"A gift? What is it? What is it? I knew you treated me best, Teacher!"
At the word "gift," Xiao Wu's eyes instantly lit up.
Seeing her eager expression, Fang Yuan smiled faintly. "I only finished making this gift last night. I refined it especially for you."
With that, he turned his hand over, and an object appeared in his palm.
It was perfectly round, like a smooth bead or a pill. A slender chain, however, ran through the center of the little sphere.
Xiao Wu looked at Fang Yuan, her eyes full of puzzlement. "Teacher, what is this?"
Fang Yuan beckoned her closer, then reached both hands behind her neck.
A moment later, the little sphere threaded onto the chain hung around Xiao Wu's neck as a necklace.
A necklace? Why was he giving me a necklace?
Confusion crept across Xiao Wu's face.
Seeing her bewildered expression, Fang Yuan explained:
"Calling it a necklace isn't wrong. It's a pill I refined last night using some fairly rare herbs. But this pill isn't for eating. From now on, you must keep wearing it around your neck.
"As for its effect, that's simple enough. Wearing it will conceal the aura of your life essence. As long as you don't deliberately release your original aura, even a Titled Douluo will have trouble noticing anything unusual about you."
Fang Yuan spoke calmly, as though discussing something utterly trivial.
But his words struck like thunder out of a clear sky. Xiao Wu's pupils instantly widened.
Like a rabbit startled without warning, she froze on the spot, seemingly too frightened even to breathe.
Only after a long while did Xiao Wu manage to force a somewhat strange smile onto her pretty little face.
"Teacher, what are you talking about? I don't understand."
Despite her words, turmoil was already surging through her heart.
Xiao Wu had already learned about Fang Yuan's cultivation from Tang San.
Before going to Sunset Forest, Fang Yuan had only been a Soul Emperor. He had obtained his Seventh Soul Ring there.
Xiao Wu had always considered a newly advanced Soul Saint safe.
After all, only someone at the Soul Douluo level had any chance of seeing through her.
And advancing from Soul Saint to Soul Douluo would take at least a dozen years of arduous cultivation, if not several decades.
Before Fang Yuan reached level 80 and obtained his Eighth Soul Ring, Xiao Wu would have plenty of time to escape.
That was why she had felt relatively at ease about becoming his disciple.
Yet the words her Soul Saint teacher had just spoken left her feeling utterly exposed. They made it unmistakably clear that he had seen through her secret.
Xiao Wu's breathing grew hurried. She struggled to keep her expression calm, her eyes fixed on Fang Yuan.
He realized I was actually a hundred-thousand-year soul beast who had taken human form? How was that possible?
But this was no time to ask how. What should I do now?
Although a hundred-thousand-year soul beast possessed combat strength equivalent to a Titled Douluo, after undergoing human transformation, they could no longer wield their former power.
Fang Yuan was a Soul Saint. Subduing Xiao Wu as she was now would be as easy as eating or drinking.
For a moment, thoughts tangled chaotically in Xiao Wu's mind, leaving her at a complete loss.
Looking at her stiff expression, which made it obvious that her little rabbit brain was already overloaded, Fang Yuan couldn't help smiling.
He began slowly. "Xiao Wu, did you know? Back in Sunset Forest, Little San wasn't the only one who took an immortal herb. I also used immortal herbs to refine pills for myself, greatly strengthening my body.
"With my body as it is now, I won't need to wait until level 90. I can take a hundred-thousand-year soul ring as my Eighth Soul Ring."
At the words "hundred-thousand-year spirit ring," Xiao Wu broke into a cold sweat, and despair instantly flooded her heart.
If I'd known this would happen, I would never have sought out Fang Yuan as a shield.
No, he probably noticed me long ago. No matter what I did, my fate was probably already sealed.
Daming, Erming...
Mom...
Ignoring the way Xiao Wu's eyes had abruptly dulled, Fang Yuan continued:
"But what you don't know is that, at my cultivation speed, I'm quite confident I can reach level 80 before you graduate from Notting Academy. I could simply pretend I knew nothing for now and hide my true level from you.
"The moment I reached level 80, you would vanish without a trace, and no one would ever suspect your dear teacher.
"But instead of doing that, I gave you this necklace. Do you know why?"
Xiao Wu's voice was a little hoarse. By now, she knew there was no point playing dumb.
"You want to conceal my aura while telling me that running away is useless."
Fang Yuan shook his head. "If I told you this necklace was just an accessory, you would still wear it. Why would I need to reveal the truth? Wouldn't I be afraid you'd run away beforehand?"
His words brought a little light back into Xiao Wu's eyes. She stared into the young man's dark, fathomless gaze. "Then what exactly do you mean?"
"You rebellious little rabbit. You won't even call me Teacher anymore," Fang Yuan said with a smile. "I told you because I've never coveted your Soul Ring or Soul Bone, so I'm not afraid of you running away. You're free to take the necklace I gave you and go wherever you please.
"There's no tracking mechanism on it, but its ability to conceal your aura is genuine. As long as you're careful, you can use it to blend seamlessly into human society."
Xiao Wu said nothing, but her large eyes remained fixed on Fang Yuan's face.
She didn't believe anyone could truly resist the temptation of a hundred-thousand-year spirit ring and Soul Bone, yet his earlier words did make sense.
All Fang Yuan needed to do was keep her in the dark, and he could accomplish everything with virtually no risk or effort, without her ever suspecting a thing.
Watching the conflicted expression on Xiao Wu's face as she wrestled with her thoughts, Fang Yuan began to worry.
This girl wasn't bright to begin with. She'd better not burn out what little rabbit brain she had.
Fang Yuan raised his hand. Xiao Wu flinched slightly, but he merely rested it gently on her head and stroked her hair.
"Trust needs no reason, so why not try trusting me?" Fang Yuan said softly.
For some reason, Fang Yuan's vigorous rubbing of her little rabbit head gave Xiao Wu a faint sense of security.
As she felt the young man's warmth toward her, Xiao Wu's thoughts drifted. The warm hand atop her head seemed to blur her vision, giving her the illusion that she had returned to Star Dou Great Forest.
Her gaze grew hazy, and her expression gradually relaxed.
She sensed the goodwill in Fang Yuan's heart.
Although a few words from him weren't enough to make her lower her guard completely, her pounding heartbeat slowly steadied.
At Fang Yuan's feet, his second soul ring slowly revolved.
Demeanor was the heart's mask.
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