Too Bad This Big Sister Can't Cry

The purple Soul Ring lit up. With a sweep of his claw, several streaks of blue lightning exploded through the air, scorching every plant within a dozen yards. Anything they touched would be injured.

With his three rings secured, Ye Tianming's Soul Power reached level 36 when he was eleven.

When the news spread, the Soul Masters of Star Luo City were stunned.

Some people spent their entire lives without reaching the threshold of Soul Elder, yet the adopted son of the White Tiger Duke's Mansion was only eleven.

The Duchess's gaze on him had gone from wary to the point where she simply took another route whenever she saw him.

Dai Huabin had endured two beatings from him. After Ye Tianming pinned her down with a single finger in the Training Grounds, leaving her unable to raise her head, she finally gave up on opposing him.

Ye Tianming cared little about any of that.

Three years had passed, and Dai Yutong had changed too.

She was no longer the scrawny little girl, thin as a bean sprout, whom people cornered to steal her medicine money.

She had practiced the Spiritual Power training method he had devised every single day of those three years.

And Ye Tianming had never skimped on her resources. Whale Rubber, medicinal herbs, and nourishing meals flowed into the little courtyard like water.

He paid for it all out of his own monthly allowance and rewards.

Dai Hao eventually found out, but he said nothing. He merely doubled Ye Tianming's monthly allowance again.

When Dai Yutong turned ten, her Soul Power reached level 10. (She was only slow to cultivate at the start; things would pick up later. The plot needs it, the plot needs it.)

She grew prettier and more delicate by the day. Her hair was like the ocean, and her eyes were especially lovely, like stars in the sky.

But whenever she looked at Ye Tianming, her gaze was exactly the same as it had been when she was little.

"Brother Tianming."

That evening, Dai Yutong sat atop the courtyard wall. Ye Tianming had raised her to be a little wilder over the past two years.

She swung her legs, half a candied hawthorn skewer between her teeth.

"I'm level 10!"

Ye Tianming was wiping away his sweat in the courtyard. At her words, he paused, looked up at the girl on the wall, and smiled. He draped the towel over his shoulder and said to her,

"I know. Come down first."

"What for?"

Ye Tianming looked up at Dai Yutong. The setting sun fell across her, and for a moment, his heart seemed to stop.

When he came back to himself, he said slowly,

"Get ready. In a couple of days, I'll take you to the Star Dou Great Forest to hunt your First Soul Ring."

Dai Yutong froze with the candied hawthorn still between her teeth. Then her eyes gradually lit up.

She jumped straight off the wall, and Ye Tianming caught her securely in his arms.

"You promise?"

Ye Tianming set her on her feet and ruffled her hair.

"We made a pinky promise. I told you that no matter which Soul Ring you're hunting, I'll be by your side."

On the day they left for the Star Dou Great Forest, Dai Hao learned of their plans and assigned them a squad of personal guards led by Deputy General Zhou.

Ye Tianming did not let them follow him into the forest. He only had them make camp at its edge.

The Star Dou Great Forest was the oldest gathering place of Soul Beasts on the Douluo Continent.

The outer reaches were Hundred-Year Soul Beast territory. Deeper in, thousand-year, ten-thousand-year, and even the legendary hundred-thousand-year Soul Beasts could appear.

Ye Tianming walked with Dai Yutong's hand in his. He did not move quickly, but he seemed to have a destination in mind.

From what he remembered of the animated series in his previous life, the child with the Spirit Eyes Martial Soul would be driven to the brink of death by a Wind Baboon in this forest.

Then a million-year-old little Ice Silkworm would choose her, and she would ascend to the heavens in a single step.

Ye Tianming spent two full days searching the outskirts with Dai Yutong, then another half day venturing deeper. The forest remained quiet.

Forget the million-year-old fat silkworm. There was not even the slightest unusual fluctuation of Spiritual Power.

Ye Tianming felt a twinge of worry.

Did every stroke of fortune really come with a price tag?

In the original story, that ascent to the heavens had cost the child her life.

Alone, injured, and with nowhere left to turn, she had stumbled upon the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm.

"Brother Tianming, what are you looking for?"

Dai Yutong tipped her head up to ask him.

Ye Tianming came back to himself, pinched her cheek, and said slowly,

"A Soul Beast that suits you best. Ideally one with a Mental Attribute, around a hundred years old, with a temperament that matches yours."

Ye Tianming had no intention of waiting any longer. Rather than gamble on a stroke of fortune that might never come, he would choose for her himself, hunt it himself, and pave her path step by step.

He might not be able to give Yutong the same opportunity as that big fat worm, but he would do everything he could to raise her into a god.

On their first night, they camped beside a stream.

The campfire crackled. Dai Yutong grilled two plump fish, then handed one to Ye Tianming.

As she ate her grilled fish, she added firewood to the flames. Firelight danced across the side of her face.

"Brother Tianming."

"Mm?"

"My mother said I should follow you for the rest of my life. Wherever you go, I'll go."

"Will you find me annoying?"

Ye Tianming went still for a moment. Then he took a deep breath and said slowly,

"No. If you can annoy me for the rest of my life, nothing would make me happier."

Dai Yutong did not understand how much weight a lifetime carried. She only happily shifted closer to Ye Tianming and rested her shoulder against his arm.

Late that night, Dai Yutong's head began to nod with sleep. At last, she slumped against Ye Tianming and fell asleep in his arms.

Ye Tianming did not move. By the campfire's light, he watched her face and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

The next afternoon, they found their target on a mountainside thick with shrubs.

Ye Tianming stopped, then smiled.

A Shadow Phantom Fox?

A hundred-year-old Mental Attribute Soul Beast, it was uncannily skilled at illusions and concealment. An ordinary Soul Master could walk within three steps of it and never notice a thing.

It hunted by muddling its prey's mind. Its Soul Ring would be an excellent choice for the Spirit Eyes' first ring.

Ye Tianming flashed forward, activating his Second Soul Skill and First Soul Skill in an instant.

He appeared beside the fox and drove it into the ground with one hand, like planting a radish.

"Come here, Yutong. Deal the final blow."

Dai Yutong ran over. She looked at the trembling white fox on the ground, gritted her teeth, drew the White Tiger Dagger her mother had given her, and stabbed it.

The Shadow Phantom Fox gave a mournful cry, then fell still.

A yellow Hundred-Year Soul Ring slowly rose from its corpse.

"Good. Around five hundred years. That'll do."

Ye Tianming nodded.

Dai Yutong took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Just as she prepared to absorb the Hundred-Year Soul Ring, the world seemed to freeze.

The chirping of insects, the calls of birds, the sound of the wind—all vanished in an instant.

An indescribable pressure of Spiritual Power descended without warning, as though the entire sky had collapsed onto the two of them.

"Haha! This big sister finally found a human with a Mental Attribute!"

"Too bad this big sister can't cry."

"Otherwise, I'd be weeping buckets!"

(P.S. After tomorrow's two chapters, we'll officially enter Shrek. Want to guess whether Wang Dong is a boy or a girl this time?)

(P.S. The author watched the animated series, so I may not know some details from the original novel that well. If anything's wrong, dear readers, please point it out and I'll fix it right away. (pitiful.jpg))