"Speaking of which, my Martial Soul…"
With a slight shift of thought, points of light converged.
A moment later, a thick book with a yellowed cover appeared before her.
"Domain: Thousand Winds, Myriad Clouds."
Faint phosphorescence emanated around Xu Qian's body.
On the yellowed cover of the book, four golden characters gradually emerged.
"Annals of Time."
This was the true name of her Martial Soul.
Its currently discovered functions were to see past events through some medium and to generate powerful perception through the rustling of the wind.
"Thousand Winds brings the seeds of stories, and time makes them sprout."
This sentence inexplicably appeared in Xu Qian's mind.
Under her mental command, the pages of the Annals of Time slowly turned. What was originally a blank, continuous page stopped at a specific spot.
The page was no longer blank; instead, it was inscribed with information about a Soul Beast.
"Gale Wolf King, wind attribute, 23,000 years of cultivation…"
"By seeing fragments of my father's life through the Annals of Time, I learned about this Soul Beast, and so it was recorded by my Martial Soul, is that right?" Xu Qian was unsure of her thoughts.
At that time, after Xiao Yuanshan left the room, Xu Qian, who had touched the coffin, resonated with her own Martial Soul. She didn't know why this happened, nor how much time had passed.
She saw fragmented images of Notting City Lord Xiao Yuanshan and her father encountering the Gale Wolf King when they returned to Notting City.
"A five-ring Soul King with two yellow, two purple, and one black optimal Martial Soul Rings, plus an unknown Domain."
"Father, what exactly were you hiding from me?"
Not to mention optimal Martial Soul Rings, a Soul King being able to comprehend a Domain was basically a privilege reserved for protagonists.
Even a Titled Douluo might not necessarily master a Domain.
"Sigh…" Xu Qian let out a long sigh.
Her father seemed to have given Xiao Yuanshan something before his death. To find the truth, she might have to start with him. What she saw were only fragmented images, without even sound.
Xu Qian had many considerations when deciding to recognize Xiao Yuanshan as her adoptive father.
For example, the awakened Domain: Thousand Winds, Myriad Clouds.
This Domain might be related to the Gale Wolf King recorded in the book.
The Gale Wolf King ultimately escaped from her father's hands, but it was recorded by her Martial Soul.
When she wasn't entirely sure about the state of her Martial Soul, leveraging others was also necessary.
Otherwise, a Spirit Scholar who wasn't even a Soul Master wanting to encounter many Soul Beasts and survive would be simply playing with her life.
Recognizing the Notting City Lord as her adoptive father also had many benefits.
In the original work, Notting City Lord's son, Xiao Chenyu, setting aside his arrogant and overbearing personality, was his status not convenient for getting things done?
"It won't be easy to get that scoundrel to acknowledge me, I'm afraid."
Tang Yuehua's innate Domain, Noble Circle, was said to be able to influence even Titled Douluo. By the same token, shouldn't her awakened innate Domain easily subdue a young fellow who isn't even a Soul Master yet?
Thus, a month passed.
Under the City Lord's Estate's arrangements, Xu Qian's father's funeral was handled perfectly.
No matter what, he was a Soul Master who died for the City Lord's Estate, and a powerful Soul King at that.
Anyone with a brain knew how to handle a matter like buying bones with a thousand gold.
After Xu Qian's father was given a grand funeral, Xiao Yuanshan seized the opportunity to announce to Notting City that he was adopting Xu Qian as his daughter. Naturally, his reputation immediately soared.
However, things were not entirely smooth sailing.
Xiao Chenyu, who had been ordered not to cause trouble at the adoption ceremony, came to block the door the next day.
"Xu Qian, get out here!"
Xu Qian, yawning, opened the door and saw Xiao Chenyu, looking like a ruffled lion.
"Is there something you need?"
"You, I…" Xiao Chenyu said, huffing, "Even if Father agrees, I will never admit that you are my older sister."
"Mm, we can just address each other as we like." Xu Qian said calmly, "Don't do things that affect unity. No matter what, it's done now, and you can't resist, can you?"
"Damn it, your attitude!" Xiao Chenyu clenched his fists. "If Father hadn't locked me up yesterday, I would have gone out to stop it already. Why do you get to be Father's adopted daughter?"
"Because adoptive father agreed. Is that reason enough?"
"Your dad is dead, a dead Soul King is nothing…"
"Shut up!" Xu Qian interrupted coldly. "For adoptive father's sake, I'll pretend I didn't hear that."
"What? Did that sting? I'm telling you, you're a country bumpkin, and a good-for-nothing who can't even cultivate. Even your dead father…"
"Slap!"
Xiao Chenyu's cheek swelled, and he was sent flying two or three meters.
"You, you actually dared to hit me!" Xiao Chenyu clutched his cheek, full of disbelief.
Why did this little girl dare?
He was the City Lord's biological son, and she was just an adopted daughter.
Did she think about the consequences?
"Xiao Chenyu, I hope you will be more mindful of your words and actions in the future." Xu Qian sighed, her gaze shifting to her right. "Adoptive father, you've been watching for a long time, haven't you?"
Xiao Chenyu, who was about to erupt, froze completely, his face filled with shock.
"Fa… Father…"
The man with the square face walked over.
"I'm sorry, Qianqian, it's adoptive father's fault for not teaching him well." Xiao Yuanshan looked at Xu Qian, then at his own disappointing biological son.
"It's alright, I don't mind." Xu Qian's tone was calm. "Adoptive father, I hope this kind of thing doesn't happen again. May I ask if that's possible?"
"Don't worry, I guarantee as the City Lord that such a situation will never occur again." Xiao Yuanshan's expression straightened. He turned to Xiao Chenyu. "Chenyu, apologize to your older sister."
"I won't!" Xiao Chenyu stood up. "Why should a good-for-nothing who can't cultivate be above me? I refuse to accept it!"
"Then what do you want?" Xiao Yuanshan frowned.
"Unless she can beat me, otherwise I won't accept it."
"Do you know what you're saying?" Xiao Yuanshan reprimanded sharply. "You, with your innate level four Soul Power, want to fight your older sister? You simply don't know where you've gone wrong!"
If there was no comparison, it wouldn't be much, but as peers, his adopted daughter's performance in the City Lord's Estate during this time completely outshone his biological son. This was truly a case of comparing goods and wanting to throw one away.
"I just won't accept it." Xiao Chenyu turned his head away. "Even if I'm beaten to death today and thrown out to wander, I still won't accept a good-for-nothing who can't even cultivate as my older sister."
"Father, I know you feel guilty and want to repay this little girl, but the way to repay her isn't by letting someone step all over your own son. By doing this, have you considered my feelings?"
"I, the dignified young master of the City Lord's Estate, inexplicably have someone above me, and the most important thing is that this person is a good-for-nothing. In the future, when people mention Xiao Chenyu, they won't say 'young master of the City Lord's Estate,' but rather 'the younger brother of the good-for-nothing eldest young lady of the City Lord's Estate.'
"The younger brother of the good-for-nothing eldest young lady—wouldn't that make me, Xiao Chenyu, seem even more useless?"
Xiao Yuanshan: "…"
What kind of thought process was that? Was this really his biological child?
"So, if I beat you, you won't bother me anymore?" Just as Xiao Chenyu and Xiao Yuanshan were arguing red-faced, a faint voice drifted over.
"That's right." Xiao Chenyu roared, "If you lose, you'll be my younger sister."
Xu Qian: "…"
You argued back and forth just for this title?
The recent minor villainous side characters were truly unfathomable.