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Both Shangguan Wei'er and Fire Phoenix Douluo were super busy. As the leaders of the Pingfan Alliance, they rarely left Mingdu. Shangguan Wei'er didn't even have time to take Ye Gu Yi out to hunt for spirit rings.
But it just so happened that Luan Yu was already planning to take Meteor and Firefly to the Demonic Forest to hunt soul beasts, so bringing one more kid along didn't make much of a difference. Besides, she actually liked this blonde little girl quite a bit.
Even though she didn't particularly like Shangguan Wei'er, they were old classmates—so she still had to give her that much face. Same thing with Xu Tiannan. Nine-ranked soul engineers in the Sun Moon Empire were rare, and even fewer of them had the time and freedom to leave Mingdu to help newbies hunt soul beasts.
Originally, Xu Tiannan was planning to ask a Soul Douluo to take Xu Tianzhen on a quick trip to the Demonic Forest. But when he found out that both Meteor and Firefly were born with full innate soul power, he changed his mind and went straight to Luan Yu. He asked her to take Xu Tianzhen along too.
He wasn't really worried about his sister's safety—it was just the first soul ring, not like they were hunting a hundred-thousand-year soul beast. With a rank nine soul engineer leading them, what could possibly go wrong? If something did happen, well, then they'd just have to blame bad luck.
More importantly, this was a great opportunity for Xu Tianzhen to bond with Meteor and Firefly—and also a chance to get closer to Fire Phoenix Douluo. All through Xu Tianzhen, so he didn't even need to show his face. Honestly, it was a golden opportunity.
Luan Yu thought about it for a bit and agreed. Letting the kids befriend Xu Tianzhen was a good idea—after all, they'd be living in Mingdu for a long time. Having a friend like Xu Tianzhen around would definitely make things easier in the future.
"Your Excellency Ice Phoenix, I'll leave my sister in your care.""Luan Yu, I'll leave little Gu Yi to you."
Xu Tiannan and Shangguan Wei'er handed Xu Tianzhen and Ye Gu Yi over to Luan Yu. They watched as she took off into the sky with all four kids, flying toward the Demonic Forest.
"Whoa, Meteor, Firefly—you guys have full innate soul power too? That's awesome!"
As soon as they were away from Xu Tiannan, Xu Tianzhen dropped her sweet, obedient act. The prim and proper girl from the city gates was gone without a trace. She leaned forward excitedly, talking through the soul barrier with a face full of energy.
Meteor and Firefly didn't mind her loud and lively personality. Xu Tianzhen didn't act arrogant or stuck-up like a typical noble. She never threw her title around, and the two of them were more than happy to be friends with her.
One of Firefly's dreams was to make lots of new friends, so she definitely wasn't turning down Xu Tianzhen. Besides, Tianzhen's personality reminded her a lot of Nan Qiuqiu, and she had a really good impression of her already.
"Hi, I'm Meteor. You must be Ye Gu Yi, right?"
Meteor smiled and greeted the girl floating nearby inside her own soul barrier.
"Yup! I'm Ye Gu Yi. So you guys also have full innate soul power? Your martial souls must be pretty strong. We should totally spar sometime!"
Ye Gu Yi blinked her big golden eyes, clearly excited to throw down.
A cold sweat slid down Meteor's forehead. She hadn't expected this tiny blonde girl, who looked like a porcelain doll, to be a battle maniac. She just awakened her martial soul and she's already looking for a fight?
"Oh oh oh! A fight? Count me in! I'll spar with you! I'm telling you, I'm super strong!"
Xu Tianzhen's eyes lit up and she immediately jumped in, eager to join the fun.
Meteor silently sweatdropped. What is it with people in the Douluo Continent? They're all just little kids, but already so hyped about fighting. Is this normal here? Am I the weird one?
Luan Yu looked on, smiling warmly at the kids getting to know each other. That's how children should be—making friends, testing each other. The talk about sparring? Totally normal. This was the Douluo Continent, after all. Every soul master grew up fighting—soul duels were practically a tradition.
Take Tianlong Gate and Dilong Gate for example. Ever since Nan Qiuqiu and her crew awakened their martial souls, they'd been constantly challenging each other. If they didn't have three or four brawls a month, they weren't real soul masters.
Even soul master and soul engineer academies had special duel arenas set up—just to encourage students to fight and build combat experience. Here on Douluo Continent, dueling wasn't just common—it was a way of life for soul masters, no matter their age or gender.
Firefly didn't care either. Compared to the folks here, she was the real weirdo. From birth, she'd been thrown into war zones, fighting to the death against endless swarms of bugs. To her, a sparring match like this was child's play.
No matter how good Xu Tianzhen and Ye Gu Yi were at fighting, could they compare to her? Meteor could say with full confidence—no way. Even ten of them couldn't beat Firefly. She was operating on a whole different level.
Meteor silently mourned for a moment. Poor Xu Tianzhen and Ye Gu Yi. These two little warrior princesses were probably going to spend the rest of their lives living in Firefly's shadow.
Even with four little tagalongs, Luan Yu managed to reach the edge of the Demonic Forest in just half a day.
The forest was located south of Mingdu, but technically close to the northern regions of the Douluo Continent. That meant it had a temperate monsoon climate—and from a distance, most of it looked like coniferous forest.
Looking down from the sky, you could already spot many trees with black-gray bark and leaves. The place was dark and oppressive—even before setting foot in it, the air felt heavy.
No doubt about it—this was the Demonic Forest. They had arrived.
Luan Yu slowly descended from the sky with the four kids and landed on the forest floor.
Anyone with a brain knew not to fly directly over a forest full of soul beasts. That was practically asking for a death wish.
Luan Yu didn't take them into the forest right away. Instead, she pulled out some food she had prepared in advance and handed it out to the kids.
After flying half the day, the four of them—who were still growing—were pretty hungry. They took the food gratefully without complaint.
Even though Xu Tianzhen had grown up pampered, she wasn't a spoiled princess. She could handle a bit of hardship. But when she noticed Firefly's food looked different from theirs, her curiosity got the better of her.
"Hey, Firefly, what are you eating? It's different from ours. Can I try a bite?"
Meteor glanced over—and almost choked on her bread.
Firefly was happily holding out an oak wood cake roll, beaming as she offered it to the curious Xu Tianzhen and Ye Gu Yi. Sharing her beloved oak cake rolls with friends was one of her favorite things to do.
Even though Nan Qiuqiu and Meteor had both told her those things were borderline poison, Firefly was still totally confused. They taste great, she thought. Why don't they like them? Eventually, she decided they must just not be suited to oak cake rolls.
Meteor lowered her head and silently continued chewing her bread, counting down in her mind.
Three… two… one…
"Pleh! PLEH! GAHHH—What is this?? Firefly, why are you eating wood?!"
Xu Tianzhen had taken a big bite and nearly passed out. Her face turned bright red as she gagged, staring at Firefly like she'd just tried to murder her.
"....."