In Heaven Dou City, the capital of the Heaven Dou Empire, a boy of about fifteen years stood calmly, observing the crowds below. People came and went, no one knowing where the other was headed. Most of them were noble children, idle and indulgent, seeking amusement in the outer city—bullying commoners in public or forcibly taking their daughters, all without shame.
The boy watched these scenes with indifference, as if none of it concerned him. Such things did not affect his mood in the slightest.
As he pondered the current situation of the mainland, the two peaks of the martial spirit world had recently completed their campaigns—slaughtering fallen Soul Masters and promoting the reputation of their respective factions. Because of their actions, the mainland appeared calm for now, but who could say what the future held?
The boy had black hair streaked faintly with gold, making him look slightly out of place, yet it suited him perfectly. His skin was pale, and his golden eyes were half-closed as he coldly observed the rampaging behavior of the noble children below. He wore black robes traced with delicate golden lines, matching the color of his hair.
As he sipped his tea, a little girl of about seven ran over and said cheerfully,
"Brother Silent Night, what are you watching again? Did you see something fun this time?"
The little girl had black hair and a face so soft it seemed like cotton if pinched. Her black eyes sparkled with curiosity. Her name was Rin. She was an orphan whom I had raised myself. Her martial spirit was the Golden Flame Eagle, with an innate soul power of level 8. After one year of cultivation, she had reached level 14 and possessed a 560-year spirit ring—obtained from a Flame Eagle I personally hunted for her first ring.
My eyes softened as I spoke while she sat beside me.
"Nothing much. I was just watching people walk along the road. There's nothing interesting enough to entertain you. Tell me instead—have you finished your morning meditation, Rin?"
She immediately panicked, lowering her head as she tried to think of an excuse to escape. Seeing her reaction reminded me of the day I found her. She had been a baby, abandoned in a soul beast forest while I was searching for my second spirit ring. I took her in out of pity—her fate was worse than mine. At least my mother loved me before she died when I was two years old. Even on her deathbed, she told me never to search for my father.
Rin, however, didn't even know that her parents had thrown her away to die. So I raised her the way my mother had raised me—gently.
I treated her like both a daughter and a younger sister. Her talent was extremely high, second only to mine. Over the years, I had observed that even among noble bloodlines, few Soul Masters awakened innate soul power above level 7. Only a handful were publicly known to boost their family or faction's reputation—such as Prince Xue with level 7, or Dugu Bo with level 8.
With that in mind, one could easily imagine the situation of commoners on the mainland, most of whom awakened weak martial spirits like Blue Silver Grass.
While I was lost in thoughts about my future plans, Rin raised her small head and said quickly,
"Brother, I mostly finished my morning training. I'm going out to play for a while to relax my mind! Bye-bye, Brother!"
She spoke at lightning speed and ran off immediately.
I came back to my senses and said gently,
"Rin, you didn't complete your training, did you? It's fine for today—you may go and play, but—"
My tone suddenly turned villainous.
"You will do double training tomorrow. Do you understand?"
The moment my words fell, she nearly tripped. She turned back to look at me with watery eyes, trying to earn my pity. I didn't even glance at her. Seeing that I showed no mercy, she opened her mouth to argue—but in the end, said nothing and ran away.
I spoke calmly into the empty space,
"Protect her."