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Time flew by without anyone really noticing. Before they knew it, Meteor and Firefly had already been at the Earth Dragon Sect for nearly a year. The two of them were now five years old, with just one more year to go before their Martial Spirits awakened.
Nan Qiuqiu, on the other hand, was almost seven, and her spirit power had reached level 15. She'd gained four levels in just one year—mostly thanks to Firefly constantly pushing her. If it weren't for that, with her playful nature, she'd probably still be stuck a few levels lower.
With her innate level-9 spirit power and the Earth Dragon Sect's training resources, Nan Qiuqiu had a real shot at reaching Spirit Elder before turning twelve.
A twelve-year-old Spirit Elder was considered a prodigy. If only Nan Qiuqiu weren't so easily distracted by fun, she could've progressed even faster. She had the talent and the full support of a sect behind her, after all.
Over the past year, Meteor had also met the genius young sect master of the Heaven Dragon Sect—Yu Tianlong. As expected of someone with the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Martial Spirit, Yu Tianlong was already tall and broad-shouldered at his young age. If he kept growing like this, he'd probably break two meters easily. That was exactly the kind of burly body Meteor dreamed of having.
Unfortunately, Meteor's body template was based on Firefly. Even if he grew a bit in the future, hitting two meters was probably impossible.
So yeah… his dream of being a beefcake was dead on arrival. Oh well, being a cool, fit guy wasn't a bad backup.
Yu Tianlong was born with full innate spirit power and trained like a madman. Compared to him, Nan Qiuqiu wasn't even in the same league. At the same age, Yu Tianlong had already reached level 17. It was clear his first spirit ring was stronger than Qiuqiu's.
That was the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon for you—once the top beast-type Martial Spirit on the continent. The boost it gave to physical stats left spirit master types like Nan Qiuqiu's Rouge Dragon in the dust.
With talent like that, there was no doubt Yu Tianlong would hit Spirit Elder before twelve, and he even had a decent shot at reaching Spirit Emperor before twenty. On the Douluo Continent, that meant one thing: if you became a Spirit Emperor before twenty, your chances of becoming a Titled Douluo were sky-high.
Yu Tianlong was Heaven Dragon Sect's top hope for a future Titled Douluo. As for the Earth Dragon Sect, their most talented disciple was Nan Qiuqiu. With her potential, she might've had a shot at hitting Spirit Emperor before twenty too.
But unfortunately, Qiuqiu's personality held her back. She trained hard for three days, slacked off for two, and her mom Nan Shuishui just couldn't bring herself to discipline her too harshly.
Because of the ongoing rivalry between the Heaven and Earth Dragon Sects, Nan Qiuqiu often led Xu Shenshu and the others to challenge Yu Tianlong and his group. Sadly, they'd never managed to win even once.
Nan Shuishui also never let Qiuqiu bring Firefly along, and she'd warned Firefly not to use her strength outside the sect.
Every time they lost to Yu Tianlong's team, Qiuqiu would get fired up and train hard for a bit… but that drive never lasted. Classic short attention span.
It left Nan Shuishui sighing again and again.
During the year, Meteor and Firefly had been worried about Luan Yu. Nan Shuishui had even sent Earth Dragon Sect disciples out to look for news.
According to soul hunting squads who went to the outskirts of the Extreme North looking for rare materials, someone who looked a lot like Luan Yu had crossed into the middle region of the Extreme North—an area those squads didn't even dare to go near.
The mid-region of the Extreme North was close to the core, where the environment was brutal and ten-thousand-year-level ice-type soul beasts roamed. Without Spirit Sage-level strength, going in was basically suicide.
Soul hunters lived life on the edge, licking blood off blades for a living, but even they avoided that place. That alone showed how dangerous it was.
Still, based on what Nan Shuishui said, with Luan Yu's strength, as long as she didn't go all the way into the core and didn't run into the three kings of the Extreme North—or some other hundred-thousand-year soul beast—she should be able to escape in one piece. That gave Meteor and Firefly a little peace of mind.
And Luan Yu had said before she left that she might be gone for a whole year. If she hadn't said that, Firefly probably would've gone full-Sam-mode and stormed into the Extreme North by now.
She didn't care about any so-called "Three Kings." As far as she was concerned, there was nothing her flames couldn't burn.
That day, Nan Qiuqiu came back from yet another failed challenge, dragging Xu Shenshu and the others behind her in defeat. Clearly, they'd lost to the Heaven Dragon Sect crew again.
In Meteor's opinion, it was basically impossible for Nan Qiuqiu and the others to beat their Heaven Dragon Sect peers. Besides Yu Tianlong, they also had another genius with full innate spirit power—Xing Yan, who had the Red Dragon Martial Spirit. He was also a serious contender for Spirit Emperor before twenty and a potential Titled Douluo.
Whether it was a duel or a group fight, Qiuqiu's team just couldn't match up. Thankfully, both sides knew where the line was. Qiuqiu's crew came back with scrapes and bruises every time, but it was nothing serious—just some minor injuries that would heal in a day or two with medicine.
Most of the time, Qiuqiu didn't even get hurt. It was always Xu Shenshu and the others who got beaten up. Yu Tianlong and his friends were careful not to go too far, and they rarely laid a hand on Qiuqiu.
Good thing, too. If they'd hurt her for real, Firefly wouldn't have held back. Even with Nan Shuishui's warnings, she would've stepped in to teach them a lesson.
Actually, Firefly had already decided she'd get revenge for Qiuqiu before they left the Earth Dragon Sect—beat up Yu Tianlong and Xing Yan real good before moving on.
"Hey, what happened here? Who dared to bully our Qiuqiu?"
At the main gate of the Earth Dragon Sect, Nan Qiuqiu and her group were heading in, looking all downcast after another loss, when a familiar voice rang out behind them.
Qiuqiu blinked. That voice sounded familiar. She turned around—and there she was.
A woman with long, icy-blue hair who looked to be in her thirties was walking toward them at a relaxed pace.
Qiuqiu froze for a second, then lit up with joy. "Auntie! You're back!"
Luan Yu walked up and ruffled Qiuqiu's hair with a smile. "Yeah, I'm back. What happened to you guys? Where are Meteor and Firefly?"
Qiuqiu pouted. "Nothing much. Just lost a fight again. Meteor and Firefly are inside—I'll take you to them."
She'd gotten so used to losing it didn't even faze her anymore. But giving up wasn't her style either. That's why she kept challenging them over and over again, always ready for the next round.
Nan Shuishui was actually happy about that. At least her daughter didn't back down from difficulty. She still had spirit in her. Though to Meteor, Qiuqiu was just plain stubborn.
It didn't take long for the news of Luan Yu's return to reach Nan Shuishui. By the time she got to where Meteor and Firefly lived, Luan Yu was already there.
"Sis, you're finally back! If you'd stayed away any longer, these two little rascals were gonna storm the Extreme North looking for you."
Nan Shuishui's face lit up with a big smile. She was genuinely happy to see Luan Yu safe and sound. They hadn't known each other long, but as two strong women, they'd instantly clicked and become close—like real sisters. That's also why Luan Yu had felt comfortable leaving Meteor and Firefly in Nan Shuishui's care.
"....."