Quest Maker: 405

Title: The Darksider’s Innocence

Of the seven island settlements, the Sea Horse City is the most robust regarding infrastructure and economy since Ou Ya, the Seahorse Douluo, actively develops the settlement under his care. Of course, the way Ou Ya intercepts in the resident’s life is subtle, but there is one task Ou Ya and the rest of the Seven Children of the Sea perform in person.

The Martial Soul Awakening.

Soul Origin passively builds spirit energy since it’s the way of life. A Spirit Master can jolt one’s spirit into activation, mingling with the bloodline of one’s soul origin—birthing a Martial Soul. One can activate a Martial Soul at any age, but countless years of practice perfected the tradition to carry out at the age of six. Needless to say, natural talent plays a prominent role. The amount of passive Spirit Energy built by one’s Soul Origin determines the rank of a Spirit Master during their awakening. Most Spirit Masters barely have a rank above four, and it's rarer for them to have a Martial Soul with additional supportive attributes.

A wave of excitement washes over the seven settlements. The Ceremony is similar to a Festival on the Island. Colorful streamers decorate houses and the markets, and civilians and Spirit Masters alike chat with their beloved and the children with happy smiles hiding their moderate nervousness. Even if the difference between a Spirit Master and a Civilian is not too huge to the point that the latter is easy to exploit, as seen in some Cities on the continent, the social class exists without a doubt—and everyone wants to climb the social ladder.

“Psst, did you hear?”

“Yeah! The Sage God is going to be present.” Another one nods with excitement.

“Maybe his blessing will let my child awaken a legendary Martial Soul!”

“Hah! As if! He is only here to witness the festival. Didn’t his second Priestess, Bi Ji, ascertain that Sage God will not favor one over the other? Is my child lathered in beetle’s dung? Why would your son get something special and not mine?!”

A couple walks amidst the chattering crowd as a dark-haired boy walks between them with a curious expression.

“Do you like it here, Yue’er?” The boy hears his mother speak as he looks up at her, who pushes his sister’s cart.

“Hmm! I do. It’s the first time I’m seeing so many people at once! It’s like Uncle Golden Goblin’s brood!”

Xie Xan and Hu Lana look at each other with equal parts dismay and amusement. Their son can be wild—technically. Xie Yue has only lived inside the King’s Lair, under the observation of numerous 100000-year-old beasts, or Ja Sun’s spatial artifact. His lifestyle skewed his perspective of a lot of things. Even if Hu Lana and Xan are there to teach him the basic etiquette, he needs a social life to grow like a human. Because—

Xie Yue suddenly walks forward, tapping a girl’s shoulder. She turns around as her parents stop and look at Xie Xan and Hu Lana before nodding.

“Hi, I’m Xie Yue,” the boy parrots the word of wisdom his greatest, godly Uncle imparted—“I think you’re really cute! I will have many women around me, now is your chance to get ahead of them!”

The girl’s parents, Xie Xan and Hu Lana freeze as the girl tilts her head before blinking, “Can I be friends with those girls, too?”

Xie Yue nods with a grin, “Sister Wu says it’s the best-case scenario.”

“Yue’er,” Xie Xan awkwardly smiles at the girl’s father before trying to pull his son back, but Hu Lana hurriedly stops her husband. She sees a brighter future for Unlimited Grandchildren and smiles at the parents. “Good morning.” Her sweet smile temporarily intoxicates both the father and the mother. “I’m Hu Lana, and this is my husband, Xie Xan. We’re new in this City, but Ja Sun said the people of the Island are very welcoming~! Ah! You may know our teammate, Ja Sun, as the Sage God.”

The duo blinks as Xie Xan easily sees through his wife’s motives. He questions her by compressing his voice.

“What the hell are you thinking?”

“Hush,” Hu Lana trills, “Let my son enjoy~!”

“So it’s fine for him, but not for me—” He stops and looks away as she turns to face him.

But they underestimated Xie Yue’s contamination when they listened to him speak while walking ahead with the brown-haired girl, “Do you have a young brother? An infant? Maybe he can grow as cute as you—perfect for my young sister!”

“Haha,” Xie Xan chuckles before his expression turns gloomy, and he stares at the couple ahead of him, bringing them out of their imagination about forming a connection with God’s closest confidantes—“No.”

“So, it’s alright for you to be with someone’s daughter, but unacceptable for your daughter to find someone?” Hu Lana jabs back as Xie Xan looks at his cutest daughter before nodding readily, “If it means she must die alone, it’s—oof!”

Hu Lana elbows him before smiling pleasantly and walking ahead, “Hehe~ Don’t mind Xan’er. She is our daughter, Hu Liena.” She introduces her babbling daughter before easily chatting up the couple as the gloomy Xie Xan follows her.

What’s wrong with a father trying to protect his daughter from the evils of this world? As a man—he admits men are fucking gross!

“So, you want her to mate with 100000-year-old spirit beasts?” His centipede Spirit Soul questions with a chuckle.

“Ugh!” Xan rolls his eyes.

---

“Others really can’t see us!” Xiao Wu exclaims. She finds a comfortable seat and observes the spacious wooden dojo extending beyond Ou Ya’s house. This dojo is the site of the ceremony as the parents wait outside Ou Ya’s fence. Rows of children stand ahead as Xiao Wu animatedly waves at Xie Yue but find him stealing glances in their direction with strange looks—distinct from the awe on others’ faces.

“Why is Xie Yue looking at us like that?” Xiao Wu wanted to be present during Xie Yue’s ceremony and tagged along as one of Ja Sun’s ‘pious’ scholars.

“Because he is seeing the same thing as the rest,” Ja Sun explains with a shrug. “Not that you had to sit on me to confirm others see us as a dignified pair staring back at them with kind expressions.”

Xiao Wu perks up, pushing herself further into Ja Sun’s lap before grinning and speaking cutely, “But this is the best seat. It’s unfair and cruel of you to sideline us when even Sister Bing gets to taste you! And I’ve been saving myself for someone special all this time,” she looks down coyly, pressing her back against his chest.

“That guy must be lucky,” Ja Sun smiles. “I’ll be sure not to bully you too much once you reach Rank 60. You’re not that far off anyway.”

“Meanie.”

“Fine,” Ja Sun rests his chin atop the girl’s shoulder. He liked hanging out with Xiao Wu despite her acts. After all, he understands it's more comfortable for him to have her on his lap instead, but she doesn’t play around the bush and keeps things straight. But she and her mother can be one of the laziest creatures if they don’t have some motivation to work toward an objective. All they care about is: what carrot dish to eat (especially Xiao Bei) and better ways to nap in the afternoon. Life without natural enemies in the form of humans coming for their spirit bones left them eager to spend their time peacefully at the expense of their natural talents—something Ja Sun did not want to see.

His hands casually start stroking her soft thigh as she makes herself smaller by scrunching into his embrace, “It’s kind of weird seeing children looking at me so reverently.” Ja Sun whispers into her ears, “But they ARE children, so can you stop rubbing yourself on me?”

Xiao Wu turns her head to look back at him, “Am I rubbing myself on you, Beast God? I hadn’t noticed.”

“Then it’s great I’m here to set you on the right path, right?” Ja Sun smirks, patting her back. She puffs her cheeks before grumbling, “Fine, I’ll stop. But you promised Mother and I once we break through our bottlenecks!”

“I’m a man of my word—God of my word, now.” He grins as Xiao Wu settles on his lap without any seductive gyration of her ass over his crotch.

Unaware of the acts happening beside him, Ou Ya starts conducting the awakening ceremony. He calls forth one child at a time, making them place a hand on an orb while placing a hand on their head to kindle their Soul Origins with his Spirit Energy, awakening their Martial Souls.

The sight pulls Ja Sun down memory lane as he recalls his ‘host’ excitedly enjoying the special treatment of the Great Supreme Pontiff, himself, kindling their martial souls. He awoke innate full spirit power since as notable to other twin Martial Soul owners, but he never expected to end up scarring Xunji’s right side by summoning Dark Devil God Tiger.

‘Quickly,’ he licks his lip. ‘I’ve devoured the Tiger for his worth. I can surprise Xunji once I completely assimilate the weapons within my gauntlets and finish the two arrays.’

“Oh, it’s Yue’er’s turn!” Xiao Wu perks up, staring at the dark-haired boy walking forward and placing his tiny hand on the orb. Ou Ya stares at Xia Yue a moment longer than others, aware of his backing, before glancing in Ja Sun’s direction. Ou Ya sees Ja Sun and Xiao Wu keeping a perfectly calm expression as they view the ceremony with no outward joy or disappointment. Xia Yue couldn’t help but feel nervous, too. He gulps quietly, looking at Xiao Wu for some support but seeing none as she seems too different from her usual cheerful and bubbly self.

“Calm yourself,” Ou Ya gently informs as he places his hand on Xia Yue’s head and kindles his martial soul. Familiar energy courses through his veins as Ja Sun and Xiao Wu watch with anticipation.

“I still don’t get why Sister Lana and Brother Xan wanted Yue’er to awaken his martial soul with others. Couldn’t you do it by yourself?”

“Yue has spent his early years with beasts and us. Let him have some experience with actual society. Who knows what things he’s learned from us that are wildly different here? For all we know,” Ja Sun chuckles, “he might have developed some skewed understanding of cultivation and the usual norms. He cannot be acting like me and challenging others or insulting them to their faces, you know.”

“Why did you do that?” Xiao Wu blinks as she recalls Ja Sun’s stellar reputation as a scammer.

“I felt like it,” Ja Sun shrugs. He earned great scores with his trait while scamming others, so why won’t he scam?

‘I should write a book about effective means of scamming, hide it somewhere, and tell others there is a divine inheritance only for them to spend years and find that book,’ he concocts scummy ideas while watching a pair of curved moon blades appearing in Xie Yue’s hands as the orb glows a sharp white light.

“Whoa!” Xiao Wu gasps as Ou Ya narrows his eyes, “Full Innate Spirit Power.”

***

Alternate Title: Xie Yue’s Rise As The Next Harem Lord; Let Him Cook!; Xie Yue Finding Potential Mates For His Sister Bruh; Hu Lana: Come Forth, Infinity Grandkids Work!; Xie Xan About To Let His Blades Loose; Xie Yue Learning The Worst From The Best; Golden Goblin and His Humble Brood; The Group’s Wild Child; Xie Yue About To Bring Beastly Rizz; Hu Lana Raising Correct Points; Xie Xan; As A Man, I Admit We Are Fucking Gross! Ja Sun: Aye! Oscar: Here, Here! Daoliu: Bitch, I’m Fabulous!; The Rabbits Are About To Jump Ja Sun’s Booty; The Beast God’s Eventual Bloody Present; The Scarred Xunji Paradox; Awakening; Full Innate Spirit Power; Xie Yue Walking The Path of His Father’s Blade; Xie Yue: I’m The Bone of My Sword!; Hu Lana: Hello, Your Daughter’s Cute~! I’m Ja Sun’s Besties and Here’s My Son~!; Hu Lana Living The True Life of Someone With a Backing Without a Hint of Shame