25 Chapter 25: Chapter not found?

Chapter 25: Na'er not found?

Several days later...

Xiu Ye continued on his mundane days as usual. Go to school, forge, and cultivate. He was just a few weeks away from graduating and going to another but bigger city to enter an intermediate academy.

He was just going to continue to do his schedule to today, but...

"So, you're now officially a Soul Master and got a trash spirit soul?" Xiu Ye said.

Tang Wulin nodded, his big eyes slightly teary and his lips twitching. But he was happy.

Right Xiu Ye, Tang Wulin and a rather silent Na'er was in the former's room and sitting on the floor. It was the weekend and they had nothing to do today, even the two boys' sparring session was rescheduled for another day for the celebration of the other's gain of a spirit soul.

The reason why they were here? Well Tang Wulin wanted to console to his cousin about his rather peculiar situation of his martial soul and spirit soul.

"You fused with it?" Xiu Ye asked.

Tang Wulin nodded.

"And it caused a mutation of your martial soul, blue silver grass, into a variant martial soul said by my foster father."

Under special circumstances, variations can arise in the martial soul. For example, fusing with a highly compatible or highly incompatible spirit soul or soul ring, or being stimulated by an external factor, will all create the circumstances necessary for variation to occur. It's also possible for someone to be born with a variant martial soul or that their martial soul undergoes variation during awakening.

There are good and bad kinds of variations. It's possible for a powerful martial soul to be weakened by its variation. On the other hand, it's also possible for a weak martial soul to become powerful due to the variation.

For three years, Tang Wulin had worked as a blacksmith and was able to racked up fifty thousand federation coins to buy a spirit soul from Spirit Pagoda. Sadly, however, he was only able to afford a random spirit soul for thirty thousand coins as the cheapest spirit soul, a white spirit soul, costs seventy thousand coins. This led to him getting a defective spirit soul, fusing with it, and have a variation with his martial soul.

"Show me." Xiu Ye said.

Tang Wulin nodded, He lifted his right hand and with just a thought, the dim room immediately lit up.

A white ring of light slowly rose from his feet and revolved rhythmically around his body.

This was a Soul Master's soul ring. A white soul ring represented a 10 year soul ring, the lowest type.

Spirit souls hadn't existed ten thousand years ago when soul rings were still the most defining characteristic of a Soul Master.

Tang Wulin opened up his hand to reveal a brilliant yellow radiance. Within it appeared the little grass snake. Immediately afterward, a slender blade of blue vine-like grass as thick as a finger twirled into existence. The vine spread outwards, quickly spreading into every corner of the room.

The blue silver grass twinkled with a blue radiance as it turned translucent, revealing a faint golden light from the veins within.

Xiu Ye let out a whistle at the impressive display of blue flora. Then his gaze went towards the little snake, zeroing on the single golden scale on its forehead.

'So his Golden Dragon King bloodline has affected his spirit soul, the story is still going by canon.'

"Can you still tangle your blue silver grass around to form a makeshift spear?"

Tang Wulin nodded and, using his comprehension of his martial soul and spiritual power that Xiu Ye had taught him how to, his blue silver grass gathered around his hand, tangled and coiled around itself to form a long blue colored spear.

It was now bigger and longer, by two and a half meters in length and six centimeters wide. The shaft looked slightly mystical with its blue color and sometimes golden specks. The spear head was now longer and just a few centimeters below it were a horizontal line, making the top of the spear almost resembling a cross.

Tang Wulin gazed down on his blue silver grass spear and gave it a few twirls to test if there was anything new to it.

Xiu Ye had truly and successfully taught him how to fight unarmed but also in spear arts. The reason he gave Tang Wulin was because he also needed to use his martial soul as it's a part of himself.

He originally wasn't going to teach him but an idea of, could Tang Wulin's blue silver grass formed itself into a weapon, came to his head. Then also came the fact about his true heritage and the future weapons he's going to use.

It was like crushing two birds with one stone. The blue silver grass was able to tangle itself into almost any kind of weapon, but it would still remain weak unless it's reinforced.

It was hard to do this at the start, as Tang Wulin needed a deep understanding of his martial soul and be able to use his spiritual power to control his blue silver grass to remain in spear form.

It took him an entire ten months to finally make it second nature to have his blue silver grass in spear form. And it took him an entire week to reinforced it correctly or it'll get untangled and returned to its original state.

"Hmm. The spear is more thicker, longer and heavier, no brainer there. It'll take a bit of time to get used to the new feeling, but, other than that, nothing else." Tang Wulin said, propping the butt of his spear on the ground.

"Alright. We'll see if there's anything more to it later on during our next sparring session." Tang Wulin nodded then glanced to a wall clock, his eyes widened.

"Oh no! I forgot that I have to get the groceries together with mom! Sorry bro, I have to go. Na'er..."

"I'll stay here for a little while." Na'er interrupted with a small tone of voice. Tang Wulin arched an eyebrow before shrugging.

"Okay, I'll tell mom. Bro, you better escort Na'er home later on or I'll slug you. Bye!" He left.

Xiu Ye twitched his lips.

I didn't even get to say anything! And what do you mean slug me? Boy, you can't even touch me during our spars.

"Well, Na'er. What do you want to do today?" Xiu Ye turned around, only for his eyes to widened in surprise as Na'er abruptly went to bury her face to his chest and hugged his waist tight simultaneously.

"Na'er?" He asked in worry, feeling a slight patch of wetness on his shirt.

"Big brother Ye, do you remember the time when you saved me from those thugs?" Na'er abruptly said, making him raise a brow in confusion.

"Which ones?" Xiu Ye asked dumbly, he fought a lot of thugs after all.

"The ones when you first met me." He made a "ahh" sound of recognition. "Did you know? I was really, really terrified of that time. I thought that I'll die, but then, you saved me. You rescued me and, with big brother Wulin, mom and dad, helped me live a very happy life filled with love, care and food."

Xiu Ye chuckled at that last one, and so did Na'er when she realized what she had said. "Eh, I didn't mean to say that one. Please forget about it!" She blushed intensely like a tomato.

"Alright." He shrugged, amusement in his eyes, unknowingly, he had wrapped his arms around Na'er lithe figure for some time now.

Xiu Ye just felt like he needed to for some reason.

"Hey, Na'er, did you get taller? You've already reached my mouth." Xiu Ye jokingly asked. His slightly worried filled eyes looking down at Na'er's beautiful pair of puffy red, wet purple eyes.

Seeing the tears on her eyes, made him feel his heart ache.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Xiu Ye asked softly as he rubbed the rims of her eyes. Na'er shook her head.

"Big brother Ye, if I left one day, would you miss me?" Xiu Ye's brows raised in surprise of the question, suddenly feeling a pit in his stomach.

"What kind of question is that? Of course I would. You're my little sister, my best friend and family. The moment you try to leave is the moment that I'll hug you tight, just like right now, and never let you go." She pursed her lips.

"What if I needed to go somewhere important?"

"My statement remains the same." Xiu Ye hugged her tighter.

"...What if its the bathroom?"

"Still the same." He said without any hesitation.

"Wait, what?! Big brother!" Na'er blushed in shock and embarrassment. He said it with such a straight face!

"What? We're still kids so it'll be okay, well, until we're teens then I'll think of another way to remain by you're side in the bathroom." Xiu Ye said with a serious expression.

"...Please don't." Na'er pleaded.

"Hahahaha!" Xiu Ye laughed out loud at seeing her face.

Na'er pouted for a moment then laughed alongside her big brother.

In this room, was an art of true depiction of happiness and joy between friends and family.

In this single moment in his life, Xiu Ye felt that being reborn in this world wasn't a mistake. He belongs here, with friends and family by his side. This was a life that he would kill to protect.

"–Haha..." Xiu Ye finally stopped laughing, his chin propped on top of Na'er, who also stopped laughing.

The scent of lavender and rose went to his nose, making him involuntarily sniffed it.

"Big brother..." Na'er further blushed red, burying herself into said person's chest like a cat.

"Haha, sorry." Xiu Ye said with a cheeky smile.

Na'er went silent for a moment. Her thoughts chaotic and conflicted.

"...You promise?"

"Huh?" Xiu Ye looked down to see Na'er, looking back at him, with a serious expression.

"Promise me, the next time we meet, that you won't ever let me go."

"..." Xiu Ye smiled.

He held up his pinky finger and Na'er held up her's as well, joining them together.

"I promise, from today, to tomorrow, to days, weeks, months, years, to till the end of our existence. I won't ever, let you go. If someone were to stand against me, I'll kill them. Even if it's a God, Buddha, Asura, and Divine Beasts, I'll kill them. For I will never, ever, let you go."

Tears swelled up in Na'er's eyes then fell to her cheeks. Even then, it didn't erase the beautiful happy smile on her lips.

"That was really cringe big bro."

"Ugh, that hurts you know, it came from my heart. I'm a sap for romance after all." Xiu Ye scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.

"...It isn't a bad thing." Na'er muttered in a very low voice that only she could hear.

"Oh Na'er, your birthday is in about a few weeks later right?"

"Hm? Yeah, why ask?" She said, trying to hide the pain in her heart.

"Well..." Xiu Ye raised his right hand up towards his storage ring and he brought something out in his hand.

It was a heart shaped amethyst pendant attached to a silver chain. The jewel shaped heart was extremely detailed, as it had a small silver dragon head with a slightly open mouth, looking to devour anything of all heaven and earth, carved in the middle of the amethyst.

"This is..." Na'er gasped in surprise at the necklace, gazing down on its beauty, especially the silver dragon design.

'Does big bro know?' Her mind went into overdrive at the thought. Fear, anxiety, agitation and many more emotions swirled within her mind.

'Does he really know? How? If so, what should I do? More importantly why–'

"Na'er, happy birthday, well, in a few weeks later though." Na'er was snapped out of her thoughts, looking up to see the gentle smile of Xiu Ye.

Seeing that smile, made all the negative emotions within her dissipate. Her lips turning into a smile.

"Thank you! Big brother Ye, I love you!"

Xiu Ye blushed for a moment.

"Uh, yeah, I love you too Na'er."

The next morning, Na'er disappeared.