Three Years Later

It was suddenly three years later.

The Chu Clan's training grounds.

In the middle of the arena, Chu Yan lowered his staff and stood still, a thin sheen of sweat on his brow. His breathing was even and steady.

Three years had passed, and he had grown quite a bit. He was among the tallest of his peers, and his shoulders and back had begun to take on the upright lines of a young man.

His features had gradually matured, too: swordlike brows, bright eyes, a high nose bridge, and a clean, well-defined jaw. Standing there, he had a quiet composure that seemed beyond his years.

Chu Yan drew the Yan Divine Weapon back into his body and rolled his wrist.

Over the past three years, his progress had been even faster than he'd expected. His Soul Power had steadily reached level twenty-nine, just one step away from the peak of Soul Grandmaster. He had already reached the level of that little grandmaster from twenty thousand years ago.

Two purple Soul Rings hovered around him, slowly turning. Over the past three years, the first had surpassed a thousand years in age. The second had also condensed from the energy within the Yan Divine Weapon, and was nearly three thousand years old.

The token Leng Yaozhu had given him had also proved quite useful over the past three years.

He had trained at the Spirit Pagoda's Spirit Ascension Platform three times. Each time, the platform's energy surge helped the Yan Divine Weapon absorb energy from its surroundings and convert it into Soul Ring age. Combined with the weapon's ability to condense energy on its own, the two methods worked in tandem, making his Soul Rings grow nearly twice as fast as they would through his own accumulation alone.

He had also kept up with his spiritual power. From the seventy-eight points he had when he first awakened, it had steadily climbed to 229 by the time he was tested six months ago.

He was still a long way from the Spirit Sea Realm, but his level was around the middle of the Spirit Connection Realm.

The number of swords he could control with the Yan Divine Weapon had also increased from five to eighteen.

He could now wield nine swords at once with the Phantom Sword Style. His control over the other nine still lacked precision, but they were more than enough for distractions and feints.

Sky Piercing Form was his second Soul Skill and the core application of the Yan Divine Weapon's second form.

Only after he had truly mastered it did he realize that the skill followed a path of extreme, single-point penetration.

The nine little swords vanished into phantoms at once, winding together and compressing into a palm-sized, dark golden spike. A layer of incredibly fine spatial patterns clung to its tip. When activated, tiny spatial cracks appeared around the spike, vanishing in an instant and leaving behind a trail of darkness.

He had tested the skill privately a few times. Even a defensive Soul Skill at Spirit King level could be torn open if he pushed it to its limit. Against an ordinary Four-Ring Soul Ancestor, he could suppress them head-on or even win.

The only problem was its enormous consumption. Using it at full power drained nearly thirty percent of his spiritual power, so he couldn't use it repeatedly.

Chu Yan put away the Yan Divine Weapon, picked up a towel from the stone table, and wiped away his sweat. Then he looked toward the courtyard gate.

Leng Yaozhu had visited Eastsea City four times over the past three years, and she never stayed long.

Sometimes, she stopped by while passing through on Spirit Pagoda business to check on his progress. Other times, she came specifically to deliver resources and personally guide him, correcting problems in his cultivation along the way.

Her expectations for Chu Yan were clear: build a solid foundation, don't rush to break through, and make sure every step was steady.

Chu Yan had followed her advice to the letter. Every increase in his Soul Power over the past three years had come after ample accumulation and refinement. He had never resorted to any quick fixes.

Just then, light and familiar footsteps came from the courtyard gate.

"Brother Yan! Are you done training?"

Xu Xiaoyan peered in through the gate. Three years had passed, and she had grown quite a bit too. The round baby fat of her six-year-old self had faded, leaving her chin soft and delicate, though the liveliness in her eyes and brows hadn't diminished at all.

Her pale blue twin tails were still tied high, though her hair had grown much thicker. In the morning light, she looked as fresh and clean as a young willow shoot.

"I just finished." Chu Yan hung the towel back on the rack and walked toward her.

Xu Xiaoyan bounced in with a grin, a kraft-paper envelope clutched in her hand. She waved it in front of him triumphantly. "Look what this is!"

"An admission letter?" Chu Yan recognized the emblem on the envelope at once: Eastsea Academy's insignia.

"Correct!" Xu Xiaoyan pressed the envelope into his hand, then went around to sit by the stone table and propped her chin on her hands as she watched him open it. "I saw Auntie just now, and she asked me to bring yours back. Mine came too. We've both been assigned to Class One of the Intermediate Division!"

Chu Yan opened the envelope and skimmed the letter inside. It said more or less what Xu Xiaoyan had told him.

Class One of the Intermediate Division. Enrollment in two months.

The graduation exams at Tianheng Primary Academy had ended half a month earlier. He and Xu Xiaoyan had both ranked near the top of their year and earned recommendations that exempted them from the entrance exams for Eastsea Academy's Intermediate Division.

"We're in the same class again." Xu Xiaoyan sat on the stone stool, her legs swinging gently, her delight impossible to miss.

Chu Yan folded the admission letter and put it away in his storage bracelet, then sat down by the stone table.

Xu Xiaoyan glanced toward the courtyard gate and asked, "Where's Na'er? Hasn't she finished class yet?"

"Yeah. She gets out an hour later than we do today," Chu Yan said.

Xu Xiaoyan nodded and drew out her words. "Oh... then I'll wait for her a little before heading home."

After Chu Yan brought Na'er back three years ago, Chu Yuntian and Qin Mengyao began making arrangements for her life and education. When she turned six, the age for awakening a Martial Soul, Na'er went for the test too.

The result was the same as in the original story: she awakened no Martial Soul at all.

The couple arranged for her to attend a regular primary school in Eastsea City, where she studied cultural subjects like any other child, without any Soul Power training.

At first, Chu Yan had worried she might feel down about it. But after watching her for a few days, he realized that she didn't seem particularly bothered by having no Martial Soul. She ate and drank as usual, and every night she still went out into the courtyard to gaze up at the stars for a while.

With time, Chu Yan gradually let go of that worry.

Xu Xiaoyan leaned over the stone table and looked at Chu Yan sideways. Suddenly, she asked, "Brother Yan, do you think Class One of the Intermediate Division will be really hard?"

"We'll find out when we get there."

"True... Anyway, as long as you're with me, there's nothing to be afraid of."

Chu Yan didn't respond. He simply picked up the teapot and poured himself a cup of cold tea.

A little while later, light footsteps sounded outside the courtyard. Then a small figure in a white short-sleeved school uniform dress appeared at the gate.

Three years had passed, and Na'er had grown quite a bit too. Her silvery-white hair now reached her shoulders, with a light blue ribbon loosely tying a little ponytail at the back of her head. A few wisps hung over her forehead.

Her features were even more delicate than three years ago. Her skin was nearly translucent, and her purple eyes shimmered like crystals in the sunlight. Standing there, she seemed cool and aloof, as if she didn't belong in her surroundings at all. But when she smiled, her eyes curved, and that aloofness melted away at once.

"Big brother! Sister Xiaoyan!" Na'er ran into the courtyard, enunciating "Big brother" with particular clarity.

Xu Xiaoyan hopped off the stone stool and went over to greet her. She took Na'er by the hand and looked her up and down with a grin. "Na'er, you got out of school so early today! I thought I'd have to wait until sunset!"

"We had self-study for the last period, and the teacher let me leave early." Na'er's eyes curved as she spoke. Then she turned to Chu Yan by the stone table and called, "Big brother."

Chu Yan looked at her and nodded. His voice was gentler than when he spoke to others. "There's soup simmering in the kitchen. I'll have the housekeeper bring you a bowl in a little while."

"Okay." Na'er replied, then Xu Xiaoyan pulled her over to the stone stool. The two girls began chattering away about this and that—what the teacher had covered in class, which of their classmates had done something silly, and so on.

Chu Yan sat beside them and drank his tea. He occasionally answered them, but most of the time he just listened quietly.

That evening.

Chu Yan sat at the desk in his room with a copy of Soul Guidance Array Notes spread out in front of him. A cup of cold tea sat beside him. After reading a few pages, he sketched a couple of simple energy circuits on a nearby sheet of paper. He paused, his gaze falling on the silver-gray bracer at the edge of the page.

It was the Portable Soul Guidance Array Recorder his mother had given him three years ago. He had used it from time to time since then to record a few simple energy circuit structures. They weren't anything too advanced, but they were more than sufficient for a beginner's practice.

Just as he was about to return his attention to his notes, the faintest footsteps sounded from the direction of the courtyard gate and stopped outside his door.

"Big brother."

Chu Yan set down his pen, stood up, and opened the door.

Na'er stood outside in a white nightgown, her silvery-white hair loose over her shoulders and a small pillow held in her arms.

"What's wrong?" Chu Yan looked down at her and asked softly.

Na'er pursed her lips, then said in a small voice, "I can't sleep. Could I... sit with you for a while?"

Chu Yan moved aside to make room and nodded gently toward the room. "Come in."

Na'er walked in with her pillow and sat on the edge of the bed, her bare feet on the floor. She sat quietly for a while with her legs together, clutching the little pillow as her large purple eyes drifted in thought.

Chu Yan gathered his notes and diagrams to one side of the desk, then pulled over another chair and sat across from her.

"Weren't you having a great time today? Why can't you sleep now?" he asked casually.

Na'er lowered her head, her fingers rubbing the edge of the pillow back and forth. After a while, she finally spoke, her voice muffled. "I had a dream."

"What kind of dream?"

"...I can't really remember." She fell silent for a moment, then continued. "After I woke up, I just felt kind of empty, like something had disappeared."

Na'er kept her head down, unconsciously picking at a corner of the pillow. After a while, she spoke again. "Big brother, if I left one day, would you miss me?"

Chu Yan was silent for two or three breaths. Then he reached out and gently ruffled her silvery-white hair. "Why would you think that?"

Over the past three years, he had occasionally imagined this scenario. In the original story, Na'er had stayed with Tang Wulin in Aolai City until he was about to graduate from primary school, then left. He had wondered whether one day her memories might awaken and she might leave.

He just hadn't expected it to happen so soon.

Three years wasn't a particularly long time, but it wasn't short either. It was enough for a six-year-old girl to grow into a nine-year-old, and enough for her to become attached to this place and the people in it.

If that day suddenly came, why would he feel reluctant to let her go?

At Chu Yan's touch, Na'er rubbed her head against his hand and mumbled, "I just mean if."

Chu Yan looked at her and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly. Then he drew his hand back and said seriously, "If that day really comes, I'll miss you. If you truly disappear, then as long as I'm strong enough, I'll take care of everyone who tries to keep us apart."

Na'er froze.

She looked up at him, and something trembled faintly in her purple eyes.

A few breaths later, her eyes curved into a smile. A bright glimmer appeared at their corners, but she blinked hard twice, forcing it back. Her voice took on a slight nasal twang as she giggled, "Big brother, that's so domineering..."

She lowered her head and rubbed her eyes, her voice growing softer. "But... I like it."

Chu Yan smiled. Then he stood, walked over, and took her small hand, casually changing the subject. "Let's not talk about that. Come on, I've got something to show you."

Na'er stood up from the bed with him, still carrying a trace of the catch in her voice.

Chu Yan opened a drawer beneath his desk. Inside, countless tiny components were neatly arranged.

Metal plates, energy transmission wires, a few miniature Soul Tool cores, a set of precise gears... dozens of pieces, large and small, sorted into little compartments.

At the very center of the drawer lay a purple metal bracelet on a velvet pad.

The bracelet was nearly complete. It was about two fingers wide, pale purple all over, and polished smooth. A few fine energy circuit patterns extended along its edges, though it had yet to be fully sealed.

"What's this...?" Na'er blinked as she looked at the bracelet.

"Your big brother made you a Level 2 Soul Tool." Chu Yan took out the components one by one and laid them across the desk. "It'll nourish your body and regulate your blood and energy. It's good for your health. It's not that high a level, so just use it for now."

That was right. Over the past three years, he had learned from a Soul Engineer elder in the family and had already reached the level of a Level 2 Soul Engineer.

He moved a chair over to the desk for Na'er, then sat down on another chair and took a slender pair of tweezers and a miniature Soul Tool core from the drawer. He began assembling the final parts.

"When your big brother gets better at this, I'll make you something even better."

His hands were steady. The tweezers barely trembled as he picked up each component. Years of study and practice had made him thoroughly familiar with the process of crafting basic Soul Tools like this.

The Soul Tool core slid into its slot, the energy circuits aligned, and he sealed the edge with a touch of the miniature soldering blade. A faint blue light flashed at the joint, then quickly died away.

Na'er sat beside him, quietly watching as he worked.

Her gaze moved from his fingers to the tiny components on the desk, then back to his profile. A thin sheen of tears gradually gathered in her eyes.

She didn't say a word, only pressed her lips tightly together, holding the tears back.

Chu Yan kept his head down, focused on his work, seeming not to notice her expression.

About fifteen minutes later, he tightened the final sealing screw and polished the bracelet with a soft cloth. Then he put down his tools and held it out to her.

"All done. Try it on."