Mercy, Heroine

Ding, ding, ding, ding!

Four crisp sounds of metal colliding rang out almost simultaneously.

The small golden swords pierced the surface of the Ice Wheel, only to be immediately deflected by the rotating ice crystals. Three of them slid off to the side and embedded themselves into the floor of the Martial Arts Arena with a sharp, metallic clatter.

However, the final small sword managed to pierce three inches deep into the ice crystal barrier, remaining stuck and vibrating slowly in mid-air.

Xu Xiaoyu looked at the golden sword embedded in the ice shield, a slight chill running down his back.

His second soul skill was of a high-grade quality among century-level soul rings, and its defensive power was considered quite impressive for the two-ring level. Yet, it had been pierced one-third of the way through by the first soul skill of a child who had just awakened?

A deep yellow soul ring... a special soul spirit... was this soul spirit he spoke of perhaps a bit too strong?

Chu Yan did not press his advantage. With a thought, the four golden swords flew back from the ice shield and the ground, hovering around him once more. He exhaled softly and retracted his soul skill.

Under the full exertion of his first soul skill, his mental energy was being consumed quite rapidly; controlling all four swords to attack simultaneously was already pushing his precision to the limit.

Judging by the effect of that strike, it would certainly be enough to deal with an ordinary one-ring soul master. However, against a defensive soul skill at the two-ring Great Soul Master level, it still lacked a bit of heat, only managing to pierce three inches deep without even breaking through.

But this was normal, after all, he had only just awakened.

Xu Xiaoyu dispelled the Ice Wheel and strode over to Chu Yan. He looked down at the boy, who was a head shorter than him, his eyes filled with complex emotions.

"Brother Yan, this..." He weighed his words for a long moment before finally asking, "What did you call that again? Yan Divine Weapon? Is this really a staff-type martial soul?"

"It is a staff." Chu Yan nodded with a calm expression, continuing, "It just has a unique property: it can be disassembled into small swords for attacks."

The corner of Xu Xiaoyu's mouth twitched. What kind of staff-type martial soul had such a property?

Still, it was different from the traditional martial souls of the Chu Clan; it must be a special mutated martial soul.

"Your soul skill is very strong." Xu Xiaoyu finally gave his assessment, his tone earnest and devoid of any perfunctoriness. He continued, "Although you are only at the first ring, the penetrating power of those four small swords is already enough to threaten the defenses of an ordinary two-ring soul master. If you grow for a few more years... you might actually be able to go head-to-head with me."

Chu Yan smiled and did not respond.

He knew he could have actually done better.

If he had exerted his full strength to drive the four small swords while coordinating with the close-quarters suppression of his staff technique, he might have been able to force Xu Xiaoyu into a state of disarray.

But if he had truly done that, he would have exposed too many of his trump cards. He had already tested the practical combat effects of the Phantom Sword Style combined with the Hunyuan Staff Technique using only a small portion of his power; the rest could be left for future exploration.

Moreover, in his heart, Xu Xiaoyu had never been an enemy; he was one of his own.

There was no need to embarrass one of his own.

"Alright, alright, stop fighting!" Xu Xiaoyan ran over from the edge of the Martial Arts Arena and dove into Chu Yan's arms. She looked up at him with a nervous expression, asking, "Brother Yan, are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine." Chu Yan reached out to ruffle her hair, laughing, "Brother Xiaoyu was going easy on me."

Xu Xiaoyu rolled his eyes. Who was going easy on whom? He had indeed held back thirty percent of his strength, but that was only so a child who had just awakened wouldn't be beaten too badly. As it turned out, this kid's soul skill had nearly pierced through his Ice Wheel—did that look like he needed to be gone easy on?

However, he couldn't be bothered to expose him. He simply retracted the ice staff into his body, walked over to the two of them, bent down to pinch his sister's cheek, and huffed, "You little girl, you only have eyes for Brother Yan and don't care about your own brother at all."

Xu Xiaoyan turned back and stuck her tongue out at him, saying, "Brother, you aren't hurt, so what is there to care about!"

Xu Xiaoyu was left between laughter and tears. He straightened up, and a brighter light appeared in his eyes as he looked at Chu Yan.

He could see that Chu Yan hadn't used his full strength in that last strike; although the trajectory of the four small swords was fierce, there was still room for more control. Seen in this light, Chu Yan was not as weak as he had imagined.

"Brother Yan, your talent is even better than I imagined. But seeing you have this kind of strength, I am actually more at ease." Xu Xiaoyu said earnestly.

"At ease about what?" Chu Yan asked.

Xu Xiaoyu glanced at his sister, who was still clinging to Chu Yan's arm, and the corners of his mouth lifted as he said, "At ease that my sister won't suffer if she follows you in the future."

As soon as Xu Xiaoyan heard this, her face flushed red. She let go of Chu Yan's arm, turned around, and punched Xu Xiaoyu, saying, "Brother, what are you saying!"

"Ouch, have mercy, great heroine!" Xu Xiaoyu raised his hands in mock surrender, stepped back with a laugh, and continued, "Alright, alright, I was wrong, okay? You two go on and play, I'm going to go cultivate."

He turned to walk away, then looked back at Chu Yan and said, "Brother Yan, Xiaoyan awakens in three days. Remember to come."

"I will." Chu Yan nodded.

Only then did Xu Xiaoyu wave his hand and stride away from the Martial Arts Arena.

Once her brother was far away, Xu Xiaoyan finally recovered from her shyness, though a faint blush still lingered on her cheeks.

She walked back to Chu Yan's side, reached out to tug on his sleeve, and looked up at him, her large eyes blinking.

Her voice was soft and sweet, filled with a small sense of anticipation as she said, "Brother Yan, I'll be six in three days, and I'll be awakening my martial soul too. You have to come."

Chu Yan looked down at the little girl who had stood by his side since they were small, looking into her eyes, which were as clear as if they had no impurities at all.

He reached out and gently stroked Xu Xiaoyan's hair, feeling the soft strands in his palm, which carried a faint floral scent.

"Mm, I will definitely come."

"Pinky swear!" Xu Xiaoyan extended her little finger.

Chu Yan smiled and extended his own little finger, hooking it with hers.

"Pinky swear, a hundred years, no changing!"

Their two small fingers were hooked together, and the sunlight spilled onto the Martial Arts Arena, casting two overlapping shadows.

Xu Xiaoyan smiled until her eyes curved into crescents, looking like a little kitten that had stolen a dried fish.

Chu Yan watched her, the smile on his face warming a little more.

When facing this little girl who had grown up alongside him, he always found it easy to lower his guard and stop calculating, because the kindness Xu Xiaoyan showed him never required any conditions.

Chu Yan understood this simple truth very clearly in his heart.

"Brother Yan, let me take you to the backyard to see the flowers! I recently planted an Ice Crystal Orchid, and it just sprouted!"

"Alright."

"Come on, come on! It's so beautiful!"

Xu Xiaoyan grabbed Chu Yan's hand, hopping and skipping toward the backyard like a cheerful little rabbit.

The Martial Arts Arena returned to silence, the shallow scratches left on the ground by those small golden swords serving as a testament to the brilliance of the brief battle that had just taken place.

Yet, in an inconspicuous shadow at the corner of the Martial Arts Arena, Xu Xiaoyu had not actually gone far.

He leaned against a pillar, watching the backs of his sister and Chu Yan as they ran off, the corners of his mouth curving upward involuntarily.

"This kid..." he muttered to himself, his eyes filled with satisfaction and curiosity as he whispered, "Yan Divine Weapon... Deep Yellow Soul Ring... four flying swords... the secrets he hides likely exceed even what I had guessed."

But he did not delve deeper.

The Xu Clan and the Chu Clan had been on good terms for generations, and he and Chu Yan had grown up together; he had seen Chu Yan's character and temperament with his own eyes. If the other party had secrets they were unwilling to share, he would not press for answers.

After all, who didn't have a few trump cards of their own?