Yang Xing led Ning Rongrong through the twisting streets and alleys of Suotuo City.
The alleys of Suotuo City grew narrower and narrower.
Holding up her skirt, Ning Rongrong followed behind Yang Xing through one unfamiliar alley after another, her expression worsening by the moment.
"Where exactly are you taking me?"
Keeping a safe distance of five or six meters behind Yang Xing, Ning Rongrong carried several large and small bags that had long since become such a nuisance that she wanted to toss them by the roadside. But the belongings of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's young lady could not be discarded.
Yang Xing walked ahead at an unhurried pace.
"I'm taking you to where I live." Without even looking back, Yang Xing spoke as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "There are fewer people there. It'll be easier to talk."
Ning Rongrong stopped walking.
She came to a complete halt.
In that instant, the way she looked at Yang Xing changed, as though she were looking at a pile of filth by the roadside.
"You—"
Her voice rose a full octave.
"Don't tell me you saw that I'm naturally beautiful and brilliant, and you really intend to do something improper to me?"
One hand on her hip and the other pointing a bag at the back of Yang Xing's head, Ning Rongrong's disgust was so thick it seemed ready to drip from her brows.
"What the hell are you fantasizing about?"
Yang Xing did not stop walking.
Hearing the outrageous words behind him, a thought flashed through his mind—just like in the novels from before he transmigrated. Ning Rongrong might only be twelve, but her verbal boundaries were broader than those of many adults. Who had taught her that? Did the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's etiquette lessons include this?
"Miss Ning." Yang Xing spoke calmly without turning around. "Since we met, you've said no fewer than seven or eight inappropriate things, haven't you?"
He raised one finger and waved it through the air.
"I haven't said a single one."
"If anyone's being improper—it should be you, Young Lady Ning Rongrong, shouldn't it?"
Ning Rongrong's lips moved, but the words at the tip of her tongue were choked back.
A flicker of speechlessness crossed her face, but she quickly regained her haughty expression and let out a cold snort.
"That's because I'm frank." She lifted her chin. "Who knows whether you're the sort of creepy guy who looks harmless on the surface but has a head full of filthy thoughts?"
After saying that, she watched Yang Xing's back as he continued forward without the slightest intention of stopping. She paced in place twice before gritting her teeth and following him anyway.
As the two ventured deeper into the city, the scenery around them began to change.
The bustling main streets became secluded alleyways, and the neat stone paving became uneven dirt roads. The buildings on both sides grew increasingly dilapidated, their plaster peeling and eaves crooked. Occasionally, a few stray cats darted through the ruined walls.
Ning Rongrong's steps became cautious.
Walking on tiptoe as though she were stepping on something unclean, she scrunched up her delicate little face and pinched her nose between her thumb and forefinger.
"What kind of awful place do you live in?" Her voice was thick with a nasal tone. "Why aren't we there yet after walking so far?"
"We're almost there."
Yang Xing's voice drifted over from ahead, perfunctory to the extreme.
"Just another seven or eight turns."
"Seven or eight turns?!"
Ning Rongrong nearly tripped over a protruding stone fragment on the ground. She was so furious that she wanted to hurl the bags in her hands at him.
But what she did not know was that Yang Xing, walking ahead of her, had long since stopped paying attention to the road.
All of his focus was immersed in the system panel floating before his eyes, visible only to him.
Time waited for no one.
There were two reasons to claim the reward in a rundown alley like this. First, Ning Rongrong might have hidden guards nearby. He needed to get strength in his hands before reaching his home; otherwise, if those guards attacked him, he would not even be qualified to fight back.
Second, once they reached his home, he needed some capital to persuade Ning Rongrong.
He had bluffed her with empty words for so long. If he did not show her something real, he probably could not convince Ning Rongrong.
He needed strength.
Immediately. Right now.
With a thought, Yang Xing opened the system inventory.
Inside lay a glowing orb, above which floated several large golden words—[Level 99 Ultimate Title Douluo Cultivation Set].
He selected it.
[ Ding! Use it? ]
Yes.
The next moment, a translucent blue selection screen appeared before him.
A line of text was written clearly across it: [Please customize your soul skills before proceeding with cultivation infusion.]
Yang Xing's thoughts stirred slightly.
"I can define this soul skill however I want?"
[ Ding! Yes, Host. You may customize any form of soul skill, including but not limited to any ability system known from your previous life, anime abilities, or your own designs. The system will adaptively convert them. ]
Yang Xing could not help being sarcastic.
"System, you're still here? Didn't you say you'd disappear once I completed the task?"
He remembered it clearly. The system intelligence had said that after he took in his first disciple and completed the initial task, it would disappear. Ning Rongrong had already signed the contract, so why had this thing not left yet?
[ Ding! Host, I will only completely fulfill my mission and disappear after assisting you in fully using your task reward for the first time. This is my final service. ]
This was the last time.
Yang Xing's mind went quiet for a moment.
Then, in his thoughts, he forced out an expression of utter grief.
"Oh, hearing you say that, I really am a little reluctant to let you go. You've been with me for ten years, after all. Leaving just like that is a little too heartless."
[ Ding! Thank you very much for your reluctance, Host. I have also been very happy during these ten years spent accompanying you. I believe that Host will only grow stronger in the future and reach the pinnacle of life! ]
Yang Xing scoffed disdainfully in his mind.
"Getting sentimental at the very end, are you?"
But insults aside, an indescribable melancholy did rise from the depths of his heart.
Ten years.
Though this system intelligence was both stupid and fond of boasting, it really was the only existence in this world that knew everything about his past. His transmigration, his previous life, all the thoughts in his heart that he could never tell anyone—only the system had heard them.
From now on, he would truly be alone.
Melancholy was melancholy.
Yang Xing did not slow his pace in the slightest. Ten years of hardship had long since tempered his character into something far more resilient.
Since the matter was already set in stone, what was the point of wallowing in sentimentality?
Strength was everything.
He gathered his thoughts and continued.
"What is my Soul Ring configuration?"
[ Ding! Host's Soul Rings are the most perfect standard configuration: yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black, red. Nine rings in total. They are—First Soul Ring: 999 years; Second Soul Ring: 999 years; Third Soul Ring: 9,999 years; Fourth Soul Ring: 9,999 years; Fifth Soul Ring: 99,999 years; Sixth Soul Ring: 99,999 years; Seventh Soul Ring: 99,999 years; Eighth Soul Ring: 99,999 years; Ninth Soul Ring: 199,999 years. All are the maximum age for their corresponding colors. ]
Yang Xing looked over the information.
Honestly, compared to the protagonists in the novels he had read, whose first Soul Rings were casually hundred-thousand-year rings and whose later rings numbered in the hundreds of thousands or even millions of years, this was not especially outrageous.
But it was enough.
It had been handed to him for free. Pure profit without any investment.
Besides, he clearly remembered that the Douluo Continent was filled with opportunities to improve Soul Ring quality. Title Douluo Deep Sea Silver Mother, the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, all sorts of heavenly treasures.
With his foreknowledge, Yang Xing could take things slowly.
Most importantly, this Soul Ring configuration was absolutely in a league of its own on the current Douluo Continent.
There was no second one.
"What about my Martial Soul? Is it still that little wooden stick?"
This was what Yang Xing cared about most. He was the future youngest Title Douluo on the continent. If he still had to go around showing people a little wooden stick as his Martial Soul, where would his dignity be?
[ Ding! The Martial Soul will undergo adaptive enhancement after cultivation infusion. Its form will automatically adjust based on the soul skill system selected by the Host. ]
Adaptive enhancement.
Fine. As long as it was not a little wooden stick anymore.
Reassured, Yang Xing began seriously considering his choice of soul skills.
This was the highest priority. The seventh of his nine Soul Rings would be the Martial Soul Avatar, which was fixed and required no choice. The remaining eight Soul Rings corresponded to eight soul skills, and he had to select the ability system that suited him best.
A string of powerful abilities from memories of his previous life flashed through his mind.
The Eight Extraordinary Skills? The Twelve Talismans? Devil Fruits? Heaven-defying abilities from all kinds of Chinese and Japanese anime?
Yang Xing hesitated for a few seconds before finally fixing his gaze on two options.
Under One Person—the Eight Extraordinary Skills.
Jackie Chan Adventures—the Twelve Talismans.
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