Zhou Qing was beginning to regret inviting Romantina along.
This might've been a serious mistake.
But... Brain-type Martial Souls were just too rare!
He couldn't bring himself to give up.
"Was that supposed to be a compliment?" Romantina waved shyly, her face turning pink. "I'm actually a pure girl, you know. I've only read about things... zero real-life experience!"
Zhou Qing: "Shocked"
Xiao Wu: "Shocked"
Tang San: "Shocked"
"My Martial Soul is the heart like your brain, it's part of the body. I call it a True Body Martial Soul." Zhou Qing rested his chin on his hand, trying to steer the conversation away.
But Romantina went off in a completely different direction. Her cheeks flushed as she cried out, "Are you saying... we're a match made in heaven? Heart and brain?! Oh! You mean with your heart-type Martial Soul, you've already captured my heart? How exciting! And I think... I'm feeling something!"
This conversation is going nowhere fast.
Zhou Qing facepalmed. Best to wait until she calmed down before discussing anything serious.
Though… he had felt something too.
Was it a resonance between Martial Souls?
Or perhaps a unique sensory link between two True Body Martial Souls?
Zhou Qing realized that in Romantina's eyes, this might hint at a potential Martial Soul Fusion Technique—one between her brain-type soul and his circulatory system Martial Soul.
And honestly... she might be right.
Both were True Body Martial Souls, and both were vital organs.
Zhou Qing's Martial Soul encompassed the entire circulatory system: heart, vessels, and blood running through his entire body.
As for Romantina's brain-type Martial Soul?
Based on what Alice from the Notting Guild had said, it was highly developed. After all, Romantina had managed to defeat a support-type quasi-soul master—without even using a soul skill.
Her physical strength and reflexes were likely at the level of a one-ring Battle Soul Master.
A brain-type Martial Soul was clearly spiritual in nature. But she might not even be aware of this, only relying on the heightened perception it gave her to train her body.
Over time, this long-term self-"abuse" had strengthened her physically, but the accompanying pain may have warped her personality in... peculiar ways.
What do you call an oddball?
This is it.
Zhou Qing couldn't help but feel she'd taken her Martial Soul down the wrong path... Sometimes, a person's determination ran counter to the true nature of their gift.
In the original novel, even Oscar—he of the sausage Martial Soul—would look tame compared to Romantina.
Though, considering she was still a virgin, she definitely didn't have as much "hands-on" experience as Oscar after hanging around Dai Mubai...
They got off the carriage.
Romantina had returned to her normal self. After stocking up on food and medicinal powder, she bought three daggers and handed them to Zhou Qing, Tang San, and Xiao Wu.
"Only the soul ring from a beast you personally kill can be absorbed," she said. "If someone else lands the final blow, you can't take its ring. So the last strike has to be yours."
Although Tang San had hidden weapons engraved with soul-guiding inscriptions, he didn't want to reveal them in front of Romantina if it could be avoided.
"What about you?"
Zhou Qing's gaze shifted to the odd, black wooden staff strapped to her back—shaped almost like a giant question mark.
"This, of course!"
Romantina pulled the staff off her back. The top was a large, curved hook; the bottom, sharply arched to a point. She hugged it to her chest, rubbed her cheek against it, and flushed. "It's big, black, long, thick, and super hard an excellent weapon!"
Zhou Qing and Tang San exchanged bewildered glances.
Are we... still talking about the staff?
"The hardness rivals steel, but it's incredibly light a three-year-old could swing it. Very easy to use." Romantina's tone turned serious. "Plus, it can channel soul power. When it does, the wooden grain glows with fiery patterns and forms a fireball at the hooked tip."
"It can launch attacks?" Zhou Qing perked up. This thing might be a soul device—possibly a rare offensive one.
"Nope. Just for lighting fires or providing illumination."
Romantina added, "It's not a soul device either. My dad says it's a family heirloom—passed down from an extinct plant-type soul beast: the Phoenix-Wutong Tree, said to be the perch of the mythical phoenix."
"Sounds made-up, right? Even my dad didn't really believe it. It's just a story to make the heirloom sound cooler."
In a world where soul masters valued power above all, a mere stick even one that could light fires wouldn't attract envy.
Soul masters with strong egos typically relied on their Martial Souls. And for something practical like lighting a fire, this nearly two-meter-long staff was way less convenient than a firestarter.
But in Zhou Qing's eyes, the possibility that this was from a Phoenix-Wutong tree?
Very real.
After all, how many tree roots could form a fireball at the tip with just a bit of soul power?
Even a ten-thousand-year Blue Silver Emperor might not be able to do that.
Tang San was curious too, but the complex soul-guiding array on his soul crystal was already keeping him busy. No need to poke further into the mystery of a strange wooden stick.
"Does this staff have a name?" Zhou Qing asked.
"Yep. I call it Flame Broom," Romantina said cheerfully.
"What does that have to do with a broom?" Xiao Wu couldn't help but ask. She'd used plenty of brooms back at the academy. This thing looked more like a spear at one end and a hammer at the other. Maybe even a curved wooden blade?
But a broom?
Not even close.
"Of course it does!"
Romantina infused it with soul power. Red light traced through the bark-like texture of the wood, concentrating at the hooked tip to form a fist-sized fireball. As she poured in more power, the fireball's flame surged to over thirty or forty centimeters, forming a jet-like flame.
"See? Doesn't it look like a broom now?"
"I swear, I'll become a great knight one day! And I'll sweep all my enemies into the trash with this Flame Broom!"
Translation: if she beats you with this thing, she's calling you trash.
"That name's... likely to offend people," Zhou Qing commented. "How about something more elegant like Phoenix-Wutong Staff? 'Phoenix' as in the male, 'Wutong' as in the tree it rests on. It fits the origin story and highlights its fire-based function."
"Hmm... Phoenix-Wutong Staff? Kinda average. But since you clearly have feelings for me, I'll allow it to be its second name," Romantina agreed.
Wait feelings?
Zhou Qing did want her on his team, sure.
But wasn't that phrasing a little... suggestive?
Now he seriously worried: if he spent too long around her, he might end up getting labeled a scumbag by the adventurers at Notting Guild...