He Was Different

The sun sank in the west, staining the sky with the last light of sunset.

In the small town below Nine Treasure Mountain, Jiang Yu and the two girls emerged from Tang's Rabbit Meat Restaurant, all three looking thoroughly satisfied.

Clearly, Tang Hao's twenty whole years of experience cooking rabbit had paid off.

Night gradually fell. Soul-powered streetlamps and the lights of shops along the road flickered on. Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect disciples, done with a full day's work, wandered out in twos and threes to eat or unwind. With the roadside vendors calling out to customers, the little town was even livelier than it had been by day.

The three of them drew plenty of attention as they walked. It wasn't just their extraordinary looks. Wu Feng's legs were slightly apart, and she could only shuffle forward in tiny steps.

Mortified by the strange looks from passersby, Wu Feng fixed her red eyes on Jiang Yu. She looked ready to tear him apart and eat him.

"Jiang Yu, look what you've done! I'll never live this down!"

"Sorry, I really didn't mean to trip you. How was I supposed to know you were so inflexible you couldn't even do the splits? Now you walk like a red duck..."

Jiang Yu struggled to hold back a laugh.

"I'm going to kill you! I'm going to kill you!"

Sure enough, Wu Feng, who had only just calmed down, flushed red with fury again. She charged at Jiang Yu with her duck-like waddle.

Ning Tian had just paid for three iced duck-shit-aroma lemon teas. When she turned around, she found Wu Feng making a spectacle of herself.

At the sight of Wu Feng's bizarre, comical gait, Ning Tian nearly blacked out. She resolved to add an extra etiquette lesson to Wu Feng's schedule every day.

Otherwise, Wu Feng was bound to drag her into public humiliation sooner or later.

After strolling and chatting their way back to the mountaintop, Jiang Yu waved goodbye to the girls.

He still hadn't met his minimum training target for the day. It was time to put in some overtime.

Wu Feng watched him leave as though she were looking at a monster.

"Young Mistress, has he trained himself into madness? How can anyone think about nothing but training?"

Wu Feng had to admit that Jiang Yu's relentless drive was wearing her out.

Ning Tian smiled. She saw it differently.

"Feng, people aren't all the same. You don't devote yourself to training the way Jiang Yu does because you know someone will always be there to catch you if you fall. But he's different. He grew up an orphan. The sect took him in and gave him the resources and standing he deserved, but it's hard to undo what his childhood taught him: if he isn't strong, he'll starve or be cast aside."

"He trains so desperately because he wants his fate in his own hands."

Wu Feng nodded thoughtfully, then said dejectedly:

"Whatever the reason, his progress is ridiculous. Six and a half years old, with level-sixteen Soul Power. What was I doing at his age? Oh, right. I think I was still stuck at the level-nine bottleneck..."

As Red Dragon Douluo Wu Lie's only granddaughter, Wu Feng had inherited her family's Red Dragon martial soul and been born with level-eight Innate Soul Power.

Yet despite being two years older than Jiang Yu, she had only reached level seventeen.

At her current pace, she wouldn't become a Soul Grandmaster until around age ten. By twelve, she would probably be at level twenty-six or twenty-seven.

Working backward, over six years of training, she had gained only sixteen or seventeen levels through her own efforts after excluding the two levels gained from absorbing Spirit Rings.

That averaged out to roughly two levels a year.

That was by no means slow, but beside Jiang Yu, she might as well have been a snail.

Ning Tian sighed softly at Wu Feng's dejected expression, then gently took her hand.

The soft, smooth touch sent a shiver through Wu Feng.

In an instant, her disappointment vanished, replaced by delight and a flutter in her chest.

The Young Mistress took my hand... Her hand is so soft and smooth... She really does care about me... Ahh...

Afraid Ning Tian would notice her rising smile, Wu Feng hurriedly lowered her head and pinched her own thigh hard with her free hand. Only then did she manage not to laugh out loud.

"Feng, Jiang Yu is different. He has Twin Martial Souls, so every time he obtains Spirit Rings, he's guaranteed at least two levels of Soul Power. A soul master with Innate Full Soul Power can normally gain three levels in a year. For someone like him, who makes training his top priority, even four or five levels in a year isn't impossible."

Wu Feng gave a low reply to Ning Tian's reassurance.

Ning Tian thought her friend had truly been discouraged. She offered several more words of comfort before continuing on, still holding Wu Feng's hand.

Little did Ning Tian know that Wu Feng kept her head down and her voice low only because she feared that, if she let her guard slip, she would faint from sheer happiness on the spot.

Wu Feng was not yet mature enough to understand exactly what she felt for Ning Tian. But she already knew instinctively how happy and excited Ning Tian's care and attention made her.

If there was such a thing as being drawn to someone on a purely physical level, this was surely it.

In the days that followed, the three agreed to meet once a month. At each gathering, they shared their progress and frustrations in training, pooled what they had learned, and worked through their problems together.

Friendship wasn't always built simply by spending time together. People with shared goals often found it easier to grow close.

Ning Tian understood that, so she kept trying to guide Jiang Yu and Wu Feng down the same path.

As time passed, Wu Feng grew thoroughly used to Jiang Yu's presence.

The two still bickered often. Now and then, some petty matter or sharp remark would set off a chaotic chase.

But most of the time, they were only playing around and neither came to any real harm. Ning Tian gradually stopped worrying and grew used to having the quarrelsome pair at her side.

Time flew by amid hard work and all the joys and sorrows of growing up. After training diligently, Jiang Yu broke through to the Soul Grandmaster realm at seven and a half.

Much of his rapid progress came from adding Spirit Rings to both martial souls, but even after subtracting the four levels those rings had granted him, his training speed was still astonishing.

He shattered the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's record for the fastest breakthrough in ten thousand years. Every senior member was shaken, and Ning Yunxiu was especially pleased.

As soon as Wu Lie brought Jiang Yu back from obtaining his Spirit Rings, she asked him in front of all the sect's senior members whether he would accept her as his godmother.

Jiang Yu had come to understand a little of Ning Yunxiu's secrets and knew he held a special place in her heart. She had also treated him with genuine sincerity. Without hesitation, he knelt and bowed to her, making their bond official.

After accepting Ning Yunxiu as his godmother, Jiang Yu noticed a gradual change in his state of mind.

It was nothing dramatic, just a quiet shift woven into his daily life.

His heart, once like a rootless plant drifting on water, began to settle. It had not quite put down roots, but at least it no longer blew wherever the wind took it.

It was good for both Jiang Yu and Ning Yunxiu. Each had found a deeper bond of family, one that quietly tied their lives together.

Jiang Yu came away with a realization of his own.

People were social creatures. Walking alone was too lonely. Having a few companions who could walk beside you really was good for the heart and mind.

One tree couldn't make a forest, and one thread couldn't make a cord...