Inside the Spirit Hall, the feast was still underway.
Xiao Yan was preparing to leave when a city guard came to report.
"City lord, Yu Xiaogang has left Nuoding City with Tang San and another little girl!"
"Guard the gates. If you see any of them return to the city, kill them on sight!" The lord of Nuoding City gave the order casually, barely taking the matter to heart.
They were just a few dogs driven from their homes.
What was there to mention!?
Xiao Yan, however, had heard something else. "Another little girl?"
The guard glanced at the city lord, then at Yu Tianming.
"Answer when you're asked. Young friend Xiao Yan will be an honored guest of my city lord's residence from now on!" the city lord said mildly, drawing Xiao Yan closer to him once again as he tried to recruit him.
"What did the girl look like?" Xiao Yan asked.
"She was fair and rosy, with long pink hair in twin tails." The guard thought back, then hurriedly added, "Right, her eyes were vacant, like a puppet's!"
Clatter!
The wine cup fell to the floor, and Xiao Yan's expression instantly darkened.
Xiao Wu!
It had to be Xiao Wu!
That petty villain Tang San had actually taken Xiao Wu away?
"Her eyes were vacant. Was she not going of her own free will?" Xiao Yan hurriedly asked.
"No, we asked at the time. The girl only said she was in a bad mood and that she was going entirely of her own free will."
"Her own free will? How could that be?" This time, Xiao Yan was bewildered.
Xiao Wu had been perfectly fine. Why had she gone with that petty villain Tang San!?
Hadn't I told her not to provoke him?
Seeing the change in Xiao Yan's mood, Yu Tianming asked, "What happened? Do you know that girl?"
Xiao Yan nodded. "She's a friend."
"Perhaps she's the one you love," the city lord said with a smile.
He handed Xiao Yan a fresh cup of fruit juice and said with a smile, "If you truly like her and don't want her taken away, I'll have someone bring her back for you!"
"As long as you like her, young friend Xiao Yan, Nuoding City will open the door of convenience for you!"
Hearing this, a flicker of hesitation passed through Xiao Yan's eyes.
In the end, he sighed. "Forget it."
"Since Xiao Wu went of her own free will, I can't force her to change her mind."
"Although Tang San is a petty villain, he probably wouldn't reach out a venomous hand toward a little girl."
"A ravenous wolf doesn't care whether the sheep it eats is a gentle lamb," Yu Tianming said softly, making Xiao Yan's expression change slightly.
As the banquet reached its final moment,
Yu Tianming kept only a few people behind.
Xiao Yan, who was looking around blankly, his mind elsewhere.
The lord of Nuoding City, Dean Du, and several elders of the Spirit Hall.
The hall master still had not shown himself.
Dean Du was flattering him as usual. "Young friend Xiao Yan, your Martial Soul is exceptionally powerful!"
"Although your Soul Power is only at level seven, the purity of that flame is something I've neither seen nor heard of in my decades of teaching!"
Xiao Yan smiled. "Compared with the great predecessors, I still have a long way to go."
"Young but not arrogant, confident and overbearing-I feel as though I'm witnessing the birth of a powerhouse!" The old man who had once registered Xiao Yan as a Soul Master stroked his beard and smiled as well.
"If you ever need help, young friend, the city lord's residence will gladly open its doors to you," the lord of Nuoding City said softly.
He extended an olive branch once again. "Would you be willing to join my city lord's residence, young friend?"
"I'm willing to take you as my final disciple!"
Amid everyone's surprise and envy, Xiao Yan shook his head.
He had actually refused!
This was an invitation from the city lord!
One had to know that this city lord was no ordinary man; he was a member of the Heaven Dou Empire's Imperial Family.
Although he was a distant relative, he was still a member of the Imperial Family.
Moreover, the city lord's cultivation was at the Soul Saint level!
Xiao Yan had actually refused!
The smile on the city lord's face faded slightly.
Yu Tianming hurriedly stepped in to smooth things over. "You've misunderstood," he said with a smile.
"It's not that Xiao Yan is unwilling. Rather, he already has a master!"
"Here on Douluo Continent, whether in the Heaven Dou Empire or among those barbarians in the Star Luo Empire, there has never been such a thing as one disciple having two masters."
"Surely you don't want Xiao Yan to become a disloyal and unfilial person?"
Hearing this, everyone nodded in understanding.
Even the city lord's expression softened.
"I see. In that case, I won't make things difficult for you, young friend."
He smiled. "Your esteemed master must be incredibly powerful, young friend."
Xiao Yan thought of Yao Lao.
Incredibly powerful?
He's clearly a lousy old man.
Yu Tianming patted Xiao Yan on the shoulder. "What are your plans from now on? At your current cultivation speed, you'll need your first Soul Ring soon, won't you?"
Soul Rings?
He needed one Soul Ring every ten levels. It was indeed time to think about his first one.
Because of Yao Lao, Xiao Yan's Soul Power had been drained from Innate Full Soul Power down to level one.
Now that he had cultivated it back up, his speed far surpassed that of his peers.
"At this rate, I should reach level ten in less than a month," Xiao Yan murmured.
A gleam flashed in the city lord's eyes. "Three levels in one month. You certainly are confident, young friend."
"When the time comes to hunt for a Soul Ring, my city lord's residence can lend you a hand."
Yu Tianming hurriedly interrupted him with a smile. "City lord, stop trying to reach your hand over to my little brother here. When the time comes, I'll personally accompany him to get his first Soul Ring."
The city lord smiled and said mysteriously, "What I can offer is something you can't, Tianming."
He looked at Xiao Yan and asked, "May I ask, young friend, your Martial Soul should be a Mutated Martial Soul, shouldn't it?"
Xiao Yan nodded. "I call it Ultimate Fire."
"Since it's a fire-attribute Martial Soul, you must need a fire-attribute Soul Beast!"
"City lord, could your nonsense sound any less like nonsense?" Only Yu Tianming would dare make fun of the city lord.
"Listening to your words is as good as hearing a sentence!"
"Surely no fire-attribute Soul Master would be fool enough to hunt a water-attribute Soul Beast for a Soul Ring!"
The city lord narrowed his eyes and smiled. "How do you know it can't be done?"
Yu Tianming frowned slightly. "What do you mean?"
Xiao Yan was bewildered as well. "A fire-attribute Soul Master taking the Soul Ring of a water-attribute Soul Beast?" he said to himself.
"That can't be possible!"
Yao Lao, however, lowered his voice. "Wait and see. Some things can't be treated as absolutes."
Strolling along the second floor, the city lord pointed toward the Big Dipper.
There lay the north of the continent.
One of the three great gathering places of Soul Beasts!
A forbidden land for humans!
The Star Dou Great Forest!
"A few days ago, I heard that you obtained a Heavenly Flames crystal and cured your hidden ailment, Tianming."
Yu Tianming nodded.
The city lord continued, "That Heavenly Flame was clearly a flame, yet it was like thousand-year-old ice. Am I right?"
At that moment, Yu Tianming and Xiao Yan both seemed to realize something.
The city lord clapped his hands and smiled. "Yes, it's just as you're thinking!"
"Such beings exist among Soul Beasts too!"
"Near the Lake of Life, deep within the Star Dou Great Forest, there is a strange Soul Beast!"
"It has the water attribute, yet it can breathe fire!"
Yu Tianming seemed to remember something and murmured:
"Heavenly Yin Demonic Beast: the Water Qilin!"
(End of chapter)