#51Show yourselfAI Model: gemini-2.5-flash
Chapter 3: Self-Introduction
Xiao Hong led the way, and Zhao Liuyun arrived at the dining room.
A rosewood round table was already laden with various exquisite dishes, steam rising with an enticing aroma.
There were only three people present: the little girl he had seen upon arrival, Ye Wenxi, and a tall, slender woman he had not met before.
She had crow's feet at the corners of her eyes, but her skin was firm, suggesting she might be in her forties.
Zhao Liuyun couldn't sense the depth of her cultivation, which meant it certainly wouldn't be lower than a Spirit King.
The tall woman and the little girl who called herself the young proprietress sat close together, their gestures intimate. This should be a family dinner.
A family dinner, yet they invited an outsider like me... Zhao Liuyun's heart stirred, and a brilliant smile spread across his face:
"Grandpa Ye, you're too kind to this junior. How can an elder wait for a junior? If you had sent someone to call me, I would have come over right away."
"Meditation is the root of a Spirit Master; it shouldn't be disturbed carelessly," Ye Wenxi chuckled, gesturing. "Come, little Liuyun, let me introduce you. This is my daughter-in-law, Meng Yuan, and this is my little granddaughter, Ye Xiaoya."
"Come, little Liuyun, let me introduce you. This is my daughter-in-law, Meng Yuan, and this is my little granddaughter, Ye Xiaoya."
"I'm not called Ye Xiaoya, I have a proper name, Ye Lingxian!" The little girl immediately pouted in protest, her voice clear and crisp.
"Senior Meng, Miss Lingxian," Zhao Liuyun greeted them one by one.
"No need to be so formal, just call me Sister Meng," the woman named Meng Yuan forced a smile.
"Level 21?"
The first question was about his spirit power level.
Is this an assessment?
Zhao Liuyun answered truthfully, "Yes, Level 21. I just absorbed my second spirit ring less than a week ago."
Investment also requires one to see value.
Although his martial uncle had mentioned it in his letter, it was ultimately not as real as a direct demonstration.
With a slight thought, he proactively released his Spirit.
A large, moon-white flower quietly emerged, its petals unfurling with an ethereal and mysterious pale purple glow, and a faint, elegant floral fragrance diffused with it.
All three people present showed a flash of astonishment in their eyes.
Zhao Liuyun waited for a moment, and after the floral fragrance calmed their emotions, he slowly introduced, "My Spirit is called Moon Secluded Epiphyllum. Its floral fragrance can soothe people's emotions."
"What a beautiful flower!" Ye Lingxian's eyes widened, and she couldn't help but reach out her small hand, eager to touch the illusory petals.
"control system?" Meng Yuan asked again.
This was mentioned in the letter.
Zhao Liuyun nodded:
"control system. My First Spirit Ability, 'Stop Conflict,' comes from a three-hundred-year-old Human-faced White-striped Purple Scorpion. It can make people feel drowsy, lose their will to fight, and become dispirited."
"Because my mental force is naturally stronger than ordinary people, as long as it hits, Spirit Masters of the same rank will fall into a deep sleep."
"Use it on me," Meng Yuan said calmly, yet her tone brooked no argument.
"Uh... May I ask what your cultivation level is?" Zhao Liuyun was a bit hesitant.
"I am a Spirit Emperor."
To reach the Spirit Emperor realm at just over forty years old, such talent already surpassed the vast majority of Spirit Masters in the World.
"Senior Meng, then... should I release it?"
Meng Yuan frowned slightly and chided him, her tone a little impatient, "Just do it. How can a big boy almost ten years old be so slow?"
"First Spirit Ability, Stop Conflict!"
Zhao Liuyun secretly estimated the standard of an ordinary Level 20 Spirit Master, deliberately restrained his mental force output, and unleashed his First Spirit Ability.
To instantly defeat a Spirit Ancestor, two major ranks higher, would still be too exaggerated.
The petals bloomed with a shimmering purple light, and the purple glow converged, accurately hitting Meng Yuan's abdomen.
Meng Yuan's eyelids drooped slightly, then opened again.
She spoke in a tone that was half explanatory, half admiring:
"An exceptionally outstanding control Spirit Ability!"
"Few Spirit Grandmasters can resist it, and even slightly weaker Spirit Elders would probably fall unconscious on the spot."
"You are a Mental System Spirit Master?" She noticed that the essence of the purple light was mental force directly attacking the brain.
"Senior has keen insight, this junior is indeed a rare Mental System Spirit Master," Zhao Liuyun nodded, continuing to speak amidst her expectation.
"My Second Spirit Ability, 'True Illusion,' originates from a six-hundred-year-old Ghost Eye Demon Dragon Spider. It can consume spirit powerand mental force to condense tangible illusions at will."
Since both Spirit Emperors understood the true utility of tangible illusions that were indistinguishable from reality, Zhao Liuyun didn't feel the need to elaborate further.
"Ghost Eye Demon Dragon Spider?" Meng Yuan pondered for a moment. "Are you talking about the Ghost Eye Demon Spider?"
Zhao Liuyun replied:
"It is a Ghost Eye Demon Spider. The one I encountered had dragon bloodline. Between its eight eyes, it possessed an extraordinary Dragon Eye, so I took the liberty of adding the word 'Dragon'."
Meng Yuan was still puzzled, "I remember, wasn't this species declared extinct by Spirit Hall?"
"Ah?" Zhao Liuyun was stunned. "I encountered it in the Soul Hunting Forest."
Meng Yuan looked at Ye Wenxi.
"Spirit Hall did indeed make such an announcement," Ye Wenxi did not deny it.
The elder's experience now proved its worth.
"But the Ghost Eye Demon Spider's tangible illusions can be maintained for a long time, and it is best at hiding its tracks..."
"Who knows where another one might be lurking?"
"But isn't the Soul Hunting Forest supposed to be cleared by Spirit Hall?" Zhao Liuyun pressed, confused.
Ye Wenxi countered, "Do you really think the people of Spirit Hall will spare no effort to search every inch of land?"
Slacking off at work, that must be human nature... Thinking of this, Zhao Liuyun fell silent.
Ye Wenxi then explained the dragon bloodline of the Ghost Eye Demon Spider that Zhao Liuyun mentioned.
"Pure-blooded true dragons have long disappeared from the World, and spider-type Spirit Beasts with rich dragon bloodline are indeed rare."
"However, Spirit Beasts with dragon blood can purify their bloodline by devouring each other."
"Heterogeneous transformation is extremely inefficient, but cannibalism of the same origin can maximize the growth of one's own dragon blood."
"Encountering it in the Soul Hunting Forest... The Ghost Eye Demon Spider you met must have eaten all its siblings at birth."
Cannibalism to accelerate growth, like the three Thousand Jun Ant Emperors Tang San encountered!
Zhao Liuyun suddenly recalled this case.
So that's how it is!
Ye Wenxi looked at him, congratulating him with a smile:
"The Ghost Eye Demon Spider was originally just a high-level Spirit Beast, but once it integrates a powerful dragon pulse, it is enough to rank among the top-tier Spirit Beasts."
"Little Liuyun, you are very lucky."
Both Spirit Abilities are excellently configured, and even after he becomes powerful in the future, they will still be of great use.
This is truly not easy for a young Spirit Master who started from the bottom.
A trace of sorrow flickered in Zhao Liuyun's eyes. He merely sighed softly, shaking his head, "This was... bought with the lives of my Mercenary Group companions."
The scars of betrayal, while they might elicit some pity, inevitably cause people to raise their guard.
Not a single detail about the external Spirit Bone could be leaked.
It's better to temper his mind through their deaths and display the brilliance of his humanity.
"I'm sorry, little Liuyun, Grandpa didn't know..." Ye Wenxi's face showed apology, not expecting there to be a hidden story behind it.
"Brother, don't be sad," Ye Lingxian, noticing Zhao Liuyun's low Spirits, also gently comforted him.
Zhao Liuyun forced himself to be cheerful, masking the sorrow on his brow with a smile:
"It's alright. In the end, it was my lack of strength."
"If I were strong enough, all of this... might not have happened."
He needed to establish an image in front of others.
He valued feelings and had firm cultivation willpower.
He was inherently emotional; he remembered everyone who had ever helped him.
This was an excellent personality trait, but it needed to be known.
His firm cultivation willpower went without saying.
Zhao Liuyun knew there were gods.
Without becoming a god, one is ultimately an ant!
Suffering in his previous life might just mean he could endure more suffering.
In the Douluo Continent, this fantasy World, suffering could temper one's will and accelerate cultivation.
Zhao Liuyun knew his willpower wasn't tough enough, far inferior to Ji Juechen's ten thousand years later.
Then he would practice more, and endure more!
This also needed to be displayed to others.
For example, the Dragon Blood Tree Medicinal Bath, which his martial uncle specifically mentioned, was meant to show Zhao Liuyun's diligent cultivation and firm willpower.
If you don't say it, how will others know?
"He's a good child," Ye Wenxi nodded repeatedly.
Being emotional reduced the probability of a 'white-eyed wolf' appearing, but tests were still inevitable.
Human hearts are easily tempted by external things, assimilated by the environment, and quickly degenerate.
Especially for Spirit Masters like Zhao Liuyun, who struggled up from the bottom, this was even more true.
The Ye family had suffered such losses before; a congenital Level 9 genius they had painstakingly recruited eventually stopped at the Spirit Saint realm.
Now, no matter what experience you had, they would observe for a few months first.
Of course, bloodline or mentorship relationships were also an indispensable link.
Without connections, the Ye family would not invest recklessly.
Zhao Liuyun did indeed receive the favor of his grand-martial uncle, Huang Tianhe.