"That's right, my Martial Soul is my brain. I possess a brilliant, intelligent mind."
Taking advantage of her taller stature compared to Xiao Wu, Romantina caught her off guard and tore down the task slip posted by Zhou Qing and Tang San. She walked up to Alice with a radiant smile.
"Sister Alice, my spirit power has already reached rank ten! This is the perfect opportunity to hunt a spirit beast with them. I'm really looking forward to becoming a full-fledged Soul Master."
"Are you sure about this?"
Tang San was skeptical. She wasn't even a Soul Master yet how could she have any combat ability?
Also, isn't adventurer registration only available to Soul Masters? Without a spirit ring, she was still a Spirit Scholar. How did she get registered as an adventurer? Just because she's the vice city lord's daughter?
"You can't say that, little brother," Romantina responded confidently. "I have plenty of experience. When it comes to hunting spirit beasts in the forest, raw strength isn't the most important thing. It's knowledge of the terrain that counts. I'm a seasoned veteran."
"Can you explain why you're taking our task?" Zhou Qing asked. He felt something was off and wanted clarity.
"Because I also need a spirit ring."
Romantina reaffirmed that her spirit power had reached the tenth rank.
However…
Zhou Qing had a nagging feeling that wasn't the real reason.
She was the vice city lord's daughter, after all. If she wanted to hunt a spirit beast, couldn't her family arrange for protection? Why take on a task in person?
Reaching rank ten in cultivation…
It might not compare to the prodigies in the original story, but in this academy, even that genius Xiao Chenyu was only a rank eleven Soul Master.
By Notting City's standards, Romantina was a genius.
The only aspect that might draw ridicule was her Martial Soul. In this era, Spirit Souls like hers body-type ones had yet to be fully appreciated, often misjudged as "trash spirits."
But no matter how "trash" a Martial Soul seemed, once someone became a Soul Master, their social status rose. There was no way the vice city lord would ignore his own daughter just because of her Martial Soul.
Besides, according to Miss Alice, Romantina could knock out a rank twenty Soul Master using just the wooden staff strapped to her back.
She might be a support-type spirit master, but she was still formidable.
In Notting City, she would definitely count as high-level combat strength. Would the vice city lord really just "let her roam"?
"You definitely have another reason, don't you?" Zhou Qing pressed.
"Um… mainly, I want to compete in strength against the Moo Spring Ox," Romantina replied, a slight breathlessness in her tone. Her cheeks suddenly flushed with a subtle pink.
Zhou Qing: "???"
This girl—
Seems like!
Maybe!
Possibly!
A masochist?
But Martial Souls based on the brain were extremely rare even across the entire Douluo Continent, including Douluo 2 and 3. Zhou Qing figured it was worth getting on her good side, so in the end, he agreed.
"Alright, I accept."
"Why should she join us?!" Xiao Wu protested, flailing her arms. "We're classmates, aren't we?!"
"She's older than you, and she probably has more experience in hunting spirit beasts," Zhou Qing replied.
"I agree with Brother Qing," Tang San chimed in.
Initially, if asked to choose between Xiao Wu and Romantina, he would've chosen Xiao Wu.
After all, Xiao Wu was already a Soul Master with rank eleven spirit power, possibly higher. She had a spirit ring and a spirit ability undeniably stronger.
But Zhou Qing's reasoning made Tang San pause. Xiao Wu was just a little girl—possibly even a pampered young miss who'd run away from home. She was likely clueless about the dangers of the spirit beast forest.
Romantina, on the other hand, was an adventurer of Notting's Guild. Maybe she had her status thanks to her father, but judging by how the other adventurers reacted, she definitely had plenty of real-world experience in the Soul Beast Forest.
Having her lead the way would certainly make things much safer.
Tang San also recalled something from his past life:
In certain forests filled with venomous insects and fierce beasts, even martial arts experts dared not tread lightly. Yet children who grew up in those environments could catch poisonous bugs like toys.
Local people thrived in their native environments.
Though Romantina only had rank ten spirit power, her familiarity with the Soul Beast Forest might make her more valuable than Xiao Wu.
"You hear that? I've got more experience than you!" Romantina waved the task slip triumphantly, puffing out her chest to loom over Xiao Wu's flat figure.
Xiao Wu immediately sensed her condescending gaze and the not-so-subtle implication. Enraged, she snapped back,
"If you're so experienced, could it be because someone trained you up that way?!"
"How dare you say that?!"
Romantina shouted, cheeks flushing a deep red.
Other adventurers thought she was just angry. But Zhou Qing, observing her up close, could tell… she was aroused.
Her eyes fluttered like a startled fawn's there was no hiding it.
Thanks to Xiao Wu's verbal assault, Romantina had started fantasizing about being abused by some wicked villain.
This surge of emotion sent visible tremors through her body. She clutched her shoulders, squeezed her thighs together, and even her entire body began to quiver slightly.
[Is this the effect of her Brain-type Martial Soul?]
Zhou Qing began to suspect that Romantina's brain-based Martial Soul had been misused.
While it did grant her incredible imagination, it seemed her development had taken a rather… strange direction. So much so that she hadn't even obtained her first spirit ring, and yet her body was already being affected.
"She's still a virgin," Tang San whispered.
Despite being a lifelong virgin himself in his past life, Tang San had once learned from a senior in the Tang Sect how to tell if a woman was untouched.
"I'm starting to think there's something wrong with her brain… And now I'm not so sure she's a good fit for our mission."
You couldn't blame Tang San for second-guessing.
Based on Romantina's current behavior, who's to say she wouldn't randomly get "excited" in the middle of a spirit beast hunt and need saving?
Should they find someone else?
Zhou Qing scanned the other adventurers in the Notting Guild. They were all minding their own business eating, drinking, paying no attention.
"Sigh… No choice, we'll go with her."
Clearly, no one else wanted to compete with Romantina for the task. Maybe they knew she was… "eccentric." Or maybe they just wanted to give the vice city lord some face.
"But Xiao Wu's coming too."
Zhou Qing decided to bring along the ten-thousand-year transformed spirit beast. If they encountered unavoidable danger, the aura from a ten-thousand-year beast might be enough to intimidate any hundred-year beasts lurking in the forest.
"Do I get the reward?" Xiao Wu asked, still shooting sidelong glances at Romantina, who was visibly flustered. She was convinced this girl was mentally unstable. But more importantl she wanted her cut of the pay.
After all, in the human world—
Everything costs money.