The next day, in the early morning.
In the guest room, Yang Chunxi opened her drowsy eyes and casually picked up her phone from the bedside table. She checked the time and saw it was only 6:20, letting out a sigh of relief.
She turned off her 6:30 alarm and crept out of bed.
After carefully opening the door, Yang Chunxi looked left and right before stepping out. She clearly didn't want to disturb Rong Taotao's rest. 'Young kids always need a lot of sleep,' she thought.
With this in mind, Yang Chunxi headed for the bathroom but stopped as she passed through the living room.
Through the kitchen's glass door, she saw the back of a figure sitting at the dining table.
Rong Yang had left last night, so the figure was obviously Rong Taotao.
'He's up this early?' Yang Chunxi raised an eyebrow slightly. After a moment's hesitation, she walked toward the kitchen. Even though the glass door was transparent, she still knocked on it lightly.
"Huh?" Rong Taotao immediately took off his headphones and turned to look at her. "You're awake!"
Yang Chunxi slid the glass door open. A playful, chiding smile on her face, she said, "You wake up early not to study or train, but to sit here and play on your phone?"
"I've already done two rounds of training," Rong Taotao said with a casual wave of his hand. "Go wash up. I kept the buns and soy milk warm for you."
As he spoke, Rong Taotao put down his phone and walked to the kitchen counter. "I'm a terrible cook, so I went downstairs and bought this for you. Do you want sugar in your soy milk?"
Yang Chunxi's expression froze for a moment.
She had set her alarm for 6:30 specifically so she could get up early and make breakfast for Rong Taotao.
She and Rong Yang had been in a committed relationship for a while and were very confident about their future together. Now that Rong Yang had entrusted his younger brother to her, Yang Chunxi felt a responsibility to take better care of Rong Taotao's life and studies. But...
But this boy had woken up even earlier and already bought breakfast, and was now waiting for her.
'This...'
Yang Chunxi knew that Rong Taotao had lived alone for a long time, so she didn't doubt his independence or self-sufficiency.
The problem was, she was here to take care of him, not to be taken care of.
Looking at Rong Taotao's expectant expression, Yang Chunxi said softly, "Just a little."
Rong Taotao: "Oh."
Watching Rong Taotao take a spoon and add sugar to the soy milk, Yang Chunxi gave a helpless, resigned smile and turned to walk to the bathroom.
By the time she finished washing up and returned to the kitchen, the table was already set with two plates of steamed buns, a few side dishes, several eggs, and two bowls of soy milk.
Rong Taotao was sitting at the table, his chopsticks untouched, fiddling with his new phone.
"Come on, sit!" Rong Taotao said, opening his media player. "What do you think of this ringtone?"
A magnetic, melancholic voice filled with the weight of experience drifted from the phone: "The heavy snow seals the door after we send off the God of Wealth, but a blazing fire cannot burn away the one in my heart..."
Yang Chunxi sat down and nodded lightly. "It's very nice. What song is it?"
'Alright! This is the one!'
"It's a northeastern folk song. Cost me two yuan to buy!" Rong Taotao set the song as the exclusive ringtone for when Yang Chunxi called him.
'To thank you for buying me a phone, I'll buy a ringtone for my brother and sister-in-law.'
Of course, Yang Chunxi had no idea Rong Taotao had set this as her exclusive ringtone. She just assumed the boy liked listening to music. After all, just yesterday, Rong Taotao had shown how broad his musical tastes were...
"Is it sweet?" Rong Taotao couldn't help but ask when he saw Yang Chunxi take a sip of her soy milk.
"Mhm." Yang Chunxi licked a drop of soy milk from her lips. Seeing Rong Taotao's expectant face, she couldn't help but smile and nod. "It's just right."
"Good," Rong Taotao said casually, picking up a steamed bun and swallowing it in one bite.
Seeing Rong Taotao wolfing down his food, Yang Chunxi sighed inwardly.
'This kid... he seems a little too sensible, too mature for his age.'
Yesterday, when he was facing Rong Yang, he wasn't like this at all.
'Or maybe... he just doesn't know how to handle reuniting with Rong Yang. The joy of a long-awaited reunion mixed with the resentment in his heart made him act contradictory and strange, constantly picking fights with him.'
But in front of new family, in front of this "officially certified" sister-in-law, Rong Taotao—who had long lacked family affection and companionship—seemed to be trying his best to do everything right, carefully trying to please her.
Although Yang Chunxi was a teacher at Songjiang Soul Martial University, she didn't see Rong Taotao's actions as brown-nosing or flattery, given he was only 15 years old.
"Eat slower." Yang Chunxi reached out and once again placed her hand on Rong Taotao's head, playfully ruffling his soft, naturally curly hair.
She suddenly realized she seemed to be awakening some sort of mischievous side.
'But his head is just so fun to pat...'
Rong Taotao tilted his head away with a look of discomfort. "What time are we leaving?"
Yang Chunxi picked up an egg and began rolling it on the table to crack the shell. "At 10 o'clock. We'll meet up with your two classmates at the airport. By the way, do you know how to ride a horse?"
"Ah, no," Rong Taotao said, shaking his head.
Yang Chunxi: "We're heading straight north. After we fly into Aihui City, there are no more planes or trains heading further north. As you know, that area is covered in ice and snow year-round. Just like in the lyrics from earlier, 'the heavy snow seals the door.'"
"Mhm." Rong Taotao nodded, a hint of excitement in his voice. "I've read about the transportation situation there. So we won't be riding real horses, right?"
Yang Chunxi smiled and nodded. "That's right. Ordinary horses can't travel on snow as if it were flat ground. We'll be riding a type of Snow Realm Soul Beast called the 'Snow Night Shock'. Don't worry, they've all been tamed by humans and are very docile."
Tsk...
Rong Taotao felt a flicker of anticipation. A Snow Night Shock! That was an Excellent Level Soul Beast, and the Lifebound Soul Beast for many Snow Realm Soul Martial Warriors.
The quality levels of Soul Beasts, from lowest to highest, are generally divided into: Ordinary, Excellent, Elite, Master, Palace, Legendary, Epic, Mythical, and so on.
Although "Excellent" is only the second quality level, in practice, once a Soul Beast merges with a human, it becomes synonymous with the human Soul Martial Artist.
After becoming a Soul Martial Artist's Lifebound Soul Beast, the Soul Beast's Talent will advance by leaps and bounds! So as long as it's trained well, there's no need to worry about its quality not improving.
Likewise, if a human doesn't have a Soul Beast, their speed of absorbing Soul Power is simply abysmal.
Therefore, the union between a Soul Beast and a human is a win-win situation.
One point must be emphasized in particular: it's not always better to merge with a Soul Beast of a higher quality.
This is because it involves the issue of "Compatibility."
"Lifebound Soul Beast" and "Soul Pet" are two completely different concepts.
For a Soul Pet, of course, the higher the quality and the more powerful, the better.
But a Lifebound Soul Beast, strictly speaking, is a part of the Soul Martial Artist's body. After merging with a human, its fate becomes inextricably linked with the Soul Martial Artist's.
If the person lives, the Soul Beast lives. If the person dies, the Soul Beast dies.
If your Lifebound Soul Beast dies, you are basically crippled for life.
Although you yourself won't die, your decades of hard cultivation will be wiped out in an instant.
A human's first choice for a Lifebound Soul Beast is always a young one.
Secondly, it's best if it has a low quality level.
This is because the weaker the Soul Beast, the more willing it is to be compatible with a human Soul Martial Artist, and the more inclined it is to cede the dominant position to the human.
A low-quality Soul Beast may be more grateful, thanking the Soul Martial Artist for providing it with Talent and leading it down a different path.
If you choose an extremely high-quality Lifebound Soul Beast, the situation becomes completely different.
'I am a noble and powerful Soul Beast. Why should I lower myself to spend my life with a wet-behind-the-ears kid like you?'
'And you want to be the dominant one in this relationship?'
Heh...
It must be understood that it's essential for the Soul Martial Artist to maintain the dominant position over the body. Otherwise, the Soul Martial Artist will gradually lose their personality and become a Humanoid Soul Beast.
Even if you use overwhelming force to suppress a high-quality Lifebound Soul Beast, the issue of "Compatibility" remains an insurmountable obstacle.
A Soul Martial Artist cannot advance their realm simply by having abundant Soul Power, powerful Soul Techniques, and numerous Soul Skills.
To advance one's realm, one must work together in perfect harmony with their Lifebound Soul Beast.
You can use force to suppress your Lifebound Soul Beast and make it cooperate with you to break through to the next realm, but if its heart isn't with you, the effect will be far, far worse.
It's just like being in a relationship.
Too many predecessors have failed on this path, getting stuck at a certain realm for their entire lives, unable to advance even a single step.
It's not that your Talent is insufficient,
Nor that you don't work hard enough,
But that to your Lifebound Soul Beast...
You,
are not the one (smile)