Maple Leaf City

Lin Mo entered his own room and sat on the bed.

He began circulating his soul power.

"I'm only level 11 right now. Sigh."

"I really can't afford to stop cultivating."

As he spoke, he took off his shoes and sat on the bed, drawing on the power of the moon through the moonlight streaming in through the window to begin cultivating.

The pure silver moonlight slowly turned into strands of gentle energy that flowed into every part of his body.

After entering his body, these strands of power of the moon did not transform directly into his soul power as ordinary soul power would. Instead, they completed a circulation cycle through his meridians before returning to his dantian, only then successfully turning into soul power. The power of the sun worked the same way.

"My cultivation really is slow. Is this the effect of my innate soul power? Come to think of it, my meridians really are rather fragile."

"I have to improve my innate soul power faster. Otherwise, once I reach the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy, if I have no talent for making soul tools, I won't be able to obtain enough resources in the short term, let alone nourish my meridians or improve my constitution."

He was not worried about Huo Yuyao-or rather, there was no need for him to worry. He firmly believed that, with her martial soul, the academy would place considerable importance on her even if her innate soul power tested a little low.

So, at that moment, he was more worried about himself than his adorable little sister.

"Once we reach the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy, Little Yao won't need to worry anymore. She'll only have to focus on cultivating, and she can steadily follow her old path in the early stages."

As he thought it over, he noticed something wrong.

"No, I can't handle everything according to the original story. I have to prepare early for the Heavenly Snow Woman. Now that Elder Yi is in my Sea of Consciousness, he'll definitely have trouble stepping in to help. If the Snow Empress becomes a ticking time bomb like in the original, then although avoiding the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Bed should be enough, I'd still better make preparations early, just in case."

The Divine Realm.

"Brother San, what's wrong? Why do you look so worried?"

"I'm fine, Xiao Wu. Go back first. I have some official business to handle."

"All right..."

Dressed in an ornate aqua-blue robe, Tang San first sent Xiao Wu away, then began observing the Douluo Continent through the Divine Realm Center.

"Hm, this really is strange."

Tang San frowned in thought.

"Why did the son of destiny suddenly become a daughter of destiny? Did I make a mistake in my observations? That would be troublesome. If she's a girl, how am I supposed to win her over?"

Tang San began pacing back and forth. According to his initial observations, the star of destiny born in the Douluo Plane should have been a boy. That was also why he had chosen to send Tang Wutong down to the mortal realm.

After pondering it repeatedly, he could not help clenching his fists.

"Never mind. Xiao Qi entered Shrek Academy disguised as a boy during this trip to the mortal realm anyway, and the arrangements in the Star Dou Great Forest are already in place. Perhaps Xiao Qi will prefer being a boy."

"Forgive your father, Xiao Qi. All of this is for the Douluo Continent, for our Tang family."

He waved his hand and dispersed the map, failing to notice that, one second before it vanished, the previously clear map and its glowing star had changed. Moreover, the moment the new star shifted and lit up, a thick layer of fog had shrouded the entire map.

Tang San noticed none of this. He transformed into aqua-blue mist and vanished from the spot, also failing to notice a pair of crimson eyes watching coldly from not far away.

A night passed, and Lin Mo cultivated through all of it, but he made little progress.

Perhaps it was because he had concentrated all the soul power from his cultivation on his innate soul power, leaving his base soul power largely unchanged. His innate soul power, however, did seem to be slowly rising.

He absorbed the first ray of sunlight into his body and completed a circulation cycle before getting up.

"The first ray of moonlight and the first ray of sunlight are both much more effective than the light I absorb afterward."

Rather than continue cultivating, he summoned his martial soul and went into the small courtyard to practice his swordsmanship.

His movements could hardly be called transcendent, but they flowed like drifting clouds and running water.

"Good thing I liked swords as a kid and asked Grandpa Director to teach me a few things."

"Sigh. Come to think of it, it would've been nice if he'd taught me more offensive sword techniques."

The sword techniques Lin Mo kept performing mostly came from the old director of the orphanage that had taken him in during his previous life. Without exception, however, every technique the old man had taught him leaned toward defense.

"What was it Grandpa Director said back then?"

He practiced his sword techniques while searching his memory.

"Oh no, has my memory gotten this bad already? I can barely remember."

Faced with this, he could not help stopping his practice. A little dazed, he unconsciously looked at the sword in his hand and spent a full two or three minutes thinking before he remembered.

"Sigh, I finally remembered."

"'You learn the sword to protect others, not to hurt them. Little Mo, when you need offensive sword techniques in the future, I'll naturally teach you. But you're still too young. Not yet.'"

Recalling those words, his expression grew forlorn.

"You rotten old man. In the end, you never did teach me."

He had no idea how long he kept practicing like that. He only stopped once he was feeling somewhat drained.

Lin Mo wiped away his sweat and returned to the house. He took a bath first, then remembered that Huo Yuyao still had not gotten up.

He walked to Huo Yuyao's door and was debating whether to knock when, before he even raised his hand, the door opened from inside.

"Oh, Brother Xiao Mo, did you need something?"

Huo Yuyao, who had been about to step outside, clearly had not expected to find Lin Mo standing at her door as though he was about to knock.

"No, I just happened to be awake and wanted to see whether you were up."

"Hehe, I just woke up."

Huo Yuyao scratched her cheek with a finger and chuckled.

"Hm?"

You think a little trick like that can fool me?

Lin Mo sensed the fluctuations of soul power inside Huo Yuyao.

It's clearly much stronger than yesterday. Sigh, a spiritual-type martial soul really is different. Being able to replace sleep with a brief meditation is great. Come to think of it, I should be able to do that too. After all, I've also opened up a Sea of Consciousness. Replacing sleep with a short meditation should be possible for me.

"Then, Brother Xiao Mo, what are we doing today?"

"Heh."

Lin Mo did not respond to her attempt to change the subject. Instead, he looked at her with a slightly displeased smile.

Huo Yuyao scratched her cheek awkwardly, her large eyes darting about.

"I'm sorry, okay? But I really want to level up quickly so I can avenge Mom."

Seeing that the girl had finally admitted it herself, Lin Mo said nothing more and merely stroked her head gently.

"But don't rush things. You still need to get enough rest."

"Brother Xiao Mo, didn't you..."

"Hm?"

"Weren't you secretly cultivating last night too?"

"..."

"..."

"How... did you know?"

Even Lin Mo felt that his question was redundant. She only needed to use Spiritual Detection Sharing to see him, yet he had actually asked something like that.

"Ah, um, well, of course I wanted to see whether you were asleep, Brother. But then I discovered that you weren't sleeping at all-you were cultivating! So I copied you and cultivated too."

After speaking, she scratched her cheek awkwardly again.

"Honestly, no peeking."

Sigh, my spiritual power isn't as strong as hers, so I can't sense it at all. Looks like I'll have to watch my behavior around this child from now on.

"Mm, then what are we doing today?"

"Buying some soul beast meat to improve your constitutions and give you some nourishment, of course!"

The moment Huo Yuyao finished asking, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm flew out of her head.

"Your bodies are far too fragile right now. You really need some good food to build yourselves up."

"That's true. Let's have a look around the market, then. They should sell some there."

"Got it!"

After Huo Yuyao briefly tidied herself up, the two left the house. They had barely taken a few steps when they saw a figure skipping toward them.

"Ah, it's Xiao Xiao!"

Huo Yuyao noticed her first and waved with a smile.

After spending several days together, the two had already become close friends.

"Hehe, Little Yao, did you miss me?"

"I did."

The two girls gave each other a gentle hug.

"Oh, Xiao Xiao, what brings you here?"

It was Lin Mo who spoke. He had not expected Xiao Xiao to come looking for them so early in the morning.

"Hehe, Mom sent me. She said she'd noticed how frail you both were these past few days, so she asked me to bring you something to eat and build you up."

As she spoke, the girl showed them her Storage Soul Tool.

"I didn't expect to find you about to go out just as I arrived."

"We were just about to buy some soul beast meat to cook."

"Then I came at just the right time! Come on, come on."

As she spoke, the girl pushed them both back into the house. Upon reaching the living room, she immediately presented her Storage Soul Tool.

"Mom packed loads of things, all different kinds, though they're all raw. Ah, there's also this dried meat."

She displayed everything as she spoke.

One item, then another, then another, and another.

Before long, the tabletop held a small mountain.

Watching this, the corners of Lin Mo's mouth twitched.

"Xiao Xiao, this... this is way too much."

"Hehe, it's not much. Mom said, how could we let our lifesavers go hungry?"

After speaking, she seemed to remember something. She trotted over to Huo Yuyao and whispered a few words in her ear. The two exchanged a glance and laughed together.

"What are you two talking about?"

"Hehe, not telling."

"It's a secret."

Seeing the smile curling Huo Yuyao's lips and the sparkle in her eyes, Lin Mo smiled faintly too.

"Then I'll go make something to eat."

He picked up a piece of soul beast meat and headed for the kitchen.

"Brother Xiao Mo, I'll help you."

Seeing Lin Mo about to enter the kitchen, Huo Yuyao tried to follow, but he stopped her.

"Stay here and keep Xiao Xiao company. I can handle it."

He entered the kitchen as he spoke, but then remembered something and poked his head back out.

"Ah, you can use your first soul skill to help me."

After experiencing Huo Yuyao's soul skill support, he really could get addicted to it. It made things so much easier.

"Got it."

Happy to hear that she could help, Huo Yuyao spoke and activated her first soul skill, [Spiritual Detection Sharing].

A bright yellow soul ring slowly rose from beneath the girl's feet, and her originally azure eyes turned brilliant gold.

"Huh? Why do you need a soul skill to help with cooking? And Little Yao, why can't I tell what your martial soul is?"

Xiao Xiao tilted her head in confusion.

"Well..."

Huo Yuyao immediately remembered Lin Mo and the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm telling her not to casually reveal her martial soul or soul skills outside, so she instinctively looked toward Lin Mo in the kitchen.

"It's all right. Tell her."

Only after receiving Lin Mo's message through Spiritual Detection Sharing did she feel reassured enough to explain her martial soul to Xiao Xiao and demonstrate her soul skill, bringing her into Spiritual Detection Sharing.

Experiencing the support of such a heaven-defying soul skill, Xiao Xiao looked around in utter disbelief.

"Heavens, what an amazing soul skill! We can even communicate through it!"

"Mm-hm."

With its support, Xiao Xiao could even clearly see the eyelashes of Lin Mo as he stood in the kitchen slicing meat.

"That's incredible! It feels like everything would be so much easier with your soul skill helping."

"Thank you."

"Hey, why don't we go to Shrek together in the future? With your soul skill, they'd definitely value you a lot."

Huo Yuyao had little reaction to those words. She did not understand just how much the academies differed from one another. More than any of that, she trusted her brother.

So, no matter how much Xiao Xiao praised Shrek, she remained unmoved.

Lin Mo, tucked away in the kitchen, felt quite differently from Huo Yuyao.

"Pfft."

Having read the original thoroughly, he naturally knew how the academy treated Huo Yuyao after she demonstrated her talent in the Freshman Assessment.

Despite being the core of her team and possessing exceptionally powerful support abilities, she could not even obtain core disciple status.

He found it rather laughable, but said nothing and simply continued cooking.

"Auntie Xiao Xia really supplied everything. Not just soul beast meat, but vegetables, seasonings, and even pots. She practically moved an entire kitchen here."

Lin Mo made a few simple dishes and carried them into the living room.

"Wow, that smells so good!"

Xiao Xiao sniffed hard, the tempting aroma making her mouth water involuntarily.

"Hahaha, then join us. I made your share too, Xiao Xiao."

"Wonderful!"

They began eating together at the table.

"Whoa, Brother Xiao Mo, how did you make this taste so good? It's amazing."

"Well..."

Lin Mo pretended to think for a moment.

"A secret recipe."

There was no secret recipe, of course. He had simply relied on Huo Yuyao's skills to see more clearly when it was best to turn the food and when it was cooked just right.

After the meal, Xiao Xiao asked what the two of them planned to do next, while Lin Mo and Huo Yuyao sat cross-legged, quietly sensing the condition of their bodies.

"Not bad. The Soul Beast meat Xiao Xia gave you is all excellent quality. If your meals stay at this quality for the next month or so, your innate Soul Power should rise by at least another five levels before you enroll."

The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm did not come out this time. He simply relayed the information to them through his spiritual power.

"Wow, then I'll have Level 8 innate Soul Power, and Brother Xiao Mo will even have innate full Soul Power."