It was already afternoon when the three returned to the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect.
Wu Yun landed on the Training Ground on Main Peak, set Nezha and Ning Tian down, and gruffly tossed out, "Go to the hall yourselves. The sect master is waiting." Then he turned and strode away, his crimson hair billowing behind him like flames. Clearly, he could not be bothered with the two little sprouts any longer.
Nezha and Ning Tian exchanged a glance without saying much, then crossed the Training Ground one after the other and followed the Glazed Corridor toward the Sect Hall.
The sect disciples they encountered along the way turned to look, their gazes sweeping over the two before quickly withdrawing as they bowed respectfully.
Ning Tian was the sect's heir. Though Nezha had only just arrived, word had already spread through the sect over the past two days: the sect master had personally brought back an unparalleled genius with innate full soul power from Nine Treasures City, and even the Red Dragon Douluo had personally taken him to hunt for a soul ring.
Ning Zhiyuan had already been waiting at the entrance to the hall for some time.
He stood inside with his hands behind his back, his moon-white robes spotless and a faint look of anticipation on his face. When the two entered, his gaze rested on Ning Tian for a moment, and he nodded slightly before turning to Nezha, the expectation in his eyes deepening.
"You're back?" His voice was quiet but warm. "How did absorbing your soul rings go?"
Ning Tian spoke first, her tone composed. "Father, my first soul ring came from a four-hundred-year Flame Ape. The soul skill is Strength Amplification."
Ning Zhiyuan nodded in satisfaction. Choosing Strength Amplification for the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda martial soul's first soul ring meant following the proper path and laying a solid foundation. He reached out and patted his daughter's shoulder without saying much, his gaze already turning to Nezha.
"And you, Nezha?"
Nezha stepped forward, stopped before Ning Zhiyuan, and looked up. "Uncle Ning, my soul ring also came from a four-hundred-year Flame Ape. The soul skill is Attack Power Amplification."
Ning Zhiyuan leaned forward slightly, a sharp light flashing through his eyes. "How much?"
"Seventy percent."
The hall fell silent for a moment.
The smile froze on Ning Zhiyuan's face.
He straightened, his fingers unconsciously curling behind his back, and stared at Nezha's childish face for a long while, as though checking whether the boy had misspoken.
Only after a moment did he slowly speak, his voice carrying a tremor he could not quite suppress. "Say that again. How much?"
"Seventy percent, Uncle Ning." Nezha answered crisply, his tone calm, as though reporting something utterly ordinary.
Ning Zhiyuan drew a deep breath, then slowly let it out.
A first soul ring with a seventy-percent amplification.
An ordinary soul master's first soul skill, even an amplification skill, generally offered only twenty or thirty percent. Even for those with extraordinary gifts, forty or fifty percent was already the limit.
Yet Nezha's first soul ring offered seventy percent outright. Such cases could be counted on one hand throughout the entire history of soul masters on the Douluo Continent.
He fell silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, "What is this soul skill called?"
Nezha blinked.
Soul skills had names, too?
He closed his eyes and gently touched the warm pulse within his body with his mind.
The shaft of the Fire-Tipped Spear trembled faintly, and a thread of information rose from the depths of his martial soul into his mind. It was as though a divine consciousness that had slumbered within the spear for ages had finally awakened, softly echoing through his thoughts.
He opened his eyes and said each word distinctly:
"Bathe in Fire."
Fire-Tipped Spear · Bathe in Fire.
Ning Zhiyuan silently repeated the name, his eyes shining with startling brilliance.
Bathe in Fire-tempered in flame, reborn through nirvana, fighting amid fire, burning ever fiercer. The name was a seamless match for Nezha's martial soul and the character of that Fire-Tipped Spear.
"Good."
He uttered the word emphatically, strode forward, and placed both hands on Nezha's shoulders, his grip steady and solemn.
"Nezha, you chose the right first soul ring. The further you advance, the more terrifying Bathe in Fire will prove to be. You're still young. Once your soul power level rises, you'll understand what this soul ring you gained today truly means."
Nezha nodded. Of course he understood. The true power of this first soul skill had always risen geometrically as his base strength increased.
His soul power was only in the teens now, but once he reached the Titled Douluo level someday, the absolute increase that percentage represented would be enough to turn heaven and earth upside down.
Ning Zhiyuan released him, stepped back, and swept his gaze between Nezha and Ning Tian.
A battle soul master with innate full soul power and twin martial souls. A Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda wielder with innate full soul power. If they could become a pair, one focused on offense and the other on support, they would complement each other naturally.
The corners of his mouth lifted slightly, and the wrinkles around his eyes relaxed.
"Go on. Get some proper rest. Starting tomorrow, go to the Scripture Pavilion and find the lessons you need to study. You mustn't slacken in your soul power cultivation, but you must build an even firmer foundation in the basics."
"Yes," the two answered in unison.
Nezha and Ning Tian turned and left the hall. As the afternoon sunlight spilled over him, he narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Young mistress! Nezha!"
A fiery-red figure darted out from somewhere, seized Ning Tian's arm with both hands, and hung her entire body from it. Her fiery ponytail bounced as she pouted, displeasure written all over her face.
"You went out without taking me! I'm not happy!"
Wu Feng tilted her head up, her fiery-red eyes glistening as she gazed beseechingly at Ning Tian, looking as aggrieved as a puppy left at home.
Helpless under her tugging, Ning Tian looked down and gently stroked her head. "All right, little Feng. We went to hunt soul rings, not to play. We'll definitely take you along next time."
At those words, Wu Feng's eyes immediately lit up. She rubbed her head against Ning Tian's palm, squinted in delight, and nodded vigorously. "Mm! It's a promise!"
Nezha stood to one side, his mouth slightly open, unable to close it for a long while.
He instinctively took half a step back, an inexplicable chill running up his spine.
"Ning Tian, Wu Feng..." He paused, cleared his throat, and said with perfect seriousness, "I'm a little tired, so I'll head back first."
Ning Tian nodded, her tone composed. "All right. Get some proper rest. If you need anything after you wake up, just come next door and find me."
"Mm."
Nezha answered and turned to leave, walking noticeably faster than usual, the two buns on his head bobbing.
Wu Feng tilted her head as she watched Nezha's retreating figure, then leaned toward Ning Tian's ear and whispered, "Young mistress, I keep feeling that Nezha looks at us strangely."
Ning Tian glanced at her, her ponytail swishing lightly, and said evenly, "Don't talk nonsense. We're all going to be companions."
"Oh." Wu Feng answered without quite understanding, then glanced again in the direction where Nezha had disappeared. Something still felt wrong, but she could not put her finger on it.
In the days that followed, Nezha's life gradually settled into a routine.
During the day, he studied spear techniques under a spear martial soul wielder of Soul Douluo rank within the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect.
At night, he cultivated the Great Firmament Celestial Art without fail.
As for Ning Tian, for some unknown reason, she kept visiting Nezha's courtyard whether she had anything to do there or not.
Sometimes she came at dusk, carrying a food box of Spirit Beast Pastries from the Grade-A Canteen, claiming she had been passing by.
Sometimes she came in the afternoon, holding a stack of yellowed old books and saying they contained insights into spear techniques newly sorted out by the Scripture Pavilion, which might be useful to him.
Cultivation resources and rare treasures also flowed into his courtyard like running water. Nezha could not refuse them no matter how he tried and could only accept, though he kept muttering inwardly that this young lady was being far too attentive toward him.
Naturally, Wu Feng, that little shadow, kept coming along with Ning Tian.
Every time the girl entered, she first swept her gaze around Nezha's courtyard. Whenever she saw Ning Tian handing him things again, her little face gradually fell, and jealousy nearly overflowed from her fiery-red eyes.
She folded her arms, scuffed her feet back and forth against the ground, and grumbled under her breath, looking like a pot of water on the verge of boiling.
Finally, one day, she could no longer hold back.
"Nezha, I challenge you to soul fighting!"
The little girl, who had just obtained her first soul ring, planted herself in the middle of the Training Ground and pointed at Nezha's nose. Her fiery ponytail stirred without a breeze, and her two little canine teeth ground audibly.
Nezha raised his eyebrows and glanced at Ning Tian. She smiled helplessly but did not stop them.
"Sure."
The two took their positions. Soul power surged around Wu Feng, and a deep dragon's roar erupted from within her. The phantom of a crimson dragon flashed behind her and vanished, her pupils became scarlet slits, and faint waves of heat rolled around her. She thrust out her arms and lunged at Nezha as a fiery-red blur, her fists wrapped in scorching dragon breath, her momentum quite formidable.
However-
The Fire-Tipped Spear appeared, its violet-flamed tip trembling lightly.
Wu Feng was only halfway through her charge when she seemed to slam into an invisible wall.
Ultimate fire's suppression of fire-attribute martial souls was displayed in full at that moment.
The newly awakened Red Dragon power within her faltered under the aura emanating from the Fire-Tipped Spear. Her soul power stopped circulating smoothly, and the heat waves around her visibly weakened.
She gritted her teeth and continued charging, but she could barely bring out half her strength.
Nezha showed no mercy.
The spear swept sideways, its butt striking precisely against her waist. Wu Feng gave a muffled grunt, and her body tilted.
Then the spear tip flicked upward, knocking aside her guard, before the shaft pressed down and pinned her firmly to the ground of the Training Ground. From beginning to end, it had taken only three moves.
"I lost." Wu Feng lay on the ground, her voice muffled.
But after climbing up and brushing the dust off herself, she glared at Nezha with her fiery-red eyes, the refusal to admit defeat burning even brighter within them.
"Again!"
Nezha thought she would settle down after a couple of days.
She did not.
Every few days, Wu Feng appeared punctually in his courtyard, insisting on fighting him.
Every time, she was taken down swiftly and cleanly. Every time she got back up, she tossed her ponytail, glared, and shouted, "Again!"
Nezha went from his initial helplessness to gradually growing accustomed to it, and finally even feeling a measure of admiration. Whatever else could be said about this little girl, her stubborn determination not to turn back even after crashing into the southern wall was genuinely something.
During that time, his parents also moved from Nine Treasures City to live in the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect. His father, Li Jing, became an outer-sect steward responsible for receiving and settling new disciples from Nine Treasures City. It was not a high position, but it offered stability.
Time passed like that, day by day.
And the boy with two buns on his head grew a little older with each passing day.
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