Fatherly Love, Filial Daughter

"Dad! I'm here to see you!"

Before she appeared, her voice arrived first. Then the office door was kicked open and slammed against the wall.

The sudden commotion made Huo Lin lose focus while writing case files, and he crushed the pen in his hand.

Huo Lin, who had been peacefully enjoying his day, was instantly filled with anger and was about to curse someone out when he realized the visitor was his far-from-considerate little darling.

Silently sweeping the broken ink pen into the trash, Huo Lin sighed and said wistfully:

"Xiao Wu, didn't Dad tell you before? Girls should be a little more refined. Don't always be so reckless, or you'll probably never get married in the future."

Huo Wu was clearly unconvinced by her father's words. Planting her hands on her hips, she immediately retorted:

"Dad, why are you dreaming again in broad daylight? The idiots trying to court me could line up all the way from Blazing Fire Academy to Blazing Fire City. How could I possibly fail to get married someday?"

After being snapped at by his black-hearted little darling, Huo Lin felt as if his heart and lungs had stopped from sheer suffocation.

After recovering for a moment, Huo Lin refused to be outdone and shot back, "You know they're all idiots chasing you. What smart person would take a fancy to such a fiery little brat?"

"..." It was as though the blade of truth had struck her weak point. Huo Wu's expression collapsed, and she froze in place without a word.

At this point, Huo Lin was like a victorious rooster. Puffing out his chest proudly, he continued delivering stinging remarks. "See? You can't say anything now, can you? Listen to Dad and fix that impulsive temper of yours."

"You old bastard, believe it or not, I'll yank out your beard!" With her cheeks puffed up in anger, Huo Wu made to pull Huo Lin's beard.

"Hey! It's one thing if you can't argue with your dad, but don't start hitting people!"

After a bout of horseplay, the previously unserious father and daughter resumed their proper demeanor.

Huo Lin, now missing a patch of beard from his chin, sat behind his desk and looked at Huo Wu in confusion. "Why aren't you in class at the junior division of Fire Sprout Junior Soul Master Academy today? What are you doing here in the advanced division?"

"Hmph! Can't I come see you if there's no reason?"

"Yeah, right! People don't visit a temple without a purpose. Would a black-hearted little darling like you really come visit your old dad out of the goodness of your heart?

So, are you short on spending money again, or do you want to go play in another city?"

With just a few words from Huo Lin, who was like an old child, Huo Wu was once again angered until she bared her teeth.

After exerting tremendous effort to squeeze out two tears, Huo Wu deliberately put on a pitiful, tearful expression, clearly intending to play the sympathy card.

Huo Lin had long grown accustomed to this. Without changing expression, he quietly activated the image-recording Soul Tool beneath the desk.

This black-hearted little darling gave him headaches every day. When she got married, he would definitely play all this footage as embarrassing blackmail!

"Alright, alright. It was Daddy's fault. Daddy apologizes to Xiao Wu now, so don't be angry anymore, okay?"

Huo Lin remained expressionless as he recited the words flatly, without a trace of feeling. He was clearly apologizing only to get it over with.

"Damn it, the old bastard has gotten wiser. This trick doesn't work anymore!" Huo Wu cursed inwardly. Seeing that playing pitiful was useless, she simply gave it up.

Wiping away her fake tears and becoming serious again, Huo Wu stopped beating around the bush. "I can't be bothered to mess around with you, stinky Dad. I came to see you this time because I have something important to say."

"Oh? Let's hear it."

Realizing that his black-hearted little darling did not seem to be faking it, Huo Lin sat up straight and listened attentively.

Huo Wu did not make a fuss this time. She directly told him every detail of what Lin Huo had discovered.

After a long while.

His fingertips tapped incessantly against the desk as Huo Lin, a Soul Saint, fell into deep thought.

However, that state did not last long. Huo Lin suddenly stood up, walked to the bookshelf in the office, and stopped there while muttering to himself.

"Detailed Records of Soul Masters Absorbing Soul Rings... Found it! This is the one!"

Taking a thick book from the shelf, Huo Lin began carefully reading through its contents.

"The eighth-generation ancestor of the Fire Clan attempted to absorb a Thousand-Year Soul Ring as his second Soul Ring, failed, and died. Because of his recklessness, his name was not recorded in this book.

"The twelfth-generation ancestor of the Fire Clan attempted to absorb a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Ring as his fourth Soul Ring, failed, and died. Because of his recklessness, his name was not recorded in this book.

"Jack, a student of Fire Sprout Junior Soul Master Academy, attempted to absorb a Soul Ring as his first..."

One record after another of failed attempts to absorb Soul Rings beyond one's limits filled the pages, warning later generations with bloody lessons never to be impatient for quick success.

Whenever Huo Lin had read this book before, he had only regarded it as a cautionary example left behind by those before him.

But now, after hearing an ingenious line of thought from Huo Wu, he saw many novel discoveries when looking through the book again, and could not help becoming engrossed in it.

Seeing the corners of her father's mouth nearly stretching to his ears, Huo Wu's eyes filled with curiosity.

She had read the book in her father's hands before. It could practically be called compulsory introductory reading for every member of the Fire Clan.

Yet she truly could not understand what treasure the book contained that could make even her father so engrossed that he could not pull himself away.

"Hey, hey, hey, you're practically drooling! What's so good about this stupid book that it has you grinning like that?"

Huo Wu crossed her arms, her face full of displeasure toward the book.

She had no idea which brilliant ancestor in the clan had designated this book as introductory reading and insisted that every Fire Clan descendant read it.

The various gruesome deaths and severe injury cases recorded in it had been definite psychological trauma. Even now, they still lingered in her mind.

No one knew a daughter better than her father, and Huo Lin naturally understood what his girl was thinking.

Even for him, this book, which was updated from time to time, was an unquestionable childhood nightmare.

But after so many years, who could have imagined that the childhood nightmare that had once frightened people into wetting the bed would now transform into a rare treasure? It was truly unexpected.

"I keep telling you, you little brat, to read more books, but every day you only know how to fight and spar with your classmates! All you do is practice those fists and kicks.

"And now look at you. You're standing before a mountain of treasure without even recognizing it. At this rate, you'll work your muscles right into your brain sooner or later."

After first scolding Huo Wu irritably to establish that he was right, Huo Lin placed the "children's introductory reader" in front of her.

"Here, take a look. I want to see whether a wild girl like you can spot what's different about it."

"Tch~" Huo Wu pulled a face in defiance, took the children's reader, and began examining it carefully.

After a long while, as she occasionally glanced at her father's smug expression, sweat poured from Huo Wu's forehead in her growing anxiety.

Huo Wu was indeed exceptionally clever, but no matter how clever one was, it was useless without learning.

The moment she looked at the book, the psychological trauma in her mind kept bubbling up. After staring at it for ages, she still could not figure anything out.

"Damn it, I should've brought that dog-headed strategist with me. His mind is ridiculously sharp. He definitely would've been able to tell what was wrong with this book!"

Huo Wu gritted her teeth anxiously, knowing that she would inevitably be viciously mocked by her old bastard of a father in a moment.