"Six… almost seven?" Su Bei tilted his head, flashing a harmless smile.
Inside, though, he cursed. TMD, I don't even remember my true age since I walked out of that damn escape-room secret chamber. Bored to hell and back. Anyway, what matters is: match Xiao Wu's age. Safe cover, ahoy.
Xiao Wu chimed proudly, "My brother said my innate soul power is full rank level 10!"
Su Bei added faintly, "Yeah. I was also born with full soul power."
Xiao Wu twirled her braid with satisfaction. "And my martial spirit is a rabbit, a super cute soft rabbit~"
A smirk slipped across Su Bei's lips. He raised one hand, summoning the phantom mark. "Kiss—come back."
Ripples of divine aura shivered. The kiss—the ancient dragon-headed carp—burst like an ethereal phantom, crackling before dissolving into golden light. An arowana mark shimmered faintly in the air before fading.
Su Bei wiped his palm lazily. "As for me, my martial spirit is called the Gate of the Dragon God. It's rare—ancient, even. A summoner-type martial spirit, variant-class. Few exist in all of Douluo, past or present."
Liu Erlong's eyes caught fire, fingers tightening on Su Bei's delicate shoulder. Two innate full soul power geniuses… one with a dangerous summoning martial soul. Her pulse raced.
"Summoning martial spirits?" she pressed.
Su Bei nodded. "Yes. They can house space-beasts through rings, borrow their strength directly."
He flexed his fingers, letting a thin weave of white-blue lightning arc across them. Erlong, brushing her palm close by reflex, almost flinched at its crisp edge of danger.
Her breaths steadied. This child… no, this prodigy… is a gift from heaven. But her brows furrowed, suspicion tugging. "Xiaobei, you speak—so clearly, so knowingly. Who taught you this knowledge?"
Su Bei didn't blink, deploying the most classic protagonist-template excuse on the spot. "My dead father taught me. Before passing, he left me and my sister. He picked up Xiao Wu when she was a baby. Since then, we've grown up together—with only each other."
He winked slyly toward Xiao Wu. She blinked, startled, before nodding furiously. "Y-yes! That's right!"
Erlong softened, pity overtaking reason. Ah… an orphan, raising his sister early, forced mature by hardship. Heaven truly is unjust, but this boy's light burns anyway.
Her hand curled around his hair, tender as flame quenched to soft heat. "My Xiaobei… with your talent, especially as a summoner… if you find the right teacher, your future will be limitless."
Su Bei nodded solemnly. "They say Spirit Hall's foundation runs deepest. Pope Bibi Dong—already a level 98 Super Douluo, soon to reach the extreme by 99—is the strongest in the world."
"No!" Erlong snapped, fire sparking in her eyes as she pinched his cheek harshly. "Don't mention her to me again."
Su Bei blinked innocently, chuckling in his heart. Hit nerve? Perfect.
"Oh, don't be so riled. She's pitiful too. Abandoned by a man, just like you, Erlong-mother. Shouldn't you sympathize? As women, maybe you two could be friends."
Erlong went rigid. How does a child… say such words? She blinked again, but then shook her head softly. Su Bei's maturity was already something she'd accepted.
Her hand wrapped him fiercely into her chest. "So much responsibility… pressed onto a child's shoulders."
Su Bei squirmed inside but tucked a satisfied grin under his mask. Yes, yes… hold me tighter. Dependent. Fall deeper. My goddess strategy rolls on.
"Let's return to Lanba Academy quickly," Erlong sighed, regaining composure. "You can summon your martial spirit, but your control over soul power remains shallow. Mother will personally train you."
The children nestled back into the gilded carriage, but just as the Hanover White Horses steadied, ironclad wheels rattled along the road's stones.
From ahead, escort trumpets blasted.
A more luxurious carriage than theirs barreled forward, draped in banners of gold-threaded brocade, dozens of guards in silver armor following with banners high: [Tiandou Royal].
The procession's grandeur forced even Erlong to steer aside.
Her eyes narrowed. Royal family, flaunting again. Declining these years… princes dying young one after another… but Xue Qinghe, the surviving Crown Prince, has performed beyond expectations.
Xiao Wu pointed, muttering as the wheels thundered past. "What a flashy battle… I heard their carriage horses from miles away!"
Su Bei leaned forward through the silk-curtain window. His lips quirked knowingly. Xue Qinghe? Camouflage. Beneath that face must be the goddess—Qian Renxue herself. Saintess of Spirit Hall. The great Angel martial spirit in disguise.
Ah, goddess incoming. If I could 'bump' her somehow… would my system hand me an angel outfit reward?
His eyes gleamed with hunger.
Inside the royal carriage, behind velvet curtains, "Crown Prince" Xue Qinghe sat, eyes sharp, face glowing perfection. But this was no man. This was Qian Renxue—her disguise flawless, her beauty sharper than steel and colder than the moon.
Yet for one heartbeat, she peeked outside.
And froze.
A boy's face, like a painted jade immortal, gleamed under the sun with dragon aura still lingering faintly on his skin.
Her cold heart skipped. Such a child exists?
Her delicate hand nearly parted the curtain, nearly called her men to halt.
But the weight of her mission—the imperial edict, the Emperor's appointment, her years of infiltration as His Highness Xue Qinghe—dragged her fingers back beneath the veil.
Her voice cut sharp instead. "You two. Find out who that child's carriage belonged to. Report everything back to me. Immediately."
"Y-yes, Your Highness!"
The Royal guard bowed low.
The carriages thundered past each other like rivers colliding briefly. One cloaked goddess in disguise taking note; one boy, smiling knowingly at fate, raising his head like a flame at dawn.
By nightfall, the lamps and fountains of Tiandou City glimmered into view.
Erlong's carriage rolled through marble boulevards, the air filled with petals from spring gardens. Squat fountains in every plaza bubbled, casting diamond mist into lantern light.
At the city's proudest heart, a tall gate loomed.
Lanba Senior Soul Master Academy.
Stone walls carved in marble, gilt characters of gold shimmering in the torchlight. Founded by the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, ancestor of Erlong's bloodline, house of geniuses.
The square shimmered with fountains, blossoms lined walkways, and streams of new students and proud parents filed across—buzzing, blooming, filled with youth's vigor.
Su Bei strode forward with Xiao Wu at his side, Erlong radiant and fiery behind them.
Spring breezes whispered against marble arches, laughter echoed among flowers.
And yet, many eyes followed Su Bei at once. Not for his martial spirit. Not for any Soul Ring.
For his beauty.
The genius boy whose every step already threw Douluo's future off script.