"Brother Qing, that girl's soul power level seems pretty high. I think she's close to reaching the rank of Grand Soul Master." Tang San had noticed it too. After Steward Xiao left, he picked up a piece of cream cake topped with watermelon, took a small spoon, and said this while savoring a bite.
If she were just an ordinary woman, or a female soul master with extremely low innate soul power and no potential to reach the Soul Exalted level, choosing to serve a noble...
Tang San could actually understand such a decision.
The weak relying on the strong, the poor depending on the rich — even in his previous life, such situations were commonplace. The only difference was, the weak and poor could at most become concubines.
But that girl clearly wasn't lacking in talent. At the very least, she had the potential to stand out among civilian soul masters. With such aptitude, was there really a need to degrade herself?
"What? That woman who doesn't even bother to keep herself pure is a soul master?" Xiao Wu paused mid-bite, her lips still dusted with cream and clutching a strawberry.
"Yes, and her soul power's even higher than yours." Zhou Qing picked up a piece of fruit cake as well. Unlike Xiao Wu, who ate it with her hands, or Tang San, who used a spoon, he pulled out a pair of chopsticks from his storage soul tool.
"What kind of way is that to eat cake? It's not like you're eating rice!" Xiao Wu stared at Zhou Qing using chopsticks on dessert, her expression full of disbelief.
"This is a symbol of civilization," Zhou Qing replied with great seriousness.
Using the chopsticks, he clipped off a bite-sized piece of cake and slowly tasted it before continuing about the woman. "Her soul power is at least level 18, I'd say. And she probably has a way of suppressing her soul power fluctuations, so no one else in the City Lord's Mansion — including you, little bunny who doesn't know anything — noticed it and just assumed she was a low-level Soul Scholar."
"Then what's her goal? Don't tell me she's some kind of female rogue?" Xiao Wu had heard rumors at the Adventurers' Guild about such women — female soul masters who were basically playgirls, rumored to seduce men left and right… The old guys at the guild seemed to quite enjoy those tales.
[We must respect diversity!]
Zhou Qing silently recited this to himself before saying aloud, "It's possible. But I think the most likely reason... is that she's here for that soul bone."
This girl clearly wasn't from Nuoding City or its nearby regions.
If she were, the teachers at Nuoding Academy would've talked about her a lot. Zhou Qing had researched the academy's graduation stats — most students couldn't even reach level 10 soul power after six years. Someone like Xiao Chenyu, who managed to become a Soul Master at level 11 during the first semester of sixth grade, was already rare in such a small city.
Given that this girl appeared to be around fifteen or sixteen years old and was close to level 20, she must have become a Soul Master back in grade four or five.
Someone that exceptional would've been a hot topic among the teachers at Nuoding Academy. But not even Mo Hen, nor any of the other junior instructors, had ever mentioned her. Even the Nuoding Guild had no records of this girl.
She could only be an outsider.
And her goal was, most likely, that soul bone.
As for "degrading" herself?
Among female soul masters, a small number behaved just like their male counterparts before settling down — living freely and indulging in their desires. And in a fantasy world like this, where people possess soul power and martial spirits, it wasn't unreasonable. A female soul master with strength had just as much capital to stand toe-to-toe with male soul masters. There's no reason why men can live freely in their youth while women must cling tightly to chastity.
Though it sounded a bit… out there, Zhou Qing deeply understood the principle that productive forces determine productive relations; social consciousness determines social structure.
Among soul masters, both men and women had power. So naturally, men couldn't fully control women.
Besides, the overarching societal backdrop of the Heaven Dou Empire was similar to medieval Europe... But Zhou Qing figured that those major clans and sects — at least on a material level — imposed strict restrictions on their descendants' private lives to maintain martial spirit bloodline purity.
In contrast, civilians were more easily swayed and molded by societal trends.
In short: they went with the flow.
"Is it really okay for us to talk this loudly? She can probably hear us." Tang San gave Zhou Qing and Xiao Wu a speechless look as the two openly discussed things.
"We're only six years old. Kids speak without filters," Zhou Qing grinned. "Totally normal, right?"
"Yeah, six years old and already know so much."
Before her figure appeared, a voice rang out first.
The girl finally stepped into view.
She was now wearing a white dress and sat down gracefully across from them in a soft cushioned seat. She glanced over the three of them and said, "Aside from this ordinary little girl, which part of you two looks like six-year-olds?"
"Who the hell are you calling ordinary!" Ever since Zhou Qing explained the less-than-flattering connotation of "ordinary," Xiao Wu would explode whenever she heard it — especially when facing a girl who was even flatter than she was. She snapped back with a mocking tone, "By the time I'm your age, I'll definitely be bigger than you!"
The girl looked on with a smirk of disdain (￣_,￣), lips curled slightly, and said to Zhou Qing, "You're pretty clever. Figured out I'm here for the soul bone. Want to work together? If you help me, big sis might just make you a man."
"No thanks. I'd rather not catch syphilis," Zhou Qing replied without hesitation.
"Aw, but you already have someone you like — that little Romantina," the girl said teasingly.
Zhou Qing's chopsticks froze for a moment in mid-air before he resumed eating calmly.
Romantina, huh?
At present, Zhou Qing didn't feel anything romantic toward her. If anything, his only thoughts were about how to use her and the Sky Ice Silkworm in her mind.
As for how the woman before him knew about his and Romantina's connection, it wasn't surprising. The matter of them going soul beast hunting together wasn't a top secret — a quick inquiry at the Nuoding Guild would reveal it.
The city lord, or the deputy city lord, could easily investigate their identities by asking the teachers at Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy for information.
Even if City Lord Xiao didn't mention it to Xiao Chenyu, this woman — aiming for the soul bone — must have secretly gathered intel from the City Lord's Mansion.
Knowing that he and Romantina shared soul spirits, she might even suspect a Martial Soul Fusion Technique.
"Xiao San, if this woman suddenly attacks us, how many moves would it take for you to handle her?" Zhou Qing finished the cake, wiped the chopsticks clean, and stored them back into his pouch. Then, half-jokingly, he asked Tang San, "She's investigating us, knows too much, and now she's threatening us. That's practically asking to be killed."
Tang San: "…"
That's my catchphrase, isn't it?