Revealing Why They Wandered

Over the next month, the two began nourishing their bodies with the soul beast meat and other highly nutritious ingredients Xiao Xia had given them.

Meanwhile, he also used the money they had left to buy several introductory books on soul tools.

Throughout that month, the two did little besides cultivating and reading, then cultivating and reading some more. Still, it was all worthwhile-the long hours of cultivation brought them new breakthroughs.

Huo Yuyao rose straight from level 12 to level 14 within that month, while Lin Mo advanced from level 11 to level 14. Their innate soul power also rose from level three and level five to level eight and level ten, respectively.

All of this was thanks to the money they had spent and the food Xiao Xia had given them, which they had used to continuously nourish their bodies over the past month.

Not only that, Electrolux gradually recovered his memories. By now, he remembered his past and his title.

What resurfaced was not merely his memory, but also his curiosity about the unknown. He was now intensely curious about every aspect of this new world he found himself in.

Lin Mo was also happy to buy all sorts of books about martial souls and the broad workings of this world.

Fortunately, he did not need to turn through them one page at a time. Once he brought a book home, he only needed to flip through it briefly, and Electrolux could slowly read it through his memories.

Soon, only one week remained before they left Maple Leaf City.

Clang!

The sound of metal colliding rang through the courtyard.

In the next instant, a gray figure staggered back several steps, dust billowing beneath his feet.

Holding the Mystic Sword, Lin Mo stared sharply at the two standing some distance away.

Facing him were Xiao Xiao and Huo Yuyao.

Besides cultivating and reading, the two had spent much of the past month sparring with Xiao Xiao. Usually, Xiao Xiao and Huo Yuyao formed one team.

This time was no different.

Lin Mo had intended to avoid a frontal clash and attack from the flank, but he nearly ran into a Soul-Suppressing Cauldron coming from the side. To keep another cauldron from anticipating his landing spot, he had no choice but to clash with it using his sword, relying on the recoil to land somewhere safe.

"Hehe, Little Mo, you're not that good!"

Xiao Xiao spoke with a bright smile, then waved her hand, directing three massive cauldrons to attack from different directions.

At this, a silver-white soul ring appeared beneath Lin Mo's feet.

I have to jump out of here.

The next instant, a white light appeared before him, gradually taking the form of a half-crouching boy. He faced Lin Mo with his hands stacked in front of him and his eyes dim.

Timing it just right, Lin Mo pushed lightly off the ground with his left foot and leaped onto the boy's hands. As the boy raised them, Lin Mo sprang straight over the three incoming cauldrons.

He flung the Mystic Sword from his hand. Its gleam traced a white streak through the air as it shot straight toward the two in the distance.

Xiao Xiao and Huo Yuyao swiftly separated, one going left and the other right, leaving the Mystic Sword to plunge into the ground. Lin Mo was still airborne, both hands now empty.

Seeing Lin Mo leap free of her attack, Xiao Xiao quickly changed its direction. With a slight frown and a sweep of her hand, the Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldrons that had been about to strike the ground veered at a strange angle and rushed toward him again.

This time, however, Xiao Xiao did not use all three cauldrons to attack. She recalled one to her side for protection.

But Lin Mo would not give her an opening. Still in midair, he lit up his dimmed soul ring once more, and another clone appeared beside the Mystic Sword embedded in the ground.

"Again, Brother Xiao Mo?"

Before Huo Yuyao finished speaking, the newly formed clone beside the Mystic Sword seized its hilt and wrenched it free, its blade carving a deep furrow across the ground.

The clone's objective was clear: attack Huo Yuyao first. Her support skill was simply too heaven-defying.

Realizing she was his target, Huo Yuyao could only keep dodging. Xiao Xiao noticed as well and sent her Soul-Suppressing Cauldron flying toward him.

Clang!

Unable to dodge in time, the clone braced the Mystic Sword against the blow. But with their soul power so close, how could a clone possessing only fifty percent of Lin Mo's combat strength possibly withstand it?

He was sent flying dozens of meters backward, and the stunning sound of the collision briefly froze him in place.

Meanwhile, Lin Mo's true body was still airborne, with the two cauldrons behind him continuing to rush toward him.

His eyes flashed. The stunned clone instantly looked up at him and, without hesitation, hurled the Mystic Sword in his hand.

The throw was so powerful that the sword whistled through the air. Leaping out of the attack, Lin Mo used the flying Suspended Sword to escape the center of the impending collision.

"Humph, don't think you can escape! [Cauldron's Tremor]!"

"Xiao Xiao!"

Just as Xiao Xiao activated her first soul ring, before the two massive cauldrons collided, Huo Yuyao's voice came from the side.

Because she had just been activating her soul skill, Xiao Xiao had failed to notice Lin Mo's clone already charging up to her. Yet she did not panic. The cauldron that had remained in the distance suddenly hurtled straight toward them at tremendous speed.

Humph, Little Mo's first soul skill can only be used twice in a short period. He definitely won't want to sacrifice this clone, so he'll dodge.

As she thought this, she jumped away from the clone's attack. Sure enough, a moment before the cauldron struck his back, he slipped away at a bizarre angle.

But Xiao Xiao did not stop the cauldron. Instead, she grabbed one of its corners and let its momentum carry her away. She had to maintain her distance, or they would lose for certain.

Yet just as she was feeling rather pleased with how much cleverer she had become, Lin Mo threw the Mystic Sword while the two distant cauldrons were turning, using their huge bodies as cover. The flying sword swept toward her hand at a strange angle.

Sensing danger, Xiao Xiao instinctively let go, and her body plunged toward the ground.

At the same time, she realized she had completely run out of alternatives.

Through Huo Yuyao's Spiritual Detection Sharing, she could already see that Lin Mo's clone had long been waiting for her on the ground.

She now deeply regretted not keeping two cauldrons beside her. That way, she could have collided them to activate her first soul skill, [Cauldron's Tremor], stunning the clone and giving herself a chance to escape.

And so, this round ended in Lin Mo's victory. His clone caught Xiao Xiao securely as she fell toward the ground.

"The match is decided."

Xiao Sheng's voice came from nearby.

The couple leaped down from the roof and landed beside the three children.

"Including this match, your score is tied at three to three."

During this time, once they had begun properly mastering their martial souls and soul skills, they had held matches every few days. The couple were often roped into refereeing and keeping score.

For fairness-or rather, based on their abilities-Xiao Xiao, who specialized in ranged support and control, naturally teamed up with the support-oriented Huo Yuyao, while Lin Mo fought alone.

"Aww, I miscalculated."

Xiao Xiao lowered her head and spoke rather dejectedly.

"You didn't miscalculate. You rushed. When you used your soul skill, if you'd held back that urge and noticed the danger to yourself, none of what followed would have happened."

Acting as their post-battle analyst, Xiao Sheng began commenting on the mistakes all three had made in the match.

"You're amazing, Brother Xiao Mo! Several times, I thought you were going to lose, but somehow you managed to get out of danger every time."

Huo Yuyao looked every bit Lin Mo's little admirer as she stood beside him and chattered away.

"All right, you're amazing too. Fighting with your support is so much easier. Honestly, without it, battles become much harder."

"Hehe."

"Hey, flirt all you want, but saying it like that makes it sound as though I lost to you even with such a heaven-defying support skill helping me. You're making me look weak!"

Girls really did mature earlier, especially in families where their parents enjoyed a harmonious relationship. Their emotional and mental growth was even more apparent.

"D-don't say things like that!"

As a girl herself, Huo Yuyao naturally understood what Xiao Xiao meant and protested with a faint blush.

Lin Mo could only smile wryly. Although he looked about nine, his soul belonged to a twenty-year-old college student. If a nine-year-old girl could make him blush, he really ought to be shot.

"Not at all, Xiao Xiao. Your martial soul hasn't developed yet, and with only your first soul skill, you lean more toward being a support-type soul master. Ultimately, it's two support-type soul masters fighting one power attack system soul master, so your chances naturally aren't very high. Once you grow stronger, you'll be hard for me to beat."

"Think about it. Two support-type soul masters relying on your cleverness and your teammate's godlike support can actually trade blows evenly with a power attack system soul master. That's really impressive."

Having grown up in an orphanage, Lin Mo was best at coaxing children. Sure enough, after those words, Xiao Xiao looked ready to tilt her nose all the way up to the sky.

"All right, all right, look at you showing off. Little Mo was only saying that. Come on, hurry inside and eat."

The five of them went inside together. Faced with the dazzling spread of dishes, all three children swallowed.

"I knew your match today would take a lot out of you. Well, what do you think?"

They really were mother and daughter. Their proud expressions looked as though they had been cast from the same mold.

And so, the five sat around the dining table, eating and chatting.

"Huh? So you're planning to go to the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy?"

Xiao Xia looked at the two in surprise. She had never imagined anyone from their country would actually choose to study in the Sun Moon Empire.

National allegiances were sharply defined on this continent, and few would betray their country to study abroad. This was especially true now, as relations between the three empires and the Sun Moon Empire worsened by the day. Along the Mingdou Mountain Range, the Star Luo Empire and the Sun Moon Empire faced each other from afar, their soldiers all on the highest alert. Even if war broke out the next moment, it would hardly surprise anyone.

Xiao Sheng merely frowned slightly without saying much.

"Yes. Only there can Little Yao's talent be fully unleashed."

"But studying there..."

Xiao Xia left the rest unsaid, assuming the two children did not understand these things.

"Auntie, we know what that means."

Looking at Xiao Xia's hesitant expression, Lin Mo spoke helplessly.

"It means betraying our country, betraying the three empires... but."

Lin Mo set down his chopsticks, his expression solemn.

"Uncle Xiao, Auntie Xiao, you've been benefactors to Yuyao and me. I won't hide this from you."

Seeing the boy reveal an emotion they had never witnessed in the month since meeting him, the couple immediately sensed something.

They could tell that the two children's martial souls were not weak. They had even noticed that, over the past month, the children's initially low innate soul power had increased as well. Clearly, their backgrounds were anything but ordinary.

Lin Mo then gave them a rough account of their past. However, he did not tell Xiao Sheng, Xiao Xia, or Xiao Xiao exactly where they had come from, only that it was an immensely powerful family with ties to the Imperial Family.

After hearing their story, Xiao Xia, a mother herself, felt both angry and heartbroken.

As a wife, she could hardly imagine the husband she deeply loved disregarding whether she lived or died, never once visiting her in over a decade.

As a mother, she found it even harder to accept that her innocent, pitiful child might be bullied because of her, reduced to surviving like these two, huddling together for warmth.

Compared with Xiao Xia, Xiao Sheng remained calmer. Several generations ago, their Xiao Family had counted among the great families of the Star Luo Empire. Only after repeated suppression and exclusion by the Star Luo Emperor had they fallen to their current state.

Although they still nominally belonged to the nobility, in reality, they were merely a wealthy household little different from merchants.

Naturally, he also knew that such things were actually common among the nobility. Usually, however, they were dealt with cleanly and never allowed to reach outsiders.

Yet as a father, he could not accept such things either. Still, there was little he could say now.

The boy before him had not named the family, clearly because it was overwhelmingly powerful. Even if Xiao Sheng knew, it would accomplish nothing and might even bring harm upon them.

"We'll go to the Sun Moon Empire, study there, and grow stronger. Then we'll take revenge. My brother and I swore before Mother's Tombstone that we would end their bloodline."

Those words came not from Lin Mo, but from Huo Yuyao, who had remained silent beside him.

For the first time, the three saw the somewhat stubborn, adorably simple girl wear an icy expression, her eyes filled with fury held under extreme restraint.

"That family, and the Imperial Family tied to it-once we've grown stronger, we'll make them pay the price they deserve."

The rest of the meal fell into deep silence. Originally, because the three children were not yet old enough, the couple had planned to use their connections to secure three Shrek invitation letters so they could attend Shrek together. But now, with things as they were...