Not a Useless Martial Soul!

Outside Holy Soul Village, afternoon.

"Xiao Wu?" Before he had even entered the village, Aunt Wang, who was working in the fields, spotted Zhu Wu and called out tentatively.

He had been away from the village for months and had absorbed a soul ring, so Zhu Wu's body had changed considerably. He had grown noticeably taller, far faster than a normal child should have. Years of training had also refined the lines of his features, stripping away the slight baby fat he once had.

Though his overall appearance had not changed much, she truly could not be certain it was him.

"Hello, Aunt Wang." Zhu Wu greeted her with a smile.

"It really is Xiao Wu!" Aunt Wang's eyes lit up, and a smile spread across her weathered face.

"Xiao Wu is back!" The villagers working farther away heard the commotion and greeted him as well.

Zhu Wu responded to each of them. After exchanging pleasantries and catching up, he hurried into the village and ran toward his home in North Village.

Before he even entered the small courtyard, he saw Zhu Gang sitting in a bamboo chair, carefully weaving a half-finished bamboo basket in his hands.

His face was waxy and haggard, his temples gray and withered. He looked even more frail than before Zhu Wu had left, like a dead branch on the verge of rotting through and snapping.

"Cough, cough." He began coughing after only a few movements.

Zhu Wu's heart clenched at the sight, and he quickly rushed into the courtyard.

"Grandpa!" he called as he ran.

Seemingly unable to make out who had arrived, Zhu Gang slowly turned his head. His cloudy eyes, set within sunken sockets, narrowed as they swept around, as though searching through a thick fog.

Only when Zhu Wu ran over and crouched before him did life burst into his eyes. The creases on his face lifted as delight appeared.

"Xiao Wu, you're back."

"Yes, Grandpa. I'm back." Zhu Wu's eyes grew damp.

Only seven months had passed, yet Grandpa Zhu Gang's body had deteriorated to this extent. It was far beyond anything he had expected.

"Good, good. It's good that you're back. Is the academy on break?" Zhu Gang nodded repeatedly, still concerned about Zhu Wu's studies.

"Grandpa, I've already obtained a soul ring and become a Soul Master. I've graduated from the academy." Zhu Wu explained in the simplest terms possible, afraid that Zhu Gang would misunderstand and become agitated. As he spoke, he took a card from his robes.

"Look, Grandpa. This is my Soul Master certification."

"Good, good, good. My Xiao Wu is a Soul Master now too." A flush rose to Zhu Gang's cheeks.

"Cough, cough." His spirits lifted, and he began coughing again.

"Grandpa, let me help you inside." Zhu Wu hurriedly reached out to support him. "Your grandson has graduated from the academy now, so I can stay by your side from now on. There's a mountain behind our home, and the academy teacher said this kind of environment is perfect for cultivating my Martial Soul."

"With me here, you won't need to worry about anything at home anymore."

"Alright, I'll listen to you." Zhu Gang's eyes were full of comfort and satisfaction as he chuckled.

Soon, Zhu Wu helped him into the house and over to the bamboo recliner by the window, where he lay down beneath the gentle sunlight.

Through his hazy vision, Zhu Gang watched Zhu Wu's figure move about the room, tidying things up as he told stories about the academy.

Zhu Gang felt that his life had been worth it.

That afternoon, Zhu Wu did nothing else. He simply stayed with Grandpa Zhu Gang and talked to him. Only after dinner, once he had patiently waited for Zhu Gang to fall asleep, did he return to his room and sit on the bed, cultivating the Longevity Exercise in the moonlight.

Afterward, burdened with worries, he fell asleep.

The next morning, after settling Grandpa down and asking the neighbors next door to watch over him, Zhu Wu ran to Notting City as fast as he could.

That afternoon, outside the house.

"Doctor Xue, how is my grandfather?" Zhu Wu asked quietly as he followed the doctor outside.

In his previous life, he had studied veterinary medicine. He was not skilled at treating people and could only prepare a few minor health-preserving remedies.

"Sigh. Just spend as many days with him as you can." Doctor Xue sighed. "Old Master Zhu has probably been holding on all these years by sheer force of will. If I'm not mistaken, he must have suffered greatly from cold exposure in his younger days, leaving hidden ailments in his body and causing his internal organs to age prematurely. Now that he is old and the vitality in his body is fading, the aftereffects accumulated over the years are bound to surface."

"Birth, aging, illness, and death are decreed by heaven. They are not things human strength can reverse."

"Xiao Wu, you needn't be too heartbroken. For your grandfather to have lived to this age, he has already lived a long life."

At seventy-two, with his grandson having awakened Soul Power, Doctor Xue felt that the old man's life had been complete and without regret.

Zhu Wu had asked the owner of the apothecary to introduce him to Doctor Xue, and the two were old acquaintances. Thus, Doctor Xue had heard about Zhu Wu's circumstances. If he was right, Zhu Gang had only finally let go of that last breath of resolve after learning that his grandson had awakened a Martial Soul with Soul Power. People could be strange that way. When they had an unfulfilled wish in their hearts, their bodies could force themselves to cling to life, unwilling to die until that wish had been fulfilled.

To be honest, Doctor Xue already considered it a miracle that Zhu Gang had lasted this long. For an ordinary person to endure for one or two months would have been remarkable enough.

He had always held deep respect for elderly people like this.

"I'll prescribe some medicine to regulate his body later and try to extend his time a little longer." Seeing Zhu Wu remain silent, he spoke softly again.

"Thank you, Doctor Xue." Zhu Wu came back to himself and forced a faint smile.

He also understood that Zhu Gang was beyond treatment now. Even teaching him a cultivation technique would be useless and might instead worsen his condition.

His body was simply too weak. Whether yang energy or yin energy entered it, both would harm him.

"It's only my duty." Doctor Xue smiled, walked over to a bamboo chair nearby, and took out some paper to write the prescription.

Not long afterward, after paying the consultation fee, Zhu Wu asked Doctor Xue to tell the apothecary owner to deliver medicine every day. He would cover both the delivery and medicine costs. Doctor Xue agreed and took his leave. Only then did Zhu Wu return to the room and walk to Zhu Gang's bedside.

"Xiao Wu, don't worry about Grandpa." Understanding Zhu Wu's concern, Zhu Gang smiled.

"Seeing you become a true Soul Master means Grandpa has lived a full life."

Originally, he had merely been an old beggar in Notting City. His family had suffered disaster in his early years, turning him into a refugee. Lacking the courage to kill himself and follow his family, he had drifted through life in a daze, becoming a scavenger who barely survived from day to day. After passing sixty, he arrived in Notting City and lingered around the garbage heaps in the residential area, scraping by as he waited for death.

Then, on a freezing winter night, he passed by a garbage heap in the residential area and heard the faint cries of an infant. There, he found Zhu Wu, still wrapped in swaddling clothes. For some reason, hope and purpose rose in his heart. He wanted to raise the child.

So he took the character Wu from his Martial Soul and named the child Zhu Wu, hoping that the child would awaken a good Martial Soul and possess Soul Power in the future. He did not want the child to grow up being treated as a beggar and looked down upon by others.

That was why he had brought the child to Holy Soul Village.

He wanted to give the child a complete childhood and a respectable future.

Now that the child had become a Soul Master, he was no longer an ordinary commoner. His life ahead would surely be good, no longer poor and bitter.

He no longer had anything to worry about. The only thing he still could not let go of was—

"Xiao Wu." He called softly, then spoke solemnly, as if making up his mind. "Actually, I'm not your biological grandfather."

"Grandpa, there's no need to say that." Zhu Wu shook his head. "None of that matters anymore."

"You were the one who raised me. I will always be your grandson, and my name will always be Zhu Wu."

Zhu Gang's eyes immediately reddened as he said emotionally, "Good, good, good. My good grandson."

"Now, the Old Zhu Family finally has an heir. I have not failed our ancestors. Even if Grandpa died now, I could rest in peace."

"Grandpa, please don't say that." Zhu Wu hurriedly said.

"Grandpa knows his own body. You don't need to comfort me." Zhu Gang smiled.

"Grandpa is seventy-two now. I've lived a full life."

"Enough of this. Go take care of your own matters. Grandpa's bones are still sturdy enough. I'm not dead yet."

"Grandpa, let me help you out to the recliner." Zhu Wu reached out as he spoke.

"The air is better out there, and you can get some sun. It will be good for your body."

"Alright." Zhu Gang nodded and allowed Zhu Wu to help him out of bed.

After settling Zhu Gang down, Zhu Wu walked to an open patch of ground nearby and summoned his Martial Soul, Little White.

"Little White, turn into the Three-Eyed Demon Fox!" he softly gave the command.

Little White nodded. The Scale on its forehead radiated seven-colored light, while the yellow soul ring around its body lit up.

Then Little White flashed with white light, and a small single-tailed fox appeared before them, reaching above Zhu Wu's knees. Its body was dark purple-black, and the small patch of fur on its forehead was bright purple. It was shaped like an oval pointed at both ends, looking from afar like a vertical eye.

"This..." Zhu Gang, watching from the side, was slightly startled before pride rose in his eyes.

Zhu Wu might not have been his biological grandson, but he had raised him himself. Raising a Soul Master was enough to take pride in.

Moreover, though he did not understand it, he could sense that his grandson's Martial Soul was extraordinary. It could actually transform!

My grandson's awakened Martial Soul is no useless Martial Soul!

"Little White, use Clone." After examining it, Zhu Wu gave another command.

"Chirp, chirp." Little White let out a foxlike cry. Its body flickered, and two identical little foxes immediately appeared at its sides.

All three sat together, looking at Zhu Wu with obedient expressions.

"Are my eyes playing tricks on me?" Zhu Gang muttered in shock.

"Grandpa, this is my Martial Soul, Little White, using its Clone skill." Zhu Wu explained with a smile.

Letting Little White perform for Grandpa and show him something novel would be like watching a play. It would cheer him up and be good for both his body and mind.

"Little White, give Grandpa a bow." Zhu Wu continued.

Upon hearing this, Little White obediently turned around. Its two clones did the same, and all three bowed together.

"Good, good, good..." Zhu Gang truly found it fascinating and waved happily.

"Next, Little White, Martial Soul Possession." The Charm skill was nothing worth seeing, so Zhu Wu immediately issued the next command.

Little White nodded. With a flash, the clones at its sides disappeared. Its body suddenly sprang forward and crashed into Zhu Wu.

Without any hesitation, its entire body swiftly sank into Zhu Wu's chest. Then Zhu Wu felt heat course through his entire body as the Soul Power within him accelerated.

His pupils contracted and instantly became vertical slits, their color shifting from brown to bright purple. A bright-purple pattern identical to that of the Three-Eyed Demon Fox appeared on his forehead. Other parts of his body changed as well. His nails turned dark purple and rapidly lengthened into sharp claws. His hair quickly grew longer, two fox ears emerging atop his head with a slight twitch. From the base of his spine at his tail bone, a dark black tail extended outward.

"..." Zhu Gang stared blankly.

How had his grandson turned into a beautiful young girl with flowing long hair? He had even grown fox ears and a tail!