Seeing the little girl's appearance, Rayne instantly recognized the little girl's identity.
The main heroine of the first part of soul land. Xiao Wu! She is a soul beast called soft boned rabbit, that had cultivated for 100,000 years, then chose to transform into a human as she neared the date of her thunder tribulation.
This specific process is called Soul Beast Evolution!
Soul Beast Evolution is a choice that is offered to Soul Beast who has reached the age of 100,000 years.
At the age of 100,000 years Spirit Beasts are offered two paths to travel on:
One: To continue cultivation as a Spirit Beast retaining their abilities and appearance and live for another 900,000 years. They can shapeshift to a human body for a period of time restraining their abilities. If they choose to remain a spirit beast, every 100,000 years, they will have to endure a tribulation in order to keep living. Those who fail to do so die.
Two: To become human and start cultivating anew to reach the 100th rank to have eternal life. Only 1 out of 10 Spirit Beasts who have reached the age of 100,000 years would choose this path.
Well, there is also the possibility that Xiao Wu chose to transform into a human for revenge! After all, in the manhua's version of Soul Land, Xiao Wu's mother was said to be killed by Bibi Dong.
Rayne is not really sure about this, as the donghua and the original light novel says a completely different story. There's no mention of Bibi dong killing Xiao Wu's mother.
Anyway, looking at the cute girl in front of him, Rayne lost whatever thought he had about hooking up with her at present. He really couldn't bring himself to have any ambiguous thoughts about a little girl who is only 6-years-old physically. It doesn't make his mind change, even if he knows that this little girl in front of him has lived for tens of thousands of years.
At the same time, Rayne had some different thoughts in his mind and couldn't help but sigh in irony.
To be honest, if Rayne didn't have the system, his first thought after seeing Xiao Wu would be to find a chance to kill her. Even if he couldn't get her 100,000-year soul ring, it would be good to get her 100,000-year soul bone.
He wasn't being racist or discriminating against soul beasts that chose to shapeshift into a human. If anything, some of his harem targets are in the soul beast race.
Without the novice gift pack from the system, his original talent was truly terrible with almost no hope of rising.
Blue Silver Grass martial soul with 0.5 rank innate soul power. On top of that, he had an innately weak body due to birth defects. Rayne's condition and talent without the system was truly terrible. Even if he felt sorry for targeting Xiao Wu, he would still take action against her. If he resigned to his inner kindness foolishly, he would have no chance of rising up, even after getting a second chance at life.
A 100,000-year-old soul bone makes a lot of difference to the original Rayne. Without a system, his targets would be Xiao Wu and Ah Yin's 100,000-year soul bones. He might even eat the remaining seedling of Blue Silver Empress Ah Yin, hoping for an improvement of his martial soul Blue Silver Grass.
Of course this scenario will be played out only in a rather hopeless situation, if he didn't have his cheats.
A 100,000-year soul bone is ranked as the most desired treasure by all spirit masters for a reason.
Soul Bones are considered as extremely important, as much as Soul Rings, as they provide new abilities to the spirit master. Not only can a soul bone strengthen the bone whichever area it is contained in, but it can also strengthen everything within your body, including meridians, muscles, bones, and so on. So, having a soul bone is a comprehensive enhancement to the body.
So for Rayne without the system and novice gift pack, a soul bone at the level of 100,000-years of age would grant him a complete rebirth, enhancing his natural talent exponentially.
If Rayne didn't have a system and was in a desperate state, he would hardly hesitate to stealthily kill Xiao Wu and get her soul bone, even if it is a very risky and heartless choice. He may have been raised by his past-life mother to be a kind-hearted person., but he wouldn't ignore his own well being for a complete stranger. Hypocritical as it may be, Rayne wouldn't hesitate to harm a beautiful girl/soul beast like her, despite being a harem-seeker, if it's for his own future. As far as atonement goes, he can revive her after becoming a God and even raise her strength to god-level.
This lack of hesitation also comes from the fact that, he would have almost no chance of getting close with Xiao Wu in the presence of the hidden Tang Hao.
And the fact that, getting immortal herbs in his current condition is pretty much impossible. Dugu Bo is only easy going to his close ones. To strangers, he's simply cold-hearted and ruthless. Rayne is literally begging for death if he tried to secretly enter Dugu Bo's medicinal field.
And…
Rayne knows very well, if he doesn't take advantage of every opportunity before Tang San becomes a God, then he will have no hope of attaining Godhood. A selfish and extremely hypocritical person like Tang San would not allow a person, from the same era, other than his own group to become a god. Because that would undermine his 'glorious' achievements.
As such thoughts flashed through Rayne's mind for a while, he snapped out of his thoughts and didn't think about it anymore.
Anyway, he had no need Xiao Wu's soul bone or soul ring for the matter. It doesn't match the attributes of Blue Silver Grass. Not to mention, he has a system and received a lot of life changing benefits from the novice gift pack.
He's not in a terrible position anymore. If anything, he is a blessed person.
A soft boned rabbit isn't a top level soul beast. It's not even a high-rank soul beast. While the soul skills from Xiao Wu's soul ring and soul bone are pretty good or even incredible, it's not really much compared to the innate abilities of Six Eyes and Kāma martial souls.
His Infinity is much better than Paragonal Golden Body soul skill, which has very limited use time.
And of course, one thing Rayne had to consider was whether Xiao Wu had fallen into Tang Hao's field of vision at this time.
Rayne isn't feeling Tang Hao's gaze anywhere near him at present, but there was nothing wrong with being careful.
You know, in the original work, ever since Tang San left Holy Soul Village, Tang Hao seemed to have been diligently protecting Tang San in secret.
No matter where Tang San went, Tang Hao seemed to be protecting him secretly.
So Rayne was sure that with Tang Hao secretly protecting Tang San, Xiao Wu would definitely come into Tang Hao's sight.
It's almost like Xiao Wu is forcibly set to be the heroine in Tang San's life by some higher force, otherwise death is most likely her only option.
Either way, no matter how Tang Hao views Xiao Wu, Rayne is taking a risk if he gets close to Xiao Wu!
"Hello, could you tell me the direction to work-study students' dormitory?"
When Rayne was looking at Xiao Wu, Xiao Wu also noticed Rayne, stopped immediately, and then asked him politely.
At the same time, she was rather stunned by the handsome and delicate appearance of the boy in front of her. Especially those vibrant blue eyes seems to have a very mysterious feeling to it. This is definitely the most good looking human she has seen so far.
"It's over there. Are you a freshman this year too?"
Rayne didn't expect Xiao Wu to ask him, and replied with a smile.
"Yes, are you too?"
Xiao Wu nodded and looked at Rayne curiously with her big pink eyes, as if he was curious about everything.
She had a special feeling when she looked at the white haired boy in front of her. She didn't know why, but the boy in front of her looked particularly pleasing to her eyes.
"Well, my name is Rayne Ashburn, and I am only a temporary visitor in this junior academy. Unfortunately, I will most likely leave here in a week or so!" Rayne said with a soft smile.
"Eh? So we won't be classmates?" Xiao Wu looked visibly disappointed after hearing that Rayne will be leaving soon.
While Rayne was somewhat puzzled by her reaction, he paid close attention to her.
Xiao Wu in front of him clearly looked like he had just entered human society and was very curious about everything.
Rayne was kind of curious as to where this little girl got the work-study certificate. It was never mentioned in the original work.
But when he thought about Xiao Wu's true identity as a hundred thousand year soul beast, Rayne understood something. Even though she looked innocent and cute, she couldn't really be an idiot, considering her age!
"My name is Xiao Wu, a freshman this year. You haven't told me where the dormitory is yet!"
To respond to Rayne's self introduction, Xiao Wu also introduced herself immediately.
"That way!"
Rayne pointed in the direction of the dormitory behind him.
"I understand, thank you, Rayne!"
After asking clearly, Xiao Wu walked past Rayne and walked towards the dormitory.
At this moment…
[Ding! An ordinary quest has been generated.]
[Task: Buy Xiao Wu a quilt to prevent her from sharing the bed with Tang San.
Task completion reward: 3x superior grade Mystic Water Pills.]
[Mystic Water Pill: This pill has a powerful cleansing ability. The Mystic Water Pill will not only greatly benefit your body but will also raise your soul power. It is also very mild and masters of any level can absorb its effects. It can raise the level of a spirit master below level 20 by at least one. However, its most valuable effect is to clean the vessels and meridians. The Mystic Water Pill washes the waste within the human body.
For spirit masters with great potential, it would increase their talents more. For common spirit masters, it is like delivering coal in the winter. It will help expel wastes and nourish the meridians. A single pill can at least help a common spirit master raise his innate soul power level by one. That is to say, if one's innate soul power was one when he/she awakened, then after taking this pill, it will turn to two. This is a change in potential and body condition.
This pill is a superior grade version, refined with highest grade materials. It is five times more effective than a normal Mystic Water Pill.]
The sudden appearance of the quest made Rayne's eyes light up.
Although this Douluo's equivalent of marrow cleansing pill is of no use to Rayne, thanks to his Clear Heavenly body from Six Eyes. Clear Heavenly Body grants him a the purest innate body with the highest affinity for energy cultivation. There is no possibility of there being any impurities in his body. But this pill might be helpful in increasing his soul power rank a bit. So it's not totally useless.
But it will be incredibly useful to his family members.
His sister, Silvia Ashburn, who is his past-life mother reincarnated, is now currently nine-years-old and has a soul power rank of 17 and is a student at Sky Water Academy. She has inherited the high level martial soul of Blue Silver Misty Grass from Shui Xin'er, her mother, and has innate soul power of rank seven. Despite being very hardworking, her cultivation speed doesn't really match up to an full innate soul power spirit master. By the age of twelve, she might only have a soul power rank of 26 or 27, similar to Zhu Zhuqing in the original work.
This superior grade Mystic Water pill is incredibly beneficial to his sister.
If the five times efficiency of the Mystic Water pill is excellent enough, then even his mother Shui Xin'er can benefit from it.
After all, it's because of the traces of impure soul power of dark spirit master within her, thats preventing her from advancing to the next level. If the enhanced cleansing ability of Mystic Water pill can cleanse her, she would breakthrough to the ranks of Soul Douluo.
"Miss Xiao Wu, please wait a minute!"
Before she could go far, Xiao Wu was quickly stopped by Rayne.
"Could I help you with something?"
Xiao Wu turned around and looked at Rayne doubtfully.
"Are you going to the dormitory like this? This academy does not distribute beddings to work-study students. How can you sleep at night if you don't bring a quilt?" After Rayne stopped Xiao Wu, he asked her.
If not for this sudden quest, Rayne wouldn't have remembered that such a thing had happened in the original work. So he reminded Xiao Wu.
'I don't live in a dormitory for work-study students, so I definitely can't stop Xiao Wu and Tang San from getting to know each other. And actively getting involved with either Xiao Wu and Tang San will make me enter Tang Hao's field of vision. Which is not a good thing for me at present. I swear, I will steal his wife and her soul bone for making me live in such caution.'
But Rayne felt that he could still stop Tang San and Xiao Wu from sleeping together and covering them with the same quilt.
No special reason. It's just that he can't stand a loli being lewded.
What does it mean for a boy with the soul of an adult to sleep with a little girl?
"Ah, you have to bring your own bedding?! But I don't have one!"
Xiao Wu frowned when she heard Rayne's words. She really didn't know anything about this.
"You don't have it? You just need to buy it!" Rayne suggested in a gentle tone.
"Yes, I can buy it! But…" Xiao Wu became happy after hearing Rayne's suggestion. But soon had an embarrassed expression as she said.
"… I don't have much money. I barely have a few copper soul coins."
Hearing Xiao Wu's muttering, Rayne smiled slightly as he took out ten silver soul coins from his storage soul tool and gave it to Xiao Wu.
"Here, you can use these coins to buy a quilt for yourself."
"But…" Xiao Wu looked Rayne, hesitating whether to accept his silver soul coins. Especially since Rayne is basically a stranger to her.
Seeing Xiao Wu's hesitation, Rayne said, "I don't know if you know. In the work-study students' dormitory, there is no gender differentiation and the number of male students is much higher, almost 90%. So you might even be forced to share the quilt of a male student. So it's better to have your own quilt."
"If you feel indebted to me, you can pay it back once you have enough money and happen to meet me again in the future. And you don't need to mind it too much. This amount of money won't cause any problems for me. After all… I'm very rich."
He's not lying. Rayne is currently more rich that even most of the Title Douluo in the continent.
Hearing Rayne's words, Xiao Wu's expression looked much better and accepted the silver soul coins with some hesitation.
"Truly, thank you very much!" Xiao Wu said.
"Don't mind it. Now hurry up and buy the quilt before the reporting time." Rayne waved his hand and said with a smile.
Xiao Wu thanked him again. Afterwards, Xiao Wu did not go to the dormitory immediately, but left the academy to buy bedding.
Seeing Xiao Wu jumping away again, Rayne looked a bit happy. Then he waited for a bit. But the system notification for quest completion didn't come.
'Is the quest not considered completed until Xiao Wu buys bedding?' Rayne asked in his mind.
[Yes.] The system replied.
"Then I have to wait a bit." Rayne shrugged his shoulders.
Afterwards, Rayne also continued to the library to see the extent of information available in a junior spirit master academy.