After Shen Hanyu finished saying this sentence, Shui Bing'er was visibly stunned, then subconsciously took the gray bead from Shen Hanyu's hand.
The moment the Shark Pearl touched her hand, it felt warm and smooth, emitting a faint fragrance. Its jade-like surface seemed to have fluorescence flowing across it, and inside, a gentle yet vast energy was surging. Holding it gave her a unique sensation.
"This is..."
Shui Bing'er stroked the Shark Pearl and asked curiously.
Shen Hanyu was taken a moment, then suddenly understood.
In this era, human soul masters had very little understanding of treasures produced by sea soul beasts; one could even say they knew almost nothing about them. Even if they obtained one, they would probably only treat it as an ordinary treasure to collect.
"This is a Shark Pearl. It only comes from shark-type sea soul beasts, and the chance of producing one is very small, but its effects are extremely good. It's just that ordinary people don't know its uses."
Shen Hanyu explained.
Shui Bing'er let out a soft "mm," then her delicate and refined brows slightly furrowed as she said in a light voice:
"Then isn't this very precious? Are you sure you want to give it to me when we've only met for the first... second time?"
Shen Hanyu smiled indifferently and said:
"It's fine, take it. If you don't want it, I'll give it to your little sister or to Yu'er instead."
Shui Bing'er hesitated for a moment, but still slowly withdrew her hand. Then, somewhat curiously, she asked:
"Is Liuyu really your younger sister?"
Shen Hanyu nodded and smiled lightly, saying:
"Absolutely real, no fakes. It's just that I was hidden very well by the family, and since I was young, I've been wandering out on my own. Even many acquaintances in Four Seasons City have already forgotten about my existence. I'm the kind of person who finds it hard to stay idle; if I don't go out, I can't stay at home..."
"Oh..."
Shui Bing'er responded, then looked toward the two people eavesdropping outside the fence. After hesitating a little, she said:
"Can I boldly ask what your martial soul is? I don't mean any harm; it's just that I feel something in you resonating with my martial soul. If you don't want to say it, that's fine too..."
Shen Hanyu glanced over, then shifted his gaze back and said:
"My martial soul is the Cold Heaven Spear, a variation fusion of my mother and father's martial souls. You might be hearing this name for the first time, but spear-type martial souls aren't rare on the continent—for example, the Soul-Breaking Spear and Dragon Soul Spear both have inheritances on the continent..."
Shen Hanyu paused, then continued:
"Liuyu was originally supposed to inherit my father's Ice Jade Crocodile martial soul, but when awakening her martial soul, a benign mutation occurred, so it became the Enamel Lucky Crocodile."
Shui Bing'er nodded in understanding. Her own martial soul had also undergone an atavistic phenomenon; from the family's inherited martial soul, it directly ascended in one step to the Ice Phoenix martial soul that stood at the very top of avian soul beasts. However, having too powerful a martial soul wasn't entirely a good thing—at least not right now.
"That time when Liuyu's cultivation suddenly skyrocketed, that was your doing too, right?"
Shui Bing'er asked.
Last time, after Shen Liuyu went out once, her cultivation directly soared by several levels. This matter had even attracted the attention of her aunt, the dean.
After all, Shen Liuyu and several of them were being cultivated as the future members of the Tianshui Team; nothing could go wrong. In the future, they would all become the face of the academy.
Her aunt had carefully examined Shen Liuyu's body and found no problems at all. When she asked Shen Liuyu the reason, Shen Liuyu hemmed and hawed and couldn't give a clear explanation. In the end, the matter was dropped, and Shui Ningbing didn't ask further; she only warned her to be more careful in the future.
Thinking about it now, with Shen Liuyu having such a seemingly unreliable but actually extremely mysterious brother, everything suddenly made sense.
The sun was gradually tilting westward as Shen Hanyu and Shui Bing'er slowly chatted about related topics in the courtyard. The atmosphere was quite harmonious.
Shen Hanyu inwardly marveled: at only nine years old, her mind was already this mature and calm. No wonder in the future she would suppress the other members of the Tianshui Team—who were generally two or three years older than her—and become the undisputed captain, leading the Tianshui Team to achieve very good results. Her temperament and ability were undoubtedly first-class.
Shen Hanyu liked talking with smart people; it made him feel relaxed and equal, rather than standing alone at the top looking down on others. That feeling of having everything beneath his notice was not what he pursued.
It was rather funny when he thought about it—he had been in this world for a full fourteen years, yet the first time he felt this way was with a nine-year-old girl. Even with Dugu Bo, he hadn't felt this way, because in essence, the other party wasn't bad; one could even say he was a moral exemplar in another sense.
The two of them chatted in the courtyard as if no one else was there, completely ignoring the two little sisters outside who were nearly driven mad by mosquitoes and other small bugs. By the time they reacted, the resentment from Shen Liuyu and Shui Yue'er had almost shot straight up to the heavens.
Shen Hanyu held back his laughter and handed the two of them a tube of ointment, gesturing for them to apply it.
Shui Bing'er felt a little annoyed at herself and personally helped the two of them while pouring them each a drink.
Shen Liuyu glared at Shen Hanyu and said with pretended grievance:
"Brother~ are you still my real brother? You've never given me the things you gave Bing'er. Now I finally see your true colors—you're a scumbag who values women over his sister..."
Shen Hanyu knocked on her forehead with a hint of reproach.
She's only this young right now. Although feelings should indeed be cultivated from childhood, saying it in front of the person involved was still inappropriate. He currently had no such dirty thoughts—at most, it was just a long-term nurturing game, and in the end, personally harvesting the flower he had planted...
"Enough, stop pretending to be pitiful with me. Don't you know whether I'm your real brother or not? The things I gave you—you still haven't used them all up, even now. Heh, I really don't know how you've been cultivating; it's so slow. I've truly wasted all my efforts..."
Shen Hanyu mocked.
But the truth was indeed so. Almost half a year had passed, yet Shen Liuyu's strength had only just reached around level 28, barely increasing by a little more than one level. The speed was truly slow enough.
At this rate, who knew what she was even doing? This was also what dissatisfied Shen Hanyu.
He could afford to slack off because he had memories from his previous life and could obtain many opportunities—even becoming a god wasn't particularly difficult. But aside from him, Shen Liuyu basically had no other major support. Rather than always relying on him, she still needed to become strong on her own. Only having sufficiently strong personal strength was the true kingly way.
Shen Liuyu lowered her head in some embarrassment. She admitted that because she had a brother to back her up, she had indeed been a bit lax in her cultivation.
Shen Hanyu didn't want to blame her too much; he only rubbed her neat short hair and said no more.
At this moment, Shui Yue'er, who had finished applying the ointment, popped up from the side, showed Shen Hanyu a big smile, and then righteously stretched out her hand, saying:
"Sis—no, wait, Brother Yu~ you've already given my sister a gift, so where's mine? Although I'm inferior to my sister in everything, big brother can't be so biased, right?"
These words were a bit green-tea-ish, and Shen Hanyu couldn't help but find them funny. This little girl was indeed quite interesting.
Shui Bing'er also felt a little embarrassed by her sister's extreme sociability. She came over, pulled Shui Yue'er's hand, and softly scolded:
"Yue'er, we're guests; don't mess around!"
A trace of fear appeared in Shui Yue'er's eyes, but she turned her head and looked at Shen Hanyu with longing eyes, putting on a pitiful little appearance.
Shen Hanyu took out a lotus-flower-like bloom from his soul guidance device and handed it to Shui Yue'er, smiling as he said:
"This is a Sea-Containing Lotus, roughly five hundred years old. After refining it, it can increase soul power. I'm giving it to you."
Shui Yue'er glanced at her older sister, then happily accepted it.
Shui Bing'er helplessly pulled Shui Yue'er's arm and thanked Shen Hanyu.
Shui Yue'er also said in a sweet, coquettish voice:
"Thank you, Brother Yu, ~ In the future, I'll often bring my sister to come play with you, okay~ Hehe..."
Shui Bing'er lowered her head and rubbed her forehead, no longer bothering with her.
Shen Hanyu smiled and nodded, not refusing.
Life was too monotonous; having a bit more fun was always good.
He was a living, breathing person; naturally, he couldn't achieve complete abstinence from desires. Everything proceeded with its bumps and knocks, but life still had to go on. Ordinary days had their own unique comfort in tranquility, their own special beauty—just waiting for people to discover it.