Two Souls

Infirmary.

Early morning.

Wang Dong opened her eyes.

The ceiling was a blinding white.

She sat up.

Her chest felt tight.

Something was moving inside her body.

Two strands.

One she knew. The Light Power of the Goddess of Light Butterfly, warm, smooth, following her breath.

The other...

Unknown.

That power was hidden deep down, as if pressed under something. But now, it was moving. Striking. Pushing upward.

Wang Dong reached out and pressed her chest.

Something was beating there.

Not a heartbeat.

It was another rhythm.

Thud.

Thud.

Thud.

Slower than a heartbeat, heavier than a heartbeat.

She frowned.

Her heart felt creepy.

What... what is that?

She said in a low voice.

Only she could hear it.

No one answered.

The infirmary was empty.

Birds were chirping outside the window.

Sunlight leaked through the gaps in the curtains and fell on the sheets.

Wang Dong took a deep breath.

Calm down.

She told herself.

Calm down.

Sue closed her eyes.

That strange power was still there.

It did not hurt.

But it was unsettling.

Like something was slowly waking up inside her body.

Wang Dong opened her eyes.

She glanced at the door.

The door was closed.

She lay back down.

She closed her eyes.

But she did not sleep.

A voice in her head was saying:

You cannot let them know.

You cannot let anyone know.

Footsteps came from outside the door.

Wang Dong's fingers tightened around the sheets.

The footsteps drew closer.

They stopped at the door.

The door was pushed open.

Huo Yuhao came in.

He was holding breakfast in his hands.

Two steamed buns, a bowl of porridge.

He glanced at Wang Dong.

She was lying down with her eyes closed.

But Huo Yuhao could tell—

she was not sleeping.

Her breathing was wrong.

Too shallow.

Too tight.

He placed the breakfast on the table.

"Eat."

A single word.

Wang Dong opened her eyes.

Her powder-blue eyes looked at him.

She paused for a moment.

"...You're here."

"Yeah."

Huo Yuhao sat down.

He did not speak again.

Wang Dong looked at him.

Her feelings were a bit complicated.

This person...

Yesterday, during the Martial Soul Fusion, he had stayed guard the whole time.

After the fusion, she had passed out, and when she woke up, he was still there.

Now, he had come again.

Wang Dong sat up.

"About yesterday..."

She began.

"Do you remember?"

"I remember,"

Huo Yuhao said.

"The Martial Soul Fusion."

"I mean..."

Wang Dong paused.

"Before the fusion."

Huo Yuhao looked at her.

"Before?"

"Did you feel..."

Wang Dong's voice became a bit softer.

"Anything wrong?"

Huo Yuhao fell silent.

He looked at Wang Dong.

Pale golden light spun around in his pupils.

Spirit Eye.

Mental Detection.

He could "see" the flow of soul power inside Wang Dong's body.

The Light Power flowed smoothly on the surface.

But deeper down—

there was another power.

Dark.

Heavy.

Like a suppressed ball of fire.

"Inside your body..."

Huo Yuhao spoke.

"There is another power."

Wang Dong's expression changed.

Her powder-blue eyes suddenly constricted.

She stared at Huo Yuhao.

"You..."

"I cannot see what it is,"

Huo Yuhao said.

"I can only see... that something is there."

Wang Dong did not speak.

She lowered her head.

Her fingers clutched the sheets tightly.

Huo Yuhao did not press further.

He knew that some things would not be told even if he asked.

He stood up.

"Eat."

He pushed the breakfast forward.

Wang Dong looked up.

She glanced at him.

"...Thank you."

Her voice was very soft.

Huo Yuhao said nothing.

He turned around and walked out.

The door closed.

Wang Dong lowered her head and looked at the breakfast on the table.

Two steamed buns.

A bowl of porridge.

Hot.

She reached out and picked up a bun.

She took a bite.

It had no taste.

But she finished it.

God Realm.

Sea God Hall.

Tang San stood by the pool.

The pool water was blue, reflecting the light of the sky.

He glanced at the surface of the pool.

Images appeared on the water.

Lower realm.

Tianhun Royal Academy.

Infirmary.

Huo Yuhao walked out.

Wang Dong sat on the bed, eating a bun.

The corners of Tang San's mouth twitched.

Smile.

"Soon."

He spoke in a low voice.

"Martial Soul Fusion has already triggered."

"Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong are bound together."

He turned.

He looked toward the depths of Sea God Hall.

A person stood there.

Sea God Attendant.

"Continue monitoring."

Tang San said.

"Huo Yuhao's movements, Wang Dong's condition, Quan Cangtian's..."

He paused.

"Everything."

Sea God Attendant nodded.

He vanished into the golden light.

Tang San looked back at the pool's surface.

The image changed.

Quan Cangtian.

A six-year-old child.

Standing beside the training ground.

Tang San stared at his back.

This person...

He muttered.

...is a variable.

But a variable can also become a chess piece.

His finger tapped lightly against the edge of the pool.

"When Huo Yuhao gets a bit stronger..."

"When Wang Dong's control stabilizes a bit..."

"We will co-opt them."

"Tame them into people of my Tang family."

He smiled.

Very lightly.

Very coldly.

Yet he did not know—

Huo Yuhao was already a person of the Quan Family.

Dormitory.

Afternoon.

Wang Dong pushed the door open and entered.

Quan Cangtian had just returned.

He sat by the table.

Flipping through a book.

Wang Dong entered.

She sat down.

No one spoke.

Sunlight from outside slanted in, falling across the tabletop.

Quan Cangtian turned a page of the book.

He did not look up.

Wang Dong watched him.

This six-year-old child...

Yesterday, with a single punch, he blasted away a rank-25 spirit master.

He did not use a spirit skill.

It was a power she had never seen before.

Bright golden flames.

The temperature was extremely high.

Even the air warped.

She opened her mouth.

"You..."

Quan Cangtian raised his head.

Blue Eyes looked at him.

Very still.

Like the surface of the sea.

What lay in the depths of the sea could not be seen.

"Inside your body."

He spoke.

"There are two souls."

Wang Dong's expression changed abruptly.

Her powder-blue eyes suddenly contracted.

She stared at Quan Cangtian.

Her breathing stopped for a fraction of a second.

"You..."

"Don't be nervous."

Quan Cangtian closed the book.

"I am not an enemy."

Wang Dong did not speak.

She stared at him.

Her brain was spinning frantically.

How did he know?

Why did he know?

Who on earth was he?

"You..."

She began.

Her voice a little tight.

"How do you know?"

Quan Cangtian looked at her.

"I guessed."

A lie.

Wang Dong's pupils constricted slightly.

She did not believe it.

Yet she did not pursue the question.

...What are you trying to do?

Quan Cangtian stood up.

He walked over to the window.

He looked at the sky outside.

"Nothing."

He said.

"Just a reminder—"

He turned around.

"Beware of the God Realm."

Wang Dong's pupils constricted.

The God Realm?

She knew of the God Realm.

She was—

She knew of the God Realm's existence.

Yet how did this six-year-old child know?

"Who..."

She stood up.

"...on earth are you?"

Quan Cangtian smiled.

Very lightly.

"Guess."

Wang Dong stared at him.

She watched him for three seconds.

Then, she turned around.

She walked out the door.

At the threshold, she paused.

She looked back.

"I will remember this."

Quan Cangtian did not speak.

He merely watched her.

Wang Dong left.

The door closed.

Quan Cangtian stood right where he was.

He knew now.

Inside Wang Dong's body, there were two souls.

One belonged to her own self.

The other belonged to Tang Wutong.

The daughter of Tang San.

The memories of a transmigrator told him Wang Dong's true identity.

However, he would not expose it.

At least not right now.

He merely reminded her—beware of the God Realm.

Tang San was monitoring.

He was making arrangements.

He intended to co-opt Huo Yuhao and turn him into a dog of the Tang family.

However, Huo Yuhao was already a person of the Quan Family.

Quan Cangtian smiled.

Tang San, are you accelerating?

Fine.

Then I will let you see the result.

Training ground.

Dusk.

Quan Cangtian stood alone.

No one else was around.

He closed his eyes.

The two forces within his body began to circulate.

Destruction.

Abundance.

The black-red Destruction Power surged out from the depths of his Consciousness Sea.

The emerald-green Abundance Power rose up from the region of his heart.

Two forces intersected inside his body.

Collision.

Shock.

His health bar flickered up and down.

Like an electrocardiogram.

Quan Cangtian did not stop.

He increased his cultivation intensity.

His soul power surged violently.

The Level 15 barrier began to loosen.

Level 16.

Soon.

He felt the gaze of the God Realm.

Growing stronger and stronger.

Tang San was accelerating.

Trying to recruit Huo Yuhao.

Quan Cangtian sneered.

"You're accelerating?"

He said in a low voice.

"Then let's see who is faster."

He opened his eyes.

A trace of golden light flashed across his blue eyes.

Embers of Destruction.

Dormitory.

Late at night.

Quan Cangtian returned.

Huo Yuhao was already asleep.

He sat on the edge of the bed.

Looking out the window.

The moon was very bright.

His heart felt somewhat complicated.

He had transmigrated for six years.

Six years.

He knew too much.

Huo Yuhao's destiny.

Wang Dong's identity.

Tang San's plan.

But he could not speak of it.

No one could understand the loneliness of a transmigrator.

He closed his eyes.

An image suddenly surfaced in his mind.

Zixiao.

That girl four or five years older than him.

Purplish-black long hair, usually tied in a high ponytail.

Deep purple pupils.

She was always very cold.

To outsiders, she offered no explanations and wasted no words.

But toward him...

It was different.

He remembered.

When he was little and his cultivation went wrong, she would stay by his side for a whole night.

When he was injured, she would use lightning to help clear his meridians.

She did not speak.

But she would be there.

Quan Cangtian opened his eyes.

Zixiao...

He said softly.

Outside the window, the moon was very bright.

He remembered the words she had said.

We've met before.

He did not understand at the time.

Now...

He still did not understand.

But he knew she was there.

In the Quan Family.

Waiting for him.

Quan Cangtian closed his eyes.

Destruction and abundance within his body resonated.

Two Star God Seeds took root inside him.

He opened his eyes.

His gaze was resolute.

"In this lifetime,"

he said in a low voice,

"I won't let anyone manipulate destiny."

"Tang San, just you watch."

"Destiny is in my hands."

Outside the window, the moon was very bright.

In the distance, from the direction of Tianhun City, something was approaching.

Very far away.

Yet Quan Cangtian sensed it.

Zixiao's lightning flashed in the direction of the Quan Family Ancestral Land.