An Encounter in Suotuo City, First Meeting Ning Rongrong

Heaven Dou City and Suotuo City were two thousand li apart. Ordinary people traveling by carriage would need ten days to half a month, while even riding at full gallop would take four or five days.

But distance had never been a problem for Lin Chen.

He stood atop a hill outside Heaven Dou City, gazing toward the southern horizon as the Yin-Yang Law within him slowly circulated.

A gray mark surfaced on his palm as his second soul ring lit up. Yin-Yang power gathered behind him, forming a pair of wings: the left wing was frost-blue like snow, the right blazing red like fire. Spread wide, they spanned over three zhang, their edges flowing with a faint nine-colored glow.

Self-Created Soul Skill: Kunpeng Spreads Wings.

With a gentle beat of his wings, his body shot into the sky. The hill beneath his feet rapidly shrank, and Heaven Dou City became a palm-sized outline in his view.

The wind howled past his ears, while clouds surged beneath him. He soared through the lofty skies, each beat of his wings carrying him dozens of li.

In less than an hour, the outline of Suotuo City had appeared on the horizon.

Lin Chen folded his wings and slowly descended into an empty alley.

As the Yin-Yang power dispersed, he straightened the clothes ruffled by the wind, then casually walked out of the alley and blended into Suotuo City's afternoon streets.

Suotuo City was neither large nor small. Its main street was crowded with people, and cries of merchants rose and fell without end.

Lin Chen wandered aimlessly, holding a skewer of freshly bought roasted meat as he walked and surveyed this unfamiliar city.

He had no particular purpose in coming here. He simply wanted to take a walk, change his surroundings, and clear his mind.

After the matter with Yu Tianheng had settled, life at the academy had returned to peace. So he had decided to come out alone for a stroll.

As he walked, a sudden commotion broke out ahead.

He looked up and saw a crowd gathered not far away. From within came the faint sound of a young girl crying.

There was an uncontrollable grievance in that crying, as though she had suffered a tremendous setback.

Lin Chen had not intended to join the spectacle, but the emotion in that crying was too intense, making him pause.

He walked over, parted the crowd, and saw a girl who looked eleven or twelve standing by the roadside, sobbing uncontrollably.

She wore a gorgeous white gown, with exquisite golden patterns embroidered along the hem and cuffs. The fabric was top-grade cloud brocade, clearly worth a fortune at a glance.

Her skin was porcelain-white, and her features were delicate like those of a carefully carved doll. It was obvious that she had been pampered since childhood and raised in the palm of everyone's hand.

Yet at that moment, her beautiful eyes brimmed with tears, her eye sockets were red, and so was the tip of her nose. Her entire being radiated the aggrieved air of a little animal that had been abandoned.

Lin Chen recognized her the moment he saw her.

Ning Rongrong.

The only daughter of Ning Fengzhi, Sect Master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, and the possessor of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda martial soul.

At this point in time, she should already have been at Shrek Academy. Since she was standing in the street crying like this, she had most likely fallen out with someone from Shrek.

After thinking for a moment, he stepped forward, stopped before Ning Rongrong, took a clean handkerchief from his pocket, and held it out to her.

Ning Rongrong was crying her heart out when she suddenly saw a handkerchief offered before her and froze.

She raised her head and, through tear-blurred eyes, saw a boy only a few years older than her standing before her, looking at her calmly.

After hesitating, she accepted the handkerchief and wiped the tears and snot from her face.

She sniffled, her voice thick with a nasal tone. "Th-thank you."

"You're welcome." Lin Chen withdrew his hand. "Why are you crying here alone?"

Ning Rongrong lowered her head. She was silent for a while before softly saying, "I... I ran away from the academy."

"Shrek Academy?"

Ning Rongrong abruptly raised her head and stared at him in surprise. "How did you know?"

"I guessed." Lin Chen said, "The most famous academy near Suotuo City is Shrek. Besides, judging from your clothes and bearing, you're clearly a young lady from a prominent family. The academy that could make a young lady run out crying was most likely Shrek."

Ning Rongrong bit her lip and lowered her head again, her voice full of grievance. "That dean, Flender, scolded me in front of everyone... He said I was spoiled, that I couldn't endure hardship, that I wasn't worthy of staying at Shrek... I just couldn't run anymore... I already tried my best, and he still scolded me..."

As she spoke, her tears began falling again.

Lin Chen looked at her without immediately speaking. He waited until she had cried for a while before asking, "What did he make you run?"

"Run laps around the village. So many laps... I've never run that far in my life. My legs were practically breaking... I'm a support-type Soul Master, not a battle-type Soul Master. What use is running?"

The more Ning Rongrong spoke, the more aggrieved she became. "No one has ever scolded me like that since I was little... Not even my father has scolded me..."

After hearing her out, Lin Chen was silent for a moment before saying something that left Ning Rongrong stunned. "You're right. Running really is useless."

Ning Rongrong raised her head, blinking through her tears as she looked at him, scarcely believing her ears. "Y-you also think running is useless?"

"Of course it's useless." Lin Chen's tone was calm and certain. "You possess the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda martial soul and are one of the continent's foremost support-type Soul Masters. Your worth lies in your enhancement abilities, in your judgment and control over the battle, and in whether you can provide your teammates with the most suitable enhancements at the most appropriate moment. Not a single one of those abilities can be trained through running."

He paused, then continued, "Flender made you run only because he wanted to wear away your spoiled habits and teach you how to endure hardship. But he overlooked one fundamental fact: you are a support-type Soul Master, not a battle-type Soul Master. Battle-type Soul Masters need physical strength, endurance, and the ability to charge into battle. But you do not. Your battlefield is not the front line, but the rear. What you need is not to run fast, but to see clearly, think clearly, and react quickly."

Ning Rongrong listened in a daze, even forgetting to wipe her tears.

She had never considered the matter from that perspective.

Ever since she was young, everyone had told her that the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda was the strongest support martial soul. Yet no one had ever told her what a support-type Soul Master truly needed to train.

"But..." She hesitated. "Teacher Flender said that if I don't have enough physical strength, I won't even be able to protect myself on the battlefield..."

"Protecting yourself doesn't depend on running." Lin Chen interrupted her. "It depends on your teammates' protection, your choice of strategic position, and your judgment of the battlefield. As the possessor of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, would you lack people to protect you? Would your father let you enter a battlefield alone?"

Ning Rongrong opened her mouth but could not say a word.

Lin Chen looked at her, his tone softening. "I'm not saying hardship has no meaning. Every strong person must undergo tempering, but that tempering needs direction. Training a support-type Soul Master's physical strength as if she were a battle-type Soul Master is like making a fish learn to climb a tree. It's not impossible, but the direction is wrong."

Ning Rongrong fell silent. She lowered her head and looked at the tips of her shoes. After a long while, she softly asked, "Then... then should I not go to Shrek?"

"You should ask yourself that question." Lin Chen said. "What kind of Soul Master you want to become determines what path you should choose."

Ning Rongrong looked up at him, her gaze filled with confusion and searching. "Then tell me, what kind of Soul Master should I become?"

Lin Chen looked into her clear eyes, remained silent for a moment, then said something that made Ning Rongrong's heart tremble.

"Have you ever considered why the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda can only have seven treasures?"

Ning Rongrong froze.

"Your father is a rank seventy-nine Soul Saint. The limit of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda is seven levels. It can only have seven soul rings and provide at most seven kinds of enhancement."

Lin Chen's voice was calm and clear. "But what if I told you that the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda's limit can be broken? What if I said that seven treasures could become eight, or even nine?"

Ning Rongrong's pupils abruptly dilated.

She had never considered that question.

The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda's limit was seven levels. That was a fact known throughout the continent.

Every generation of Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect Masters had been rank seventy-nine Soul Saints. No one had ever broken through rank eighty because the martial soul's limitation stood there. It was an iron law, an insurmountable chasm.

Yet this boy before her was telling her, in such a casual tone, that this chasm could be crossed.

"Y-you're telling the truth?" Ning Rongrong's voice trembled slightly.

"Whether it's true or not, you'll have to verify it yourself." Lin Chen said. "But if you don't even have the courage to try, then you'll forever remain at seven treasures."

Ning Rongrong looked at him and stayed silent for a long time.

Then she took a deep breath, wiped the tears from her face, and a resolve she had never possessed before appeared in her eyes.

"I understand."

She raised her head, looked at Lin Chen, and said seriously, "Thank you for telling me this. I... I won't go back."

Lin Chen looked at her, somewhat surprised. "You're not going back?"

Ning Rongrong shook her head, her gaze firm. "You're right. I'm a support-type Soul Master. I don't need to prove myself through running. Shrek doesn't suit me, and Flender doesn't understand me. There's no point in going back. I don't want to waste my time in a place that doesn't understand me."

She paused, then looked at Lin Chen with a trace of anticipation and unease in her eyes. "C-can you take me with you?"