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Firelight flickered in the night, and a soft breeze rustled through the leaves. By a crackling bonfire, two people sat facing each other, the air thick with the delicious scent of roasted rabbit.
Qian Renxue took a bite of a rabbit leg, and her eyes widened in surprise as the savory juice filled her mouth. The meat was crisp on the outside and tender on the inside, a perfect combination. "This is so good! How did you make this rabbit leg so flavorful and tender?" she asked, a note of disbelief in her voice. "Brother Tang, your family doesn't happen to own a restaurant, do they?"
Tang Chuan, who was busy peeling rabbit meat, smiled at her question. He looked up at Qian Renxue, his eyes holding a hint of distant memory. "Not exactly a restaurant," he said softly. "When I was a kid, I often didn't have enough to eat, so I'd go into the mountains to catch wild rabbits and pheasants to roast. After a while, I got pretty good at it."
"Didn't have enough to eat?" A look of confusion crossed Qian Renxue's face. "On the Douluo Continent, even common people can make a living and have enough to eat and wear. Are you... an orphan?"
Tang Chuan's movements paused slightly. He lowered his head and was silent for a moment before giving a small nod. "You could say that," he said, his voice surprisingly calm. "I have a father, but besides giving me life, he never did anything else for me. He didn't cook, he didn't care about my clothes. When I was three or four, I had to light the fire and cook for myself and for him every day. If he wasn't happy with it, he'd scold me. If I got sick, I had to endure it all by myself."
He twitched the corner of his mouth, his smile sarcastic and cold. "What's the difference between having a father like that and not having one at all?"
Qian Renxue was stunned. She had only asked a casual question, never expecting this young man, who was younger than her, to have lived such a difficult life. She tightened her grip on the rabbit leg she was holding. She looked at Tang Chuan with a new understanding, and a similar feeling of kinship rose in her heart. Hadn't her own mother treated her the same way? Because of what Qian Xunji had done, Bibi Dong had never truly accepted Qian Renxue, even to this day. The resentment she held made her incredibly cold towards her own daughter. In Qian Renxue's mind, there was no difference between having a mother like that and not having one. Hearing Tang Chuan's story, she felt a strange sense of connection.
"I'm sorry," Qian Renxue said, offering a small apology. "I didn't mean to ask."
Tang Chuan just waved his hand. "It's nothing. It's all in the past."
After a few moments of silence, Qian Renxue spoke softly. "Actually, I'm an orphan too. My parents passed away when I was very young, and my grandfather raised me. He was very good to me."
Tang Chuan almost spit out the rabbit meat he was chewing. He looked at Qian Renxue, his face full of disbelief. You're an orphan too? he thought to himself. If I hadn't read the original story, I would have fallen for your trick again. A woman's mouth is truly a deceitful ghost.
Qian Renxue noticed his expression. She raised an eyebrow, and her voice had a playful tone. "Hey, Brother Tang Chuan, why are you looking at me like that? I'm not a woman."
Tang Chuan was startled and quickly looked away. "It's nothing," he said flatly, thinking, You're a great actress.
"By the way, Brother Tang Chuan," Qian Renxue's expression grew serious. "You came to the Star Dou Great Forest to hunt a spirit beast and get a spirit ring, right? My injuries shouldn't have healed so quickly. You wouldn't happen to be a support-system Spirit Master with healing abilities, would you? Shouldn't that kind of Spirit Master be working with other people to hunt spirit beasts?" A flicker of curiosity appeared in her eyes. "What's your spirit?"
Tang Chuan was silent for a moment. He hadn't planned on hiding anything, so he slowly raised his right hand, palm open. A slender stalk of Blue Silver Grass emerged from his palm, swaying gently and glowing with a faint blue-gold light.
"Blue Silver Grass?" Qian Renxue was clearly stunned by what she saw. Her first thought was the same as most Spirit Masters on the continent: a common, useless spirit. But then she remembered the transformation ability Tang Chuan had used to save her, and his healing ability afterward. A flood of questions filled her mind. "Could it be... a mutated spirit?"
Tang Chuan nodded, his voice calm. "You could say that."
"Have you found a suitable spirit ring yet?" she pressed.
Tang Chuan paused for a moment before speaking. "I was planning to hunt an Emerald Swan for my second spirit ring. Even though it's not a plant-type spirit beast, it naturally has a strong life force, which would still be a good match for my Blue Silver Grass. But..." He shook his head. "Those spirit beasts mostly live in the mixed areas or the depths of the Star Dou Great Forest, and they're usually in groups, which makes them incredibly hard to hunt. I've searched several times but haven't found any."
"Hmm." Qian Renxue nodded thoughtfully. "That's a reasonable choice. But I'm a little curious. Since your spirit is a plant, why don't you look for a powerful plant-type spirit beast with a strong life force? Wouldn't the compatibility be higher?"
"I wish I could," Tang Chuan said with a wry smile. "But I've looked through so many ancient books in my academy's library, and records of plant spirit beasts with a strong life force are almost nonexistent. My hometown is a small town, and we don't have many resources or much information. A lot of the records are incomplete. I just can't find a good target, so I was going to settle for something less."
Qian Renxue was surprised at first, but then a plan formed in her eyes. Without saying anything, she slowly took a gold-covered book from her spirit tool. "This is a spirit beast atlas I carry with me, called 'Records of Living Beings.' It lists rare spirit beasts from all over the Douluo Continent, especially those with life attributes. If you need it, you can have it. You should look through it; you might just find what you're looking for."
She handed the book to Tang Chuan, her expression sincere.
Tang Chuan's eyes widened in surprise. Even though he kept a calm expression, he was celebrating on the inside. It pays to be friends with a rich woman! Saving her was a profitable venture!
"This... isn't this too valuable?" Tang Chuan took the book but pretended to hesitate, his face uncertain.
Qian Renxue just smiled gently. "It's not as valuable as my life. You saved me; this is nothing." With that, she pushed the book into his hand so firmly that he had no chance to refuse.
Tang Chuan looked down at the golden book. His fingertips brushed the detailed angel wing pattern on the cover, and he immediately felt an ancient, warm aura. This was clearly a private collection belonging to a powerful person or faction, far beyond what you could find in a regular market.
A faint smile touched Tang Chuan's lips. He put the book away, looked up at Qian Renxue, and bowed his hands. "Brother Xue, I won't be polite then."
"No need to thank me. I should be the one thanking you," Qian Renxue said, waving a hand dismissively. She then asked casually, "By the way, Brother Tang Chuan, which academy do you study at?"
Tang Chuan didn't hide anything. "Nuoding City Elementary Spirit Master Academy," he answered honestly.
"Nuoding City?" Qian Renxue was a bit surprised. She clearly didn't have a strong impression of that remote town. She thought for a moment, and as if she had made a decision, she took a golden token from her clothes and handed it to him.
"What's this?" Tang Chuan noticed the character for 'Xue' in the center of the token.
"Take this token," Qian Renxue explained. "In a few years, when your cultivation is high enough and you're ready for an advanced Spirit Master academy, if you haven't found a place, you can take this token to Heaven Dou City and go directly to Heaven Dou Royal Academy. Someone will arrange your enrollment for you." She added, "Consider it my thanks for your help this time."
This time, Tang Chuan didn't hesitate. He took the golden token and solemnly bowed his hands to Qian Renxue again. "Thank you so much, Brother Xue."
"You're welcome," Qian Renxue waved her hand, her expression calm but with a hint of satisfaction in her eyes. "I'm just returning the favor." She stretched, a hint of fatigue in her voice. "My injuries haven't fully healed, and I've been busy all day. I'm going to rest now. You can look through 'Records of Living Beings.' Maybe you'll find a spirit beast that's right for you."
With that, Qian Renxue turned and walked to a large tree nearby. She took off her outer robe, covered herself, and leaned against the trunk, slowly closing her eyes and falling asleep.
After seeing that Qian Renxue was asleep, Tang Chuan sat cross-legged by the bonfire and opened the golden book. The spirit beast atlas was full of information. He quickly became engrossed in it, his eyes occasionally showing surprise or falling into deep thought.
"Aurora Moss Vine: highly parasitic, has an extremely strong life force, often grows with light-attribute spirit beasts, found deep within the dense forests of Star Dou."
"Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Cleansing Vine: can strengthen the soul and purify the spirit, a rare plant-type spirit beast with both spiritual and life attributes, often appears in the Sunset Forest area."
"Verdant Heart Spiritual Root: the plant is extremely small but its life force is incredibly intense, very hard to catch, only appeared three times in the lakes deep within the Star Dou Great Forest..."
The more he read, the more Tang Chuan's brows furrowed. He realized a major problem: almost all the truly suitable plant-type spirit beasts lived deep inside the Star Dou Great Forest or in other areas with many spirit beasts. While the outer areas were safer, the number of high-quality, life-attribute plant spirits was too small to meet the requirements for his second spirit ring.
Feeling a bit disappointed, Tang Chuan was about to close the book when his eyes suddenly landed on a corner of a page. A flash of pleasant surprise appeared in his eyes.