At this point, Huo Yuhao had only reached the level of a one-ring soul master, so imprinting his martial soul and soul skill was relatively easy. Jiang Qingtong quickly completed the imprinting of his Spirit Eyes and its soul skill.
After watching her finish, Old Hong asked,
"Girl, what are his martial soul and soul skill?"
"Old Hong, if you want to see, lower your spiritual defenses. Don't resist—I'll show you directly through my spiritual power."
Jiang Qingtong spread her hands. The purple soul ring before her shone brightly, and her eyes turned a vivid sky blue.
Old Hong immediately felt a surge of spiritual energy trying to enter his spiritual sea. He suppressed his instinct to resist and allowed the power to flow in.
In the next moment, he was stunned.
His entire spiritual sea suddenly displayed a precise three-dimensional projection of the 50-meter radius around him—every detail crystal clear, even down to ants crawling on the ground.
Nothing could hide.
"This is his martial soul," Jiang Qingtong said calmly. "A body-type martial soul called Spirit Eyes, and the soul skill is Spiritual Detection Sharing."
"A brilliant soul skill! Absolutely brilliant!" Old Hong exclaimed. "In battle, this could change everything!"
He repeated his praise several times, clearly overwhelmed by the martial soul's utility.
But then, a thought struck him. He turned to Jiang Qingtong, puzzled.
"Wait—how do you even know what his soul skill is?"
Jiang Qingtong only smiled.
"That's a secret."
Back when Jiang Shengyu and Jiang Qingtong first joined Mingde Hall, Kong Deming had warned the elders not to pry into the siblings' secrets, lest they grow resentful or defensive.
So when Old Hong heard this, he simply nodded.
"Fair enough. With this kind of martial soul and soul skill, you'll be much safer at Shrek Academy."
Jiang Qingtong acknowledged with a soft "mm" and retracted her martial soul.
Not long after, the unconscious Huo Yuhao stirred and slowly woke up. As his eyes focused on Jiang Qingtong and Old Hong, he frowned and asked cautiously,
"Who are you?"
From deep in his spiritual sea, Skydream Iceworm shouted,
"Yuhao! Be careful! That girl just imprinted your martial soul and soul skill! And the other guy—he's a Title Douluo! These two are not ordinary people!"
Huo Yuhao's expression changed instantly.
Seeing his reaction, Jiang Qingtong understood he was communicating with Skydream in his mind. She quickly spoke,
"Don't be afraid, I'm not a bad person. This is Old Hong, and I'm Jiang Qingtong."
But Huo Yuhao's gaze remained guarded. Jiang Qingtong knew this time period well—his wariness was completely justified.
"It's okay," she added gently. "I don't even know your name yet."
"…I'm Huo Yuhao."
He hesitated for a moment, then finally replied. But then, he asked bluntly,
"Did you just imprint my martial soul?"
"Girl, he…" Old Hong's brows furrowed.
Wasn't this kid unconscious? How did he know she'd imprinted his martial soul?
Jiang Qingtong signaled Old Hong to let it go, then stepped forward, her gaze softening with a mix of joy and sympathy.
Huo Yuhao caught the strange emotion in her eyes and grew even more confused.
Suddenly, Jiang Qingtong grabbed his hand and said emotionally,
"Yuhao! I finally found you!"
Huo Yuhao was startled by her sudden excitement. Even Old Hong was taken aback. Jiang Qingtong held onto Huo Yuhao's hand, wiping her eyes as if moved to tears.
"…Who are you?" Huo Yuhao asked, brows furrowed, stunned by her behavior.
She's crying?
Because of him?
Did they have some kind of relationship?
"I'm your cousin!" Jiang Qingtong said brightly.
Old Hong raised an eyebrow and glanced at her in surprise.
Huo Yuhao was even more stunned. He stared at her, frowning deeply.
"I… I don't remember having a cousin…"
Jiang Qingtong took a deep breath.
"Your name is Huo Yuhao. Your mother's name is Huo Yun. And you're the son of the White Tiger Duke, Dai Hao, of the Star Luo Empire. Isn't that right?"
The moment she said that, Huo Yuhao's eyes widened in shock. Even Old Hong looked at him in surprise.
After the Duchess had caused the death of his mother, he had secretly left the White Tiger Duke's mansion. No one else in the world—except the Duchess herself—knew about his identity.
Yet this girl had just described it in perfect detail. Could she really be… his cousin?
But… his mother had never mentioned any cousins.
Still suspicious, Huo Yuhao asked,
"If that's true, then why didn't anyone ever come looking for us when we were living in the Duke's mansion? Why wait until my mother died before showing up? If your mother and mine were sworn sisters, wouldn't you have come earlier?"
Before he could say more, Old Hong stepped in sternly,
"Watch your tone, boy! That girl's parents have been gone for years!"
Jiang Qingtong followed up quickly, showing a guilty, sorrowful expression.
"I'm sorry. Our family faced tragedy years ago. Only my brother and I survived…"
After hearing that, even Huo Yuhao couldn't help but feel a bit awkward. He lowered his head and mumbled,
"I'm sorry… I didn't mean to—"
"It's fine." Jiang Qingtong shook her head with a smile.
"We're family, after all."
"Family…" Huo Yuhao echoed softly, momentarily dazed.
Family…
Could it really be true?
Even though Jiang Qingtong's story had glaring holes, for some reason… he wanted to believe her.
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