Su Qingxue reclined in her chair. As his older sister, who had become a Soul Master early and was a full seven years older than Su Yun, she had started dropping gold coins as soon as he could fully control his body.
And all this time, Su Yun had never let her gold coins go to waste. He had done plenty of serving tea, pouring water, massaging her waist, and kneading her legs.
But this was his first time washing Su Qingxue's feet.
"Go on, how much do you want this time?"
When Su Yun brought her the foot-washing water, Su Qingxue knew she would probably have to shell out quite a bit this time. Still, she only had one younger brother. As his older sister, she had to look after him.
"Sis, ahem, as your little brother, isn't it only natural for me to wait on you? Don't always think in that direction."
Su Qingxue said nothing, sitting quietly and enjoying Su Yun's ministrations. It was actually rather comfortable.
Only after washing for quite a while did Su Yun speak. "Ahem, Sis, I've been a little short on money lately."
"There's ten thousand Gold Soul Coins here."
Su Qingxue took out a card, but Su Yun did not accept it.
"Not enough? How much do you want?"
"Sis, it's not about how much I want, but how much you have."
"..."
"..."
Their eyes met. In the end, Su Yun's thick skin could not quite withstand it, and he looked away first.
"Little brother, you're still the clan's young master, after all. I've thought it over, and I don't think this is really suitable work for you. I'd better do it myself."
"Don't, Sis! You're the clan's young lady. It's even less appropriate for you to wash your own feet. Let me do it!"
As far back as Su Yun could remember, this was his first time washing Su Qingxue's feet, and also the first time she had told him there was no need when he waited on her.
There was no helping it. After thinking it over, Su Qingxue felt that his service this time did not seem comfortable at all.
"Are you really short on money?"
After a long back-and-forth, Su Qingxue finally saw that Su Yun's anxiety this time was genuine, and her heart softened.
"I really am."
Su Qingxue thought for a moment, then finally handed him her storage bracelet.
"The family will give me some more before I return to school, but I can only give you half of that at most. Otherwise, I'll be in a bind once I'm back at school."
"..."
Taking the storage bracelet, Su Yun fell silent, but before his emotions could well up, Su Qingxue kicked him.
"What are you thinking about? Keep going."
"Oh."
Su Yun quietly got back to work, then suddenly remembered something.
"Sis, what level are you now?"
"Level thirty-four."
"Level thirty-four? Sis, then the Continental Advanced Soul Master Tournament five years from now..."
"Barring any surprises, there'll be a spot for me."
Although Soul Engineers who took medicine cultivated faster in the early stages than Soul Masters who did not, reaching level thirty-four at thirteen was fast even among medicine-taking Soul Engineers.
In another two years or so, she would reach level forty. Then she could officially become a reserve for the next Continental Advanced Soul Master Tournament.
With the better cultivation resources the Illustrious Virtue Hall would issue then, reaching above level fifty by the Continental Advanced Soul Master Tournament five years later would be no problem at all.
Although a Soul King in the fifties might not seem that strong, that depended on the circumstances.
During the second Continental Advanced Soul Master Tournament in the original story, a Five-Ring Soul King was nothing special.
But in the first Continental Advanced Soul Master Tournament, a Five-Ring Soul King counted as quite a high-level combatant.
And a Continental Advanced Soul Master Tournament that did not invite sects to participate was clearly more like the first tournament than the second one in the original story.
Moreover, the Su Clan's cloud Martial Soul itself had a certain compatibility with Soul Tools, so Su Qingxue had a very high chance of being selected.
Even if she was not on the main team, she would at least be a substitute.
Su Qingxue was delighted about this, even proud.
But to Su Yun, this was very bad news indeed.
Others might not know what Shrek was like, but how could Su Yun not know?
Shrek was not there to compete. They were going straight for the kill!
During the first Continental Advanced Soul Master Tournament, several people from the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy had died. By the second Continental Advanced Soul Master Tournament, it was no longer a question of several people dying, but of how many could survive.
At the thought of his sister competing in the Continental Advanced Soul Master Tournament in the future, Su Yun felt awful.
"What's wrong? I can represent the Sun Moon Royal Soul Guidance Academy in the Continental Advanced Soul Master Tournament, but you don't seem very happy about it."
Seeing Su Yun's expression darken, Su Qingxue did not quite understand.
"It's nothing. I'm just a little worried about your safety, Sis. The Continental Advanced Soul Master Tournament may be an honor, but it's still a clash between advanced Soul Masters. I'm a little worried."
"Don't worry. The Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy has always held steady in second place at the Continental Advanced Soul Master Tournament. What's there to worry about?"
"As for Shrek Academy, the only one that can consistently defeat the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy, they're the continent's number one advanced Soul Master Academy. Surely they wouldn't kill people at will during a competition?"
"The other academies aren't capable of it, and Shrek Academy has its reputation to consider. What risk is there?"
Listening to Su Qingxue, Su Yun understood.
The Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy had been concealing Shrek Academy's killings all along.
Thinking about it, though, he could understand.
Leaving everything else aside, if the results of those two encounters between Shrek Academy and the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy in the original story were made public, with so many dead that even the substitutes were nearly wiped out, how many people on the Sun Moon Empire's side would still dare enter the Continental Advanced Soul Master Tournament?
Never being able to win was one thing, but the problem was that losing also meant throwing away their lives. Few people would take a deal that was nothing but a loss.
"Sis, I won't let anything happen to you."
"What did you say?"
"Nothing. Sis, when you reach level forty, don't fuse with a Soul Ring right away. I'm trying something new. If it works, I can let you fuse with a special fourth Soul Ring."
"A special fourth Soul Ring? What are you doing?"
"Nothing. It's too early to talk about it. After all, a lot of things haven't even had the first stroke of their eight written yet, so I can't make any promises for now."
"All right, then. Handle it as you see fit."
Since Su Yun did not want to talk, Su Qingxue did not ask any further. She knew this little brother of hers would not shoot an arrow without a target.
Two and a half years later.
Inside an inn in Wutan City, Su Yun sat cross-legged. Wisps of Dou Qi gathered within his body, finally forming a Dou Qi vortex in his lower dantian. With that, Su Yun officially became a Dou Zhe.
He pushed open the door and settled his bill. As he walked along the street, he noticed that Wutan City seemed unusually lively today.
"What's going on?"
Su Yun grabbed a random passerby and asked.
Suddenly grabbed, the passerby had been about to curse, but then he saw the silver coin in Su Yun's hand...
"Oh, you're too kind."
"Just a small token. What's going on here, exactly?"
"You're quite an interesting fellow." After accepting the silver coin, the man smiled, then began explaining to Su Yun.
"Just now, the Xiao Clan's third young master, Xiao Yan, successfully broke through to Eighth Stage Dou Qi. The Xiao Clan's patriarch, Xiao Zhan, is holding a grand banquet to celebrate."
"Eighth Stage Dou Qi before he's even nine. Who knows how early he'll become a Dou Zhe? That kind of talent is truly..."
The man clicked his tongue twice, his voice filled with envy for someone who had reached Eighth Stage Dou Qi before turning nine.
"That is pretty impressive."
Su Yun casually agreed, then quietly left Wutan City.
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