Xiao Wu: Could They Go Around Me Instead?

"The front of this Gold Soul Coin means Tang Hao won't come back. The back means he'll come back to settle the score with me!"

"I declare that when this Gold Soul Coin lands, it will point me in the right direction!"

Xu Yuan emerged from the woods behind Nouding Academy and flicked a Gold Soul Coin into the air.

Tang Hao's life might have been a candle guttering in the wind, but Xu Yuan still wasn't reassured.

He couldn't stake his life on something as elusive as luck.

So he had decided to use Word Manifestation to predict whether fortune or disaster lay ahead.

If it predicted that Tang Hao really would return, he would pack his bags that very night and flee for his life.

If it predicted that Tang Hao wouldn't return, he could hole up in Nouding Academy and keep cultivating in peace.

To be honest, it would mostly just put his mind at ease.

Xu Yuan's Soul Power had only just reached level nineteen, while Tang Hao's was at least level ninety-two.

The gap between their Soul Power levels was enormous.

Even though Xu Yuan hadn't tried to interfere with Tang Hao directly, Word Manifestation might still fail.

Xu Yuan had specifically tested the limits of Word Manifestation before.

Beyond a certain point, it simply wouldn't activate.

The clearest sign was that his Soul Power would neither rise nor fall.

This time, however, it took him by surprise.

The instant the Gold Soul Coin left his fingertip, nine-tenths of the Soul Power in Xu Yuan's body evaporated.

"..."

Xu Yuan stood rooted to the spot like a wooden post, staring at the coin on the ground. For a long while, he couldn't collect himself.

"What the hell!"

"What on earth did the Wish-Granting Tree do to Tang Hao's body?"

"I'm a level-nineteen Soul Master, and I successfully predicted a Titled Douluo's fate with only nine-tenths of my Soul Power?"

Xu Yuan didn't even need to move to know the coin he had tossed had landed face up.

What truly stunned him was that Word Manifestation had activated at all.

The Wish-Granting Tree had connected his meridians at random and spread the stagnant blood and toxins evenly, but Tang Hao's strength really had returned to its peak.

With a Titled Douluo's physique and Soul Power, even in terrible condition, he shouldn't have been someone a Soul Master like Xu Yuan could make a prediction about.

Tang Hao's body might be even more fragile than Xu Yuan had thought.

"Could it be because the stagnant blood and toxins spread into the meridians in his brain?"

Xu Yuan rubbed his chin as a suspicion formed.

The stagnant blood and toxins in Tang Hao's body were no small matter.

In the original story, when Tang Hao removed the two Sect Inherited Soul Bones from his right arm and left leg, he deliberately forced the stagnant blood and toxins in his body into the limbs he was about to sever.

The moment he severed those limbs, the deadly hidden injuries and toxins that had plagued him for years were removed with them.

After taking some herbs to strengthen his foundations and replenish his vitality, Tang Hao had not only recovered from his old injuries, but regained level seventy-nine strength.

That showed just how fiercely those toxins could eat away at him!

Before, no matter how corrosive the stagnant blood and toxins were, they had only pooled in his organs and meridians. The damage was limited.

But after the Wish-Granting Tree's handiwork, the outcome was entirely different!

After all, how could the meridians of the organs compare to those in the brain?

"What a gloriously satisfying wish!"

"Clear Sky Douluo, I'll probably have forgotten you by tonight!"

"Shame about that full set of Ten Thousand Year Soul Bones, though."

Xu Yuan shook his head, picked up the face-up Gold Soul Coin, and walked back to the dormitory humming a tune.

The moment he pushed open the door to Dorm Seven, Xiao Wu came out of her meditative state.

"Xu Yuan, where did you run off to just now?"

"Don't ask. That super-strong person Grandmaster Yu introduced came looking for me in the middle of the night to make a wish."

Xu Yuan lay down and pulled up his blanket. After everything Tang Hao had put him through, all he wanted was a good night's sleep.

"So a super-strong person really did come looking for you?"

"What strong person could that freeloading Yu Xiaogang possibly know?"

Xiao Wu was tired from cultivating too, so she lay down beside Xu Yuan.

"Xiao Wu, I have to correct that attitude!"

"Don't act like a fifty-year-old Soul Elder isn't a Soul Elder!"

"Who could withstand a blast from Grandmaster Yu?"

Xu Yuan glanced toward the next bed. Tang San wasn't in the dormitory; he was probably sleeping over at Yu Xiaogang's place again.

"Xu Yuan, you should call me Sister Xiao Wu!"

"Besides, who could withstand one of his blasts? Even a Titled Douluo would have to dodge."

Xiao Wu rolled her eyes, her pretty face full of disgust and disbelief.

She had never seen such an aggressively conspicuous Soul Skill in her life.

How had Tang San managed to swallow his pride and become Yu Xiaogang's disciple?

"All right, stop talking. Let me sleep for a bit."

Xu Yuan turned onto his side and instinctively reached for his pillow.

"Hmph. What's so great about sleeping? Only useless people need rest. A genius like Sister Xiao Wu was born to cultivate."

Xiao Wu pushed his arm away, her voice sour with envy.

She wanted to rest too, but her Soul Power Level just wouldn't budge!

Though she couldn't tell Xu Yuan's level, Xiao Wu could sense his Soul Power soaring at a speed she couldn't comprehend.

Have I really been too lazy?

Otherwise, I should be cultivating just as fast as Xu Yuan!

This absurd thought popped into Xiao Wu's head.

"Oh, right. How strong was that super-strong person?"

"A Titled Douluo!"

"Oh, a Titled Douluo. Well, that really is—"

Xiao Wu broke off. Her face went deathly pale, and she froze as though struck by lightning.

"Xu... Xu Yuan, you're joking, right?"

"This is Nuoding City, the middle of nowhere. Why would a Titled Douluo show up here?"

Xiao Wu pressed her lips into a thin line, a barely perceptible tremor in her voice.

A Hundred-Thousand-Year Transformed Soul Beast's fear of powerful human Titled Douluo ran bone-deep.

Even though Xiao Wu knew her identity couldn't be exposed right now, she couldn't help being afraid.

Before Xu Yuan could speak, her soft, supple body slipped under his blanket and pressed close against him.

Perhaps it was the pull of the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast Origin, but Xiao Wu only felt safe when she was pressed against Xu Yuan.

An uncanny silence settled over the entire dormitory.

"Xu Yuan!"

"Hmm?"

"Even though you're a Support System Soul Master with no fighting ability, basically a burden, and your Martial Soul is always causing trouble..."

"Why are you insulting me?"

"What Sister Xiao Wu means is... I'll protect you from now on!"

Xu Yuan couldn't follow Xiao Wu's train of thought. That was quite a leap.

"You're thinking too small. I suggest adding, 'If anyone wants to kill you, they'll have to step over my dead body first!'"

Xiao Wu hesitated for two seconds, then couldn't help saying, "Could they go around me instead? I don't want to die yet."

She only wanted to repay Xu Yuan for making her Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast Origin disappear and keeping a Titled Douluo from discovering her.

But wasn't staking her life on it too steep a price? She still wanted to find someone and take revenge.

Xu Yuan's mouth twitched. He wrapped his arms around Xiao Wu like a pillow and decided not to bother with the silly rabbit for now.

But Xiao Wu clearly had no intention of leaving Xu Yuan alone.

She went on, "Xu Yuan, what do you think about Soul Masters hunting Soul Beasts? Isn't it too cruel?"

"Honestly, you might not be any kinder than I am when it comes to that."

Xu Yuan was speechless and couldn't help wanting to laugh.

To become a level-twenty Soul Grandmaster, he only needed to absorb the Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring inside him.

But to reach level twenty, Xiao Wu would have to go to the Soul Hunting Forest and kill a Soul Beast.

While Xu Yuan and Xiao Wu were talking,

Tang Hao had already raced out of Fasinuo Province with the Clear Sky Hammer in hand.