Farewell, Hunting Souls

Early the next morning, Lin Qing slowly woke up. Looking down, he saw Xiao Wu sleeping peacefully in his arms. For some reason, an indescribable sweetness welled up in his heart. Was it happiness? Perhaps. At least at this moment, he was happy.

After waking, Lin Qing gently stroked Xiao Wu's pretty face, then patted her backside and whispered in her ear, "Little sleepyhead, time to get up. The sun's already shining on your butt."

"Why are you up so early?" Xiao Wu opened her bleary eyes, rubbed them, and mumbled sleepily.

"Little sleepyhead, today is Nuoding Academy's opening ceremony. Did you forget?" Lin Qing said.

"Who are you calling a little sleepyhead?!" Hearing Lin Qing's intimate nickname, Xiao Wu's heart began pounding, and a blush appeared on her lovely face.

"I'm talking about you, little sleepyhead. The sun's already shining on your butt, and you still won't get up. Wang Sheng and the others have already left," Lin Qing teased.

"You, you... Ah! I'll ram you to death, you big bad guy!" Xiao Wu's cheeks burned as she crashed headfirst into Lin Qing's chest. Wrapping her arms around his waist, she buried her face against his chest and held him tightly, refusing to let go for a long time.

Only after a long while did the blush on Xiao Wu's face gradually fade. The two of them finally got dressed and got out of bed, though Xiao Wu's cheeks remained pink for quite some time.

After washing up, Lin Qing and Xiao Wu went to the cafeteria for a simple breakfast before walking hand in hand to the academy's training field.

When they arrived, most of the academy's students were already there. Only a scattered few straggled lazily onto the field.

"Boss, Sister Xiao Wu, over here! Over here!"

Seeing Wang Sheng calling to them, Lin Qing and Xiao Wu walked over and sat beside Wang Sheng and the others, waiting for the opening ceremony to begin.

"Quiet!"

With the principal's loud roar, a voice infused with Soul Power instantly spread across the entire training field.

"With that strength, he's at least a Soul Ancestor. Makes sense. As the principal of a junior academy, he naturally needs that level of strength."

Lin Qing immediately judged the principal's approximate strength.

"Welcome, everyone, to our Nuoding Academy..."

What followed was a long, tedious speech that lasted three hours. The principal went from Nuoding Academy's founding history to his own glorious years, from the academy's educational philosophy to its outstanding graduates. In any case, whether in his previous life or this one, Lin Qing hated leaders' speeches most whenever a major event was held.

"Lin Qing, how much longer until this ends?" Xiao Wu had long since run out of patience. Lin Qing had let her lie down with her head on his lap so she could relax, but the principal's speech was so long that boredom was unavoidable.

"Bear with it a little longer." Lin Qing had no choice. He lowered his head and gently stroked Xiao Wu's pretty face to comfort her.

"But it's so boring!" Xiao Wu hugged Lin Qing's waist tightly and complained with a lifeless expression.

"Alright, just wait a little longer. It'll probably be over in another ten minutes or so." Lin Qing could only comfort her like this.

"Oh, right, Lin Qing." Xiao Wu immediately sat up straight. "For the next few days, you'll probably have to sleep alone."

"What is it? Do you have something to do?" Lin Qing asked, though he had already roughly guessed what it was.

"Yes. You know I also have Innate Full Soul Power, but I still haven't obtained a Spirit Ring. So I want to take a few days off and go to the Soul Hunting Forest to acquire one."

Sure enough, Xiao Wu is going to condense her Spirit Ring.

"Do you need me to go with you?"

"No, there's no need. My family has already arranged everything for me, so you don't need to come with me." A trace of panic flashed through Xiao Wu's eyes, but she quickly concealed it and waved her hand.

"Alright, then. Be careful," Lin Qing reminded her.

"I will."

As he spoke, Lin Qing reached out and hugged Xiao Wu. With a firm lift, he pulled her onto his lap, sitting sideways in his arms.

"Lin Qing, what are you doing?!" Xiao Wu's cheeks instantly flushed scarlet. She buried her face in Lin Qing's chest, wrapped her right arm around his neck, and kept pounding his chest with her little left fist.

Lin Qing caught Xiao Wu's mischievous hand with his right hand, then pulled her waist close with his left, making her press tightly against his body.

Then, Lin Qing softly breathed into Xiao Wu's ear and said, "There's a punishment for not taking me with you."

"W-what punishment?" Xiao Wu did not dare make too much of a scene in public, so she could only yield to Lin Qing's tyranny with a shy expression.

Lin Qing pointed to his left cheek and said to Xiao Wu, "Give me a kiss, and I'll let you go. How about it?"

"Stupid Lin Qing, bad Lin Qing, you're just a big bad guy!" Upon hearing the request, Xiao Wu became so embarrassed that she could only pound Lin Qing's chest again and again to express her dissatisfaction.

"Even if I'm bad, I'm only bad to you, aren't I?"

"Hmph! You hateful Lin Qing, you're getting off easy!" With that, Xiao Wu closed her eyes, puckered her lips, and slowly gave Lin Qing a kiss on the cheek. "Mwah."

"Bad Lin Qing, alright, I kissed you. Let me go now!"

"Let me hold you a little longer, okay? Once you go hunting for Spirit Rings, I won't get to see you for several days. Let me enjoy the feeling of having you in my arms a little longer, okay?"

"Hmph, seeing how pitiful you are, Sister Xiao Wu will be merciful and grant you this tiny request." Though Xiao Wu spoke in that tone, she was still very happy when she sensed the deep attachment in Lin Qing's words.

It took even longer than Lin Qing had estimated. The principal spoke for another forty-odd minutes, but that also gave Lin Qing and Xiao Wu more time to be close.

Finally, as the principal's speech came to an end, the opening ceremony also drew to a close.

After lunch, Tang San followed Yu Xiaogang out of Nuoding City in a carriage.

As for Lin Qing, after giving Xiao Wu thirty Silver Soul Coins, he escorted her out of the academy. Before leaving, Xiao Wu gave Lin Qing a loving hug.

After seeing Xiao Wu off, Lin Qing turned his gaze toward the academy's back mountain. "Xiao Wu has gone to condense her Spirit Ring too. It's time for me to begin training and make myself stronger."

After muttering to himself, Lin Qing strode toward the academy's back mountain.

Whenever Lin Qing's second Martial Soul reached a new level, it unlocked certain special abilities. It did not even need cultivation; his second Martial Soul was constantly cultivating automatically around the clock. Although its speed was only one-tenth of his active cultivation speed, it was still quite impressive.

Lin Qing's next priority was training with the Nichirin Blade. Although his sword techniques were directly imprinted in his mind and muscle memory, he still needed training to identify and make up for weaknesses, allowing him to master the techniques more proficiently.

It was not just sword techniques. He also needed to improve his breathing techniques.

During his first Spirit Ring hunt, Lin Qing had briefly entered the state of Total Concentration Breathing. In that state, his strength, speed, reaction time, and all other attributes had directly doubled. Compared to sword techniques, Lin Qing needed even more to master Total Concentration Breathing, so that he could enter that state whenever he wished—or even cultivate Total Concentration: Constant and make Total Concentration Breathing his normal state. That would be a tremendous boost to his combat strength. After all, the amplification from Total Concentration Breathing was a separate multiplier.