"Um... little brother Lu Xuan, you won't tell Grandpa what happened today, will you?"
Qian Renxue looked at the little fellow, who only reached her chest, her voice tinged with caution and urgency.
She knew all too well how much her grandfather Qian Daoliu and the other six grandfathers of the Worship Hall doted on her.
If they learned that she had gone to the Papal Palace full of joy to see Bibi Dong, only to be viciously insulted and driven out by that woman again...
Grandpa would certainly be heartbroken and worried, while the other six hot-tempered grandfathers would be furious. They might even storm into the Papal Palace to demand an explanation on her behalf.
She did not want such an ugly internal conflict to erupt within Spirit Hall because of her.
Seeing how nervous Qian Renxue was, Lu Xuan suddenly had a slightly wicked idea.
Lu Xuan tilted his head up slightly and blinked with an earnest expression.
"I will. I'm still young, after all, and children speak without restraint. But... if I were your elder, I might have the steadiness of an elder and not go talking out of turn!"
"You..." Qian Renxue was instantly at a loss for words, her delicate, fair face flushing crimson as a trace of anger flashed through her eyes.
A girl's blush surpassed every word of love.
Qian Renxue bent down slightly, leaned toward Lu Xuan, and pleaded in a voice as faint as a mosquito's buzz, yet tinged with teeth-grinding resentment, "Uncle Lu, please!"
"All right. Since you've called me that, I won't tell!" Lu Xuan narrowed his eyes, looking thoroughly pleased with his success.
If he had a tail, that fox's tail would certainly have been sticking straight up right then.
Qian Renxue took a deep breath, walked over to the pool, carefully washed her face, and used her soul power to evaporate the moisture.
Only after confirming that her eyes were no longer red or swollen and showed no signs of crying did she head deeper into the Worship Hall with Lu Xuan.
As soon as they entered the solemn, majestic hall, they saw Qian Daoliu standing with his back to them, hands clasped together, praying before the enormous Angel God Statue with utmost devotion.
To Lu Xuan, Qian Daoliu was practically an NPC in a game, executing a fixed set of code.
Only when someone interacted with him would he execute the next line.
"Grandpa!" Qian Renxue called to Qian Daoliu.
Qian Daoliu slowly opened his eyes and turned around, his gaze full of tenderness. "Xiao Xue, you're out of seclusion?"
His gaze swept between Qian Renxue and Lu Xuan, and he smiled slightly. "It seems you two have already met outside. Are you getting along all right?"
"All right!" Afraid Lu Xuan would say something he shouldn't, Qian Renxue guiltily rushed to answer first, her voice a full octave higher than usual.
Qian Daoliu noticed nothing amiss and nodded in satisfaction.
"Mm, your soul power has already reached level 40. Very good. I'll have someone take you to the Star Dou Great Forest to hunt for your fourth soul ring. You've only just come out of seclusion, so go back to your room and rest first."
With that, Qian Daoliu turned around to face the Angel God Statue again.
Qian Renxue seemed long accustomed to this behavior from her grandfather. When it came to devotion to the Angel God, Qian Daoliu would certainly rank among the foremost.
And so, she headed toward her room.
However, after passing through just two corridors, she keenly sensed that something was wrong.
Like a dogskin plaster she could not shake off, Lu Xuan followed behind her at an unhurried pace.
"Why do you keep following me?" Qian Renxue abruptly turned around and demanded, looking down at him with a hint of wariness in her eyes.
Lu Xuan was quite innocent too. Pointing ahead, he said, "My room is this way too!"
Qian Renxue froze, coughed awkwardly, then turned around and continued walking.
The atmosphere grew utterly strange for the rest of the journey. Qian Renxue had never thought the walk back to her room could feel so long.
Only when she reached her door did she discover that Lu Xuan's room was right next to hers.
They pushed their doors open and entered their rooms almost in unison.
With a bang, the door shut.
Leaning against the back of her door, Qian Renxue finally let out a long sigh of relief. The day's emotional ups and downs felt more exhausting than breaking through to level 40.
Early the next morning, Lu Xuan finished washing up well ahead of time.
Today was the first day of his formal training under Qian Daoliu.
After finishing a sumptuous breakfast, Lu Xuan opened his door and found Qian Daoliu already waiting outside with his hands behind his back.
On the way to the training grounds, Qian Daoliu deliberately slowed his pace, patiently explaining Spirit Hall's internal layout along the way to prevent any unnecessary mishaps later.
"Come, use those two soul skills of yours first." Qian Daoliu stood in the center of the grounds, looking at Lu Xuan.
"Ever since you absorbed them in the Star Dou Great Forest, I've yet to learn what your two soul skills are."
Lu Xuan had passed out while absorbing his first soul ring. After waking up, he had rushed off without pause to hunt for his second.
Once he finished absorbing his second soul ring, they had quickly returned to Spirit Hall.
There really had been no time to test his soul skills during that period.
"Should I use them on you, Teacher?" Lu Xuan clenched his fists excitedly and asked for confirmation.
"Yes. Use your full strength!" Qian Daoliu nodded.
Lu Xuan took a deep breath, his eyes instantly sharpening.
He raised his right hand, and the Asura God Sword appeared in it, dark red from end to end and radiating a heart-pounding aura of slaughter.
He gripped the hilt tightly. Then two deep-purple thousand-year soul rings emerged from the blade, separated from it, and circled his body.
Purple light intertwined with red radiance, making his tender little face resemble that of a young god of slaughter.
"Teacher, my first soul skill is called Instant Annihilation Slash. Please be careful!"
The moment he finished speaking, the first soul ring circling Lu Xuan suddenly blazed.
Dazzling scarlet light erupted from the Asura God Sword, and Lu Xuan drove hard with his legs.
His entire body became a red afterimage, surging forward with a terrifying burst of speed wholly at odds with his age.
With an unstoppable momentum, he slashed fiercely at Qian Daoliu.
Facing this fierce strike, Qian Daoliu's expression remained unchanged. He merely raised his right hand slowly.
Golden soul power coated his index and middle fingers.
Clang-!
The clear clash of metal rang through the training grounds.
Lu Xuan's strike, unleashed at the very limit of his strength, was effortlessly caught and held fast between two of Qian Daoliu's fingers.
The blade could not advance another fraction of an inch.
"Not bad." Feeling the force transmitted through his fingertips, Qian Daoliu's eyes flashed with surprise as he praised him.
"This slash has tremendous explosive power, and it also carries an armor-piercing property. It actually disrupted a portion of my soul power. This strike alone would be enough to injure high-ranking Soul Ancestors with weaker defenses."
Lu Xuan: ...
The corners of his mouth twitched slightly as he looked at Qian Daoliu's serious expression and the two fingers holding his blade.
That sounds a little hollow.
Qian Daoliu released his fingers, allowing Lu Xuan to withdraw his blade.
Lu Xuan retreated several steps to put some distance between them, his expression growing focused again. "Teacher, my second soul skill isn't a self-enhancement skill, but a ranged attack called Blood Moon Wave!"
After speaking, he gripped the hilt tightly with both hands as his second soul ring flared brightly.
Dense, dark-red energy gathered furiously along the edge of the Asura God Sword.
"Hah!"
Lu Xuan let out a sharp cry, the muscles in his arms tensing as he swung forward with all his strength.
A dark-red, crescent-shaped wave of sword energy several meters long, seemingly solid, flew from the blade.
With a piercing whistle, it hurtled toward Qian Daoliu, skimming the ground.
Yet the instant it left the blade, the sword energy vanished from sight. Its path could only be traced through the ground.
A deep furrow was plowed into the ground along its route.
Only when it was about to touch Qian Daoliu did it become visible again.
Qian Daoliu still did not dodge. He extended his right hand, his palm wrapped in golden light, and seized that strange, blood-colored sword energy directly in his grasp.
The sword energy struggled and slashed violently within his palm, but it could never break through that layer of sacred golden soul power. In the end, it dissolved into specks of red light.
Qian Daoliu carefully sensed the peculiar energy changes contained within the sword energy and spoke thoughtfully.
"Quite good. Its method of attack is unusual, but this soul skill isn't as simple as it appears, is it?"
"Yes. You have a discerning eye, Teacher." Lu Xuan put away his martial soul and explained, "Blood Moon Wave has extremely powerful penetrating ability."
"On a battlefield, for example, even if a Soul Master in front intercepts this attack, the sword energy won't dissipate. Instead, it will continue on and directly damage the Soul Masters behind them."
"However, its damage decreases by twenty percent for each target it penetrates. By the fifth, it essentially does no damage."
"In addition, anyone injured by Blood Moon Wave will forcibly have a 'bleeding' effect applied to them."
"Most importantly, if the person struck has lower soul power than mine, they cannot be healed by any healing soul skill for as long as the bleeding state lasts."
Before you continue