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As they walked into the clothing store, Nan Shuishui looked at the kids and smiled. "Go pick out an outfit, everyone. Meteor and Firefly, you two can grab a few extra sets. If there's nothing you like, we can get something custom made."
"Thanks, godmom!"
"Thanks, Sect Master!"
"Really? Mom, you're the best!"
New clothes—what kid doesn't love that? Even Nan Qiuhui, who already had way too many outfits, looked pleasantly surprised. She hadn't expected to get anything, but hey, bonus surprise!
Meteor casually picked a few outfits. When Nan Qiuhui tried recommending a pink set, he immediately shot it down with a disgusted look. He even helped Firefly pick out her clothes, also steering her clear of anything pink. With her vibe, pink just wasn't a good match—which left Nan Qiuhui and Nan Shuishui both visibly disappointed.
Thanks to their Rouge Dragon martial spirits, both mother and daughter were obsessed with pink and always tried to promote it to others. Too bad—neither Meteor, Firefly, nor any of the Earth Dragon Sect disciples were having it. Everyone looked straight-up offended at the idea.
Come on, a manly man—a real tough guy—how could he wear pink?
Now that she had new friends, and younger ones at that, Nan Qiuhui was in a great mood. She skipped along the way, even proudly showing off her freshly awakened Rouge Dragon martial spirit to them.
Meteor and Firefly both stared curiously at her right hand, now covered in pink dragon scales. They couldn't help but wonder what kind of martial spirits they would awaken someday.
Even though they were technically outsiders, the Life Goddess had helped them out, and they now carried a bit of divine life essence. That made them kind of half-locals already, so it shouldn't be a problem for them to awaken their martial spirits. The Life Goddess wouldn't have sent them to the Douluo Continent otherwise. She didn't seem like the kind of unreliable person who would just dump them here for no reason.
The only downside? On the Douluo Continent, no one awakens their martial spirit before they turn six. Meteor and Firefly were still two years too early. But they were both super curious about what they'd end up with. Considering Firefly's bloodline and status, even if she didn't get a god-given martial spirit or an innate soul power of level 20, she'd probably at least start off with full innate soul power, right?
And once Firefly awakened her martial spirit, Meteor would automatically get the same one—and the same soul power level—thanks to the life-sharing ceremony they'd gone through. Talk about peak freeloading!
Of course, Meteor would never admit he was freeloading. No way. He was determined to train hard and take Firefly to the top with him.
In this world, starting out with full innate soul power was a huge deal. As long as nothing went wrong along the way, such a person would almost certainly become a Title Douluo. Even Nan Qiuhui, who started at level 9, was already considered a genius. With the Earth Dragon Sect's support, her path to Title Douluo was pretty much guaranteed.
In Dragon City, among the younger generation, only the Sky Dragon Sect had someone better—a boy named Yu Tianlong, their young master. He awakened the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon and had full innate soul power. He was the only one who could outshine Nan Qiuhui.
According to Nan Qiuhui, the Sky Dragon Sect and their Earth Dragon Sect were mortal enemies. One day, she swore she'd crush Yu Tianlong and put the Earth Dragon Sect on top.
Meteor couldn't help rolling his eyes. Sky Dragon, Earth Dragon? Yeah, those names clearly had some history. One up in the sky and one down on the ground—no wonder the Earth Dragon Sect was always getting overshadowed. With a name like that, how could they not be?
As for this so-called "mortal enemy" thing, Meteor didn't really buy it. If they were truly mortal enemies, how come everything seemed so peaceful? Sure, the younger disciples clashed sometimes, but the elders never fought, and things never got out of hand. Conflicts were always squashed early. If you told Meteor the higher-ups didn't have some secret backroom deals going on, he'd laugh in your face.
Once they arrived at the Earth Dragon Sect, Meteor finally got to see the real deal: soul beasts. The sect had lava earth dragons in captivity, just like Nan Qiuhui said. They were massive and could breathe fire.
Sure, compared to the bizarre creatures Meteor had seen out in space, they were nothing, but being able to get this close—and even touch one with Nan Shuishui's help—made him feel like calling her his god-sis was totally worth it.
Time passed slowly, and Meteor and Firefly gradually settled into life at the Earth Dragon Sect. With Nan Qiuhui, the little chaos queen, covering for them, no kid dared mess with them. And with Nan Shuishui as their godmother, even the elders spoiled them rotten. Compared to Nan Qiuhui, those two were calm, quiet, and well-behaved—instant favorites.
Firefly didn't rely on just her cuteness either. She used her fists to shut down a few kids who didn't like her being the new "second boss." This tiny four-year-old girl, who hadn't even awakened her martial spirit yet, beat up a group of six- and seven-year-old kids who had—left them bruised and bleeding. The elders were stunned and all agreed she had the makings of a future Title Douluo.
It didn't take long for Firefly to become the unquestioned queen of the kids. Nan Qiuhui even wanted to bring her along to challenge Yu Tianlong, but Nan Shuishui stopped her just in time. She could already tell Firefly had freakish strength.
Even without a martial spirit, she could beat kids who had awakened theirs. Sure, those kids didn't have soul rings yet, but still—soul power made a huge difference. A kid with soul power could easily beat ten without it.
Nan Shuishui didn't want Firefly to get too much attention. The Sky Dragon Sect might not care, but others would. Dragon City wasn't just those two sects. There were nobles from the Heaven Soul Empire, other small and mid-sized clans, and soul hunting groups from the Far North. It was a mixed bag. If the wrong people started watching her, things could get real messy.
Meteor, on the other hand, kept a low profile. Unlike Firefly, who got lured away by cupcakes and followed Nan Qiuhui all over the place, Meteor preferred quiet corners where he could read in peace. The Earth Dragon Sect's library wasn't exactly huge, but it had the basic stuff he needed to understand this world.
At first, he didn't know how to read, so he had to ask his godmom to find him a teacher. But whether it was his natural talent or because his body was based on Firefly's, he managed to learn most of the characters in just one month and could read on his own.
Firefly lagged behind a bit because she was always glued to Nan Qiuhui, but even she picked it up in two months. If she hadn't spent so much time messing around, she probably would've learned faster than Meteor.
Firefly was having the time of her life, and Meteor didn't bother her. She was strong, but not exactly a thinker—a total brute. Meteor noticed it, and so did Nan Shuishui.
When other kids challenged her, she didn't care how old or how strong they were. If they got in her face, she just ran up and punched them. No hesitation. When Nan Qiuhui invited her to go beat up Yu Tianlong, she didn't even think twice—just said yes.
If Nan Shuishui hadn't stopped those two little gremlins, the so-called number one genius in Dragon City would probably be walking around with a black eye right now.
"....."