"What did you call me?"
Tang Qi shot Tian Meng a sidelong glance.
Haki Meng was rebelling against the natural order now. She actually dared slap that "jailbird" label on him too. Clearly, she needed a good disciplining.
"Oh, come on, I was only joking~"
Grinning, Tian Meng reached out with a slender, fair hand and patted his shoulder a few times.
Her touch was soft and cool.
"Hm?"
Tang Qi paused in surprise.
Seeing his reaction, Tian Meng proudly puffed out her chest.
"I condensed my spiritual power into a solid energy body, then wrapped it in a shell of ice elements. Well? Feels pretty nice, doesn't it? Hehe."
"You still haven't answered my question."
Tian Meng changed the subject, pursing her little lips as she floated back and forth beside Tang Qi. "Do you want another martial soul or not?"
"You mean..."
Tang Qi raised an eyebrow. "You want to use your origin power to carve out an ice-attribute blank martial soul slot for me?"
"Exactly!"
Seeing that Tang Qi understood immediately, the smile on Tian Meng's pretty face widened. "Originally, I prepared this for Yutong. But you helped her develop a second martial soul that's obviously very powerful, so she doesn't need it anymore."
She floated in front of Tang Qi, folded her arms, and began analyzing the situation in all seriousness. "Yutong has to study the cultivation systems of two different worlds at the same time now. She's already under enough pressure. Give her another one, and she'll inevitably bite off more than she can chew."
"So you're giving it to me?" Tang Qi chuckled. "Aren't you worried I'll bite off more than I can chew too?"
"How is that the same?"
Tian Meng rolled her eyes at him, floated to his right, and pointed at the Blue Silver Emperor in his palm. "This is your first martial soul, right?"
Tang Qi nodded.
Then she floated to his left and patted her ample chest, still shaken. "You can use this second martial soul without adding soul rings, right?"
The Clear Sky Nine Absolutes?
"More or less," Tang Qi answered honestly.
Finally, Tian Meng floated behind him and pursed her lips toward the hovering "Tang San Plus." "You can't even put soul rings on this one, can you?"
"Probably not."
The Sea God Martial Soul should have been much like the Holy Necromancer in the original story.
With a whoosh, Tian Meng floated back in front of him, meeting his eyes.
She poked Tang Qi's chest with a slender finger and declared solemnly, "Look how weak you've become! Compared to the real geniuses, you're practically falling into the third tier. And you still think you don't need another martial soul?"
Tang Qi raised an eyebrow, drawing out his words. "Oh, so I'm that weak now. You're such a good person, Tian Meng, actually being willing to give me another martial soul."
Tian Meng's little face reddened. Turning her head away, she tried hard to look serious. "Of course. You've helped Yutong so much. As her family, I obviously have to thank you properly."
"Oh? You're her family now?" Tang Qi laughed.
"You bet!"
With her hands on her hips, Tian Meng turned toward Huo Yutong and shouted, "Little Yutong, come call me Mama Tian Meng..."
Before she could finish, Tang Qi grabbed her and tossed her aside without a word.
"What are you doing~?"
Tian Meng rubbed her arm and pouted, looking utterly aggrieved.
Tang Qi ignored her.
He truly hadn't expected Tian Meng to be this brainless.
Huo Yutong's mother had only recently passed away. She was at her most emotionally vulnerable right now.
And she still wanted to play around?!
Tang Qi withdrew his gaze and continued, "You want to give me another martial soul. Is your target the Ice Empress?"
Tian Meng's aggrieved expression vanished instantly, and she excitedly crowded back in front of Tang Qi. "If it were Yutong, I actually wanted the Ice Empress, the Far North's second Heavenly King, to become her martial soul."
"But if it's you..."
She looked Tang Qi up and down, a hint of pickiness in her eyes. "I feel like Bingbing isn't good enough for you."
"What do you mean?"
Tang Qi was a little bewildered.
"Bingbing might be three hundred and ninety thousand years old, and the sovereign of the Ice Jade Scorpion Clan."
Tian Meng sounded increasingly disdainful. "But she doesn't even have her own clan's Ice Explosion Technique. She's utterly pathetic. She can't compare to a single one of my toes!"
Tang Qi couldn't help laughing.
Suddenly, she reined in her smile, a flash of cunning and fervor crossing her beautiful eyes. "The one I'm going to claim is the ruler of the Far North, the Heavenly Snow Woman-the Snow Empress!"
The more Tian Meng spoke, the more excited she became. "The Snow Empress has always wanted to overcome her seven-hundred-thousand-year tribulation, but I don't think she has any chance of succeeding. Rather than let the heavenly tribulation strike her dead, why let the fertile water flow into someone else's fields? She should obediently become your martial soul!"
She leaned close to Tang Qi's ear. "Well? Aren't I good to you? Heh heh heh..."
Meanwhile, Huo Yutong had already awakened.
The moment she opened her eyes, she saw Tian Meng chattering away beside Tang Qi, excited about who knew what.
Noticing that Huo Yutong was awake, Tian Meng immediately waved enthusiastically. "Yutong! Come here, come here!"
The girl walked over quickly and blinked with an adorably blank expression, just about to ask what was going on.
The next instant, two cool, smooth arms wrapped around Huo Yutong's and Tang Qi's necks, one on either side.
Tian Meng pulled their three heads together, her little face full of longing.
"No matter what, in this big family of mine, the most important thing is for the three of us to live well together!"
"If little Yutong becomes a god someday, she'll take Tang Qi and me with her when she ascends. If you become a god, Tang Qi, you'll take Yutong and me with you."
"Become a god..."
Huo Yutong tilted her little head, a thoughtful gleam passing through her eyes.
Becoming a god seemed fine too. Of course, she would have to destroy the White Tiger Duke's Mansion first.
"Since neither of you is saying anything, I'll take that as agreement!"
Tian Meng spread her arms and looked up at the sky, her voice trembling. "What a wonderful start!"
As she moved in excitement, the twin peaks on her chest, absurdly disproportionate to her frame, bounced up and down.
Had she added gravity simulation too?
"Someone's coming."
Suddenly, Tian Meng's expression sharpened, the excitement vanishing from her face.
Soon, two figures sprang out of the bushes, one after the other.
They were Tang Ya and Bei Bei.
The anxiety on Tang Ya's pretty face vanished the instant she saw Tang Qi, replaced by undisguised joy.
A moment later, her rosy lips pursed slightly, taking on a hint of resentment.
Before Tang Qi could speak, Tang Ya strode up to him and lifted her little face, her tone demanding an explanation. "Tang Qi, why did you leave without saying goodbye?"
Tang Qi paused.
"Oh, who's this?" Tang Ya suddenly turned her head, her gaze settling on Huo Yutong.
Huo Yutong instinctively shrank back a little, her voice as faint as a mosquito's hum. "Hello, my name is Huo Yutong."
"Yutong..."
Tang Ya blinked, sweeping her gaze over Huo Yutong's visibly malnourished little frame.
"Yutong, what's your martial soul?" Tang Ya asked again.
Huo Yutong looked up at Tang Qi and said softly, "My martial soul is Spiritual Eyes."
"Spiritual Eyes? A body martial soul?!" Tang Ya exclaimed in surprise, her beautiful eyes flickering.
This girl belongs in the Tang Sect!
She suppressed her excitement, her gaze moving between Tang Qi and Huo Yutong as she tried to look as friendly and harmless as possible. "I've been meaning to ask, what plans have your parents made for you? Would you be interested in joining a great sect?"
Tang Qi raised an eyebrow.
"I don't have parents anymore," Huo Yutong said softly, her gaze going distant for an instant.
Tang Qi said, "Mine are up in heaven."
Huo Yutong froze and turned to Tang Qi, a tender sense of shared sorrow welling up in her eyes.
So big brother Tang Qi also...
Tang Ya was stunned at first, then delighted. "That's great!"
The moment those words left her mouth, Huo Yutong's expression turned cold.
"No... no! That's not what I meant!"
Tang Ya frantically waved her hands. "I wanted to invite you to join the Tang Sect!"
"The Tang Sect?"
Huo Yutong paused. "The World's Number One Sect from ten thousand years ago?"
Seeing that someone still remembered the Tang Sect's name, Tang Ya felt a sting in her nose. Her eyes reddened, and her voice grew choked.
"That's right! But the Tang Sect was destroyed long ago... our sect grounds were seized, and everyone in the sect, including my parents... was murdered by our enemies."
By the end, she was trembling all over.
"The Tang Sect was destroyed? That's great," Tang Qi said with a smile.
Tang Ya abruptly looked up at him, her face full of astonishment.
"You misunderstood me. I meant, without breaking the old, you can't build the new."
"..."
Everyone fell silent.
Huo Yutong glanced at Tang Qi, then at the puffed-up, angry Tang Ya, looking thoughtful.
"Xiaoya, you're an orphan too? That's great!"
Hearing that, Tang Ya whipped her head around, only to see Huo Yutong blinking with a perfectly sincere expression.
"Don't misunderstand. I meant we're fellow sufferers!"
Tang Ya: ?
Bei Bei: ?
Tang Qi: That was a god-tier play.
Before you continue