After the meal, the two walked down the corridor, Ning Rongrong still grilling Wang Xiaoming.
"You promise you didn't use that thing to do anything weird?"
She might have been only six years old, but she knew a lot.
Wang Xiaoming raised his hand toward the sky, his face expressionless.
"I promise, all right? If I did anything weird to her, may I never have ten children in this lifetime."
Hearing that, Ning Rongrong's face reddened. "Pah! What do you mean, ten... Do you think she's a sow Soul Beast? How could she give birth to so many?"
Even her father, Ning Fengzhi, had only had ten children by taking many concubines...
"Hm? What did you say?"
"Nothing!"
Ning Rongrong led Wang Xiaoming to the east wing.
Ning Rongrong had already claimed the place for herself.
Whenever she grew tired from playing and didn't want to go home, she would usually stay here.
Over time, more and more of her things had accumulated here.
Wang Xiaoming came here often too, but there were clearly quite a few more things than before.
Wang Xiaoming stared at the hall before him, now piled full of books and all sorts of strange and curious things, and was stunned for a moment.
"Rongrong, did you move your study here from home?"
Seeing Wang Xiaoming's reaction, Ning Rongrong folded her arms and smiled smugly beside him.
"Hehe, this is a token of my and Father's regard."
She took two steps forward and patted the mountain of books, which stood taller than she did.
"These are records kept by our Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, histories of how all kinds of unusual Martial Souls developed, from ancient times to the present. Whether they were ordinary rare Martial Souls or Mutated Martial Souls, the Soul Rings their owners absorbed and the Soul Skills they gained are all recorded here.
"There are also some treasures from my own private collection, like a magnifying glass that can find tiny Soul Beasts."
Originally, she had only planned to bring over a few Soul Beast encyclopedias and toys she thought were fun.
But after Ning Fengzhi found out, he had people stuff a great many books into her Soul Tool.
She still remembered what her father had said at the time.
"Xiaoming's Martial Soul is rare in this world. These are copies transcribed from our sect's library and should be of help to him. Rongrong, the next time you visit his residence, you can give him these things. They are a small token of our Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's sincerity."
Wang Xiaoming casually picked up a book and flipped through it.
Sure enough, it contained the journals of many unusual people.
Many of them had Mutated Martial Souls or defective Martial Souls.
The most recently updated book on top was, remarkably, an account of the exploits of a certain theoretical master.
Something about half a level of Innate Soul Power, a Martial Soul Mutation, refusing to bow to fate, devoting himself to the study of Martial Soul Theory, and drifting across the continent for half his life...
Bibi Dong wrote this book, didn't she?
Otherwise, it was Liu Erlong.
A little helpless, Wang Xiaoming closed the book and turned to Ning Rongrong, who was waiting to be praised.
"Um, Rongrong, thank Uncle Ning for his kindness for me, but..."
"But what? You don't need to feel awkward. They're only transcribed copies anyway, so just accept them. Our Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect doesn't rely on these things to maintain its standing, and we're not afraid of them getting out."
Ning Rongrong spoke with the air of someone who had money to burn.
She had no interest in reading such things anyway. Even if she gave Wang Xiaoming the entire set of the only existing copies, she wouldn't feel the slightest regret.
Wang Xiaoming shook his head and said, "No, I mean I've already decided on a direction for choosing my Soul Rings."
Ning Rongrong tilted her head, a little surprised.
"It's only been one night, and you've already figured your Martial Soul out?
"So what direction are you going to develop your Martial Soul in? Do you have a Soul Beast in mind?"
She was extremely curious about Wang Xiaoming's belt Martial Soul.
Ever since she had seen that "Ning Rongrong" this morning, she had known that his Martial Soul must have plenty of secrets.
If she could, she really wanted to send that fake "Ning Rongrong" back to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. Then she could happily run wild outside every day.
No one could possibly understand how boring it was for her to study those things in the sect.
From etiquette to socializing to the art of managing people, she would fall asleep as she listened, with the result that even now she had barely remembered a single thing.
Compared to that, Wang Xiaoming was much more interesting.
Wang Xiaoming nodded proudly.
"Of course. Actually, my Martial Soul is an all-rounder. No matter what kind of Soul Beast it is, as long as it's powerful, I can absorb it."
Most importantly, the greater a Soul Beast's age, the greater the boost to Soul Power it would provide.
He didn't place much value on Soul Skills; he cared more about the Soul Power a Soul Ring brought.
He had already made up his mind last night, when that camera had appeared out of nowhere and told him to recover his power.
Although he didn't know whether there were any Soul Beasts among those red dots,
His choice wouldn't be wrong.
As he recovered more and more of his power, his need for Soul Power would surely grow as well.
As long as he had enough Soul Power, he could be an army unto himself.
If possible, he wanted to snatch the Soul Ring that belonged to Ah Yin from Tang Hao.
The Blue Silver Emperor's Soul Power would surely be greater than what an ordinary Soul Beast provided.
Ning Rongrong nodded, only half understanding.
In other words, it was much like her Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda.
It didn't discriminate between types of Soul Beast. As long as she absorbed a Soul Beast that enhanced the corresponding attribute, she would gain a Soul Skill that boosted that attribute.
Knock, knock, knock...
Just then, a sudden knock sounded outside the door.
Then Meng Zhuang's voice came through.
"Young master, Miss Rongrong, is this a convenient time?
"Just now, someone from the crown prince's residence delivered an invitation. They said His Highness the Crown Prince would like to invite the young master to visit."
Hearing that it concerned the crown prince's residence, Wang Xiaoming spoke directly to the person outside the door. "Uncle Meng, come in."
The door creaked open, and Meng Zhuang handed Wang Xiaoming a golden invitation before withdrawing.
"An invitation from the crown prince's residence?"
Wang Xiaoming and Ning Rongrong exchanged a glance.
Hadn't the crown prince just come to see them yesterday? Yet he had sent an invitation again today. He really didn't want to wait a moment longer.
The two opened the invitation. It didn't mention any particular business; roughly speaking, the crown prince wanted to get to know Wang Xiaoming better and talk about their visions for the future...
After reading it, Ning Rongrong planted her hands on her hips, looking displeased.
"Hmph, that Xue Qinghe doesn't learn the good things from Father, only the bad. Why didn't he dare say this yesterday? He just had to invite you over in private."
The corner of Wang Xiaoming's mouth twitched.
When Xue Qinghe was around, he was Brother Qinghe, but once he was gone, he became Xue Qinghe.
When the Little Demoness was on a tear, she even scolded her own father.
Wang Xiaoming, however, had no particular feelings about the invitation.
As it happened, there was something he wanted in the crown prince's residence... He could go and investigate.
"It's probably just a normal attempt to win me over. If you're worried, why don't you come with me? It doesn't say whether I can bring you along anyway."
Wang Xiaoming waved the invitation in his hand as he spoke, a little expectantly.