Several days later.
The sun shone brightly beneath a cloudless sky.
The dean of Nuoding Academy had specially hired Soul Masters to repair the academy buildings and built a small villa exclusively for Lu Xuan.
Lu Xuan accepted without standing on ceremony. Having Xiao Wu cultivate on the sofa every day had felt a little inappropriate anyway. Now, the little rabbit finally had a room of her own.
That afternoon, Lu Xuan was leisurely basking in the sunshine in the downstairs living room when a soft knock came at the door.
Xiao Wu, who had been cultivating nearby, ran over to open it and found the Nuoding Dean standing outside, his face full of nervous restraint.
"What is it? Has someone else come looking for me?"
Lu Xuan spoke calmly.
The Nuoding Dean replied:
"Teacher Lu, this time it's a little girl. She says her surname is Ning and that she's from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect."
"The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect?"
Lu Xuan opened his eyes, the image of a spoiled, headstrong girl appearing in his mind.
Who would have thought? After all these days, neither the Heaven Dou Imperial Family nor Spirit Hall has come, but Ning Rongrong has turned up instead.
Ning Fengzhi, that old fox, really is clever!
Lu Xuan vaguely remembered telling Ning Fengzhi, when he had visited a few days earlier, that he had no interest in material wealth and only wanted to teach and nurture students.
And just a few days later, the fellow had sent his own daughter over.
"All right, bring her here."
With his permission secured, the Nuoding Dean immediately bowed and agreed repeatedly. "Yes, yes, of course! Right away."
Before long, he brought a little girl in a green princess dress to the door.
Before the Nuoding Dean could speak, the girl spoke first.
"Hello, Teacher Lu."
"My name is Ning Rongrong. Father sent me here to become your disciple."
"This is the discipleship gift Father prepared for you."
The girl was certainly bold-or perhaps it was better described as an easy, poised confidence.
It was hard to tell whether she simply did not understand what Lu Xuan's strength meant or whether that was just her nature.
In any case, under the Nuoding Dean's astonished gaze, Ning Rongrong ignored his attempts to stop her, walked straight into the middle of the living room, and presented an exquisitely crafted ring to Lu Xuan.
Seeing this, Lu Xuan accepted the ring with a smile and extended his spiritual power inside.
"Oh?"
"A Seventy Thousand Year Soul Bone?"
"Your father certainly put some thought into this."
Indeed!
Ning Rongrong's discipleship gift was none other than a seventy-thousand-year Right Leg Bone.
A Soul Bone of such quality could practically serve as a sect's treasured cornerstone. Lu Xuan had not expected Ning Fengzhi to stake so much merely to have him accept Ning Rongrong as his disciple.
Interesting.
[Side quest triggered: take Ning Rongrong as a disciple.]
The system notification suddenly rang out, and the corners of Lu Xuan's mouth curled upward.
Everything before him was a reward handed over for nothing. Not only had he received a gift from Ning Fengzhi, but he was also getting one from the system. It could hardly have felt better.
He looked at Ning Rongrong with a warm smile.
"What did your father tell you?"
At his question, the girl looked thoughtful as she recalled his words.
Meanwhile, Lu Xuan began sizing up the so-called "Little Demoness" before him.
Her features were delicate, as though carved from jade and dusted with powder. Having only just awakened her Martial Soul, she was at an especially endearing age, and anyone who saw her would feel fond of her.
Before long, the girl slowly began speaking.
"He told me to obey you. If you tell me to take one breath, I mustn't take half a breath."
"He also said you're incredibly powerful, and even Sword Grandpa and Bone Grandpa together are no match for you."
"He also said you're a person of excellent character, and he said..."
"All right, all right."
Lu Xuan interrupted Ning Rongrong's praise with a laugh. "You'll be living here from now on."
Then he gestured for Ning Rongrong to look at Xiao Wu. "This is Xiao Wu, your senior sister. You should call her Sister Xiao Wu. There's also a Tang San outside, but you needn't bother with him."
Those few simple sentences served to explain the situation to Ning Rongrong, while also confirming that he had accepted her request to become his disciple.
[Ning Rongrong successfully accepted as a disciple. Side quest complete. Distributing rewards...] [1. God-Given Soul Ring] [2. Increase the age of all Soul Rings by ten thousand years]
As the system rewards arrived, Lu Xuan felt a sudden surge of Soul Power within his body.
His body soon adapted to the unexpected change, however.
An increase of ten thousand years?
In other words, even the lowest-quality Soul Ring of my Blue Silver Emperor Martial Soul is black now.
Not bad!
In fact, with another five-thousand-year increase to all my Soul Rings, even my Eighth Soul Ring could evolve to the hundred-thousand-year level.
Then I'd have two Hundred Thousand Year Soul Rings.
Realizing this, Lu Xuan secretly rejoiced.
Before long, he took out the Soul Bone Ning Fengzhi had given him and placed it in Xiao Wu's hands.
"Here, Xiao Wu. This Soul Bone is yours."
"See how many levels you can gain after absorbing it."
Xiao Wu looked stunned.
"Huh? For me?"
"Isn't this the discipleship gift the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect gave you?"
Lu Xuan replied:
"It's useless!"
"It's not good enough for me."
He also took the Soul Bones he had stripped from Yu Yuanzhen a few days earlier out of his Storage Bracelet, along with several Transparent Orbs, and handed them to Xiao Wu.
"And these three as well. Choose whichever ones you like to absorb."
"After you've absorbed them all, with these added in, I wish you success in condensing a thousand-year second Soul Ring."
"A thousand-year second Soul Ring?" Xiao Wu was a little bewildered, staring blankly at the four Soul Bones before her.
As a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast herself, she understood their value better than anyone.
It was no exaggeration to say that, if these four Soul Bones appeared in the outside world, they would at the very least stir up a bloody storm, perhaps even bring about the destruction of a small sect.
Yet now, they had simply been laid before her with such casual ease.
"Teacher, is this really all right?"
Xiao Wu asked Lu Xuan tentatively, and he nodded.
"Of course."
"When have I ever lied to you? But you should also check whether the Soul Bones' attributes suit the path you want to follow in the future."
"For example, that skull bone is clearly a Thunder Attribute Soul Bone that increases your head's defenses. Absorbing it would offer a negligible boost to a Power Attack or Agility Attack Soul Master like you. I suggest you leave it alone for now."
"As for the rest, decide for yourself. If you want to pursue the utmost in Power Attack and Agility Attack, absorb only that Right Leg Bone and leave the other slots empty for now."
"If you want to improve your strength as quickly as possible, absorb that Thunder Attribute Left Arm Bone too."
Lu Xuan said quite a lot in one breath.
In truth, he did not particularly want Xiao Wu to absorb Soul Bones with too many conflicting attributes.
A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast that took human form already possessed exceptional talent for cultivation. With proper nurturing, her achievements would certainly not fall far short of Tang Chen's or Qian Daoliu's back in their day.
But if she took a wrong turn along the way...
If, for instance, she learned rubbish skills like Bewitchment or Waist Bow, then that would no longer be certain.
Lu Xuan did not particularly want Xiao Wu to absorb even the Thunder Attribute Soul Bone.
Ultimately, however, he was only her teacher. If Xiao Wu insisted on doing something, Lu Xuan would not stop her.
The room fell briefly silent.
Before long, Xiao Wu seemed to have finally made up her mind.
"Teacher, I'll listen to you in everything. Whichever bone you tell me to absorb, I'll absorb. Whatever Soul Skill you tell me to condense, I'll condense."
"I'll do everything you say."
Xiao Wu was remarkably obedient and trusting toward Lu Xuan.
Seeing this, Lu Xuan smiled in satisfaction.
"Good!"
"Since you trust me so much, I'll naturally take responsibility for you."
"Then... let's begin now!"
"Set the Soul Bones aside for the moment. I'll help you refine the good stuff first."
"The good stuff?" Only then did Xiao Wu realize that several Transparent Orbs had accompanied the Soul Bones Lu Xuan had just given her. "What are these?"
The corners of Lu Xuan's mouth lifted.
"Whale rubber!"
Before you continue