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Meteor and Firefly kept their undefeated streak. Ye Guyi and Xu Tianzhen had mixed results—wins and losses. But what really surprised everyone was that Gu Yuena also went totally undefeated. Most people had assumed she'd end up like Ye Guyi and Xu Tianzhen, eventually getting put in their place by the upperclassmen.
But Gu Yuena pulled out a silver dragon spear and, along with her first soul skill—Water Element Control—absolutely dominated all her challengers.
The other students figured her flashy silver spear was just a fancy soul tool. Only Meteor and Firefly noticed something different. They could sense an aura in that spear… something that felt eerily similar to the Goddess of Life.
That wasn't just some advanced weapon.
It was divine.
A divine weapon! That silver dragon spear might actually be an artifact—a true god-tier weapon. Even the most powerful ninth-level soul tools couldn't compare to something like that.
Meteor once asked Gu Yuena about it in private. She told him it was a family heirloom. And thinking about her Silver Dragon martial soul… it made sense. If her family could pass down such a powerful martial soul, then owning a divine weapon wasn't out of the question either.
But strangely, Firefly seemed even more wary of Gu Yuena after that. It surprised Meteor—especially since even Meng Hongchen hadn't put Firefly on edge like that.
Firefly loved school life. She made friends with a bunch of girls and totally enjoyed the chill campus vibe. Sometimes, Meteor even spotted her out shopping with Meng Hongchen.
As long as Meteor wasn't around, Firefly and Meng Hongchen got along fine. But the moment he showed up, the whole vibe would change—which he found super confusing.
Still, even someone like Firefly never became friends with Gu Yuena. Meteor figured that was totally normal, though.
Over the past month, Gu Yuena had attracted a few fangirls, but that was one-sided. She never really interacted with them. She always kept to herself, cold and distant with everyone.
The only exception was when Meteor came to talk to her—then that proud, aloof vibe would soften just a little. A lot of the guys noticed and talked about it behind the scenes.
But Meteor knew the truth: Gu Yuena just didn't like socializing. She treated him nicely simply because he was strong. After all, she treated Firefly the same way, but Firefly didn't want anything to do with her.
Meteor figured Gu Yuena was kind of like Xiao Hongchen. She only respected the strong—if you were weak, you didn't even register to her. At least, that's how he saw it.
After three months, all the new students had pretty much adapted to life at the academy and settled into their own social groups. Meteor and his crew were no exception.
Only the strong made it into their inner circle. Aside from Xiao Hongchen, Meng Hongchen, and Gu Yuena, the one who hung out with them the most was Nana.
Of course, Meteor and his friends weren't snobby. They got along fine with their classmates. Unlike Gu Yuena, who scared off anyone who even thought about starting a conversation with her.
"Nana, what's going on with you lately? You look really out of it."
In the cafeteria, Meteor watched Nana mindlessly sipping her soup. Her face was pale, dark circles under her eyes, and she looked totally spaced out. He couldn't help but speak up.
Firefly, Ye Guyi, and the others also turned to look at her. They'd noticed something off with Nana too, but since she hadn't brought it up, they hadn't pushed. Still, seeing her like this—it was clear she had something on her mind, and they couldn't ignore it anymore.
"I'm… I'm fine. Just been training too hard lately, that's all."
Nana avoided eye contact and spoke in a quiet voice.
Meteor narrowed his eyes a little. "Nana, we're friends, right?"
"Yeah, of course! You guys are my best friends," Nana quickly nodded.
"Then if something's bothering you, you can tell us. Maybe we can actually help."
"Exactly! Don't let my looks fool you—I'm a duchess, you know! Rely on me all you want, Nana!"
"If you need help with anything, I got your back."
"If someone's been bullying you, just say the word—I'll go beat them up for you!"
As she listened to her friends, Nana's body trembled slightly, and a thin layer of tears welled up in her eyes.
"Wait—are you crying? Someone is bullying you?! Who the hell's got the guts to mess with my friend?!" Xu Tianzhen jumped up, instantly losing his cool.
Everyone freaked out when they saw Nana cry. She was usually so tough—even in soul battles, no matter how badly she got beaten up, she never shed a tear. For her to cry now? It had to be serious.
With everyone comforting her, Nana finally wiped her tears and started talking—telling them everything that had happened recently, in detail.
Turns out, no one at school had been picking on her. After all, everyone knew Nana was under Meteor's protection. No one was dumb enough to mess with her.
The real reason she looked so drained was because something had happened back home.
Her father was just an ordinary baron—and not even a soul master. Her mother, on the other hand, had once been rescued by her dad while she was out hunting soul beasts and got badly injured. He took her in and nursed her back to health. Over time, she was moved by his kindness, and the two of them ended up together.
Then came Nana. Their family wasn't rich, but they were happy. To send Nana to Mingdu Junior Soul Engineer Academy, her dad had spent every last bit of his savings.
But recently, her mom hit a bottleneck in her cultivation. She needed a new soul ring to break through. Her mom had been a commoner too, and trained entirely on her own. She had only ever attended a basic soul master school as a kid and couldn't afford more advanced education.
Still, thanks to her hard work, she managed to reach Level 40 soul power not long ago, officially becoming a Soul Ancestor. That was already a huge achievement for someone from a regular background.
However, when her mom came back after obtaining her fourth soul ring, something felt off. At first, Nana and her dad were just happy for her and didn't notice the changes.
Then about a month ago, a group of strangers came to their house. No one knew what they said to her mom, but after talking to them, she left with them. Her dad tried to stop her, but she didn't listen.
After that, her mom started going out more and more, coming home looking worse each time. But strangely, her cultivation shot up. In just a month, she gained two more levels of soul power.
Even Meteor and the others couldn't manage that kind of speed—and her mom was already past the prime age for training.
Nana also noticed that some valuables had gone missing at home. Her dad was aging rapidly, and her mom hardly ever came back anymore.
That's why Nana had been so distracted and exhausted lately.
"....."