of God of my Sea God Island, personally chosen by Lord Sea God. Everything about him is the highest secret of Sea God Island. No outsider should be allowed to see him, especially... you."
She paused, then changed course. "However, you are ultimately the Angel God's representative in the mortal world, a servant of a fellow deity. It would do no harm to let you watch from a distance. But you must not reveal yourself or disturb him. You may only observe from afar."
A flicker of surprise crossed Qian Daoliu's eyes. He hadn't expected Bo Saixi to agree so readily, let alone offer such lenient terms as allowing him to watch from a distance.
He nodded solemnly. "All right, I agree. I'll only watch from afar. I won't show myself or disturb him."
Bo Saixi nodded, then added, "There's something else I'd like to ask you. That child's Martial Soul is quite unusual. It's called the Mysterious Origin Water-Controlling Flag. I've searched every book on Sea God Island, but found no record of it. The Spirit Hall has a long history and deep reserves, and has collected accounts of strange things across the continent. Have you ever heard of this Martial Soul, or any related records?"
In the end, she had asked the question. The Mysterious Origin Water-Controlling Flag's mystery and power, along with the endless riddles surrounding Li Qing, had continued to trouble her.
Since Qian Daoliu was here, perhaps she could get a clue from him.
"The Mysterious Origin Water-Controlling Flag?"
Qian Daoliu repeated the unfamiliar name under his breath, his brows knitting as he pondered.
After a moment, he slowly shook his head, his tone certain. "I've never heard of it. The Spirit Hall's records of Martial Souls are vast as the sea, but I'm certain I've never seen the name Mysterious Origin Water-Controlling Flag. This Martial Soul... what makes it special? Could you show it to me?"
A trace of disappointment flickered in Bo Saixi's eyes, but quickly vanished.
She shook her head, offering no further explanation. "If you don't know, then let's leave it at that. Come with me."
They said nothing more. Their figures transformed into two streaks of light, one gold and one blue, and sped toward Sea God Hall. They moved as fast as if teleporting, yet stirred not the slightest ripple on the island.
When they reached the vicinity of Sea God Hall, Bo Saixi signaled for Qian Daoliu to conceal his presence and aura. She herself drew in her divine light and walked at an ordinary pace to the door of Li Qing's room.
She took a deep breath, raised her hand, and gently knocked.
"Knock, knock, knock."
A moment later, the door creaked open from within.
Li Qing peeked out. He seemed to have just finished meditating, and a healthy flush still lingered on his face.
Seeing Bo Saixi outside, he looked a little puzzled. "Sister, what brings you here? Is something the matter?"
Bo Saixi looked at the child surrounded by mysteries and did her best to make her tone gentle and natural. "Xiao Qing, I'm still a little concerned, and I'd like to take another look at your Martial Soul. Could you release the Mysterious Origin Water-Controlling Flag again and let me examine it more closely?"
Li Qing blinked, finding it a little strange.
What's with this pretty big sister today? Hasn't she seen it several times already? She saw it at the awakening platform and in Sea God Hall, so why does she suddenly want to see it again? Women are such a hassle. They're so hard to figure out...
Hearing that familiar, slightly complaining voice in her mind, Bo Saixi's lip twitched almost imperceptibly, and an inexplicable sense of grievance welled up inside her.
She was Bo Saixi, the High Priestess of Sea God Island, revered by thousands. In nearly a hundred years, who had ever dared to speak ill of her in their thoughts?
And now he even thought she was a hassle!
Yet those words had come from Li Qing's own mind. She couldn't even argue with him, and could only sulk inwardly while maintaining her gentle, warm expression.
"Oh, all right." Though Li Qing grumbled inwardly, he obediently agreed.
He took a step back and focused his thoughts.
In an instant, water vapor filled the room. The Mysterious Origin Water-Controlling Flag appeared above his palm once more, its pole dark as black iron and its deep-blue fabric rippling with flowing runes, as though it held within it the boundless mysteries of water. It hovered slowly in the air.
The flag moved without wind, radiating ancient, vast, and exceptionally pure water-element energy that bathed the entire room in blue.
Bo Saixi's gaze was instantly drawn to the flag. She once again carefully sensed the water-source aura it carried, an aura that made even her heart tremble.
In the shadows, the moment Li Qing released his Martial Soul, Qian Daoliu's golden eyes suddenly contracted, and an utterly disbelieving light of shock blazed in their depths!
"What... what is that?!"
A tempest unlike any he had ever known surged through Qian Daoliu's heart!
Despite his century of experience, despite having seen countless powerful and bizarre Martial Souls in the Spirit Hall's collection, despite having personally witnessed Tang Chen's overbearing Clear Sky Hammer—and despite possessing the Six-Winged Angel, one of the finest divine Martial Souls of the age—even he was shaken beyond belief!
How keen were his senses?
Almost the instant the flag appeared, he detected within it a power that surpassed his understanding, a force that was nearly the source of the laws themselves!
Its purity, its vastness, its age—even the Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul he knew seemed to pale before it, as did the sacred aura of the Sea God emanating from Bo Saixi beside him!
This was no ordinary top-tier Martial Soul. It was no known inheritance on the continent!
It was an existence that stood above all known Martial Souls, sharing its source with the gods—and perhaps... even older, even more fundamental.
"Could it be an unheard-of... divine Martial Soul?!"
The conclusion left Qian Daoliu feeling as if he could hardly breathe.
The Spirit Hall's records, amassed over tens of thousands of years, and the memories passed down through generations of the Angel God's servants had never mentioned a power with this form or source!
It was as though it had appeared from thin air, shattering the established understanding of Martial Souls on Douluo Continent that had lasted for millennia!
Watching the weighty, probing look in Bo Saixi's eyes as she stared at the flag—along with a complicated emotion he couldn't understand—Qian Daoliu became even more certain that Bo Saixi, the High Priestess of the Sea God, knew nothing about the Martial Soul's origins either!
No wonder the Sea God had chosen someone like this as an inheritor. There was a reason!
Before you continue