"Mom," Shui Bing'er's voice was low, tinged with confusion.
"Why did you personally help that little brother this time?"
Her icy blue eyes looked at her mother. "This isn't like you."
A hint of approval flashed in Shui Liuli's eyes.
She ruffled her daughter's hair, a slight smile playing on her lips:
"Bing'er, it's good that you noticed this." Her voice was steady, yet carried an undeniable weight.
"In this world, what you see are soul rings and soul power. What you don't see are human relationships and investments in the future."
Her gaze swept over the other students who were eavesdropping, but her words were directed at Shui Bing'er alone:
"That child, seven years old, with two thousand-year soul rings, able to instantly kill a Soul Venerable and escape from the Soul Sect's encirclement. Do you think his future will stop there?"
Shui Bing'er's pupils constricted, instantly understanding something.
"Eliminating the corrupt ones who harm the world is the duty of us Soul Masters.
But lending a helping hand when he needs it is like sending charcoal in snowy weather. This favor may seem insignificant now."
She paused, a glint of light flashing in her eyes:
"But if he soars to the heavens in the future, this 'small favor' today might forge a great bond for our Tianshui Academy in the future."
Shui Bing'er understood completely.
Her mother wasn't looking at the battle before her, but at the future, even decades from now.
She looked again at the night sky where Dongfang Jing had disappeared.
That figure, even smaller than herself, had already been shrouded in a mysterious and powerful halo in her heart.
Shui Liuli's lips curled slightly.
Investing in a future powerhouse—it was a worthwhile investment no matter how you looked at it.
Then,she glanced at Shui Yue'er and found her daughter looking silly, which almost made her feel suffocated with anger.
Then she compared her to the thoughtful Shui Bing'er.
As if suddenly realizing something, the corners of her mouth couldn't help but turn up higher and higher.
Shui Bing'er looked up and caught her mother's overly "bright" smile. Hesitantly, she asked, "Mom, what's wrong? Your expression is a little strange? Even cunning?"
Shui Liuli immediately suppressed her smile, feigning a light cough, "Nothing."
She then clapped her hands at the girls, saying, "Alright, girls, go back to sleep early. Starting tomorrow, the training will be doubled!"
Immediately, groans erupted.
At the Qibao Inn, inside a guest room,the warm orange light bathed the room, dispelling the night's chill and illuminating Dongfang Yao's face, which was filled with tension and curiosity.
As soon as she returned and closed the door,
she couldn't wait to speak:
"Brother, please don't go to the Great Soul Arena anymore! It's too dangerous! With so many people watching you, Yao'er is afraid that something like today will happen again."
She became more and more anxious as she spoke, her little face tense: "Those bad people are not only after the gold soul coins, they also want to know why you can absorb soul rings beyond your level! This time it was a Soul Venerable or Soul Master, what if a Soul King or even a Soul Emperor comes next time? I... I don't want anything to happen to you, brother."
Dongfang Jing reached out and gently stroked the top of the little girl's head, sighing: "Yao'er, there's a saying, 'Plans can't keep up with changes.'"
"Since I've chosen not to rely on any sect or submit to the Spirit Hall, I can only earn money on my own.
The money we have is enough to qualify for the auction in a few days, but if we encounter a truly suitable treasure, that little bit of savings won't be enough.
Although I know a bit about medicine and other miscellaneous subjects, let's not even talk about whether we can succeed in opening a shop. With just the two of us kids, without connections or a large amount of capital, how can we make a name for ourselves in this business world? Would you dare drink medicine prescribed by a child?
Even if revealing our identities as Spirit Masters makes things easier, we still have to consider the time cost.
Compared to revealing our identities, competing in the Spirit Arena is the fastest and most lucrative way. Look, we earn over a million gold spirit coins from just one match. What other temporary job on the continent can earn that much? Now, when we go to the auction, we can choose what we need more calmly."
He tossed the gold card containing a large sum of money to his sister,and couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of her shining eyes.
He pulled up a chair, sat down, rested his chin on his hand, and looked at her gently, but in his heart, he was also seriously considering his next plan.
Dongfang Yao's worries were not unfounded. His recent rise to prominence had inevitably attracted the attention of various powerful forces and even the Spirit Hall.
Perhaps this was the so-called high risk, high reward.
Wanting to gain huge profits with zero risk? Such a good thing was not so easy!
'It seems I need to lay low for a while.'
When his parents were still alive, Dongfang Jing hadn't cared so much about money, feeling that enough was enough.
But now it was different.
He himself might be indifferent, but little Yao'er couldn't.
He had sworn that he would give his sister the best in terms of food, lodging, and cultivation resources.
What did taking some risks matter for that?
Besides, he wasn't without means of protection.
"Brother, brother!"
A light, childlike voice interrupted his thoughts.
Dongfang Yao ran over and grabbed his sleeve, her big eyes blinking.
Her voice was soft and quick, as if afraid of being overheard: "Oh, right! You just...whoosh! You disappeared from among all those bad guys, and then whoosh, you reappeared from so far away! How did you do that? So amazing!"
Seeing the pure admiration and curiosity in his sister's eyes,
Dongfang Jing slightly raised the corners of his mouth.
He hadn't intended to hide it from her anyway, but he felt she was still too young to be a child.
With a thought, shards of crystal mirror appeared out of thin air in front of him, quickly coalescing.
Two life-sized mirrors appeared in the center of the room, standing opposite each other.
"Watch carefully," Dongfang Jing said,and under his sister's unblinking gaze, he stepped straight in, his figure disappearing into the first mirror as silently as if merging into water, vanishing completely.
"Hooray~" Dongfang Yao quickly ran to the mirror, reaching out her small hand to carefully touch it.
But all she felt was a hard, cold touch; she couldn't get in at all.
Just then, ripples appeared on the surface of the second mirror behind her, and
Dongfang Jing calmly stepped out from it.
"Brother!" Dongfang Yao immediately turned around, rushed over and hugged his leg, her upturned face full of shock and disbelief.
The boy pulled his sister to the bedside and sat down.
"Yao'er, I haven't told you about this because I thought you were still young, and I was thinking of waiting until your martial spirit awakened and your physique became stronger..."
He spoke gently, about to explain,but was hurriedly interrupted by his sister.
The little girl shook her hand vigorously, her face full of seriousness and trust:
"Brother, you don't need to tell Yao'er now! Since brother thinks it's not the right time, then wait for Yao'er to awaken her martial soul! Yao'er will listen to brother!"
But she couldn't suppress her curiosity and asked softly, "Yao'er is just curious. Did brother run so far in a flash because of this?"
Seeing his sister so sensible, Dongfang Jing felt a warmth in his heart and nodded: "Yes, this space is called the Hall of Ten Thousand Mirrors. As my strength increases, it will display various wonderful abilities."
He tried to explain in simple terms: "It shares the same origin as my martial soul. As long as a mirror is formed from my soul power, it can become a 'door' connecting reality and that space."
He pointed to the two mirrors in the room that were gradually fading, as if they would disappear at any moment.
"I can enter through any mirror I create and exit through any other mirror. It's like marking two places and being able to travel back and forth instantly."
Dongfang Yao's eyes lit up, her little brain racing, and she immediately came up with a brilliant idea:
"Then, wouldn't you be invincible, brother? We can put one mirror in the house beforehand, and brother can take the other one with him when he fights! If he can't beat the bad guys, he can just open the door and go home! Nobody can catch him!"
The more she thought about it, the more amazing it seemed, her little face beaming.
Dongfang Jing, however, shook his head with a wry smile.
He had thought of the same thing when he first mastered this ability.
"No, Yao'er," he patiently explained, "First of all, what can act as a 'door' for long-distance travel must be a special mirror body that I condense on the spot with my martial soul power; ordinary mirrors won't work."
He paused, then stated the most crucial limitation: "Moreover, these soul power mirror bodies cannot exist for long. They are essentially my externally projected soul power; once I withdraw my martial soul and sever the connection, they will gradually dissipate."
They cannot be permanently preserved, nor can they be set in advance.
He pointed to the center of the room.
He had withdrawn his martial spirit, and the two mirrors were now almost transparent.
Then, like bubbles, they shattered silently, turning into shimmering particles of light and disappearing without a trace.
Dongfang Yao gave a half-understanding "Oh."
She couldn't use her soul power and hadn't experienced it firsthand, so she couldn't fully grasp these concepts.
But she understood that the mirrors couldn't be kept forever.
However, she quickly thought of another crucial point: "Then, brother, if your soul power becomes super—high—in the future, will the mirrors you create last longer?
Or...go to farther places? For example, placing the mirrors a hundred miles, a thousand miles away?"
Dongfang Jing pinched her soft cheek, nodded, and smiled: "Our Yao'er is really smart~ That's right, theoretically, that's how it is. The stronger I am, the deeper my control over the Hall of Ten Thousand Mirrors will be, and the more things I can do."
Receiving her brother's affirmation, Dongfang Yao was overjoyed.
She couldn't help but reach out and wrap her arms around his neck, pressing her head tightly against his chest, giggling, "Brother is the best~"
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