"Xiao Wu, could you... could you be my little sister?"
Chen An's face flushed bright red, and his voice grew quieter and quieter.
Xiao Wu let out an "Huh?" She hadn't caught what Chen An had said.
"Xiao An, are you talking to a mosquito? Can't you speak up?" Xiao Wu sighed.
Chen An clenched his fists and said loudly, "Xiao Wu, be my little sister!"
"Huh?"
Xiao Wu clearly hadn't expected the fool before her to say that.
"Wh... why?"
Chen An promised confidently, "I want to protect you!"
"You can't."
"The enemies I'll face in the future will be powerful, more powerful than you can imagine!"
Chen An shook his head. "Trust me. I'll definitely protect my little sister!"
"Xiao San said that too. Did you two plan this together?"
Faced with the same lines, Xiao Wu was clearly growing a little impatient.
Chen An was dumbfounded.
Holy shit?
He made his move that fast?
I'd planned to walk God King Tang's path and leave him with nowhere to go.
Well, now it's all over!
"Sorry, Sister Xiao Wu. I overestimated myself. Please don't take it to heart!"
A true man knew when to bend and when to stand tall, and Chen An took that to the extreme.
"It's fine!"
"Xiao An, you're my big brother now, and I'm your little sister!"
Xiao Wu waved a hand, giving Chen An plenty of face.
"Thank you for the chance, Sister Xiao Wu!" Chen An hadn't expected this pleasant surprise at all.
"Hiss!"
"How much farther is Suotuo City?"
"We've already walked so far!"
Tang San glanced at the map in his hand. "We should be close."
"Xiao Wu, when did you walk all that way?" Chen An protested.
Xiao Wu giggled and patted Chen An's shoulder. "Right, right, Xiao An walked all that way!"
"Come on, you two. Hurry up," Tang San urged.
Six years had passed in the blink of an eye, before Chen An had even had time to properly take them in.
He found that far too much had changed, starting with the people around him in particular.
First, God King Tang had given up on competing for Xiao Wu.
Second, Gangzi actually hadn't treated him differently, bringing Chen An along for every lesson.
Although every time Gangzi discussed martial soul theory, Chen An would mercilessly mock him inwardly.
Still, he had to admit that Gangzi's change in attitude had made the past six years very comfortable for Chen An.
Chen An kept wondering whether his second soul ring had made Gangzi question his life all over again.
That's right!
Chen An's soul power had now reached rank twenty-nine.
His second soul ring came from a ten-year wildflower.
But the flower's living conditions were anything but ordinary: it grew inside a bitterly cold cave.
When Chen An reached the bottleneck at rank twenty, he discovered that the purity of his Ultimate Ice and the Dendro Element attached to his first soul ring had long since reached 100%.
Under the influence of Ultimate Ice, his first martial soul, Lone Bamboo, had mutated.
And it had mutated in a good direction.
He could use Lone Bamboo as a medium to control Ultimate Ice at will.
In other words, Lone Bamboo now had nothing to fear from ordinary fire elements and could achieve fire immunity just like Tang San's Blue Silver Grass.
Relying on Ultimate Ice, he had entered the cave Xiao Wu pointed out and helped her pick that ice-blue flower, called the Ice Lotus Seed Flower.
He had also discovered several ten-year wildflowers nearby and very casually decided to use one as his second soul ring.
Chen An still stood by the same words.
There were no trash soul rings, only a badass system.
The Easter eggs from the Return to Simplicity System were simply ridiculously awesome.
Hidden Easter egg: the second soul skill gains the fire element and awakens a growth attribute. Additional hidden Easter egg: the Lone Bamboo martial soul gains Ultimate Fire and awakens random shapeshifting and growth attributes.
Chen An had secretly tested it.
Almost anything made of bamboo was something he could transform it into.
He had always preferred turning it into a bamboo sword, which felt very natural in his hand.
"There's a general store over there."
"Come on, let's go!"
The moment they entered the city, Xiao Wu couldn't wait to look around.
"Huh?"
"Is no one here?"
The three took a quick look around and found nobody at the counter.
"Take whatever you want yourselves."
"I don't have time to wait on you!"
A deep voice sounded from behind a screen.
"What kind of way is that to treat customers?"
Xiao Wu's temper flared instantly, and she pulled Tang San and Chen An along, ready to leave.
"Wait!"
"Boss, how much is this stone?"
Tang San suddenly noticed a pile of small stones sitting on a cabinet.
"One hundred Gold Soul Coins."
The man's languid voice answered.
"All right, we'll take it!" Without another word, Chen An tossed out a large pile of gold coins.
Seeing the gold coins disappear just like that, Xiao Wu said in anguish, "Huh? One hundred Gold Soul Coins for this lousy stone? He might as well rob us!"
Chen An quickly shoved the stone into Tang San's hands, then pulled Xiao Wu away.
Haggling with Flender, that slave to money, would mean taking a huge loss.
Chen An had a God's-eye view, so how could he allow that to happen?
He had actually wanted to screw Tang San over a little.
But on second thought, that didn't seem very good.
Better build up a little favorability first. After all, the Tang Sect Hidden Weapons are still in Tang San's hands.
"Xiao An, did a rabbit kick you in the head?"
Xiao Wu couldn't understand Chen An's actions at all. One hundred Gold Soul Coins could cover their living expenses for a long time.
"Well..."
"Xiao Wu, this stone is actually very rare."
Tang San tried to explain on Chen An's behalf.
"Let's go!"
"They weren't your Gold Soul Coins, yet you're getting upset over them again!"
Chen An heaved a long sigh, sometimes feeling that Xiao Wu really did have a fiery temper.
After wandering around, the three arrived at a hotel.
"Hello, we'd like two rooms."
"One small and one large!"
Tang San took the initiative to approach and greet the owner at the counter.
"We have exactly one large room and one small room left. I'll get you the keys!"
The owner was just about to hand Tang San the keys when an unfamiliar man's voice rang out behind them.
"Give me the large one!"
"Y-Young Master Dai, what brings you here?" The owner grew somewhat flustered. The man before him seemed to have a powerful background.
Chen An nodded.
Sure enough, there's no avoiding a fight with Dai Mubai before entering Shrek.
"Hey!"
"You sleazy bastard, don't you know what first come, first served means?"
"Do you want Sister Xiao Wu to teach you how to behave?"
Xiao Wu couldn't stand men who fooled around, especially playboys like this.
"Where did this little girl come from?"
"Do you know who I am?"
Xiao Wu was utterly disdainful. "Who cares who you are? Do you know how strong Sister Xiao Wu is?"
"Xiao San, you go first. Show this playboy what we're made of!"
Tang San had wanted to make a move for quite some time.
He also found men with a woman on each arm deeply repulsive.
"Hmph!"
"Why should whatever you say go?"
"What do you take this young master for? Now I refuse to fight this brat."
Dai Mubai naturally wasn't buying it. He wasn't some stray dog by the roadside, to come and go at their beck and call.
"Young Master Dai, right?"
"Let a noob like me fight you!"
Chen An immediately summoned his martial soul, Lone Bamboo, and revealed his soul ring configuration: one white, one white.
"Hmm?"
"Two ten-year soul rings?"
"What roadside trash heap did you crawl out of?"