Star Wheel Ice Staff

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

During these three days, Chu Yan's life was surprisingly disciplined. Every morning, he rose before dawn to head to the Martial Arts Arena, where he followed his father to practice the Hunyuan Staff Technique.

The opening stance, the splitting strike, the sweeping strike, the lifting strike, the piercing strike... he practiced each of these fundamental movements hundreds of times every day, stopping only when his arms were too sore to lift and his legs trembled.

This was followed by an hour of soul power cultivation, then lunch, a brief nap, and an afternoon of continued drills on the staff's basics and physical conditioning.

Only after returning to his room at night would he reserve time for the Yan Divine Weapon.

Though three days was not a long time, the results were evident. He could now execute the fundamental movements of the Hunyuan Staff Technique with proficiency; he no longer needed to consciously maintain the opening stance, as his body had already formed the initial stage of muscle memory.

His control over the Yan Divine Weapon had also improved from four small swords to five—a significant and solid progression.

Today was Xu Xiaoyan's sixth birthday.

Early in the morning, Chu Yan changed into a clean, sharp cyan long robe, cinched his waist with a silver-gray sash, and hung the Ice Heart Jade Marrow pendant his mother had given him around his neck. He looked refined and ethereal.

As he stepped out of his room, he happened to run into Chu Yuntian coming from the opposite direction.

Chu Yuntian looked his son up and down, nodded with satisfaction, and asked, "Heading to the Xu Clan?"

"Yes, Xiaoyan is awakening today," Chu Yan replied.

"Then go." Chu Yuntian patted his son's shoulder, leaned in closer, and lowered his voice. "By the way, if the Xu Clan asks about your soul ring, stick to the story you told last time—a special spirit from the Spirit Pagoda. Do not mention that you condensed it yourself."

He would not be going himself, as he had another task to attend to later.

"This child understands," Chu Yan nodded.

He walked to the entrance, where the butler had already prepared a carriage.

Chu Yan climbed directly into the back seat, gave the butler a brief instruction, and set off for the Xu Mansion.

Only a few minutes later, they reached their destination.

The Xu Mansion was exceptionally lively today. The gates were thrown wide open, and several soul-guided vehicles were parked outside. It seemed the Xu Clan was not only holding the martial soul awakening for their eldest young lady but had also invited many relatives from within the clan to a banquet.

As soon as Chu Yan stepped out of the carriage and approached the gate, the butler hurried over to greet him.

"Young Master Chu is here! The eldest young lady has been talking about you since early this morning. Please, come in, come in!"

Chu Yan nodded slightly and stepped into the Xu Mansion.

Passing through the front courtyard and the atrium, he reached the outside of the Xu Clan's ancestral hall, where he could hear the sound of conversation drifting from within.

The hall was already crowded with people, including several elders of the Xu Clan and various extended relatives.

Xu Zonghan, Xu Xiaoyan's father, stood in the center of the hall, speaking with the elders.

Xu Zonghan looked to be in his early forties, with a slender build and a scholarly, refined appearance. His eyes were gentle yet bright. Dressed in a deep blue brocade robe with an ice-blue jade pendant hanging from his waist, every gesture he made carried the air of a clan head.

Xu Xiaoyu stood beside his father; seeing Chu Yan enter, he nodded in greeting.

Behind Xu Zonghan, a small figure was restlessly standing on tiptoe, craning her neck to peer toward the entrance.

The moment she caught sight of Chu Yan, her large eyes lit up instantly.

"Brother Yan!"

Xu Xiaoyan ran out from behind her father. Today, she wore a light blue dress embroidered with delicate, tiny ice-crystal patterns along the hem. A silver ribbon was tied at her waist, and her hair was styled into two small braids with ice-blue ribbons—she looked absolutely adorable.

"Xiaoyan." Chu Yan smiled and walked forward, pulling a small box from his robes to hand to her. "Happy birthday. This is your gift."

Xu Xiaoyan took the box and opened it with great care.

Inside lay a delicate silver chain bracelet, from which hung a tiny, ice-blue crystal. A faint, flowing light shimmered across the surface of the crystal, making it look both simple and exquisite.

"So pretty!" Xu Xiaoyan's eyes sparkled. She immediately fastened the bracelet to her wrist and shook it; the silver chain and the ice-blue crystal complemented each other, setting off her jade-like skin beautifully.

She looked up at Chu Yan, her eyes curving into crescents as she smiled. "Thank you, Brother Yan! Xiaoyan loves it so much!"

"I'm glad you like it." Chu Yan smiled and reached out to pat her head.

Watching this scene, Xu Zonghan revealed a gentle smile. He gave a light cough and said, "Xiaoyan, that's enough. You've received your gift; it's time to prepare for the awakening ceremony."

"I know, Daddy!" Xu Xiaoyan replied, though she was reluctant to let go of Chu Yan's hand, pulling him along with her toward the center of the hall.

The Xu Clan's ancestral hall was slightly larger than the Chu Clan's, though the layout was much the same. In the very center sat an ancient Awakening Stone, its surface as smooth as a mirror, with faint, ice-blue light patterns pulsing beneath it.

The Xu Clan elders were already seated on both sides—three of them in total, all powerhouses at the Soul Saint level.

Xu Zonghan walked to the side of the Awakening Stone and turned to his daughter. His gaze was filled with anticipation and concern as he said softly, "Xiaoyan, come, stand before the Awakening Stone. Place your hands on it, relax your mind, and guide the soul power within you into the stone."

Xu Xiaoyan nodded, let go of Chu Yan's hand, and walked up to the Awakening Stone.

She took a deep breath, extended her two fair, small hands, and pressed them gently against the ice-blue stone.

The hall fell silent, and everyone held their breath.

Hum...

The Awakening Stone vibrated slightly.

Immediately following, a layer of ice-blue light ignited on the surface of the stone, spreading outward in ripples like water disturbed by a stone.

The light grew brighter and more intense, enveloping Xu Xiaoyan's small figure within it.

"It's reacting!" one of the elders whispered, his tone laced with anticipation.

Xu Xiaoyan kept her eyes closed, her small brows knitted together as she seemed to be struggling to guide the power within her.

She could feel a warm current surging inside her body, flowing through her hands and into the Awakening Stone, creating a wondrous resonance with the ice-blue stone.

Suddenly...

The ice-blue light on the Awakening Stone retracted abruptly, as if it had been sucked back by something.

Then, a completely different aura erupted from within Xu Xiaoyan!

Hum!

With a soft sound, a slender, translucent ice-blue staff materialized in the palm of her right hand.

The staff body was as solid as thousand-year-old ice, with a faint cold mist drifting across its surface. A smooth, round, ice-blue orb was embedded at the top, and the entire piece looked clean and elegant.

At first glance, it looked exactly like the ordinary ice staff passed down through generations of the Xu Clan, only slightly smaller than Xu Xiaoyu's martial soul.

"It's a success!" A gratified smile appeared on Xu Zonghan's face.

"It's an Ice Staff!" one of the clan elders clapped his hands and laughed. "Our Xu Clan has stood for ten thousand years, and our martial soul has endured to this day. Xiaoyan has truly lived up to our expectations!"

A chorus of congratulations rang out through the ancestral hall.

Xu Xiaoyan opened her eyes and looked at the ice-blue staff in her hand, her little face filled with joy.

She gripped the staff and waved it twice; although her movements were still a bit clumsy, she could already feel the connection between herself and her martial soul.

However, no one noticed that...

On the surface of the crystalline staff, a few thin, silvery-white star patterns quietly emerged, their faint light flickering in and out of existence.

But the lights in the ancestral hall were too bright, and those star patterns were far too subtle; they were completely masked by the ice-blue glow as soon as they appeared, failing to attract anyone's attention.

Chu Yan stood at the edge of the crowd, his gaze fixed on the ice-blue staff in Xu Xiaoyan's hand.

He knew that Xu Xiaoyan's martial soul was by no means as simple as it appeared on the surface. It was not the traditional Ice Staff of the Xu Clan, but the Star Wheel Ice Staff, which possessed two forms depending on the time of day.

By day, it appeared to be nothing more than an ordinary ice-blue staff with only ice-type attributes.

But once night fell and the starlight descended, its true power would be revealed.

Her martial soul was a mutated Ice Staff fused with the power of the stars, and it was on an entirely different level from the pure Ice Staff of someone like Xu Xiaoyu.

The ancestors of the Xu Clan were originally a branch of the Star Crown Xu Clan and carried the bloodline of astrology in their veins. However, after ten thousand years of inheritance, the bloodline had severely degraded, and the martial souls of the clan members had long since been reduced to mere Ice Staffs.

The original story also mentioned that even the people of the Xu Clan did not recognize Xu Xiaoyan's martial soul as the Star Wheel Ice Staff at first. Furthermore, because Xu Xiaoyan did not enjoy cultivation, they did not push her to train, only realizing its importance after they discovered the truth later on.