Scared?

After saying that, she seemed to sense something. Her gaze passed over the crowd and met Wu Changkong's, who stood in the center of the Magic Array.

The moment their eyes met, Wu Changkong hurriedly looked away.

He did not know why he lacked the courage to meet her gaze.

But he had instinctively avoided it.

At the same time, Wu Changkong realized that if reincarnation truly existed in this world, he could almost certainly say that the little girl before him was Long Bing's reincarnation.

At that moment, for the first time, the desire to truly live rekindled within him. Shui Bing'er before him was the answer fate had given him.

After Su Yuntao finished recording the results and closed the register, he noticed that Wu Changkong was still standing motionlessly inside the Magic Array.

"Why are there tear streaks on this child's face?"

"Crying and smiling at the same time—what kind of expression is that?"

"Changkong? Are you willing to join Spirit Hall?"

Wu Changkong came back to his senses. He glanced at him, then at Shui Bing'er, who stood by the entrance curiously examining the awakening Magic Array.

"No."

"Won't you reconsider? There are many benefits to joining Spirit Hall. Once you become powerful, you can have anything you want..."

Halfway through, his gaze shifted meaningfully toward Shui Bing'er. "Do you like that girl?"

"It's fine. Once you grow stronger and become a high-ranking Soul Master, you'll naturally be able to marry her."

"Spirit Hall can help you become stronger. When the time comes, what Shui Family's eldest miss? Wouldn't she be yours with just a word?"

"Yes, I'll become stronger." With that, he walked out of the awakening Magic Array.

Su Yuntao watched the six-year-old leave without a trace of hesitation, feeling that something was off.

He scratched his head and muttered, "Did this child only hear the second half? Next."

Wu Changkong did not leave. After walking out of the Holy Hall, he stood beside a colonnade outside the main entrance of the Spirit Hall Temple, quietly looking inside.

The spot was not particularly conspicuous, yet it gave him a clear view of everything happening in the awakening Magic Array within the side hall.

His gaze settled precisely on that pale blue figure.

After several children ahead of her completed their awakenings, it was finally Shui Bing'er's turn.

A phoenix cry rang out from Shui Bing'er's body.

"A top-tier beast Martial Soul—Ice Phoenix! Innate Soul Power Rank Nine!" Su Yuntao cried out in shock.

The watching parents erupted into an uproar.

"Ice Phoenix! Heavens, that's an Ice Phoenix!"

"The Shui Family is producing a genius!"

Wu Changkong, standing at the entrance, took it all in and sighed softly. "She wasn't weak in her past life either. An Ice Phoenix, huh."

Inside the Holy Hall, the awakening ceremony was nearing its end.

Su Yuntao offered Shui Bing'er a few more words of encouragement. The little girl politely thanked him, then turned and walked toward the butler and her younger sister waiting nearby.

Shui Yue'er pounced over and hugged her sister's arm, chattering away with her little face tilted upward. Shui Bing'er lowered her head and answered patiently, occasionally pursing her lips in a smile.

Wu Changkong still leaned against the pillar, his eyes following her every movement.

Then he realized that Shui Bing'er was walking toward the entrance.

The main entrance—the very place where he was standing.

Wu Changkong's body instantly stiffened. He quickly turned his head away and looked toward the lonely ginkgo tree in the plaza, putting on an indifferent air.

As Shui Bing'er passed the entrance, she noticed Wu Changkong leaning against the pillar.

Why was he still here? Hadn't the ceremony ended long ago?

The thought flashed through her mind, but she did not dwell on it. Perhaps he was simply waiting for his family.

Six-year-old Shui Bing'er did not yet understand what it meant when "a boy deliberately waited at the entrance just to look at you one more time." She only thought that the boy was a little strange, and nothing more.

She withdrew her gaze and continued forward.

The butler opened the carriage door for her. She gathered her skirt and stepped onto the footboard, climbing into the carriage.

The door closed. The coachman raised his whip, and the carriage drove away from the Spirit Hall Temple's plaza.

Wu Changkong ruffled his hair in frustration. "What was I afraid of?"

In his previous life, he had feared neither life nor death, and he had never retreated a single step before powerful enemies.

Yet when Shui Bing'er had passed by him just now, he had not even dared to look at her directly.

He had even turned his face away.

Turned away!

A dignified elder of Shrek Academy's Sea God Pavilion, the Heavenly Frost Sword God, had actually not dared to look at a little girl.

If those people from his previous life found out, they would laugh their teeth out.

Wu Changkong took a deep breath and suppressed the agitation in his heart.

"I will become stronger."

From that day onward, Wu Changkong began cultivating with everything he had.

His family lived in Water Source Town, west of Skywater City, a small town nestled between mountains and water.

Wu Changkong's training methods left everyone who saw them in disbelief.

Before dawn, he was already up. He first cultivated Purple Demon Eyes on the roof, then carried a bamboo basket into the mountains, running through the hills, climbing, and marching under heavy loads, tempering his body in the most primitive ways.

After awakening their Martial Souls, other children were either sent to academies for orderly instruction or hired private tutors for one-on-one guidance. He had neither.

His parents could not afford a private tutor, nor could they pay academy tuition.

But that was not a problem for him at all.

Because the knowledge in his mind surpassed that of any teacher in any academy in this world.

Methods for cultivating Soul Power, techniques for using soul skills, tactical thinking, the habits and weaknesses of soul beasts, Soul Tool crafting, Battle Armor crafting—those things had long been carved into his bones.

He did not need a teacher. He himself was the best teacher.

Besides his regular cultivation, he also trained in the Mysterious Heaven Skill, Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon, and Mysterious Jade Hand.

He had already mastered these in his previous life. Starting over now, his progress was astonishingly fast.

As the days passed, Wu Changkong's strength advanced by leaps and bounds.

At the age of seven, he went alone to the Far North and hunted his first Millennium soul beast, an Iceback Wolf, obtaining his first Soul Ring.

When a purple Millennium Soul Ring appeared on a seven-year-old child, all of Water Source Town was shaken.

Some said he was lucky. Others said he was exceptionally gifted. No one knew that this child had once been a Titled Douluo-level powerhouse in his previous life. Absorbing a mere Millennium Soul Ring was as ordinary to him as eating and drinking.

At eight, two rings.

At ten, three rings.

During those years, he would accompany his father to Skywater City for the market.

His father went to buy iron and blacksmithing tools, while he took the chance to visit the Shui Family.

The Shui Family residence was easy to find in Skywater City—the largest estate in the eastern district, built beside the river with white walls and dark tiles.

Every time, he sat down at the tea stall across the street, ordered the cheapest bowl of chilled tea, and watched the Shui Family's gates as he drank.

He wanted to "run into" Shui Bing'er.

The logic behind the plan was simple: if he frequently appeared outside the Shui Family's gates, sooner or later he would encounter Shui Bing'er leaving the house. Then he could naturally step forward and get to know her.

But reality was cruel.

He watched the Shui Family servants come and go, watched the butler head out to purchase supplies, yet he never once saw Shui Bing'er.

Later, after asking around indirectly, he learned that after Shui Bing'er awakened the Ice Phoenix Martial Soul, the Shui Family had placed great hopes in her. They hired a dedicated Soul Master tutor to teach her at home. She spent most of her time cultivating in the residence and rarely went outside.

Each time Wu Changkong rose from the tea stall and left, his expression remained as calm and cold as ever.

"Next time. I'll definitely see her next time."