"In short, that's what happened."
After explaining the whole sequence of events, Lin Mo spread his hands out of habit, only for the great cauldron to crash straight into his chest.
After hearing his account, Zhou Yi leaned back in her chair, tapping her temple with a fingertip as she closed her eyes and frowned in thought. The office remained silent for a full half-incense stick's worth of time.
Something seemed to occur to Zhou Yi, and her eyes suddenly snapped open.
She stared straight at Lin Mo and Xiao Xiao.
"You two," Zhou Yi said, a trace of irrepressible excitement still in her voice, "come here. Stand in front of me, facing each other."
The two obediently stepped forward.
"That's right~ Now, shake hands!"
Lin Mo's expression remained unchanged as he naturally extended his hand.
Xiao Xiao, however, still had her head lowered like an ostrich, her cheeks as red as ever. She slowly raised her hand, her slender, fair fingers trembling slightly, and took a long while to ease it toward Lin Mo's palm.
But the instant their fingertips touched, she suddenly curled her fingers, quickly slipping them into the gaps between his.
Then she clasped them tightly.
Their fingers interlocked.
Lin Mo froze, but before he could react, Zhou Yi spoke again:
"Very good."
The gleam in Zhou Yi's eyes grew brighter. "Now, try concentrating your Soul Power in your palms. Try sensing each other's Soul Power and see whether anything changes."
The moment she finished speaking, Lin Mo's eyes widened.
Even Xiao Xiao, who had kept her head lowered all this time, suddenly looked up, staring incredulously at her hand interlocked with Lin Mo's.
Everyone present turned their gaze toward the pair's clasped hands.
Lin Mo's dark teal Soul Power split into two streams of its own accord.
One intertwined with the ink-black Soul Power pouring from Xiao Xiao's palm, representing her Threelives Soulstabilizing Cauldron Martial Soul; the other entwined with the strand of emerald-green Soul Power representing her Ninephoenix Worshipping Flute Martial Soul.
The three colors intertwined like vines, climbing and circulating without end.
"Don't move! Whatever you do, don't move!"
Zhou Yi sprang to her feet, her eyes shining and her face brimming with excitement. "Wait here. I'm going to find someone. Remember, don't move-!"
By the time her final word fell, Zhou Yi had long since vanished through the office doorway.
Yet she had barely left when another strange change occurred.
As though drawn by an invisible force, Lin Mo and Xiao Xiao entered a peculiar state. They released their interlocked hands, then slowly embraced.
Xiao Xiao buried her face in the crook of his neck, while Lin Mo wrapped his arms around her waist.
At the same time, extraordinary manifestations suddenly appeared.
Behind Lin Mo, the enormous phantom of the Mystic Bird appeared once more, magnificent golden light flowing over its dark teal feathers in the air.
Behind Xiao Xiao, the Threelives Soulstabilizing Cauldron and the Ninephoenix Worshipping Flute emerged from her body together, hovering in midair.
The instant the Threelives Soulstabilizing Cauldron appeared, the Mystic Bird phantom moved.
It alighted on the Threelives Soulstabilizing Cauldron of its own accord.
"Humm-"
Instantly, a deep peal from the cauldron shook the entire office. The top surface of the Threelives Soulstabilizing Cauldron began to change, a lifelike Mystic Bird design slowly emerging upon it.
Every line, every depression, seemed to have been carved by a deity's own hand.
The instant the design took shape, a vast, primordial presence burst from the cauldron, as though bearing the vicissitudes of endless ages, yet also carrying the same inviolable heavenly might as the Mystic Bird.
Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong'er felt their legs weaken, nearly dropping to their knees against their will.
At that moment, a trident-shaped mark quietly appeared on Wang Dong'er's forehead. An intangible blue halo spread outward, helping her counteract that heavenly might.
On Huo Yuhao's side, the heavenly might sensed a familiar presence the instant it touched him, then dispersed of its own accord.
Only then did the two steady themselves against the back of the sofa.
Meanwhile, the emerald-green light upon the Ninephoenix Worshipping Flute grew ever more brilliant.
Within the light, a green phoenix flew out with a beat of its wings.
Its entire body was emerald green, its phoenix eyes blazing like torches. It circled and danced around the Mystic Bird phantom, a clear cry soaring into the nine heavens. Its presence actually shared the same source and lineage as the Mystic Bird's, blending as seamlessly as milk and water.
Watching this familiar-looking scene, Huo Yuhao could not help murmuring, "Could this be... Martial Soul Fusion?"
No, that couldn't be right!
Lin Mo already had Martial Soul Fusion with him, so how could he also have Martial Soul Fusion with Xiao Xiao?
Huo Yuhao immediately called out within his Sea of Spirit, "Sister Skydream? Sister Skydream, are you there?"
"What is it, Little Yuhan..." Skydream Iceworm's voice drifted out, still carrying a sleepy drowsiness. But when she looked through Huo Yuhao's Sea of Spirit and saw the scene before him-
"Clack."
Skydream Iceworm sprang straight out of bed, even the sleep mask on her head falling off as her eyes went perfectly round.
"Th-this-" She sucked in a breath. "This little girl is something else!"
Huo Yuhao frowned slightly. "Sister Skydream, what do you mean?"
Skydream Iceworm explained rapidly, "This little girl's two Martial Souls might only be so-so among top-tier tool Martial Souls, but each of them has extremely deep ties to the Mystic Bird!"
She pointed toward the great cauldron engraved with the Mystic Bird totem.
"This Threelives Soulstabilizing Cauldron should be a mutated Martial Soul. If I'm not mistaken, its original form was a bronze cauldron that bore the Mystic Bird totem in ancient times!"
"Now that the Mystic Bird totem has reappeared upon it, this cauldron is finally truly complete."
With that, she pointed toward the circling green phoenix:
"And the green phoenix sealed within this Ninephoenix Worshipping Flute shares the very same roots and origin as the Mystic Bird. Phoenix doesn't refer to just one kind of bird, but is a collective name for part of the feathered race. Among them, the red are phoenixes, the green are luans, and the white are swans."
"So, to be precise, this green phoenix should be called-an Azure Luan."
"I told you before that the Mystic Bird is the foremost innate Martial Soul. And this Azure Luan is a descendant branching from the Mystic Bird, having inherited some of its auspicious Qi."
"You can achieve Martial Soul Fusion with the Mystic Bird because you are a child of fortune, while he is a child of destiny."
"This little girl's two Martial Souls can fuse with the Mystic Bird because one is its vessel, and the other is its descendant. The soul cauldron governs suppression and protection, while the Azure Luan governs the manifestation of auspiciousness."
After hearing this explanation, Huo Yuhao fell silent.
He lowered his eyes, and only after a long while did he speak softly, his voice muffled, as though something had suddenly lodged in his heart:
"Sister Skydream, does that mean the two of them... are also destined to be?"
Skydream Iceworm scratched her head. "You're not wrong to put it that way."
Huo Yuhao pressed his lips together.
He raised his eyes toward the boy holding Xiao Xiao tightly in his arms, extraordinary manifestations surrounding him, and the light in his eyes dimmed little by little.
In the end, he merely gave a quiet "Mm," and said nothing more.