While bandaging Nan Zhuliu's wounds, the girl suddenly remembered that they were not far from Star Dou Great Forest. Could the boy before her have come to obtain a Soul Ring, just like her?
At the thought of this possibility, the girl instinctively felt a little closer to Nan Zhuliu, as though they were both kindred souls adrift at the ends of the earth.
And the wounds on his body made her feel a little more awe and fear toward Star Dou Great Forest.
If he could be injured like this, she could well imagine how dangerous Star Dou Great Forest was.
"From the looks of it, you came to Star Dou Great Forest alone to obtain a Soul Ring?" Nan Zhuliu asked.
She had kindly lent him a hand for no reason at all. If he had the ability to repay her but did not, that would hardly be right.
Seemingly unused to talking to strangers, the tips of the girl's ears reddened slightly. She gave a soft "Mm" and asked, "Didn't you come to Star Dou Great Forest alone to obtain a Soul Ring too?"
"Me? I didn't come alone. There was just a little accident, and I got separated from my parents."
Learning that Nan Zhuliu had not come alone and had his parents with him, the girl felt relieved, but also a little envious.
"If you don't mind, I can help you obtain a suitable Soul Ring."
There was still quite some time before Shrek Academy's term began, enough for him to help the girl obtain a suitable Soul Ring.
If someone covered in wounds offered to help obtain a suitable Soul Ring, anyone else might have been unable to keep from laughing.
But the girl said gratefully, "But your injuries..."
"They're no problem. With my strength, even injured, dealing with Soul Beasts under a thousand years old is as easy as plucking something with my fingers."
Nan Zhuliu's wounds were not particularly serious. With the powerful self-repairing ability of his Golden Dragon King Bloodline, he would recover completely in just a few days.
Besides, his biggest problem now was not his injuries, but that both his Soul Power and spiritual power had been severely overdrawn after he unleashed his full strength in the fierce battle against the soul master team earlier.
The girl nodded emphatically, a faint flush coloring her cute cheeks from sheer excitement. "My name is Huo Lingtong. What's yours?"
Huo Lingtong?
Hearing that name, Nan Zhuliu paused, then said with a somewhat odd expression, "Nan Zhuliu."
Then, as though trying to confirm something, he asked again, "What's your Martial Soul?"
"My Martial Soul is Spirit Eyes, a mutated spiritual-attribute Body Martial Soul."
Nan Zhuliu's throat caught.
Her surname was Huo, and her Martial Soul was the very same mutated spiritual-attribute Spirit Eyes. Though Nan Zhuliu found it a little hard to believe, he was certain that the little girl before him was Huo Yuhao, the protagonist of this era in the original story.
Huo Yuhao becoming Huo Lingtong involuntarily reminded him of a discussion topic he had scrolled past before transmigrating-
Why would Peerless Tang Sect fanfiction writers rather genderbend Huo Yuhao and add her to the harem than take Tang Wutong?
Then he remembered how, when he saw that topic, he had fanned the flames with the reply, "A genderbent Huo Yuhao would practically be the perfect wife..."
Now that the person herself was right before him, Nan Zhuliu was instantly so embarrassed he nearly dug out a three-bedroom apartment with his toes.
Looking at Nan Zhuliu, who had suddenly fallen silent with a somewhat odd expression, Huo Lingtong tilted her little head.
"Spiritual-attribute Soul Beasts are a little hard to find, but we can still find one if we put our minds to it."
Although that was what he said, Nan Zhuliu knew perfectly well that there was no need to go looking. In a little while, a million-year Soul Ring would deliver herself to their doorstep, bringing a second Martial Soul with lightning and ice attributes.
Oh, and there was a necromancer third Martial Soul too.
Compared with Skydream Iceworm, Nan Zhuliu coveted Electrolux more, but without the Soul-Devouring Carving Knife in hand, he was not sure whether he could snatch him away.
Judging by the timing, Skydream Iceworm would soon be delivering herself to their doorstep.
At that thought, Nan Zhuliu said to Huo Lingtong, "I need to get myself back into shape. We're not far from Star Dou Great Forest, and some ten-year Soul Beasts often run out here. You'd best not stray too far from me."
Huo Lingtong nodded obediently. "I won't wander off."
Having received Huo Lingtong's promise, Nan Zhuliu slowly closed his eyes.
With nothing to do, Huo Lingtong simply sat quietly beside Nan Zhuliu.
Although she had only just met Nan Zhuliu, there was something reassuring about him. That was also why Huo Lingtong had so readily accepted his kind offer to help her obtain a Soul Ring.
It was just then that a voice rang out in Huo Lingtong's mind without warning. "I've finally found a spiritual-attribute soul master! Too bad this big sister can't cry, or tears would be streaming down my face right now."
Startled by the sudden voice, Huo Lingtong instinctively looked toward Nan Zhuliu beside her.
But Nan Zhuliu's eyes were tightly closed, and the voice was a woman's, so it clearly had not come from him.
"Hehe, what are you looking at him for? This big sister's over here."
As a powerful wave of spiritual power enveloped the area, the temperature around them plunged, and the ground began trembling without warning.
A crack giving off a faint golden-white glow silently opened in the ground two meters away.
Huo Lingtong drew a short blade roughly forty centimeters long, with a thin edge, from the sheath at the small of her back and watched her surroundings warily.
Remembering what Nan Zhuliu had just said about ten-year Soul Beasts often running out of Star Dou Great Forest, Huo Lingtong gradually tightened her grip on the White Tiger Dagger.
Could it be a Soul Beast?
But how could a Soul Beast speak like a human?
She instinctively looked toward Nan Zhuliu, only to see his eyes tightly closed, seemingly oblivious to everything around him.
"Stop looking at that boy. I've already knocked him unconscious with Spiritual Shock."
As the crack in the ground widened to over five meters across, a silkworm appeared before Huo Lingtong. Her entire body looked as translucent and lustrous as white jade, with a halo flowing beneath her skin. She was over seven meters long, with ten golden markings on her body.
Without a doubt, this enormous silkworm was Skydream Iceworm, who ate and slept, slept and ate, and possessed a million years of cultivation yet could not beat most hundred-thousand-year Soul Beasts.
"Don't be afraid. You're the one this big sister chose. I won't hurt you."
Looking at the enormous Skydream Iceworm, Huo Lingtong felt as though someone had seized her heart in a crushing grip.
She asked in a trembling voice, "What did you mean just now? What did you do to Zhuliu?"
"Nothing." Skydream Iceworm wriggled her plump body and giggled. "It's just that my existence is far too earth-shattering and soul-shaking. To keep it a secret, I had no choice but to use a little trick to knock him unconscious, that's all."
"What are you going to do?"
With swaggering bluster yet solemnity, Skydream Iceworm said, "This big sister is going to become your Soul Ring, the first-ever million-year wisdom Soul Ring in the history of Douluo Continent."
The sheer amount of information contained in Skydream Iceworm's brief statement left Huo Lingtong momentarily stunned.
Before she had time to digest it, she saw Skydream Iceworm charge headfirst toward her.
Huo Lingtong's slender body swayed, and then she fell headfirst onto Nan Zhuliu.