Chapter 28

The fire scorpion was shy; it only flew high and far out of excitement after suddenly gaining strength. When it saw the two teammates on the first floor, it instantly hid back inside Meng Li.

Xu Qiao was still lingering on the scene she had just witnessed.
—-
To be honest, Xu Qiao was also a bit afraid of creatures like scorpions. It was only because the fire scorpion spirit had been so adorable when it came to her for Meng Li’s treatment that Xu Qiao overcame her fear of its appearance and quickly developed a sense of camaraderie through mutual assistance.

Just now, she had faced the underside of the fire scorpion from an upward angle for the first time, but she didn’t have time to observe the details of its belly before being captivated by a pair of deep red wings.

They were large wings that resembled those of a bird, but instead of soft feathers, the fire scorpion’s wings were covered in a metallic armor-like texture, seamlessly connected to its deep red, glimmering shell.

There was less warmth and softness, but more hardness and sharpness.

Xu Qiao turned to Qin Chi. Regardless of his age, demeanor, or his profession as a military school teacher, he exuded a sense of vast knowledge, and she hoped he could help her understand her current confusion.

Why could the fire scorpion grow wings? Was it a secondary mutation of the spirit, similar to her lotus gaining petals?

Qin Chi cooperatively responded in a low voice, “I don’t have extensive research on spirit entities, but I know they can undergo genetic mutations, just like genes. These mutations typically manifest in offspring at birth or when the spirit awakens, and they are usually stable. There may be late-stage mutations of spirit entities, but I haven’t heard of any before.”

Xu Qiao nodded.
—-
Humanity had only entered the New Era a little over a hundred years ago. The first few decades were spent resisting mutant creatures to stabilize the living environment of the bases, and research focused on developing superpower weapons. Although generations of scholars continued researching, observing, discussing, and analyzing spirit entities, official nomenclature for them could only summarize their characteristics. Those academic reports likely represented just the tip of the iceberg in humanity’s exploration of spirit entities.

Grandma Meng is an ordinary person with little understanding of spiritual entities, and she doesn’t usually pay much attention to related information. Immersed in strong emotions, even though Grandma Meng sees her granddaughter’s spiritual entity has grown wings and flown away, she doesn’t have the mood to think about what it means, including the possible reasons that could have catalyzed this change.

So what if it has wings? It’s still a scorpion, and those wings don’t resemble the magnificent wings of a phoenix at all.

Meng Li sat still, feeling the changes in her body and spiritual power. She quietly extended her invisible left hand, which her grandma couldn’t see.

A gentle flow of air circulated between her fingers and silently dissipated.

Any flying or speed-type spiritual entity awakens wind abilities, either as a primary ability or in the form of a secondary ability.

This new discovery, enough to make ordinary ability users ecstatic, Meng Li merely felt, tried, and verified it in silence, not showing any expression on her face.

“You can go rest; I’ll call you when she wakes up.”

Grandma Meng replied, “What about this matter…”

Meng Li said, “If she doesn’t want to tell me, then I’ll pretend I don’t know.”

Grandma Meng sighed, “She’s afraid it will upset you. Being a daughter of the Lin family, others have…”

Meng Li replied calmly, “My surname is Meng. I have my grandma and mom to take care of me; I’m doing just fine.”

Grandma Meng glanced at her granddaughter, who has always been independent and strong-willed, and decided not to say anything disheartening. Weary, she said, “Alright, you young people discuss how to treat your mother’s illness. I’ll go sleep now and cook for you in the morning.”
—-
After the old lady went back to her room to rest, Meng Li invited her two teammates back.

Xu Qiao and Qin Chi acted as if they hadn’t seen the fire scorpion with wings and said nothing about it.

Meng Li took the initiative to say, “My spiritual entity might have leveled up, and I also gained wind abilities.”

Having told her teammates the big secret of her mother’s beastification, Meng Li was willing to place her complete trust in them as a gesture of gratitude for their help.

Surprised by this trust, Xu Qiao stammered, “You… you didn’t have to tell us…”

Meng Li looked at her and asked, “Will you spread it around?”

Xu Qiao immediately shook her head.

Meng Li then turned to Qin Chi.

Qin Chi candidly said, “I’ve also kept some things from you. It’s a personal matter that I can’t discuss right now, but I assure you, unless given permission, I won’t reveal any secrets of my teammates to anyone.”

Xu Qiao wondered if she was being overly sensitive, but she felt there was some depth to Qin Chi’s words.

Qin Chi continued, “Perhaps you don’t need to know, but I still want to share one of my secrets as a way to exchange trust among teammates.”

Both twenty-something teammates turned to her at the same time.

Qin Chi smiled and said, “My spiritual entity has also undergone a change. Although my rank in the Mercenary Association is classified as C-level, I actually already possess B-level capabilities. I specifically came to the Southeast Base to stay temporarily to conceal the secret of my spiritual entity’s mutation.”

Meng Li nodded calmly, as if Qin Chi’s secret were insignificant.

Xu Qiao: “……”

Could it be that the mutation of spiritual entities isn’t as rare as she thought? Otherwise, how could both of her new teammates have experienced the same situation?

A secret is something only one person possesses. Now that all three are the same, Xu Qiao saw no need to conceal anything further.

After all, they are teammates who will be working together on missions for at least the next two to three years. It’s better for her combat-oriented teammates to know her healing level to better manage the pace when dealing with exotic beasts.

Having made her decision, Xu Qiao looked at Meng Li and released her lotus spiritual entity.

In the small living room on the second floor, Xu Qiao and Meng Li sat side by side on a two-person sofa, while Qin Chi sat on a single sofa to the side. When the lotus spiritual entity emerged, it landed in the space between the three of them.

Four round, emerald-green lotus leaves grew from the swirling mist, surrounding a white, pink-tinted, double-petaled lotus flower in the center.

The lotus leaves swayed gently without wind, and a faint, pleasant fragrance wafted around.

Finally allowed to reveal itself openly, the lotus intentionally moved closer to the neighbor next door, who loved buying flower baskets.

Qin Chi looked at the accessible lotus petals and smiled, saying, “Beautiful.”

For a girl’s spiritual entity, overly praising it wouldn’t be appropriate.

The fire dragon tried to bring its dragon head closer to the lotus, but unfortunately, it couldn’t even show a single scale.

Receiving compliments from its neighbor, the lotus gently turned towards Meng Li.

Meng Li wasn’t a flower admirer; she was focused on the number of petals and looked at Xu Qiao in surprise, saying, “It seems like there weren’t this many petals before?”

Xu Qiao retracted her beautiful spiritual entity and replied, “Yeah, it suddenly changed from eleven petals to thirty-three when I graduated two years ago. My level might have increased by one as well, but I didn’t dare to test it.”

Qin Chi remarked, “Looks like we’re all quite cautious.”

As their relationship grew closer, Xu Qiao couldn’t help but ask him, “How did your spiritual entity mutate?”

Qin Chi replied, “It’s aggressive and prone to causing harm, so I try not to let it out.”

Xu Qiao understood: “Animal-type?”

Qin Chi confirmed, “Yes, the kind that isn’t likable. To avoid affecting your perception of me, please allow me to keep it a secret.”

Xu Qiao immediately thought of Meng Li’s scorpion. If Qin Chi was worried about them disliking him in the presence of a scorpion, then his spiritual entity must be a creature even more unacceptable to most humans.

Xu Qiao quickly halted her wandering thoughts; some things are indeed better kept mysterious. She found Qin Chi quite pleasant and comfortable to be around now, but she didn’t want to picture an unlikable spiritual entity when she saw him again in the future.

But since he has wind abilities, could it be a bird?

Are there any birds that look “special”?

Qin Chi looked at her drooping eyelashes and suddenly asked, “Are you guessing my spiritual entity?”

Xu Qiao’s face flushed.

Qin Chi paused and said, “I can show you part of it.”

Though curious, Xu Qiao politely declined, “No, it’s alright.”

Qin Chi extended his right hand toward her.

The man’s hands were long and pale, with distinct joints. Just as Xu Qiao and Meng Li looked over, Qin Chi’s fingertip suddenly revealed a segment of a black claw.

The pitch-black claw, about ten centimeters long, resembled a sharp sickle forged from black metal.

At first glance, it was clearly a bird’s talon.

As Xu Qiao marveled at Qin Chi’s caution and stinginess in her heart, she thought, “He said it was a part, and it truly is just a part.” He hadn’t even fully revealed a complete bird claw. At the same time, she was deeply shocked by the power of Qin Chi’s spiritual entity; even just one claw was as sharp as a weapon made from alloy. How strong must the entire entity be?

Could it be a raptor among birds?

Qin Chi retracted one claw from the dragon’s foot and chuckled, “The last time I let it out, I almost injured my friend.”

The bloodthirsty fire dragon had lost its rationality to its beastly instincts, spewing fire without distinguishing friend from foe.

Xu Qiao asked, “Is there a way to intervene?”

Qin Chi replied, “A professor friend suggested I cultivate my mind and character.”

Xu Qiao suddenly understood why he seemed so much like a retired military academy teacher.

After the three teammates communicated their secrets, it was late at night, not suitable for further socializing. Meng Li and Xu Qiao stayed on the second floor to rest, while Qin Chi went to the sofa on the first floor.

At around seven in the morning, when Meng Li was persuading her two teammates to go to work first, Meng Qiuyan in the room woke up.

Meng Qiuyan was born into an ordinary family in the third ring. Before she turned sixteen, she was charming and outgoing, highly sought after by her peers. However, after unexpectedly awakening her toxic scorpion spiritual entity at sixteen, the classmates who once surrounded her left. Rumors began circulating in the alumni circle and among neighbors about her, with some even digging up “facts” about her family’s history of criminals and mistresses.

That summer, Meng Qiuyan hardly left her home.

With her excellent humanities scores and special “toxic” abilities, she enrolled in the Third Military Academy in the second ring. However, due to her family’s inability to afford the exorbitant tuition, Meng Qiuyan had to sign a contract to serve in the military for ten years after graduation.

After joining the guard army, Meng Qiuyan met Lin’s father, and the romance restored some of her vitality, but the breakup made her even more withdrawn.

More than twenty years have passed, and the only thing that hasn’t changed is her astonishing beauty.

After learning about what happened last night from her daughter, Meng Qiuyan looked at Xu Qiao and Qin Chi with shame, saying, “It’s all my fault; I’ve troubled you.”

Xu Qiao replied, “Aunt, you don’t need to be polite with us. How are you feeling now?”

Meng Qiuyan smiled gently and said, “It’s very calm now; it shouldn’t act up again.”

She thought she had long since let go, but her spiritual entity had always remembered, which led her to be drawn back into memories upon suddenly hearing about the other party’s daughter’s glory, re-experiencing intense happiness, sweetness, sadness, and pain, and then losing control.

Xu Qiao released her spiritual entity.

Meng Qiuyan’s eyes lit up, and she nearly couldn’t help but touch the beautiful lotus flower.

Xu Qiao smiled and said, “You can touch it. I need your help to see how this spiritual entity affects you in particular.”

Meng Qiuyan understood. She touched the petals and inhaled the fragrance, her gaze becoming even softer. “I love its scent; it smells very pleasant.”