Ning Rongrong and Dugu Yan were not short on money. If any Soul Master managed to kidnap either of them, they would never have to worry about food or clothing for the rest of their lives.
After stocking up in Tianshui City and touring its local customs, the two prepared to leave.
"Let me take a look."
Ning Rongrong and Dugu Yan each held a detailed map of the Extreme North.
These had been purchased at a high price from an auction house, with every route marked being a precious lesson paid for in blood by other Soul Masters.
A single map cost 10,000 gold spirit coins.
But for Ning Rongrong and Dugu Yan, it was worth the price.
Not only did it mark safe zones, general zones, danger zones, extreme danger zones, and forbidden zones—
Safe zones were typically free of spirit beasts, allowing for safe rest.
General zones only had spirit beasts of a few hundred years gathered there, while danger zones housed millennium spirit beasts, and extreme danger zones held those of ten thousand years and above.
As for the forbidden zones, they were marked with question marks.
Rumors claimed that someone had seen a human-shaped spirit beast there.
Some even claimed to have witnessed it casually waving a hand, unleashing destruction capable of shaking heaven and earth.
"Indeed, even a border city of the Extreme North doesn't truly understand the real situation within."
The two walked toward the city gates.
Suddenly, Ning Rongrong, who was closer to the outer edge of the street, felt her protective zhenqi tremble slightly, her aura rippling faintly.
"Ow, what are you doing?!"
A girl who looked to be in her early teens was sent flying backward, landing hard on the ground in an extremely ungraceful position.
The girl rubbed her nose, swaying unsteadily as she stood up.
"Ow, that hurt…"
"Don't be so reckless. It's not like this is our first time returning to Tianshui City."
Beside the fallen girl, another who appeared even younger helped her up first.
Then, she quickly stepped forward and bowed to Ning Rongrong.
"We're very sorry. My sister is always like this. We've caused you trouble."
Ning Rongrong and Dugu Yan stopped in their tracks. Ning Rongrong studied the blue-haired girl before her—though she looked younger, she carried herself more like an elder sister.
"It's fine. I wasn't hurt." Ning Rongrong glanced between the two girls, pondering. "Interesting. Their auras seem to blend together… as if they've achieved Martial Soul Resonance?"
As for being bumped into and injured?
Impossible. It wasn't like she'd been hit by a Titan Giant Ape. At the Xiantian Grandmaster realm, her body was always protected by a faint barrier, impervious to heat and cold, even capable of blocking a certain degree of external attacks.
There was no way a little girl's collision could have hurt her.
"Bing'er, I'm the elder sister here!" A dissatisfied voice rang out as the girl who had just fallen rushed forward in a few quick steps.
"Sorry, little sister. I've caused you trouble. Are you hurt anywhere? Should I take you to get checked?"
"Uh…" Ning Rongrong was speechless at the girl's overly familiar attitude.
Were the personalities of these two sisters really so different?
Afterward, the four introduced themselves.
Ning Rongrong confirmed her suspicions—these two were indeed Shui Yue'er and Shui Bing'er.
Compared to Shui Bing'er's cool demeanor, Shui Yue'er, the elder sister, gave off a far more cheerful and lively impression.
"No way, you're going to the Extreme North?" Shui Yue'er's face twisted in shock. "Just… just the two of you?"
She pointed at Dugu Yan, then at Ning Rongrong.
Dugu Yan looked about her own age, while Ning Rongrong was definitely younger than Shui Bing'er—her face made that clear.
"Mm. We have people protecting us from the shadows," Ning Rongrong said.
"Oh!" Shui Yue'er let out a sigh of relief. "If you're going to the Extreme North, why don't we team up? Consider it an apology for earlier. We're students of Tianshui Academy, you know."
"Elder sister, stop talking." Shui Bing'er signaled for her sister to quiet down.
"Uh, fine."
Shui Yue'er immediately fell silent, as if somewhat afraid of her younger sister.
"Sorry, my sister can be a bit strange sometimes. We'll take our leave now so as not to disturb you further."
Shui Bing'er apologized once more to Ning Rongrong and Dugu Yan before pulling her sister away.
Once they turned the corner—
Seeing that Ning Rongrong and Dugu Yan had left, Shui Bing'er finally relaxed.
"Bing'er, why didn't you let them come with us? At their age, they're probably also hunting for spirit rings. With the dean around, what's there to fear?"
"Elder sister, how many times have I told you? Don't just casually share information about yourself." Shui Bing'er sighed. "Those two girls aren't simple."
"You're a Soul Elder! Yet you were knocked back so easily, while the other girl didn't even budge. Does that make sense?"
"Besides, their words were practically saying, 'I'm lying to you.'"
"They probably even gave fake names."
"Uh… is the world really that dangerous?" Shui Yue'er widened her eyes.
"Bing'er is right. Those two girls are anything but ordinary. I couldn't see through them." A voice came from afar as an elderly woman in plain gray-blue robes walked over unhurriedly.
"Grandma!" Shui Yue'er exclaimed excitedly. "Where were you earlier?"
"I went back to the family for a visit. Unlike you—"
"You even dumped the position of family heir onto your younger sister."
"What's the big deal? I think Bing'er is more suited for it anyway. Besides… Bing'er and I have a Martial Soul Fusion Skill."
"Even if Bing'er doesn't care about my feelings, she wouldn't do something like those other families and kill her elder sister, right?"
Shui Bing'er: "…"
Should she call this elder sister carefree… or just plain ridiculous?
As the eldest daughter of the main family, she had actually given up her position as heir.
"Grandma, when you said those two weren't simple, did you mean in terms of strength?" Shui Bing'er asked with another sigh.
"I'm not sure. I can't tell." The old woman sighed. "But that brown-haired girl noticed me."
"How? You're a…!" Shui Yue'er covered her mouth.
...
On the other side.
"Why didn't we go with them?"
After leaving Tianshui City, Dugu Yan had been troubled by the earlier encounter and couldn't help but ask Ning Rongrong.
"A Martial Soul Fusion Skill isn't worth exposing our identities. Besides, most of the places we're going are dangerous. More people would just mean more liabilities."
"So you're saying one liability is enough, huh?" Dugu Yan twitched her lips, pointing at herself with her right hand.
"Mm. With you around, I have someone to talk to. And as a support-type Soul Master, I need someone to charge into battle, right?"
"I really don't see how you qualify as 'support.' A support should be like Uncle Ning, not you."
Just look at what your Nine Treasure Glazed Pagoda does! And you still have the nerve to call yourself support?
With your standards for a support—
The only one on the entire continent who could compare would be Bi Ji, a spirit beast who could both fight and heal.
"There was a Soul Douluo behind them. I didn't want any unnecessary trouble." Ning Rongrong said quietly. "But those sisters' talent—well, the younger sister's talent is quite good."
"Oh? You could tell even without them releasing their Martial Souls?" Dugu Yan perked up.
"I'm just more sensitive to energy, I guess." Ning Rongrong didn't elaborate further. "Shui Yue'er's talent is a bit worse than yours. She's almost twenty, but her spirit power is only level 32. But Shui Bing'er's talent is noticeably better than yours was back then."
"Seventeen years old, level 40 spirit power… not bad at all."
"And that's just 'not bad'?" Dugu Yan couldn't help but complain. "I have a feeling that when you first saw my spirit power level, you definitely didn't say anything as nice as you claimed."
"I really believed your sweet talk and thought my talent was actually decent."
"Ahahaha, who doesn't like hearing nice things?" Ning Rongrong laughed awkwardly. "But you're level 58 now, almost on par with Qian Renxue when we first met her slacking off."
"Yeah, yeah. Compared to freaks like you, I'm just an ordinary person."
The two bickered as they made their way toward the Extreme North, unconcerned about being overheard.
Unless it was a Title Douluo, Ning Rongrong's senses would usually detect any eavesdroppers.