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Jiang Che!?

He remembered now. The last time his own younger sister had written to him, she had mentioned the name Jiang Che several times in her letter.

He had paid it no mind then, assuming he was a new friend his sister had made who was around her age.

But thinking it over carefully now, something was wrong!

Nine parts out of ten were wrong!

Why did he have the strange feeling that some blond punk was about to steal his own sister away?

His own sister, who had only just escaped death, had not even spared him a proper glance before throwing herself straight at an outsider.

He could not help coughing twice, deliberately raising his voice. "Ahem-Qianqian, your brother injured this arm blocking that giant softshell turtle. Aren't you coming over to take a look?"

Li Qianqian did not even turn her head. "Oh, you've got thick skin and tough flesh. You won't die."

Li Kuisheng: "..."

He took a deep breath and raised his voice. "I lost a lot of blood! My head's still spinning!"

"Then lie down. Don't move around." Li Qianqian brushed him off, then turned back to Jiang Che, her eyes shining even brighter. "Brother Jiang Che, can you tell me how you drove off that thousand-year soul beast?"

The corner of Jiang Che's mouth twitched slightly, and he looked to Li Kuisheng for help.

Li Kuisheng's face turned green, and he nearly crushed the wooden board in his left hand. His tone was sour enough to pickle fish. "Jiang Che, I suggest you stay away from her. This girl's been like this since she was little."

Li Qianqian turned and glared at him. "How is that the same? Brother Jiang Che is already so strong at such a young age, and he's handsome and brave. What's wrong with asking him?"

"Handsome?" Li Kuisheng pointed at himself. "Your brother is a famously handsome young gentleman of the Li Family too. Why don't you ever compliment me?"

"You?" Li Qianqian looked him up and down, wrinkling her nose in distaste. "Your face is covered in blood, your hair looks like a chicken's nest, and your arm's crooked. You're hideous."

Li Kuisheng clutched his chest as though he were having a heart attack. "I ended up like this to save you..."

"I never asked you to save me," Li Qianqian said with complete self-assurance.

Li Kuisheng was absolutely furious!

There was nothing he could do. That was simply his sister's personality. To everyone else, she was the adorable girl next door, but in his eyes, she was a full-fledged little demon king who turned the world upside down.

Jiang Che finally could not take it anymore. While Li Qianqian and Li Kuisheng bickered, he pulled his left hand free and shifted half a step back. "Miss Li, you've only just woken up. You should rest more. Your brother's badly hurt. You should go take care of him."

"No." Li Qianqian edged another half step closer to Jiang Che. "My head hurts. Tell me how you fought that big turtle just now, won't you? Did you use some special soul skill? Were those vines plant-type? Can you teach me? My martial soul is a plant martial soul too."

As she spoke, Li Qianqian brought forth a white-and-blue Blue Silver flower from her palm, which radiated a holy aura.

"Enough!" Li Kuisheng roared, only to aggravate his injuries and shrink back in pain. Grimacing, he growled, "Jiang Che, hurry up and get this girl away! If you keep letting her hover around you like this, I swear I'll deduct twice those five hundred gold soul coins of yours!"

Jiang Che spread his hands innocently. "I didn't ask her to hover around me."

Li Kuisheng gave up struggling altogether and leaned back against the gunwale. Gazing at the first ray of light spilling through a gap in the dark clouds, he let out a long sigh toward the sky. "Today, I, Li Kuisheng, have finally learned that my own sister is worth less than five hundred gold soul coins."

Standing on the deck with Li Qianqian tugging his sleeve and peppering him with questions, Jiang Che felt the wound in his right shoulder begin to throb faintly again.

This time, it was not from a soul beast's attack.

It was from the annoyance.

Just then, a figure sprang from beneath the sea and broke through the surface. At the sight of the scene aboard the merchant ship and the fishing boat moored beside it, he could not help freezing for a moment.

Jiang Che looked up at him and realized he knew this man.

It was the middle-aged man responsible for protecting Li Qianqian, who often hid in the shadows without much skill and had even spent an entire month reading the same newspaper. He was also dragging a flower as tall as a person in his hand.

Tidal Jade Velvet Algae, roughly three hundred and eighty years old judging by its age. This kind of plant soul beast lived among reefs. Its body consisted of fine, feathery jade-green seaweed that quickly unfurled upon contact with water. Its roots could lock firmly onto the reefs, and when threatened, it would release large quantities of green secretions to escape.

"Young master, what happened here?" Wang Er asked urgently.

"We're all right. A thousand-year soul beast attacked us, but luckily, we're all right," Li Kuisheng said.

Hearing this gave Wang Er quite a fright. If anything had happened to the young master or young miss, how would he answer to their father?

"Qianqian, come over here and absorb your first soul ring!" Li Kuisheng said.

At these words, Li Qianqian finally stopped pestering Jiang Che and skipped over to the Tidal Jade Velvet Algae.

It was her first time hunting a soul beast, so the young girl was still a little nervous, but a plant-type soul beast placed less of a psychological burden on Qianqian.

Toward evening, the fishing boat carrying Jiang Che, Li Qianqian, Li Kuisheng, and the others gradually approached Vast Sea City's harbor.

After returning to Vast Sea City and sharing a simple meal with Li Kuisheng and Li Qianqian, Jiang Che collected his five hundred gold soul coins and hurried back to study his second soul skill.

Li Kuisheng had wanted to ask about Jiang Che's thousand-year second soul ring. As a student of Heaven Dou Royal Academy, he had seen countless geniuses, but never a soul master who could absorb a thousand-year soul ring as their second soul ring.

In the end, Li Kuisheng restrained his urge to ask. For one thing, the two of them were merely passing acquaintances. For another, Jiang Che would not tell him the method for absorbing a thousand-year soul ring at the second ring so easily.

The Li Family.

An old man with an upright bearing and a stern expression sat quietly on a vine bridge, taking a light nap. He was none other than the head of the Li Family, the rank eighty-seven Soul Douluo, Li Hanhai.

Hearing footsteps, Li Hanhai opened his eyes and looked toward the arrival.

"Kuisheng, did you help Qianqian find a suitable soul ring?" Some of the sternness faded from Li Hanhai's face.

Li Kuisheng told Li Hanhai everything that had happened on Wind Sea Plain, leaving out nothing.

"A thousand years? To my knowledge, there has never been a thousand-year second soul ring," Li Hanhai said calmly.

"What is his martial soul?" Li Hanhai continued.

"Blue Silver Grass," Li Kuisheng answered.

"Blue Silver Grass?" Li Hanhai grew thoughtful. He suddenly recalled Xuebi, who had recently risen to prominence at the Black Kui Underground Duel Arena.

Both had Blue Silver Grass. Could these two be the same person?

Li Hanhai pondered this.

"All right, Kuisheng, go get some proper rest. You'll have to return to Heaven Dou Royal Academy in a few days."

The Heavenly Profound Mountain Range.

Three Water Blades shot out in succession, forming an arc as they sliced forward.

An entire swath of shrubs was sheared apart. Amid the flying fragments, a massive reddish-brown bear reared upright, three bloody marks appearing across its chest.

The bear's roar shook the ground. It slammed both forepaws down, and a stone spike suddenly shot up beneath Jiang Che's feet.

Jiang Che turned sideways and slid a step aside. The stone spike grazed his left ribs as it thrust into the air, and shattered stone flew past his face.

"All I did was kill your whole family. Did you really have to chase me this long?"