What is the Origin of Douluo Continent's Martial Souls?

"Waaah, Xiao Qian, I missed you so much!"

Gu Yue clung tightly to Qian Jue's waist, her strength astonishing, as if she wanted to meld him into her body.

Qian Jue hurriedly said, "All right, all right, Senior Sister, let go. If you keep squeezing me like this, I won't be able to breathe."

Only then did Gu Yue hurriedly release him.

"Are you okay? Sorry... I just hadn't seen you in so long that I got a little too excited."

"It's nothing." Qian Jue shook his head, then said, "Take me to see Na'er and the others. It's been so long since we met—I really want to know how everyone's doing."

Gu Yue smiled sweetly, her autumn-water eyes narrowing into crescents. "Thanks to Xiao Qian, everyone's in better shape than ever."

"I told Tang Wulin and the others that after you came out of seclusion, you'd definitely have made tremendous progress. If they didn't work hard, they might not be able to keep up with you anymore."

"As a result, those guys trained like they'd been injected with chicken blood, cultivating day and night. Even Teacher Wu shook his head when he saw them, admitting he couldn't compare."

Qian Jue had not expected to have such a huge influence on Tang Wulin and the others. It seemed the Dragon Rising Pillar was simply too authoritative.

But after meeting Shu this time, Qian Jue had another theory.

Could it be that the Gold and Silver Dragon Kings had guessed that the essence of his soul was actually that of the first-generation ruler of the dragon race?

That would also explain why dragons were so fond of him.

After all, he had personally led the dragon race to the pinnacle of the universe, founded the Dragon God Realm, and established a system of governance within the dragon race.

Even if his status might not have matched that of the later Dragon God, he had still been the founding leader. Basic respect and admiration should still have remained.

Following behind Gu Yue, Qian Jue soon arrived at the hotel where Eastsea Academy's delegation was staying.

"This is Skysea City's most luxurious resort hotel, and the academy paid for it. Though we aren't sure whether you'll make it in time for the Skysea Alliance Grand Competition, Xiao Qian."

Gu Yue looked at Qian Jue and suddenly said seriously, "But we've always considered you our captain, so we specially kept a room for you."

Qian Jue smiled faintly, patted Gu Yue on the shoulder, and flashed an utterly confident smile.

"Don't worry. Leave everything to me."

"Shrek is nothing. Just watch me beat the history out of them."

Gu Yue was amused by Qian Jue's words and laughed so hard that her body trembled.

"All right, all right. There'll be a draw for tomorrow's individual matches. Before you arrived, the teachers notified us in advance. You'll need to go to the arena for the draw and see who your opponent will be tomorrow morning."

The two walked into the hotel side by side.

The moment they pushed open the door, party poppers went off beside their ears with a bang.

"Welcome back, Captain!"

The little room was packed with people. Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, Na'er, Wang Jinxi, and Zhang Yangzi were all there.

Even Xu Xiaoyan, the transfer student who had only recently enrolled, was there. Unlike the others, she stood far away by the window, timidly studying Qian Jue.

"Captain, you're finally back! Do you know what we've been through these past few days?"

"Even Wulin, the one with the worst talent, reached Level 21 after training hard for half a year. We're almost at three rings already." The moment Xie Xie came up, he began complaining. His little eyes blinked incessantly, making the implication obvious.

Qian Jue did not mind. He reached out and rubbed Xie Xie's head.

"Not bad. Unfortunately, I'm still one step ahead of you. I already have three rings."

Xie Xie scratched his head awkwardly and said, "Well, you are the captain. No matter how hard mediocre people like us work, it's only so we can barely keep up with you."

Tang Wulin walked over as well, looking like he also wanted his head patted.

Qian Jue lovingly fulfilled these children's wishes.

Perhaps because of his fusion with Shu, Qian Jue recalled the days when he had played both father and mother. His mental age rose once again, and he began treating all these peers as children.

To the side, Gu Yue and Na'er watched Qian Jue radiating maternal warmth and could not help muttering:

"Why does it feel like Xiao Qian went to the Spirit Pagoda to fuse with a soul spirit, only to turn back into that motherly fussbudget he used to be?"

"Isn't that nice? Lord Dragon Venerable was originally the one who raised our former selves." Gu Yue's little face reddened slightly, and she continued softly, "I really miss those days, when Qian Jue would chase after us with a bowl, trying to feed us. Hehe..."

Na'er rolled her eyes, the corner of her mouth twitching.

Were you reminiscing about the past? You just wanted Qian Jue to feed you as part of some play!

As parts of the same whole, Na'er knew every little scheme in Gu Yue's heart.

Don't even think about having Qian Jue all to yourself, hmph!

"Oh, right, Captain, our class has a new student too." Tang Wulin smiled as he led Qian Jue into the room and brought him before Xu Xiaoyan. "Xiaoyan, this is our class monitor and also our team captain, Qian Jue."

Xu Xiaoyan nodded anxiously, gave a slight bow, and said in a sweet voice, "Hello, Class Monitor. My name is Xu Xiaoyan. I'm a transfer student."

Even as she introduced herself, Xu Xiaoyan was secretly sizing Qian Jue up.

She had already heard a little about this captain's legendary deeds before enrolling.

Because her father was Eastsea City's chief financial officer, Xu Xiaoyan had heard early on that Eastsea Academy had produced a monster capable of alarming the old master of the Spirit Pagoda and the dean of Shrek Academy.

Later, during the trip to the Spirit Ascension Platform, she and her brother ran into Gu Yue and the others, got thoroughly beaten up, and then naturally became transfer students in Zero Class.

After Xu Xiaoyan joined the class, she found that everyone was very kind and diligent in their cultivation. Before she knew it, they had influenced her as well. After all, everyone was working hard, so she felt too embarrassed to slack off.

Whenever she asked why geniuses like Gu Yue worked so hard, her classmates would always say that they hoped not to hold Qian Jue back.

From that moment on, Xu Xiaoyan had become quite interested in Qian Jue.

Now that she finally met him, the delicately sculpted little boy before her was quite different from the tall, imposing image she had imagined, leaving her momentarily stunned.

And for some reason, whenever she saw everyone interacting with Qian Jue just now, she had felt the strange illusion of a motherly presence.

"Hello, my name is Qian Jue. Please take care of me from now on."

Qian Jue extended his hand and shook Xu Xiaoyan's.

While Xu Xiaoyan had been sizing him up, he had also been quietly observing her.

Xu Xiaoyan currently wore her pale blue hair in two little braids. Her features were delicate and lovely, and she was extremely pretty—several degrees more beautiful than Gu Yue.

It was just that the sense of affinity around her was not very strong, presumably because her martial soul did not possess a dragon attribute.

Yet what puzzled Qian Jue was that Xu Xiaoyan's martial soul was the Starwheel Ice Staff, which had nothing whatsoever to do with dragon attributes. Why, then, did he also feel a sense of affinity toward her?

This feeling had only appeared after he fused with Shu. It seemed that it had emerged after his dragon attribute had been enhanced.

"Father, I can sense a familiar dragon aura on all of these humans... especially their martial souls. It seems their original source lies with the dragon race. I can't remember anything more. The memories carried by this small fragment of divine consciousness are simply too few."

Shu's voice rang out, answering Qian Jue's doubts at that moment.