Chapter 39 – Stealing Qin Ming, Picking Up a Soul Crystal
"Bibi Dong, what are you standing there for? I've already heated the water — let's take a bath first!" Liu Erlong called out.
Before attending etiquette lessons at Moon Pavilion, students were required to bathe and change clothes—a rule set by Moon Pavilion's strict etiquette instructor.
It wasn't just about cleanliness; bathing helped one relax and adjust their mental state. This was especially beneficial for someone like Bibi Dong, whose aura was saturated with killing intent—washing away the grime often calmed her restless spirit.
As a Fire-attribute soul master, heating water was child's play for Liu Erlong. The moment she woke up, she had already prepared a steaming bath.
"Don't you dare go!" Bibi Dong's voice suddenly echoed in Qi Tian's mind before he could react.
"Huh? Why not? We're already so familiar with each other—are you still shy about me seeing your body?" Qi Tian asked, half-teasing.
Before Bibi Dong could even respond, Liu Erlong grabbed Qi Tian's arm and dragged her toward the adjoining bathhouse.
Although Liu Erlong had recently renovated her house, it still had only one bathroom—but she'd placed two large wooden tubs inside.
Once they entered, Liu Erlong locked the doors and windows before beginning to undress.
Qi Tian's gaze, under Bibi Dong's perspective, seemed to gain a mind of its own—like an auto-lock scope fixed on Liu Erlong's body.
"Don't look!" Bibi Dong roared in his mind.
"Bibi Dong, what are you waiting for? Hurry up and wash, or we'll be late!" Liu Erlong urged impatiently.
"What's with that spoiled attitude? Don't tell me you expect me to help you undress?"
Without waiting for a reply, Liu Erlong stepped forward and began unfastening Bibi Dong's clothes herself, even giving her cheek a playful pinch.
No wonder Bibi Dong was protesting—turns out the two were supposed to bathe together!
"Tsk tsk… you're really soft," Liu Erlong said with an admiring grin.
After teasing her for a few moments, Liu Erlong finally slipped into her tub, while Qi Tian—in Bibi Dong's body—soaked in the other.
"Ah… that's nice," Qi Tian sighed comfortably.
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After bathing, Qi Tian and Liu Erlong made their way together to Moon Pavilion.
Bibi Dong, however, seemed quite displeased—she stayed silent the entire way, ignoring Qi Tian completely.
"What's this? Still mad at me?" Qi Tian teased. "Don't tell me… you're actually jealous?"
"I—jealous? Of you?" Bibi Dong snapped. "Don't flatter yourself!"
Still, seeing her respond at all made Qi Tian secretly breathe a sigh of relief.
"Bibi Dong," he said, "I found a little prodigy—born with full innate soul power. You want to recruit him into Spirit Hall?"
Her tone immediately shifted, tinged with surprise. "Full innate soul power? And it's someone I have to personally go find? Don't tell me he's not from a clan?"
Qi Tian chuckled. 'Heh, who knows what those branch hall masters are doing? First, it was Qin Ming, then Tang San and Oscar—three geniuses with full innate soul power, and they were all left to study at elementary academies?'
He shook his head in disbelief.
After all, soul master academies mostly served the interests of the empires, not Spirit Hall. And geniuses born with full innate soul power were once-in-a-century talents—only nineteen such cases had been recorded in the past hundred years.
With that level of potential, regardless of their martial soul, they should've been immediately brought to Spirit City for training!
But apparently, both Nuoding and Suotuo's branch halls were full of blind fools.
"He's a commoner," Qi Tian continued. "Name's Qin Ming. His martial soul is the Inferno Grey Wolf. Right now, he's attending Suotuo City's Elementary Soul Master Academy."
"Suotuo City?" Bibi Dong's eyes flashed with cold light. "Good. Once I return to Spirit Hall, I'll personally investigate who's running that branch hall!"
Qi Tian smiled. As expected, she had taken the bait—her curiosity and sense of duty toward talent were stirred.
"So," he asked, "what's your plan? Are you going to recruit him yourself?"
"Of course," Bibi Dong replied. "I'm just deciding whether to send him straight to Spirit City… or have Erlong teach him first."
Qi Tian thought for a moment before suggesting, "We can have Erlong take him as a disciple first, then send him to study at Spirit City afterward."
Liu Erlong was more than capable of teaching Qin Ming how to cultivate, but she lacked deep knowledge of martial soul theory. Sending him to Spirit City for formal education would prevent him from making the same mistakes when absorbing his future soul rings.
"Alright," Bibi Dong agreed. "Let's do it your way. I'll have Erlong travel to Suotuo City, take Qin Ming as her disciple, and later arrange for him to be sent to Spirit City."
She smiled slightly. "Besides, Erlong doesn't seem to enjoy those noble etiquette classes much. This trip will be a good chance for her to stretch her wings a little."
Indeed, Liu Erlong's humble childhood had left her with a natural distaste for the arrogance of nobility. She didn't study etiquette because she wanted to become a lady—she simply wanted to better herself.
As they chatted, Moon Pavilion soon came into view.
Thanks to their connection with Yu Luomian, no one dared to stop them at the gates. Before long, Qi Tian saw the young mistress of Moon Pavilion—Tang Yuehua.
She looked to be around fifteen or sixteen, graceful and elegant, her beauty noble yet gentle. Every gesture carried the refined aura of a highborn lady.
"What's wrong? Don't tell me you've got your eye on her now?" Bibi Dong teased, her tone sharp with jealousy.
Qi Tian immediately withdrew his gaze. Bibi Dong's vinegar jar had already been tipped over several times today—one more stare might drown him in it.
"Don't misunderstand me," he said quickly. "Tang Yuehua isn't ordinary at all."
"Oh? How so?" Bibi Dong asked, curiosity piqued.
"She's the daughter of the Clear Sky Sect's sect master," Qi Tian explained. "Because her martial soul mutated and lost the ability to fight, she left the sect and founded Moon Pavilion here in Heaven Dou City."
"The… Clear Sky Sect?"
That caught Bibi Dong off guard. She only knew that Tang Tian's two sons had recently come down the mountain to temper themselves—she hadn't expected that he had a daughter as well.
At that moment, Tang Yuehua seemed to notice something unusual about Qi Tian. She sensed that the aura of this "guest" was slightly different from the one she had met before.
However, she hid her surprise well, merely leading Qi Tian upstairs and using her Domain ability to soothe the violent killing intent within Bibi Dong.
"This feeling…" Qi Tian closed his eyes, deeply experiencing Tang Yuehua's domain.
For a moment, it felt as if he had merged with nature itself—his mind peaceful, his spirit calm, all traces of killing intent dissolving into tranquility.
'This sensation… It's similar to when I cultivate my Blue Silver Domain—that feeling of blending into the sea of Blue Silver Grass around me,' Qi Tian realized inwardly.
It was the same pure harmony—a perfect unity between soul and nature.
A few days later, Qi Tian returned to his own body and continued training at the Suotuo City Great Soul Arena.
After several rounds, his Iron Soul Badge had already been upgraded to Bronze.
To continue advancing, he would now have to face Grandmasters instead of simple Soul Masters.
It wasn't that Qi Tian feared them—far from it. With the techniques he had honed in Slaughter City, defeating them would be easy.
But his goal here wasn't to climb the rankings. He was here to temper his self-created soul skills and earn money.
So, he stopped fighting ranked matches and focused instead on strategic duels.
During these days, Qi Tian even used his soul skill [Disguise] to change his appearance, then secretly bet on himself to win.
After a few clever matches, his coin pouch had swollen to over a thousand gold soul coins.
"Now that I've got the money," Qi Tian murmured with a grin, "it's time to check whether that crystal I remember from five years later… is already here!"
Wandering through the streets, he finally spotted a familiar—yet slightly different—figure lounging on a chair in front of a cluttered shop.
It was Flender.
Compared to his younger self, he looked even more sly now—lying back lazily as if waiting for some poor fool to wander in and be scammed.
Qi Tian walked into the shop without hesitation. His gaze instantly locked onto a dusty crystal placed in the corner—dull, murky, and riddled with impurities.
"So it is here…" Qi Tian muttered with a grin. "Flender's been trying to sell this thing for five years, and still no one's bought it?"
He smirked. "Guess I just found myself a bargain."
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End of Chapter