"Mm..."
Bo Saixi could no longer keep her composure. A faint, muffled moan escaped her tempting red lips.
Her tall, graceful body trembled despite herself, and the fingers gripping the golden scepter tightened until her knuckles turned faintly white.
The proud curves of her chest rose and fell noticeably, revealing the turbulent emotions surging within her. She was clearly on the verge of losing control.
Who was this child, exactly?
How did he know these closely guarded secrets?
And what kind of Martial Soul had he awakened?
The Lord Sea God had bestowed an inheritance upon him. Was it because He had foreseen the child's extraordinary nature?
Could he peer into my heart? Or was this some kind of divine revelation or prophetic ability beyond my understanding?
Countless questions tangled together in Bo Saixi's mind, leaving her—Peerless Douluo, who had stood at the summit of the continent for nearly a century—feeling an unprecedented bewilderment and an indescribable flutter for the first time in front of a six-year-old child.
Seeing Bo Saixi's obviously unusual reaction, especially her faintly trembling body and rising and falling chest, Li Qing grew even more puzzled.
[Huh? She's trembling even harder now? And her face is a little red, too? Did an old injury flare up? No, that doesn't make sense. I've never heard that Bo Saixi had any hidden injuries... Or is it too hot on Sea God Island, and she's suffering from heatstroke? That can't be right. Did her period come, or is she going through menopause? I guess so. After all, she is a woman, even if she's already a level ninety-nine Peerless Douluo.]
At those words, a flush quickly spread across Bo Saixi's fair, beautiful face. She was embarrassed, but even more furious.
She had served as the High Priestess of Sea God Island for years. Who would dare entertain such thoughts about her?
No one—not even Tang Chen and Qian Daoliu, who were also level ninety-nine Peerless Douluo.
She forcefully circulated her Soul Power, suppressing her surging blood and jumbled thoughts. She struggled to restore calm to her beautiful face, but her eyes, fixed on Li Qing, were now filled with a scrutiny and solemnity she had never shown before.
I have to keep him by my side!
The thought came to Bo Saixi with absolute clarity.
No matter what secrets this child concealed, no matter how he knew those past events and the fates tied to them, and no matter why she could hear his inner voice, she absolutely could not let him out of her sight.
He was too unusual—so unusual that he might affect the future of Sea God Island, or even determine the ultimate destination of the Sea God Inheritance!
Bo Saixi took a deep breath, and at last the rise and fall of her chest slowly settled.
She looked deeply at Li Qing, her gaze complicated and unfathomable. There was shock, doubt, and scrutiny in it, and even the faintest trace of... hope, so slight that even she herself had not noticed it.
She stopped dwelling on that strange inner voice. Her tone had regained its ethereal authority, but now carried an added note of undeniable resolve. She spoke to Li Qing, and to everyone present: "Child, come with me to the Sea God Hall."
After speaking, she did not linger. She lightly tapped the ground with her scepter, and a gentle golden light enveloped her and Li Qing.
The next moment, before the crowd's reverent eyes, the two became a streak of light and shot toward the towering Sea God Hall at the center of the island.
All that remained were the people kneeling on the ground, and Seahorse Douluo, staring in the direction they had vanished with endless questions and shock filling his heart.
This street in Sea Horse Holy City was destined to have today's events recorded in the annals of Sea God Island. After all, this was the first inheritor of a god in ten thousand years.
The golden light faded, and the surroundings had changed.
Li Qing found himself standing inside a grand hall so magnificent that words could not describe it.
The lofty dome seemed to encompass a starry sky. Gentle, sacred light fell from some unseen source, illuminating every corner of the great hall without ever becoming harsh.
An atmosphere of serenity, vastness, and majesty filled the air. With every breath, one's mind felt calmer, and even one's Soul Power seemed to stir with greater vitality.
The aura here faintly resonated with the water-element power emanating from his Mysterious Origin Water-Controlling Flag, making him feel exceptionally comfortable.
This was the heart of Sea God Island: the Sea God Hall.
Bo Saixi stood not far in front of him, her back turned as she gazed up at the Sea God Statue at the far end of the hall, which radiated boundless pressure.
Her red robe gleamed with a splendid luster in the divine light of the hall. Her figure was tall, her back lonely.
"This will be your home from now on."
Bo Saixi turned around and looked calmly at Li Qing. Her voice carried a faint echo through the vast hall, ethereal and distant. She spoke softly: "You can come to me for your trials and to obtain Soul Rings. As long as it doesn't involve helping you with the trials themselves, I'll do everything I can to assist you."
Her tone had returned to its usual elegance and authority, as though her brief lapse in composure before the awakening platform had never happened.
But Li Qing could faintly sense that the High Priestess was looking at him with a few more layers of inscrutable scrutiny and significance than before.
Li Qing nodded obediently, acting like a well-behaved child: "I understand. Thank you, High Priestess."
Bo Saixi inclined her head slightly and walked over with graceful steps. She bent down a little in front of Li Qing, studying him carefully with her deep, ocean-blue eyes, and spoke softly: "Child, release your Martial Soul and let me have a closer look."
"Oh, all right." Li Qing did not hesitate. He focused his mind.
In an instant, mysterious water vapor spread through the air. The Mysterious Origin Water-Controlling Flag, its pole pitch-black and its banner deep blue, appeared once again above his palm, floating slowly.
The flag fluttered despite the absence of wind, and the runes flowing across it seemed to come alive like swimming fish. It radiated an ancient aura that commanded all waters and stabilized heaven and earth. Its hazy watery glow reflected a deep blue across Li Qing's small face.
Bo Saixi's beautiful eyes narrowed slightly, and a grave expression appeared on her exquisite face.
She extended a slender finger, its tip wreathed in faint golden Sea God Divine Power, and cautiously brought it closer to the Mysterious Origin Water-Controlling Flag, sensing the immense, pure aura of its water element.
The more she sensed, the more astonished she became.
The purity and fundamental level of the water-element fluctuations emanating from this flag were so extraordinary that they made even her, a level ninety-nine Peerless Douluo renowned as invincible in the ocean, feel a hint of dread!
It was a power that transcended ordinary elements and touched the very origin of the laws!
Vast, ancient, and unfathomable—it was as if she were facing the primordial waters from the very beginning of the universe.
"Just as I thought... extraordinary," Bo Saixi murmured to herself.
Although her knowledge was extensive, she still couldn't discern the origins of this Martial Soul. But there was no faking the purest aura of the water's source.
"It seems the Lord Sea God bestowed the inheritance because He sensed the nature of this Martial Soul, and its affinity with the ocean has reached unprecedented heights. Perhaps that's why he received the top-level trial..."
Thinking this, Bo Saixi's regard for Li Qing rose another notch.
This child himself was an enormous mystery, and his Martial Soul was the heart of it.
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