Chapter 124: Devotion, Strategy, and a New Path
"Master, I will repay your kindness for giving me a new life with my entire being. We are willing to serve you like slaves."
Nana knelt in front of Xiao Qiang, and the others soon followed. Like Nana, they had also endured great suffering. The souls of their loved ones were imprisoned by the Holy Spirit Church, and after Xiao Qiang slew the elder, the Great Holy Spirit, and the Second Holy Spirit, their vengeance was realized. The purifying light that followed released their loved ones' tormented spirits.
Understanding what had happened, they knelt as Nana did and made the same choice. "Your kindness is immeasurable. We are willing to follow you for life and serve like slaves to repay the debt."
"Serve like slaves? Are you serious?" Xiao Qiang frowned. "I destroyed those evil soul masters to improve my strength. Saving you all was merely incidental. I'm not a good person."
"Regardless of your intentions, you saved us," one girl insisted. "You are a good person in our eyes. Without your intervention, our parents would still be suffering. You gave their souls peace. That is enough."
They had once stood in the shadow of despair. Facing the overwhelming might of the Holy Spirit Church, they had no hope of resistance. Powerless, they endured the pain of seeing their parents enslaved, submitting themselves to lessen their suffering. Some had grown numb under the torment.
But Xiao Qiang shattered that despair. With a single act of destruction and purification, he brought their suffering to an end. Regardless of his reasons, the result was real and irreversible. Their parents' souls were freed. Their chains were broken.
They did not care why Xiao Qiang had done it. Even if he had needed evil soul masters to grow stronger, they could never have paid the price required to destroy enemies of that level themselves. Nor could they have purified the souls that haunted them.
"Alright then," Xiao Qiang said, his voice calm but resolute. "Follow me. As for this branch of the Holy Spirit Church…"
He turned back toward the ruined temple. With a shift of his martial soul to Moon's Light Holy Dragon, Xiao Qiang activated his fifth soul skill: Dragon Emperor Breaking Evil Crack. A surge of light erupted, tearing through the structure with divine might. The entire branch of the Holy Spirit Church was obliterated.
With that, he led everyone back to the Earl's Mansion recently bestowed upon him by the emperor.
Xiao Qiang assigned most of them to guard the estate and grounds. Then he brought Nana into the mansion, where Xiao Sheng and Xiao Lan were waiting.
The reason he singled out Nana was simple: her talent.
At seventeen years old, she had already reached the five-ring Soul King level—and that was with her holding back, fearful of becoming a holy servant. Her martial spirit was shaped by her very soul. In an era dominated by ultimate and body-type martial spirits, this placed her on par with top talents like Beibei and Xu Sanshi.
After all, if a martial spirit based on one's soul couldn't be considered a gold-level body martial spirit, what could?
In the original timeline, Nana's combat potential had seemed average later on, but that was because she had lacked resources. After leaving the Sun and Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy, she had spent her days repaying kindness, doing whatever the Tang Sect asked of her. Eventually, she became the sect's chief steward.
She hadn't advanced to Soul Emperor even after three more years—not because of a bottleneck, but because life and obligations had eaten away at her cultivation time. Furthermore, Huo Yuhao had diverted resources to others like Ye Guyi and Nan Qiuqiu, leaving Nana with little.
Combat strength was what mattered most to Xiao Qiang. He intended to provide Nana with the resources she lacked, but he knew the importance of handling such matters delicately.
Kindness, when too large, can become a burden—and even turn a grateful heart into a resentful one.
So he needed a plan: to make Nana repay her earlier debt, allowing him to help her without creating another heavy obligation. With that, he could build trust and strength simultaneously.
"Nana," Xiao Qiang said softly.
"Yes, Master."
"Take Xiao Lan outside for a bit. I need to speak with Ah Sheng alone. Also, you'll serve as Xiao Lan's maid for the time being."
"Yes, Master."
Once Nana and Xiao Lan left, and the room fell silent, Xiao Qiang looked at Xiao Sheng and spoke directly.
"What level is your soul power now?"
Xiao Sheng gave a bitter smile. "Only level eight, Brother. Honestly, that pill should've gone to you or Xiao Lan. I have no soul power by nature. Even with that pill, I won't go far."
Xiao Sheng's initial five levels of soul power came solely from the Sun and Moon Pill. But now, having consumed such a potent pill, he couldn't take another for quite some time. Overusing medicine would lead to stagnation.
During this period, he could only use alternative methods like absorbing nutrients from soul beast meat to aid his cultivation. But even that had its limits. In more than half a year, level three soul power was the best he could achieve beyond the pill's effect.
As for higher-grade treasures, like fairy grass—they would only waste their potential on someone with such a fragile foundation.
"It seems you can't go far using traditional cultivation," Xiao Qiang concluded.
"I'm sorry, Brother," Xiao Sheng lowered his head. "I've wasted the elixir you worked so hard to obtain."
Xiao Qiang shook his head. "That elixir has no effect on me. Don't worry about it. Since the medicine path doesn't work for you, we'll just find another way."
Xiao Sheng's eyes lit up. "Another way? But… what's the price, Brother? Please be honest. What do you have to give up for it?"
He desperately wanted strength, like any youth in the Douluo Continent. But not at the cost of hurting his brother.
Xiao Qiang gave a rare smile. "Don't worry. It's nothing important to me. But you must be cautious and tell no one about what I'm about to show you."
As Xiao Sheng stared, confused, Xiao Qiang pulled out a man from his storage soul guide—the unconscious Yan Feng.
"Who is he…?"
"He is the second path I've prepared for you." Xiao Qiang's voice was calm, yet filled with purpose. "From now on, your future lies in taking over another body."