Martial Soul: Chronicle of Time

"Speaking of which, my martial soul..."

With a slight stir of her thoughts, specks of light gathered.

A moment later, a thick book with a yellowed cover appeared before her.

"Domain: Thousand Winds, Myriad Clouds."

A faint glow emerged around Xu Qianqian's body.

Four golden characters gradually appeared on the book's yellowed cover.

"Chronicle of Time."

This was the true name of her martial soul.

So far, she had discovered that it could use certain mediums to view events that had happened in the past, and that the caress of the wind granted her powerful perception.

"Thousand winds bring the seeds of stories, and time makes them sprout."

For some reason, those words appeared in Xu Qianqian's mind.

Under the control of her thoughts, the pages of the Chronicle of Time slowly turned. The previously uninterrupted blankness stopped on a certain page.

The page was no longer blank. Instead, it bore information about a soul beast.

"Gale Wolf King. Wind attribute. Twenty-three thousand years of cultivation..."

"Did I learn of this soul beast by seeing fragments of Father's experiences before his death through the Chronicle of Time, and then it was recorded by my martial soul?" Xu Qianqian was unsure of her own speculation.

At the time, after Xiao Yuanshan left the room, Xu Qianqian touched the coffin and resonated with her own martial soul. She did not know why it had happened, nor did she know how much time had passed.

She saw fragments of the scene where Xiao Yuanshan, the City Lord of Notting City, and her father encountered the Gale Wolf King while returning to Notting City.

"Two yellow, two purple, and one black—the optimal ring configuration of a five-ring Soul King, along with an unknown domain."

"Father, what exactly did you hide from me?"

Setting aside the optimal ring configuration, a Soul King comprehending a domain was practically treatment reserved for the protagonist's party.

Even Titled Douluo might not necessarily possess a domain.

"Ah..." Xu Qianqian let out a long sigh.

Before he died, her father seemed to have given something to Xiao Yuanshan. If she wanted the truth, perhaps she could make a breakthrough through him. What she had seen were only fragmented images, without even any sound.

Xu Qianqian's decision to acknowledge Xiao Yuanshan as her adoptive father was also based on many considerations.

For example, the Thousand Winds, Myriad Clouds domain she had awakened.

This domain might very well be connected to the Gale Wolf King recorded in the book.

The Gale Wolf King had ultimately escaped from her father's hands, yet it had been recorded by her martial soul.

Before she fully understood the state of her martial soul, borrowing another's strength was necessary as well.

Otherwise, how could a soul aspirant who was not even a Soul Master possibly encounter large numbers of soul beasts and still survive?

That would simply be joking with her life.

Acknowledging the City Lord of Notting City as her adoptive father came with quite a few benefits too.

In the original work, setting aside the arrogant and domineering personality of the City Lord of Notting's son, Xiao Chenyu, wasn't his status itself convenient for getting things done?

"Getting that spoiled brat to acknowledge me probably won't be easy."

It was said that Tang Yuehua's innate domain, Noble Ring, could even affect Titled Douluo. By the same logic, shouldn't the innate domain she had awakened be more than enough to subdue a little brat who was not even a Soul Master?

Just like that, a month passed.

With the City Lord's Manor handling things, her father's funeral arrangements were settled satisfactorily.

No matter what, he had been a Soul Master who died for the City Lord's Manor, and a powerful Soul King at that.

Anyone with a brain knew what to do when it came to buying a horse's bones for a thousand gold.

After giving Xu Qianqian's father a grand burial, Xiao Yuanshan struck while the iron was hot and announced to Notting City that he had taken Xu Qianqian as his adopted daughter. Just like that, his reputation rose sharply.

However, things did not go entirely smoothly.

Xiao Chenyu, who had been ordered not to cause trouble during the ceremony for accepting an adopted daughter, came to block her door the very next day.

"Xu Qianqian, get out here!"

Yawning, Xu Qianqian opened the door and saw Xiao Chenyu, who looked like a lion with its fur standing on end.

"What is it?"

"You, I..." Xiao Chenyu said angrily, "Even if Dad agreed, I will never acknowledge you as my older sister."

"Mm, we can each address things our own way," Xu Qianqian said calmly. "Don't do anything that harms unity. No matter what, things have come to this. You can't resist it anyway, can you?"

"Damn it, that attitude of yours!" Xiao Chenyu clenched his fists. "If Dad hadn't locked me up yesterday, I would have gone out to stop it long ago. What gives you the right to become Dad's adopted daughter?"

"Because my adoptive father agreed. Is that reason enough?"

"Your dad is dead. A dead Soul King can't do any—"

"Shut up!" Xu Qianqian coldly cut him off. "For my adoptive father's sake, I'll pretend I didn't hear that."

"What? Did that hit a nerve? I told you, you're a country bumpkin, and a useless cripple who can't cultivate. Even that dead father of yours—"

Slap!

Xiao Chenyu's cheek swelled red as he was sent flying two or three meters away.

"Y-You actually dared to hit me?!" Xiao Chenyu clutched his cheek, his face full of disbelief.

What gave this little girl the right?

He was the City Lord's biological son, while she was merely an adopted daughter.

Had she considered the consequences?

"Xiao Chenyu, I hope you'll watch your words and actions in the future." Xu Qianqian sighed and turned her gaze toward the right. "Adoptive Father, you've been watching for quite a while, haven't you?"

Xiao Chenyu, who had been about to fly into a rage, froze completely, his face filled with shock.

"D-Dad..."

A square-faced man walked over.

"I'm sorry, Qianqian. Your adoptive father has failed to discipline his son properly." Xiao Yuanshan looked at Xu Qianqian, then at his own disappointing biological son.

"It's fine. I don't mind." Xu Qianqian's tone remained calm. "Adoptive Father, I don't want this sort of thing to happen again. Is that possible?"

"Don't worry. I guarantee it in the name of the City Lord—this will never happen again." Xiao Yuanshan's expression turned stern as he looked at Xiao Chenyu. "Yu'er, apologize to your sister."

"I won't!" Xiao Chenyu got to his feet. "Why should a useless cripple who can't cultivate stand above me? I refuse to accept it!"

"Then what do you want?" Xiao Yuanshan frowned.

"Unless she can beat me, I won't accept it."

"Do you even know what you're saying?" Xiao Yuanshan sternly rebuked him. "You have innate level-four soul power, and you want to fight your sister? You don't even know where you went wrong!"

It would have been one thing without a comparison, but they were the same age. Over this period in the City Lord's Manor, his adopted daughter's performance had utterly crushed that of his biological son. Comparing goods only made the inferior one seem fit to be thrown away.

"I just won't accept it." Xiao Chenyu turned his head aside. "Even if I get beaten to death today and thrown outside to wander, I still won't accept a useless cripple who can't even cultivate as my sister."

"Father, I know you feel guilty and want to repay this little girl, but repaying her doesn't mean letting her step all over your own biological son. Have you ever considered how I feel?"

"I am the eldest young master of the City Lord's Manor. Out of nowhere, someone suddenly appears above me—and worst of all, she's a useless cripple. When people mention Xiao Chenyu in the future, they won't say I'm the eldest young master of the City Lord's Manor. They'll say I'm the younger brother of the City Lord's Manor's useless eldest miss."

"The younger brother of a useless eldest miss—wouldn't that make me, Xiao Chenyu, seem even more useless?"

Xiao Yuanshan: "..."

What kind of logic was that? Was this really his biological son?

"So, if I beat you, you won't come looking for trouble with me anymore?" While Xiao Chenyu and Xiao Yuanshan argued until their faces were red, a calm voice drifted over.

"That's right." Xiao Chenyu roared. "If you lose, then you're the younger sister."

Xu Qianqian: "..."

You argued back and forth over nothing but that title?

The minor villainous side characters these days really were impossible to understand.