Half an hour later, the Soul Ring had completely merged into his body.
Shi Meng opened his eyes and felt the immense Soul Power within him, joy instantly lighting up his face.
He had broken through to rank twenty-four!
Rank twenty-four at six years old!
If word got out, probably no one would dare believe it.
The Thunderfire Falcon's Soul Ring possessed both lightning and fire attributes, making it highly compatible with his temporal fire. Absorbing it had gone surprisingly smoothly.
As for the Soul Skill of this second Soul Ring, it was just as he had guessed: like his first Soul Ring, it corresponded to one of the Dreamseeker's skills.
However, this second Soul Skill was a particularly unusual strike among the basic attacks. He threw the pointer at an enemy and made it spin, forming a massive clock dial that dealt damage.
I'll call my second Soul Skill the Wheel of Time.
Under this Wheel of Time, an enemy unit's state would be accelerated or rewound.
In other words, if his opponent were Yu Xiaogang, and he had Luo Sanpao unleash that Heaven-Shaking, Earth-Splitting Luo Fart Cannon, all Shi Meng needed to do was throw out the Wheel of Time, and that fart would be forcibly stuffed right back inside.
[Ding! Friendly reminder: Host's authority power has now fully replenished.]
Hearing the sudden system notification, Shi Meng froze for a moment, then immediately checked.
?? Full??
"System, didn't you say I could only restore energy through cuddling? Why do I feel like my Authority of Time has fully recovered after absorbing the Soul Ring?"
[Beep-boop~ Whenever the host advances in rank, your authority will recover as well. Not only that, as your Soul Power rank increases, your control over your authority will become increasingly effortless~]
Good grief, breaking through came with perks like this, too? This authority really was something of an easy-mode wheelchair.
"Since my battery's fully charged now, what should I do next?"
Who should he choose as his next target?
Several figures flashed swiftly through Shi Meng's mind: Shui Bing'er, Xue Wu, Shui Yue'er...
No, those girls already knew him. There was no need for the extra step.
Hu Liena?
That wasn't necessary either.
After all, with a face-obsessed girl like Hu Liena, as long as he dared ask in the future, she would dare hand herself over for free.
"I've got it!"
Shi Meng snapped his fingers.
I choose you!
Notting Academy, Dorm Seven.
Wang Sheng stood with his hands on his hips and lifted his chin at Xiao Wu.
"New girl, here's the rule in Dorm Seven: whoever has the hardest fists calls the shots."
"Get her, boss! Teach her a lesson!"
The work-study students behind Tang San joined in the jeering.
But Tang San ignored them, simply watching Xiao Wu calmly, as though working out a strategy in his head.
Xiao Wu snorted and was just getting into her fighting stance.
Then a sudden buzzing filled her head.
After that, streams of memories surged into her mind.
When she raised her head again, her gaze faltered slightly as she looked at the boy opposite her.
"I... was reborn?"
And she had been reborn on the very day she entered Dorm Seven at Notting Academy.
Xiao Wu lowered her head and looked at her hands.
Small and pale, still the hands of a six-year-old.
But those memories, those images in her head, were real!
"What, scared?"
Seeing Xiao Wu remain silent, Wang Sheng thought she was afraid and took another step toward her.
"Who said I'm scared!"
Xiao Wu stared at Tang San, suddenly revealing an eerie smile that sent a chill creeping through him.
Why do I have a bad feeling about this?
"Watch out, boss! She's moving!"
"Explosive Eight-Stage Throw!"
Tang San: !!!
Before he could react at all, Tang San felt his feet leave the ground.
Oh, nooo!
Bam!
Once.
Bam, bam, bam...
Twice, three times, four times...
The eighth slam ended, but Xiao Wu still didn't stop.
"Explosive Eight-Stage Throw!"
"Explosive Eight-Stage Throw!"
Tang San was slammed into the ground again and again, utterly powerless to resist, without even a chance to beg for mercy.
At the sight, Wang Sheng and the others huddled in a corner together, too terrified to make a sound.
Holy shit! This new little girl... no, this queen! She's way too savage!
Watching Xiao Wu fling Tang San around the room and slam him into the floor until he looked utterly wretched, Wang Sheng finally couldn't bear it anymore and hurriedly called out to stop her.
"S-stop! Stop fighting!"
If this kept up, Tang San would die!
Xiao Wu paused slightly at his words, then flung Tang San straight away.
Seeing Wang Sheng catch Tang San, Xiao Wu gradually calmed down.
I can't go too far, or I might bring danger down on myself.
But looking at Tang San's bloodshot eyes and bull-like panting, his face bruised and swollen enough that even his own mother might not recognize him, Xiao Wu felt a rush of satisfaction.
That felt good!
Living my life over, and I started by beating Tang San senseless.
What a ridiculously satisfying opening!
What? Why did she bear Tang San so much malice after being reborn?
Because in her previous life, he had personally killed the man she loved most: Shi Meng!
My name was Xiao Wu, Wu as in "dance."
In my previous life, I followed Tang San to Shrek Academy when I was twelve, and there I met Shi Meng.
When we first met, his talent was extraordinary. At only twelve, he had already reached a rank ordinary people struggled to surpass, but he was always icy, with not a trace of warmth in his eyes.
At first, I thought someone like him must be very difficult to approach.
But as we spent more time together, I gradually realized that he wasn't cold. He simply hid his tenderness too deep.
With a cold expression, he would press his last piece of dry rations into the hands of a wandering Soul Master he had never met.
When noble Soul Hunting teams wantonly surrounded and slaughtered weak Soul Beasts, he would stand before them and say that they, too, had the right to live.
He would pretend not to notice when I sneaked carrots from the dining hall, and cover my ears for me on nights of thunder and rain.
He even remembered every offhand remark I made.
He was upright, brave, restrained, and true to his word.
He was humble, forgiving, fair, and gentle.
He showed compassion for the weak, never tortured his enemies to death, and never treated Soul Beasts as lesser beings.
And so, little by little, I fell for him, hopelessly and irrevocably.
On the day of the tournament finals, I had intended to reveal my feelings to him,
But something that happened out of nowhere left me stunned.
Shi Meng was actually the Holy Son of Spirit Hall!
At that moment, I was filled with doubt and fear. All the feelings that had stirred in my heart over those days seemed like a joke.
How could the Holy Son of Spirit Hall truly stand on my side?
But when my identity as a Soul Beast was exposed and Spirit Hall moved to capture me,
Shi Meng stood in front of me.
For my sake, he was willing to give up his position as Holy Son and make an enemy of all of Spirit Hall!
At that moment, I understood that I had already fallen hopelessly in love with him.
"Whether she's a Soul Beast doesn't matter. What matters is that she's the person I care about most in this life."
He said that to protect the person he wanted to protect, he would not fear even death.
But while he did not fear death, I feared watching him die before my eyes.
Yet just as I prepared to sacrifice myself to Shi Meng, paying with my own life to help him survive,
Bibi Dong spoke.
"Enough, enough. What a truly ill-fated bond. Xiao Wu, I grant you the right to live on alongside Shi Meng. From this day forward, you shall remain in Spirit Hall."
I had never expected that lofty Supreme Pontiff to actually approve of Shi Meng and me.
I was overjoyed, believing that from then on, we could stay together forever.
But what came instead was...
Before you continue