The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect

"Left!" Yan Zu suddenly warned.

A cunning Demon Wolf sprang from the shadows at the side, going straight for Xiao Wu's throat.

Xiao Wu twisted her waist and activated the Phantom Jade Rabbit's First Soul Skill, Waist Bow. She bent backward at an incredible angle, narrowly avoiding its claws, then lashed out with her right leg like a whip, striking the Demon Wolf hard across the flank.

Bang!

The Demon Wolf flew backward with a howl.

But just then, the wolf king, which had been waiting for its chance, moved!

A thousand-year Soul Beast was far faster than a hundred-year one. Its silver-gray figure became a bolt of lightning, aimed not at Xiao Wu, but at Yan Zu, who was maintaining his Soul Skill! It had actually seen that Yan Zu was the core of the pair.

"A-Zu, look out!" Xiao Wu's pupils contracted sharply.

The wolf king was too close, its claws already before him. If Yan Zu dodged, he would have to interrupt his Soul Skill, leaving Xiao Wu to face the combined assault of five hundred-year Demon Wolves. If he did not retreat, the strike would be enough to rip him open!

At that critical moment, Xiao Wu made her choice.

She shoved Yan Zu aside and placed her petite body in front of the deadly claws.

Rip!

Blood sprayed.

"Xiao Wu!" Yan Zu's expression changed drastically, panic and heartache filling his face.

Three wounds had been torn across Xiao Wu's back, so deep that bone showed, and the tremendous impact sent her pitching forward. But as her consciousness blurred, she still forced herself to look back and give Yan Zu a pale smile. "Little Brother A-Zu... I'm all right..."

"No!"

Yan Zu's heart clenched, and something seemed to snap in his mind. Within his spiritual world, the illusory figure of the Auspicious Beast Qilin raised its head and let out a long cry. A vast force of auspicious origin burst out of control.

In an instant, jade-colored light enveloped the entire training ground.

The Qilin Martial Soul instinctively released the purest vitality, which became an almost tangible stream of light and poured into Xiao Wu. But this time was different from the healing before: under the pressure of the life-and-death crisis, their spiritual frequencies fell into perfect synchrony.

[Beep! Compatibility has passed the critical threshold... 60%!]

[Congratulations, host and bond partner Xiao Wu have achieved Preliminary Martial Soul Resonance!]

[Resonance effect: when Xiao Wu is within the range of Qilin Domain (Vitality Corridor), speed +10%, attack power +20%, mental resistance +30%]

After an unknown length of time, the wounds on Xiao Wu's shoulder had healed, leaving only a faint red mark.

She slowly opened her eyes and found herself held tightly in Yan Zu's arms. Beads of sweat covered the youth's refined face, and in his eyes was a lingering fear she had never seen before, and... something deeper.

"Little Brother A-Zu..." Xiao Wu called softly, blushing for no apparent reason.

Yan Zu came to his senses and let go, turning his face away a little awkwardly. "Does it still hurt?"

"No, it doesn't." Xiao Wu shook her head, then suddenly recalled the wondrous sensation of resonance. "Just now... I think I felt your..."

"It was the Qilin Martial Soul's instinct to protect its master," Yan Zu interrupted, suppressing the turmoil in his heart. "You were hurt because of me, so it automatically activated its auspicious origin to protect you. Our Martial Souls... seem to be more compatible now."

Night had grown deep, and their time in the training ground was nearly spent. Their consciousnesses returned to reality.

Xiao Wu turned over to face Yan Zu and smiled silently in the darkness.

The warmth of being enveloped in the Qilin's vitality seemed to linger on her shoulder, along with that wondrous sensation of their hearts and minds being connected. She quietly touched her chest-something there was quietly beginning to sprout.

Every weekend, Yan Zu took Xiao Wu back to the little courtyard in the west of the city.

The Su Medical Clinic had by now made a modest name for itself in Nuoding City.

After Su Qing broke through to level thirty, her Green Grain Martial Soul's Third Soul Skill, Revival of All Things, gained the ability to heal over an area. With the addition of the remnant pages of Essential Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Gold that Yan Zu secretly supplied, obtained through system check-ins, commoners came to the clinic seeking treatment in an endless stream every day.

"Mother, this is Soul-Nourishing Tea. Brew it every morning, and it will stabilize the foundation of your Soul Power."

Yan Zu handed Su Qing a packet of emerald-green tea leaves. It was a rare reward he had received only after checking in for three months straight.

Su Qing accepted it gently. Seeing how much steadier her son's bearing had grown, she felt both gratified and a pang of sadness. "A-Zu, at the academy... no one's been treating you badly, have they?"

"No, everything's fine."

Yan Zu smiled and shook his head, then turned his gaze to Yan Hu, who was chopping firewood in the courtyard. "Has Father's Soul Power improved again?"

"That father of yours recently took a job guarding a merchant caravan. Thanks to the Soul-Consolidating Pill you gave him, his Immovable Vajra's defense has increased by another thirty percent." Su Qing smiled and shook her head. "The Soul Masters in Nuoding City all call him Vajra Iron Axe now."

Hearing this, Yan Hu scratched his head with a guileless smile. "It's all thanks to the cultivation method A-Zu gave me. Oh, right, A-Zu, this is my pay for the job: five Gold Soul Coins. Take them, and don't let yourself or Xiao Wu go without at the academy."

Yan Zu did not refuse. He merely took two Body-Tempering Pills from his Storage Soul Tool in secret, crushed them, and mixed them into the soup for dinner.

At the table, Xiao Wu wolfed down the red-braised pork Su Qing had made, praising it indistinctly through a mouthful. "Auntie Su's cooking... is a hundred times better than the academy cafeteria's!"

"Slow down. No one's going to snatch it from you." Yan Zu smiled and wiped the grease from the corner of her mouth.

The first school year quietly slipped by amid cultivation and daily life. And after the outpouring of emotion that night, the bond between Yan Zu and Xiao Wu grew stronger.

When the first warm breeze of spring blew into Nuoding Academy, Yan Zu knew it was time to begin the next step of his plan-

The fire of culture was about to sweep across the plains.

Warm spring sunlight streamed through the window lattice, casting dappled light and shadow on the rough floor of Dorm Seven. Yan Zu opened his eyes, and a system notification sounded in his mind:

[Beep! Today's check-in successful!]

[Congratulations, host has reached the seven-year-old growth milestone, triggering the annual critical-hit reward!]

[Obtained talent: Exquisite Literary Heart (Artistic Synesthesia)]

[Effect: instantly master the essence of Blue Star's arts, including master-level performance on musical instruments (qin, xiao, and flute), painting, calligraphy, seal carving, and the creation and appreciation of poetry and prose. This talent can be combined with Soul Power to imbue works with a special power to move others.]

Yan Zu felt the vast knowledge surging into his mind-from the movement of the brushstrokes in Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Collection to the rhythms of the strings in Guangling Melody, from the lines of Dunhuang's flying apsaras to the tonal patterns of Song lyrics and Yuan songs. Countless artistic essences came together in that moment.

He raised his hand and traced a line through the air with his fingertip, producing the faintest hint of rhythm.

"It's time."

He looked out the window, where the morning mist over Nuoding City was slowly dispersing.

The experience he had accumulated during the first school year had taught him that, in this world where strength reigned supreme, brute force alone could protect only a few people around him. Only the spark of civilization and thought could illuminate a more distant future.

And the condition for unsealing the Xuanyuan Sword-"the sword of civilization's lineage"-required precisely this kind of Vow Power born from the recognition of all beings.

In the little courtyard west of the city, Yan Zu sat at the stone table beneath the old locust tree, his fingers holding a homemade charcoal pencil as he sketched on a stack of rough straw paper.

Xiao Wu leaned over the stone stool opposite him, chin in her hands and eyes shining as she watched the words and illustrations gradually take shape. "Little Brother A-Zu, are these the stories you told me before?"

"Mm." Yan Zu's pencil did not stop. A sly fox sprang to life on the page, a pack of snarling wolves chasing behind it. "But I need to make some adaptations."

The title was written on the paper: Star Dou Night Tales, First Collection: Wisdom.

This was the first step Yan Zu had arrived at after careful thought. To introduce an epic masterpiece such as The Song of Roland or The Legend of King Arthur, with its profound ideas of civilization, would be far too abrupt and likely to draw unnecessary attention.

He needed a starting point that could spread quickly and attract readers from every walk of life, while subtly planting the seeds of civilization.

An adaptation of One Thousand and One Nights could not have been more suitable.

He replaced the characters in the stories with Soul Beasts and set them in the Star Dou Great Forest-close to everyday life, yet tinged with mystery. Each short story held a simple lesson: wisdom was greater than brute force, kindness would be rewarded in the end, and survival required cooperation.

"But... how do we turn these stories into a book?" Xiao Wu tilted her head. "We'd have to find someone to carve the printing blocks and print it, and we'd need shops to sell it... It's a lot of trouble."

"The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect..." A thoughtful look flashed in Yan Zu's eyes.

He had several reasons for choosing this sect as a partner.

First, distribution. As the wealthiest of the Upper Three Sects, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had a commercial network spanning both empires. From small cities like Nuoding City to the capitals of Heaven Dou and the Star Luo Empire, they had businesses everywhere.

If cultural products were to spread widely, there was no better channel.

Second, outlook. In the original story, although Ning Fengzhi had constantly forged alliances and played the major powers against one another in an attempt to preserve the Upper Three Sects' preeminent status, he was not stubbornly opposed to change.

On the contrary, he had a keen nose for business and an eye for investments. From his decisive choice to cooperate with Tang San upon first encountering Hidden Weapons, to his firm choice of sides later in the conflict between Tang San and Spirit Hall, everything proved it.

More importantly, Ning Fengzhi was under tremendous pressure.

Although the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had two Titled Douluo, Sword and Bone, standing guard, both were advanced in years, and the sect lacked successors.

Though Ning Rongrong had possessed innate Soul Power at level nine, she was ultimately only a support-type Soul Master.

Ning Fengzhi knew better than anyone that if the sect was to endure, it had to seek change, bring in new blood, and embrace new things.

A partner like that would not look down on Yan Zu because of his youth or anonymity, but would instead value his potential.