Chapter 153: Late-stage Soul Sprite
Whilst Bai Yunfei was trying hard to upgrade his way to becoming a Late-stage Soul Sprite, Ye Ting was trying his best to consolidate his strength as a Soul Ancestor. And over at the Liu, Liu Kun was currently waiting on and receiving an unexpected visitor.
Zhao Xiluo.
He had been a citizen of Gaoyi City through thick and thin. But then ten years ago, this hot-blooded youngster had disappeared without a trace. And now, he had returned just as quietly one sudden night. More importantly, he was visiting the Liu that same night!
But what shocked Liu Kun the most was his strength–Middle-stage Soul Ancestor!
In a short ten years, he went from a Soul Warrior to a Middle-stage Soul Ancestor. An achievement like this was tantamount to being considered as the number one genius of Gaoyi City. It was an impossibility–unless he came across a miraculous encounter.
“It seems that the house of Zhao will be the ones with the final say in Gaoyi City! The Liu will rely on the Wood School to safeguard our independence, but the Ye….”
Ceasing his pensive thoughts, Liu Kun smiled at the Zhao Xiluo who was drinking his tea calmly. “It’s been ten years since we last met, nephew Zhao. What an outstanding youth you are. The way I see it, us old fogeys should bow our heads in shame and retire, haha…..”
“Now now, uncle Liu. In the eyes of the senior generation, we will forever be the younger generation.” Zhao Xiluo put down his teacup with a modest voice. “I only wish to focus on my cultivation and not about the management of my household. I managed to earn my master’s permission to leave the school and return home to see if my parents were doing well. In a short while, I’ll have to leave once more.”
“Oh? So you’ve been spending all this time cultivating within a school? Which school might that be, if I may inquire….?”
“Ten years ago when I left home ever so impulsively, I managed to be rescued by my teacher from the dangers of the world. He took me in as his disciple and granted me admission into the Water School. It is all because of my great teacher that I own the achievements I have today. I have spoken with my father already, our house of Zhao will stand with the Water School.” Zhao Xiluo smiled as he responded to Liu Kun while also willingly giving him the answer Liu Kun wanted.
“Ah, so it’s the Water School!” Liu Kun spoke in amazement. But then his face twisted up in confusion, “Eh? The Zhao stands with the Water School? What about the Beast Taming School?”
“They have already left. And they won’t be coming back either. I’ll be managing the affair with the house of Ye as well.”
“Oh, then….” Liu Kun furrowed his eyebrows in thought, “Then nephew Zhao, you came to my home today for….?”
“Haha, uncle Liu, did you forget already? I only just said that I’m a disciple of the Water School. The Water and the Wood have quite a nice relationship with one another….”
“What does that have to–the Wood School? Nephew Zhao, do you mean to say that….”
Zhao Xiluo nodded his head with a smile, “Correct. I came here in Liu Pingxiong’s place to hand over a letter. I went to the Wood School once and met with Liu Pingxiong who was currently hard at work cultivating. He wanted me to send a letter back home for him.
From his space ring, Zhao Xiluo retrieved a letter and handed it over to Liu Kun.
It had been with quavering hands and a beating heart that Liu Kun looked to Zhao Xiluo amiably. “How strange to see that nephew Zhao is acquaintances with Ping’er. How rare indeed.”
“Yes. The continent is a vast one, but I suppose even events like this happen every so often. When I first saw Liu Pingxiong at the Water School, I was startled to say the least.”
Liu Kun had been able to relax a lot more after he knew that Zhao Xiluo was a disciple of the Water School. From today onwards, the Zhao and the Liu would never be enemies. He was very amicable towards Zhao Xiluo now and was extremely willing to pull the gap closer to be friends with the Zhao.
“Ah, uncle Liu, I wished to inquire about a person.” After a lull in the conversation, Zhao Xiluo had immediately spoke up once more.
“Eh?” Liu Kun was surprised, “Which person?”
“In the past few days, has there been a youth named Bai Yunfei that came by?”
“How did you know?” Liu Kun started.
“Oh? So he has come then? Has he stayed within your home as a guest? Or perhaps is he still in Gaoyi City still?” Zhao Xiluo’s eyes lit up as he asked.
“Nephew Zhao, how did you come to learn of Bai Yunfei? Furthermore, how did you learn that he came to the Liu before…?” Liu Kun asked with furrowed eyebrows.
“Haha, uncle Liu, don’t think too much about it. I only reason I know is because I managed to meet with senior You Qingfeng of the Wood School on my way back. He mentioned this person before so I thought I should at least ask around.”
Relaxing, Liu Kun replied, “Ah, so that’s why. How coincidental then. Lord Bai came by this afternoon to see me. He’s still in the city in fact.”
“Is that so? Is he a guest in your home then?”
Thinking about it, Liu Kun spoke, “That…isn’t quite it. He came with the second scion of the house of Ye, Ye Tianming. He’s currently staying with the Ye.”
It came to him now that the current situation was feeling a bit dramatic.
“The Ye?”
Zhao Xiluo had been distracted, but his face had an odd expression to it. Quickly resuming his calm demeanor, Zhao Xiluo stood up to speak to Liu Kun. “It’s getting late, so this junior will be leaving first. I’ll make a visit another day then.”
“Ah, yes. If you could pass along a message to your father saying if he can join me for tea tomorrow. It has been a long time since the two of us spoke.”
The first rays of sunlight made its way through the windows and dispersed the inherent dusk from within the room. On the bed, Bai Yunfei was just starting to blink away the weariness from his eyes.
Sitting upright on his bed, Bai Yunfei placed both his hands on his waist and stretched it out. A series of cracking sounds could be heard as he stretched and popped the joints in his body. A slight red light had appeared around his body, but then with a long exhale in satisfaction from Bai Yunfei, the light disappeared.
“Late-stage Soul Sprite….it really does need more than just luck to arrive at this stage earlier than expected! This feeling isn’t just a small increase in soulpoints or soulforce!” Bai Yunfei clenched his fist in satisfaction of this abundant power running through his body. With how much soulforce that was running through his body, Bai Yunfei could see that he had already passed 4000 soulpoints to become a Late-stage Soul Sprite. He felt far stronger than before, but whether or not this was just an illusion, he wasn’t sure.
Taking a dagger that had been dropped next to his bed, Bai Yunfei could see that his final upgrade to it had been successful rather than an explosive failure.
“Equipment quality: Superior.”
“Upgrade level: +10.”
“Attack power: 147.”
“Additional attack power: 97.”
“+10 Additional effect: When thrown, the speed and attack power of the dagger will be increased by 30%.”
“Upgrade requirement: 64 soulpoints.”
Weighing the dagger in his hand, Bai Yunfei remarked to himself, “This is slightly worse than the Glacial Pricker With another 30% added, that brings the attack power to around 300 almost. That’s the same as a Middle-grade rare….”
After storing the dagger away, Bai Yunfei looked out the gradually brightening skies outside the window. “It was a peaceful night. Seems like the Zhao didn’t come to pick a fight at all last night. Will they give up the fight today? Or will they come seeking retribution?”
Just as Bai Yunfei opened the doors to his room, the servants that had been waiting outside his room since earlier in the day greeted him with a washbasin and a towel to wash up. Accepting the items in stride, Bai Yunfei washed himself and ate his breakfast before a maid came to him. “Lord Bai, the master wishes to invite you to the halls to discuss some matters.”
“Ah, got it. I’ll be going then….”