"Next, I'll help your Martial Soul complete its evolution!"
Looking at Xiao Wu's expectant face, Yao Xuan smiled.
He extended a finger and pointed it at the space between Xiao Wu's brows.
The next moment.
A nine-colored light containing the Ancestral Dragon's aura within Yao Xuan surged from his fingertip.
Immediately afterward, it sank straight into the space between Xiao Wu's brows and spread through her body.
As soon as that wisp of nine-colored light entered Xiao Wu's body, it spread along her meridians.
Xiao Wu felt a warm current start between her brows and sweep through her entire body in the blink of an eye.
Every inch of her meridians the warm current passed through was thoroughly flushed clean.
Xiao Wu couldn't help shivering.
The sensation wasn't quite painful, but her whole body felt unbearably swollen.
"Brother Xuan, I... I feel so hot!"
Xiao Wu lay on the bed, her little face flushed scarlet, and a thin sheen of sweat soon appeared on her forehead.
"Don't worry. This process will be a little uncomfortable, but it'll benefit you greatly."
Looking at Xiao Wu on the bed, Yao Xuan spoke calmly.
The next moment-
A small phantom slowly appeared behind Xiao Wu.
It was her Martial Soul, the Soft-Boned Charming Rabbit.
However, the phantom of the Soft-Boned Charming Rabbit was trembling violently at that moment.
A ring of pink mist continuously steamed off its body.
That was the Soft-Boned Charming Rabbit's innate power of charm, peeling away little by little.
As the pink mist dispersed, the phantom's outline began changing bit by bit.
Its original seductive allure faded away completely.
A cool, holy aura slowly spread from the phantom.
The entire phantom became clear and translucent, as though washed clean by rain.
Lying on the bed, Xiao Wu felt light and floaty all over.
The faint, cloyingly sweet aura that had always lingered within her body vanished completely.
In its place came an indescribable freshness and clarity.
She could clearly feel her connection to that Martial Soul becoming closer than ever before.
It was as though that Martial Soul had been forged anew.
An unknown amount of time passed.
When the nine-colored light completely dissipated, the entire room shone brightly with a soft white glow.
The phantom behind Xiao Wu had completely changed its appearance.
The Soft-Boned Charming Rabbit had thus evolved into the Jade Rabbit.
"This... this is my Martial Soul?"
Xiao Wu slowly opened her eyes and sprang up from the bed.
She turned her head and stared at the jade-colored rabbit phantom behind her, her eyes round and wide.
"It's become so beautiful!"
The more Xiao Wu looked, the more she liked it. Lowering her head, she felt her palm again.
She could feel that her Soul Power was far purer than it had been just moments before.
Even circulating it was much smoother than before.
"Thank you, Brother Xuan!"
With a cry of "Wow!" she lunged straight at him from the bed.
Caught off guard, Yao Xuan took the full force of her lunge.
Immediately afterward, Xiao Wu tilted her little face up and planted a smacking kiss on his cheek.
Yao Xuan froze for a moment, then shook his head with a chuckle.
This little girl was getting bolder and bolder.
Late that very night.
The back gate of Nuoding Academy opened without a sound.
Two figures slipped out, one after the other.
Yu Xiaogang walked in front, carrying a dingy gray bundle.
Behind him followed Tang San, his face pale and one hand supporting his lower back.
The commotion they had caused during the day had been far too great.
One had personally admitted to being a "fraud" and a "Fake Grandmaster" before the entire academy's teachers and students.
The other had eaten a mouthful of dog shit in public at the Soul Fighting Arena and had even used vicious hidden weapons.
This master and disciple couldn't stay at Nuoding Academy a moment longer. They had become everyone's enemies and laughingstocks.
Precisely because of this, even their departure had to be furtive, under cover of the quiet night.
They didn't dare light even a single lamp.
The academy was silent, and even the servants who patrolled at night had gone to sleep.
Hugging the foot of the wall, master and disciple felt their way to the back gate.
Yu Xiaogang turned his head and glanced back at Nuoding Academy.
That backward glance made his clenched teeth grind audibly.
More than a decade.
He had muddled along in this academy for more than a decade and believed he had never mistreated anyone.
In the end, however, he had been left utterly disgraced, forced to clear out in the dead of night.
Yet he could only swallow his anger.
He also knew that from this day onward, he could never return to Nuoding City.
Yu Xiaogang turned back and walked into the night, step by step.
Tang San followed behind without a word.
He supported his lower back with one hand. Each step tugged at the wound there, sending a stab of agony through him and bringing cold sweat to his temples.
But more unbearable than the wound on his lower back was the anger bottled up inside him.
When had he, Tang San, who had lived two lives, ever suffered such humiliation?
And the source of all this was the old fellow carrying a bundle in front of him.
At this thought, Tang San's gaze grew colder and colder as he stared at Yu Xiaogang's back.
Still, he didn't say a word.
After all, he, Tang San, still had to uphold his reputation for "respecting his master and honoring the way." He couldn't ruin that reputation, or his conscience would burn.
Just like that, the figures of master and disciple receded farther and farther into the night.
Like two rats scurrying across the street, they vanished in disgrace into the streets of Nuoding City.
The next day.
Yao Xuan stood before the window and lightly swept out his Divine Sense.
Tang San's aura was already far from Nuoding City.
"Heh, leaving already?"
Sensing this, Yao Xuan smiled and decided to leave as well.
After all.
Without Tang San and Yu Xiaogang, Nuoding City no longer held much amusement.
Since that was the case, it was time to go somewhere else and find some new entertainment.
A name surfaced in his mind.
Bibi Dong, the Supreme Pontiff of Spirit Hall.
Like Yu Xiaogang, she was another decent toy.
Moreover, unlike a filthy, ridiculous clown of a toy like Yu Xiaogang.
She was a beauty pleasing to the eye.
And so.
Yao Xuan gave Xiao Wu and Gu Yuena instructions, telling them they would be leaving soon.
"Brother Xuan, where are we going?"
Having packed her belongings, Xiao Wu asked curiously.
"Spirit City."
Yao Xuan answered calmly.
"Master, are you just letting Yu Xiaogang and his disciple off like this?"
Hearing this answer, Gu Yuena, who stood to one side, asked curiously through her Divine Sense.
"No hurry."
Yao Xuan spoke casually.
"When you get tired of playing with toys, you have to set them aside for a while."
"If you break them all at once, there won't be anything left to play with later."
"Let them hop around for a few years first. When the mood strikes me again someday, I'll go deal with them. That'll be more interesting."
Yao Xuan continued.
"Yes, Master."
Hearing Yao Xuan's words, Gu Yuena responded respectfully.
"Let's go."
Seeing that everyone had finished packing.
Yao Xuan took Gu Yuena and Xiao Wu with him.
They left Nuoding City in a carriage he had made himself.
Before you continue