Qian Renxue held Meowmeow in her arms, thinking how wonderful it would be to keep such an affectionate, intelligent, adorable little shit-green cat.
Yet Meowmeow suddenly stood up in Qian Renxue's arms and began gesturing at her.
"Meow!" (Meowmeow already has a master, meow!)
"What do you mean?" Qian Renxue watched Meowmeow's gestures, her face full of confusion.
"Meow!"
Meowmeow looked around and suddenly spotted a paper menu on the dining table. With a leap, Meowmeow pounced straight onto it.
Then Meowmeow extended sharp claws and slashed at the menu, sending scraps of paper flying.
"What is this little cat doing?"
Snake Lance Douluo spoke as he watched Meowmeow alongside Qian Renxue.
Suddenly, Meowmeow turned around and proudly held up two pieces cut and torn from the menu.
Qian Renxue and Snake Lance Douluo recognized the shapes at a glance. The smaller, cat-shaped scrap was Meowmeow's silhouette, while the other was clearly the outline of a person, pressed against Meowmeow's silhouette.
"Could it be!"
Qian Renxue immediately understood.
"You have a master!"
Meowmeow narrowed those eyes and nodded like a bobblehead.
"Meow!" (That's right, that's right, meow!)
"So that's how it is?"
A trace of sadness appeared on Qian Renxue's face, but then inspiration struck.
Wait, even if this kitten has a master, I can still buy the little one.
Qian Renxue looked confident. As the Spirit Hall Young Master, heir to the continent's greatest power, she certainly had enough money to buy Meowmeow from the little cat's master.
After all, Meowmeow looked like nothing more than a baby soul beast. Even one that understood people probably would not cost much.
At the same time, Qian Renxue wanted to meet whoever had raised Meowmeow to be so intelligent and adorable.
"Kitten, could you bring your master to meet me?"
Qian Renxue asked Meowmeow with keen interest. Meowmeow froze for a moment, then nodded, looking tremendously excited.
"Meow!" (Master probably won't turn down such a pretty big sister, meow!)
Meowmeow leaped about in delight, then excitedly jumped out the window and climbed down the tree to the street, even looking back to meow at Qian Renxue along the way. Only then did Qian Renxue relax.
Back in the present, Lu Yuan sat across from Qian Renxue, admiring at close range the beauty of the woman reputed to be the "greatest beauty" of Douluo's first era.
As Qian Renxue stroked Meowmeow, she seemed like an entirely different person from the calculating Crown Prince Xue Qinghe she usually pretended to be.
So Meowmeow is this person's martial soul. But...
Having been ignored and even hurt by Bibi Dong as a child, Qian Renxue naturally wanted to understand why her mother treated her that way.
Although Bibi Dong, Qian Xunji, and Qian Daoliu-the three central figures of Spirit Hall-had all deliberately concealed that history, Qian Renxue had still uncovered some rumors about Bibi Dong and Yu Xiaogang.
Not only had Qian Renxue learned that Yu Xiaogang possessed an external martial soul like Lu Yuan's, she had also guessed some of the truth behind what had happened to her.
For instance, Bibi Dong and Yu Xiaogang had been in love, only for Qian Xunji to forcibly tear them apart.
And she herself had actually been born because Qian Xunji had used his position as Bibi Dong's teacher to force her to bear a child.
That was probably why Bibi Dong hated their branch of the Qian Family.
But Qian Renxue imagined that Qian Xunji had forced Bibi Dong to have a child through relentless cajoling and pressure. It never occurred to her that the Secret Chamber Douluo had imprisoned Bibi Dong in a dark basement for around two years.
"Sigh..."
Qian Renxue sighed.
Since Meowmeow was Lu Yuan's martial soul, she could not forcibly take the little cat away, no matter what price she paid.
Suddenly, Qian Renxue's gaze drifted to Lu Yuan himself. Her eyes lit up as she noticed a clue.
"You're wearing the Spirit Hall Academy uniform, aren't you? Are you a student there?"
"Yes."
Lu Yuan nodded and began introducing some of his publicly known background.
Being with Qian Renxue felt wonderfully comfortable and relaxing to Lu Yuan.
Of course, this was not because of Qian Renxue's beauty, but because the external martial soul he had awakened, Meowmeow, possessed the plant attribute.
Since he could also use Meowmeow's abilities, the powerful light attribute of Qian Renxue's Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul naturally drew someone with a Plant Attribute Martial Soul like Lu Yuan closer to her.
The corners of Qian Renxue's mouth curled upward. Her attention was now entirely focused on Lu Yuan being a Spirit Hall Academy student.
Spirit Hall Academy was directly subordinate to Spirit Hall. It was essentially a training base for prospective members and had to obey Spirit Hall's orders and instructions.
Even if I can't buy Meowmeow, as long as Lu Yuan stays by my side, won't I get to see the little one every day?
With an idea in mind, Qian Renxue felt as though flowers had blossomed in her heart.
She decided that when she returned to the Martial Soul Hall Headquarters to visit her grandfather, Qian Daoliu, she would have him arrange for Lu Yuan to accompany her to Heaven Dou City on her undercover mission.
Only Snake Lance Douluo, standing nearby, showed a hint of puzzlement as he listened to Lu Yuan.
This Lu Yuan is actually in the same class as Spirit Hall's Golden Generation? He looks no more than eight or nine, yet he's already a Soul Grandmaster? Could he be a genius with innate soul power above level seven?
The more Snake Lance Douluo thought about it, the more sense it made, and he nodded inwardly. He had long since noticed how fond Qian Renxue was of that external martial soul called Meowmeow.
Having seen Lu Yuan's Spirit Hall Academy uniform, she was probably asking about his background because she wanted to recruit him.
A talent like him does qualify to approach the young master.
At the Spirit Hall Headquarters in Spirit City stood the Angel Temple, where Qian Daoliu often came to worship the ancestral Angel God.
From somewhere above the enormous statue of the Angel God, golden divine light imbued with divine power shone down.
Qian Renxue and her grandfather, Qian Daoliu, were chatting in the Small Square before the divine light.
"What? Xiao Xue, you want to arrange for a Spirit Hall Academy student named Lu Yuan to accompany you to the Heaven Dou Empire on your undercover mission?"
Qian Daoliu listened to Qian Renxue's request with a puzzled expression.
After saying goodbye to Lu Yuan at the restaurant, Qian Renxue had hurried straight to Qian Daoliu to ask him to hand Lu Yuan over to her.
"Lu Yuan... that sounds like a boy's name?"
Hearing that his precious granddaughter had inexplicably become involved with a boy, Qian Daoliu found himself nervously rubbing his hands together faster and faster.
"Someone, come here."
Right in front of Qian Renxue, Qian Daoliu summoned someone to fetch information on Lu Yuan.
"This..."
Qian Daoliu stared at the information about Lu Yuan that his subordinate handed him, dumbfounded.
An external martial soul. Level 0.5 innate soul power.
There was no way Qian Daoliu could avoid thinking of that useless Yu Xiaogang.
Had Lu Yuan's external martial soul not been Meowmeow rather than Luo Sanpao, Qian Daoliu would have suspected that the former was the latter's illegitimate son.
After ruining Bibi Dong, whom he and his old brothers in the Worship Hall had watched grow up and regarded as a daughter, Yu Xiaogang had now taught Lu Yuan the same tricks to ruin his granddaughter from the next generation.
"X-Xiao Xue, why do you..."
Qian Daoliu's hand trembled as he held Lu Yuan's information. Looking anxious, he stammered at Qian Renxue.
Seeing this, Qian Renxue's expression also darkened with hurt.
"Why would I follow in Mother's footsteps and find a useless soul master with an external martial soul, right?"
Qian Daoliu went rigid and stared at Qian Renxue in surprise. He had never imagined she had already learned some of what had happened in the past behind his back.
His granddaughter had grown up. She was keeping things from her grandfather now, too. No wonder she had gone behind his back, just like her mother Bibi Dong, and found...
At that moment, Qian Renxue suddenly raised her head and faced Qian Daoliu directly.
"But Grandpa, Lu Yuan... he's different!"