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The soul skill Lesser Burn might be basic, but it's more than enough for the early stages. Even later on, when the amplification ratio drops, it's still useful. For a Title Douluo, even a 5% boost in power is no joke.
"I got Lesser Burn too,"Liuying nodded. There was no way her soul skill would be different from Liuxing's. The Life-Sharing Ritual they went through was on a divine level—something beyond the control of Douluo Continent's rules.
"Seems kinda similar to my Holy Blessing,"Ye Guyi looked at the two with a hint of competitive fire in her eyes. If the location were more suitable, she'd probably have challenged them to a spar right there.
Even though they were one level above her, she didn't think she'd lose. That was the confidence she had in her Sacred Angel Martial Soul.
Looking at the four of them, Xu Tianzhen seemed to be the weakest. Among the three top-tier martial souls passed down through the Sun-Moon Empire's royal family, the Purple Radiant Destruction Dragon was the strongest, aligned with destruction. It could probably go toe-to-toe with the Sacred Angel. But the Sun and Silver Moon martial souls... definitely a bit weaker.
Plus, she had the lowest soul power level of them all.
Xu Tianzhen pouted and kicked at a pebble with her soft deer-hide shoes. "Why does it feel like I got lucky... but also kinda not?"
Liuxing and the others couldn't help laughing. It was true—she had great luck finding a spirit beast with a divine beast bloodline that suited her Sun Martial Soul, but compared to Ye Guyi and the Liuxing-Liuying duo, it seemed like she came up a bit short.
"Alright, alright. You little brats are all way luckier than I was,"Luan Yu said with a chuckle, patting Xu Tianzhen on the head."I didn't run into a soul beast with Ice Phoenix bloodline for my first ring, didn't get an external soul bone, and only leveled up once. But look, I still managed to become a Title Douluo."
She understood that kids liked to compare themselves to others—especially someone like Xu Tianzhen, who came from nobility. She had the most prestigious background out of the four, yet ended up with the smallest gains. Of course she'd feel a bit off about it.
Fortunately, Xu Tianzhen was a bit scatterbrained by nature. She didn't get jealous—just shook off her frustration pretty quickly.
"So what if your soul power's higher? Doesn't mean you'll win a fight. Soul skills matter too. All of you got support-type skills. I'm the only one with an offensive one. Once we're back, all of you better line up to fight me—I'll beat you all till you cry!"She clenched her soft, tiny fists and growled fiercely, flashing two sharp little tiger teeth.
"Deal. I'll be the first to spar with you,"Ye Guyi agreed immediately. She'd been itching to test her skills against her friends. Sure, they were all close, but that didn't mean they couldn't duke it out.
Liuxing watched the drama unfold with a smirk. He wasn't worried. If he couldn't even beat two six-year-old girls, then all the strength he got from Liuying's physique would've been for nothing.
As for Liuying—well, even before awakening her martial soul, she could toss around someone like Yu Tianlong, who was two years older than her. Now that she had a martial soul and soul power? Beating two rookies with one soul ring each would be a piece of cake.
Liuxing patted Xu Tianzhen on the shoulder, nodded toward Ye Guyi, and grinned."So, Tianzhen—think you can win?"
Xu Tianzhen crossed her arms and raised her chin proudly."Guaranteed win."
"Oh really? I'll be watching then,"Liuxing smirked. Her first soul skill could attack, sure, but the prep time was way too long. Plus, Ye Guyi's soul bone skill Dispel was practically a cheat against anyone with just one skill.
Did Tianzhen... forget about Ye Guyi's soul bone skill?With how scatterbrained she was, it wouldn't be surprising.
Their trip to the Demonic Forest didn't exactly go smoothly, but in the end, all four of the kids got the soul rings they wanted—and even scored a few extras.
Luan Yu had originally planned to find a few ten-year soul beasts near the forest's edge so the kids could practice. But after running into a Title Douluo-level Evil Soul Master, she didn't dare linger with four little burdens in tow. They made a quick retreat back to Mingdu.
Luan Yu stayed on high alert the whole way, but the ambush she expected never happened. That confused her. Since when were Evil Soul Masters this "well-behaved"?
She recognized the look that Evil Soul Master had given her—that hungry, greedy gaze. She'd seen it plenty of times before. If he was that tempted, there was no reason for him to just let them go.
She figured he must've gone off to get reinforcements for an ambush on their way back. But even as they neared Mingdu, nothing happened.
It made her feel like she'd spent the entire trip playing mind games with thin air.
She sighed and subtly made a hand signal with her right hand before leading the four kids down toward the gates of Mingdu.
Liuying casually glanced toward a patch of empty air in the distance.
Once everyone had entered the city, way up in the sky—thousands of meters high—the air shimmered faintly. Then, from thin air, emerged the figure of Fire Phoenix Douluo, clad in blazing red armor.
She looked down at Liuying's back with surprise and murmured,"Did she... just notice me?"
She shook her head a moment later. No way. She was a Title Douluo using a Level 9 soul device to hide herself. Even a Super Douluo would struggle to spot her, let alone a kid with barely level 10 soul power like Liuying.
She'd only shown up because Luan Yu had asked her to. There was a risk of ambush on the way back, and Fire Phoenix Douluo was meant to catch any attackers off guard.
But the whole trip was uneventful. No ambushes, no signs of trouble.Did she mess up the stealth? Or was Luan Yu just overthinking it?
Still, Fire Phoenix Douluo trusted Luan Yu's judgment. She'd been dealing with Evil Soul Masters for years and knew how those maniacs operated.
If she said an ambush was likely, she had her reasons. No ambush was definitely a good thing—after all, the kids returning safe and sound was the best outcome.
And Luan Yu wasn't wrong either. If it were any other time, Masked Douluo definitely wouldn't have let a solo Level 9 soul engineer like Luan Yu go. Those engineers were famously rich, and she just happened to be his favorite type of prey—beautiful and easy to torment, especially when she was dragging a bunch of kids around. It was the perfect chance.
But recently, their cult leader had been negotiating with a prince from the Sun-Moon Empire. Killing a top-tier soul engineer right now might ruin the talks. Even if Masked Douluo wouldn't be in danger himself, he'd still get hit with a major punishment.
A bit of a shame, sure—but not worth it. No way he was going to get mocked by his buddies just because he couldn't keep it in his pants.
"....."