What Did You Say?!

After delivering the finishing blow, Bao Jingjing's process of absorbing the Soul Ring went very smoothly.

However, her absorption speed was much slower than Xu Huxiao's.

Nearly two and a half hours later, the absorption was complete. A bright yellow Soul Ring pulsed up and down around Bao Jingjing's body.

Through the Eye of Omniscience, Xu Huxiao also discovered that her Soul Power had risen by one level, reaching level eleven. As expected, her Soul Skill restored physical strength.

[Black Crystal Abalone]: After consuming a Black Crystal Abalone, one can restore physical strength and Soul Power, heal injuries, and gain a strong invigorating effect. It can eliminate negative mental effects to a certain extent.

It was a very good Soul Skill.

Yet Bao Dexian wore a complicated expression, both happy and worried.

He was happy that his daughter had obtained a high-quality first Soul Ring.

What worried him was whether Jingjing's soul incantation would be the same as his. If a girl had to recite that vulgar incantation...

Heavens!

Bao Dexian did not dare think about it.

"Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are. Black Crystal Abalone, come forth~"

While Bao Dexian was struggling with worry, Bao Jingjing's innocent little face flushed red. Her first Soul Ring shone as she recited her soul incantation.

As Soul Power surged, an Abalone with crystalline black light appeared in her small hand. Its fragrance spread through the air, fresh and natural. It looked delicious at a glance.

"Here~ Young Master Huxiao, have a taste."

Bao Jingjing's cheeks were rosy, her large eyes bright, and her voice soft and sweet as she held the Black Crystal Abalone out before Xu Huxiao.

Xu Huxiao sniffed. The fragrance was irresistible.

He did not stand on ceremony, picking up the Abalone and tossing it straight into his mouth.

With one bite, juice burst forth, filling his mouth with fresh, savory flavor!

"Jingjing, don't call me Young Master Huxiao anymore. It sounds strange. Just call me Huxiao."

"Huh? Really? Then can I call you... Brother Huxiao?"

Bao Jingjing was extremely shy as she said this. She lowered her head, her small hands constantly twisting the hem of her clothes. When she realized there seemed to be no response, she gathered her courage and secretly glanced at the golden-haired boy a head taller than her.

Xu Huxiao gave her a bright smile, scratched his head, and said, "Sure."

At that instant, Bao Jingjing felt that the world before her had never been so bright. A sweet smile rose at the corners of her lips.

"Brother Huxiao~"

"Mm-hmm."

Only then did Bao Dexian come back to his senses. He hurriedly took his daughter's hand and said:

"Jingjing, was that your soul incantation just now? Recite it again for Daddy."

Bao Jingjing obediently recited the soul incantation once more. At the same time, her first Soul Ring lit up, producing another Black Crystal Abalone.

"Here~ Daddy, this second one is for you."

Bao Dexian took the Black Crystal Abalone from his daughter's hand, tears faintly glimmering in his eyes.

Heaven has eyes!

Jingjing's soul incantation was normal. Sob, sob~

As Bao Dexian ate the abalone through tears, Xu Bayan walked over carrying two Phoenix-Tailed Flower-Bone Chickens. Their harvest had been plentiful.

"Let's go. We're heading home for a feast. Hehe, I can't wait to taste Yu'er's cooking."

Dinner at the Xu Residence.

They had rabbit for dinner: all kinds of spicy rabbit heads, rabbit fillets in golden broth, dry-fried diced rabbit with fatty intestines, tomato-spiced rabbit legs, poached rabbit, and more. There was no need to list them all.

In short, they ate to their hearts' content.

Xu Huxiao even entertained the idea of raising Devil Rabbits in captivity and wholesaling them, ensuring he could eat such delicious food every day.

But it was only a passing thought. After all, while captive breeding would provide enough quantity, the meat would probably lose a level of its freshness.

After resting for a while, feeling that he had eaten a little too much tonight, Xu Huxiao went to the martial arts field and practiced the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms at an extremely slow pace. As he deepened his understanding of exerting and transforming force, he also helped digest his meal.

As he practiced the palm technique, Xu Huxiao emptied his mind and considered the path of cultivation ahead.

There were still six days until enrollment at Spirit Hall Junior Academy.

Just after he returned home, the Spirit Temple had already sent someone to inform him that he had been selected for the Spirit Elite Reserve Team.

Besides confirming his successful admission, the Spirit Elite Reserve Team acceptance notice also detailed the reserve team's training and the assessment requirements for advancement.

Talented Soul Masters selected for the Spirit Elite Reserve Team would, after studying for two years at the junior academy, collectively undergo elimination training. This would determine three seven-member teams—Bronze, Silver, and Gold—after which they would receive honorary medals issued by Spirit Hall.

Xu Huxiao had some expectations for the training, though not very high ones.

Because he knew the training methods on this continent. The ceiling for academy special training seemed to be weighted running.

It was monotonous and boring, yet it seemed quite effective in the original work.

Could it be that weighted running on this continent somehow aligned with some profound universal principle he did not understand?

That was entirely possible. Nothing was strange in a fantasy world. He could not stubbornly reject it; when it was time to believe, he had to believe.

Thus, after finishing his palm practice, Xu Huxiao decided to add weighted running to his future training.

At the same time, the notice contained another important piece of information: Spirit Hall had created a Martial Soul talent ranking based on the aptitudes of children who had awakened Martial Souls.

The rankings were based on the combined scores of Martial Souls and Innate Soul Power, with both graded on a hundred-point scale.

It did not only include those who had awakened at age six this time, but also Soul Masters under twelve who had entered the reserve team earlier.

Only the Bronze division of the reserve team had an additional Talent Ranking, while the Silver and Gold divisions only had strength rankings.

Xu Huxiao quickly found his own name on the ranking. His Martial Soul scored sixty-eight, his Innate Soul Power scored one hundred, for a total of one hundred sixty-eight.

He ranked twenty-first.

There were fifty people on the ranking in total. The highest score was one hundred eighty-five, while the lowest was one hundred forty.

Ties were broken according to Martial Soul score.

Xu Huxiao did not care about his ranking, but he saw several familiar names on the list.

Among them were the two children of Ao Miao, the Ghost Panther Douluo whom he had encountered during Martial Soul awakening.

Orleans: Martial Soul score ninety-two, Innate Soul Power score eighty, total one hundred seventy-two, ranked seventh.

Ao Li'ao: Martial Soul score eighty-eight, Innate Soul Power score ninety, total one hundred seventy-eight, ranked fifth.

Seeing this, Xu Huxiao was somewhat puzzled. What was the standard for Martial Soul scoring? Was it that hexagonal formation?

Both of them possessed Ghost Panther Martial Souls, yet their scores differed.

Then he suddenly remembered that during their awakening, their Martial Souls seemed to have differed in attributes. One Ghost Panther had pale, cold flames in its eye sockets, while the other possessed dense wind-element energy. Perhaps that was the reason.

There were three more people in the top ten whom Xu Huxiao also knew: his cousins.

Xu Lin: Martial Soul score ninety, Innate Soul Power score ninety, total one hundred eighty, ranked fourth.

Xu Luo: Martial Soul score ninety-five, Innate Soul Power score eighty, total one hundred seventy-five, ranked sixth.

Xu Yanran: Martial Soul score ninety (mutated), Innate Soul Power score eighty, total one hundred seventy, ranked eighth.

He was not familiar with the two cousins from his eldest uncle's family, because his eldest uncle, Xu Longgang, rarely visited the Xu Residence. On the other hand, he had met Xu Yanran, his second uncle's daughter, several times.

She looked like a refined and gentle girl, but her Martial Soul was a mutated Golden-Eyed Demon Bear. His father had said that this Martial Soul was no weaker than the Blood Demon Berserker Bear and was equally domineering.

He truly wondered what kind of contrast there would be when Sister Yanran fought in soul battles.

There were two more people on the ranking whom Xu Huxiao had never met but still recognized.

He remembered that these two seemed to be part of Spirit Hall's future Golden Generation, though there was no one named Yan on this ranking.

On the talent ranking, the two of them occupied the top three positions.

Hu Liena: Martial Soul score ninety-six, Innate Soul Power score ninety, total one hundred eighty-six, ranked first.

Xiao Ji: Martial Soul score ninety, Innate Soul Power score ninety-five, total one hundred eighty-five, ranked second.

Xie Yue: Martial Soul score ninety-two, Innate Soul Power score ninety, total one hundred eighty-two, ranked third.

All of them had Innate Soul Power at level nine, and their Martial Soul scores were even higher than Sister Yanran's Golden-Eyed Demon Bear. They seemed quite formidable.

Though he thought so, Xu Huxiao felt no disturbance within his heart.

Because talent alone was not enough to become strong. One also needed hard work, and he was confident that he worked harder than every Soul Master on this ranking.

After all, who else began cultivating day and night from the moment they were born...

After mocking himself a little, Xu Huxiao concluded his practice and headed for his father's study. He planned to tell his father tonight about becoming Bibi Dong's disciple.

Becoming her disciple before Bibi Dong became the new Pope should be easier than doing so later.

"Father, I need to speak with you."

When Xu Huxiao arrived outside his father's study, he knocked on the door, but no one responded.

Strange. The study light was on, and Uncle Luo had just said that his father was handling matters in the study. Why was there no answer?

Then an earth-shaking snore rang out.

Hngh~

Hnnngh~

Hearing the rhythmic snoring, Xu Huxiao was speechless.

He pushed open the door and, sure enough, saw Xu Bayan sprawled over the desk, sleeping soundly.

Seeing how peacefully his father slept, Xu Huxiao thought about it and decided to bring it up tomorrow instead.

Unexpectedly, just as he reached the doorway and prepared to close the door, the snoring stopped.

"Oh, Huxiao. Do you need something from Dad?"

Xu Bayan raised his head sleepily, then stretched. His joints immediately crackled loudly.

Seeing this, Xu Huxiao turned around and returned to the study, looked at his father, and said seriously:

"Father, I came because there's something I want to ask of you."

"Oh? Let's hear it. What does our little Soul Master genius need?"

"I want to take Spirit Hall's Saintess, Bibi Dong, as my master. I hope Father will help me."

Pfft!

Xu Bayan had just taken a sip of God-awakening ginseng tea, and he immediately sprayed all of it onto Xu Huxiao's face.

"What did you say?!"