"You're not worried anymore?" Ao Tian asked.
"I'm on your turf now, is worrying going to help?" Xiao Wu rolled her eyes.
"You're not completely dense," Ao Tian chuckled, ruffling her hair roughly.
"Don't mess up my hair," Xiao Wu whined, grabbing her own bundle and throwing it playfully at him.
"I don't have any Soul Tools. Could you help me pack?" she said.
She'd been envious for a long time that Ao Tian could go out without carrying a bundle.
Unfortunately, there weren't any storage Soul Tools for sale in Notting City. Otherwise, she would have borrowed money to buy one.
Human intelligence is truly terrifying; they can actually create such wondrous things.
This is simply unbelievable for us soul beasts.
Ao Tian took the package from Xiao Wu and, with a thought, stored it in his own space.
At his level of cultivation, he could already use the Space Law to create a personal space. This was also why he disdained using those low-level Soul Tools.
Not only was the space small, but it was also unsafe.
"Is there anything else?" Ao Tian asked.
Xiao Wu shook her head. "No, that's all."
"Then let's go." Ao Tian led the way.
Xiao Wu hurried to catch up, looking at Ao Tian's back. She thought that Ao Tian would see her mother when they returned, and for some reason, she felt a little nervous.
The two of them left the academy, and Ao Tian asked, "It's your first time in the human world. Aren't you going to take something back?"
Xiao Wu's face flushed slightly, and she played with her fingers, embarrassed. "I spent all my money."
She had gone to register as a Soul Master at Spirit Hall as soon as she learned that she would receive a Gold Soul Coin subsidy every month.
In addition, the work-study students earned ten copper coins a day. Under normal circumstances, she should have been able to save a lot of money.
But she didn't have much of a concept of money and didn't know how to manage it. She would buy anything interesting she saw, regardless of whether it was useful or not.
Now, not only had she not saved any money, but she also owed Ao Tian a huge debt.
Ao Tian took out a Gold Soul Coin and tossed it to her, saying, "This is your sixtieth Gold Soul Coin that you owe me."
Xiao Wu stuck out her tongue and said, "I don't need you to remind me, I remember. So rich, yet so stingy."
An hour later, a luxurious carriage departed from Notting City, heading towards the Star Dou Great Forest.
Xiao Wu leaned out the carriage window, watching the scenery flash by, and sighed, "So fast! At this speed, we should be back in the Star Dou Great Forest in four or five days. It took me eight days to walk from the Star Dou Great Forest to Notting City, it nearly killed me."
"Why did you run so far in the first place?" Ao Tian asked.
Xiao Wu complained, "It's all because of you humans. There are too many human Soul Masters near the Star Dou Great Forest, it's too dangerous. My mother said to go further away."
"And your mother? Why didn't she come out with you?" Ao Tian asked curiously.
Logically, how could a mother let her daughter enter the human world alone?
They were Soul Beasts, and they could easily never return.
Xiao Wu's mood suddenly plummeted. "My mother also entered the human world to cultivate. Later, her identity was discovered. Although she escaped back to the Star Dou Great Forest, she was also seriously injured and hasn't recovered yet."
Ao Tian understood. So she was injured, no wonder Xiao Wu was out on her own.
It seemed that for soul beasts to survive in the human world was truly fraught with danger.
Soul beasts could only huddle in their own territories; entering the human world was almost a death sentence.
But even in their own territories, they still faced being killed by human Soul Masters every day, becoming the Soul Rings of Soul Masters.
Hearing about Xiao Wu's mother's plight today, Ao Tian suddenly felt something. Perhaps, the fate of soul beasts shouldn't be so miserable...
"Your mother is seriously injured?" Ao Tian asked.
Xiao Wu nodded. "Yes, very seriously. She hadn't reached the mature stage of cultivation when she was in the human world. I missed her, so I also chose to transform into a human, preparing to go find her, but Da Ming and Er Ming stopped me. Later, Mom came to see me and found out I had transformed too, so she re-entered the human world, wanting to quickly cultivate to Title Douluo, and then take me out to cultivate. But unexpectedly... she returned not long after she went out again, seriously injured."
As she spoke, tears began to well up in Xiao Wu's big eyes.
"Don't worry, your mother will definitely recover," Ao Tian comforted. "I'll tell you a secret, I can actually help people heal."
"Really?" Xiao Wu looked at Ao Tian with tears in her eyes, but before Ao Tian could say anything, she shook her head. "That's impossible. You're not a healing Soul Master, and even if you were, you're still just a Soul Master."
Ao Tian said confidently, "Just you wait and see. You'll know soon enough."
Xiao Wu looked at Ao Tian with a mixture of doubt and belief, and a faint sense of anticipation began to grow in her heart.
There were only Ao Tian and Xiao Wu in the carriage; they hadn't hired a coachman. However, the horses seemed to possess intelligence, as they galloped towards the Star Dou Great Forest.
The luxurious carriage also contained a bed for resting and even a small toilet.
Ao Tian didn't need to use the toilet. He ate food not because he was hungry, but simply because he enjoyed the taste. The food that entered his body would be refined into nothingness by the energy within him, leaving not even a trace.
Xiao Wu was the only one who used the toilet.
"Ao Tian, you really don't need to cultivate?" Xiao Wu asked.
Since she'd known Ao Tian, she'd never seen him cultivate.
As a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast who'd taken human form, her talent was considered top-tier even among humans, but she still needed to cultivate.
"Don't you have a bet with Grandmaster? If you don't cultivate, how will you beat Tang San?" Xiao Wu asked.
"Don't worry, you'll see when the time comes." Ao Tian didn't care at all.
The horses' speed was unexpectedly fast. In just three days, Ao Tian and Xiao Wu were already approaching the Star Dou Great Forest.
"There's a small town ahead. We can rest there for a night and enter the forest first thing tomorrow morning," Xiao Wu said, pointing ahead.
Night in the Star Dou Great Forest was many times more dangerous than daytime. Xiao Wu thought that with her and Ao Tian's strength, it would be better to enter during the day.
Xiao Wu continued to explain, "That small town is the closest human settlement to the Star Dou Great Forest. Many Soul Masters who enter the Star Dou Great Forest to adventure will rest and resupply there."
After speaking, she looked at Ao Tian and said, "Ao Tian, your big brother..."
Ao Tian smiled, "Don't worry. I'll have my brother go back tomorrow."
"Mm." Xiao Wu nodded, relieved.
No matter how much she trusted Ao Tian, she still wouldn't dare to bring a Title Douluo home.
The small town was surrounded by high city walls, about thirty meters tall.
It was close to the Star Dou Great Forest, and the walls were needed to defend against Soul Beasts that might attack at night.
Ao Tian and Xiao Wu got off the carriage not far from the city gate. It was already dark.
"You were great," Ao Tian said, raising his hand. The horse lowered its head intelligently, letting Ao Tian stroke it.
It closed its eyes, thoroughly enjoying the attention.
"This is your reward," Ao Tian said, and a wisp of Dragon Qi, containing a trace of extremely thin Dragon Blood, entered the horse's body from his palm.
The horse neighed excitedly, its spine beginning to bulge on both sides, as if something was about to emerge from within.
(End of Chapter)