Chapter 9: The Kitten Theory

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Inside the council chamber, four elders sat like living stone statues, their vacant eyes fixed on the slender figure standing at the center of the hall—a six-year-old named Xiang Xiang, who seemed capable of supporting the entire sky.

A Wind Spirit.

What a Wind Spirit.

These three words floated lightly yet weighed like three invisible mountains, crashing heavily upon the hearts of those who had devoted their lives to mastering the path of speed.

“Gulp.”

Someone swallowed hard, the sound echoing like a drumbeat in the profound silence.

At the forefront, Elder Baishan’s usually stern, rock-like face displayed an extraordinary expression. His lips moved as if to speak, but his throat was as dry as the Sahara Desert.

Instinctively, he raised his hand and imitated Xiang Xiang by gently gesturing toward the nearby incense burner.

The pale smoke curled upward, rising straight and indifferent, as if silently mocking his presumptuousness.

Baishan’s face instantly flushed a deep crimson.

Unwilling to accept defeat, he slightly activated his soul power, summoning a force befitting a Soul Saint. Once again, he extended this energy toward the smoke, inviting it.

This time, the smoke responded. It swayed abruptly under the sudden force, then with a “puff,” it dispersed completely.

Dispersed.

Swiftly and mercilessly.

“This is impossible!”

Baishan finally shouted, like a child seeing a soul beast for the first time, his tone filled with bewilderment and frustration that upended his understanding.

“Controlling air currents requires guiding with force and mastering with soul power! She didn’t even use her soul power!”

“Then why did the smoke obey her? This defies logic! It contradicts the fundamental laws of soul energy!”

He began pacing like a stubborn scholar, muttering to himself.

“Could it be mental power? But she’s only six; no matter how strong her mind is, such precise remote control is impossible!”

“Could it be a special talent of her Martial Soul? But without soul rings attached, no talent is limitless!”

“Why? Why is this happening?”

The other three elders were no better off, craning their necks to look at Xiang Xiang, their eyes filled with a mixture of disbelief and awe, as if staring at a ten-thousand-year-old intelligent soul beast disguised as a granddaughter.

Watching these elders, lost in self-doubt and shaken worldviews, Xiang Xiang tilted her head, revealing a purely innocent expression utterly at odds with her earlier profound words.

“Grandpa Baishan, aren’t you overcomplicating things?”

Her clear, melodious voice shattered Baishan’s trance.

“Complicated?”

Baishan snapped his head back, eyes bloodshot as he stared at her.

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“Isn’t this complicated? Then tell me, how did you do it?”

Xiang Xiang thought seriously for a moment, then offered a simple analogy.

“Wind is like ‘Xiao Xiao,’ the lazy cat in Grandpa’s backyard.”

“Cat?”

The elders were collectively baffled; the sudden topic shift nearly fried their already overworked brains.

“Yes,” Xiang Xiang nodded naturally.

“You all looked like you were trying to tie ‘Xiao Xiao’ down with a rope and drag it along. Of course, it wouldn’t cooperate—it would either run away or just lie down and ignore you.”

She waved her small, unharmed hand gently in the air.

“But I just waved a piece of its favorite dried fish snack in front of it. It smelled the scent and happily followed me.”

The dried fish snack theory.

The four elders exchanged glances, their expressions shifting from confusion to stupefaction, and finally to a kind of bitter amusement.

They had spent lifetimes cultivating, formulating countless profound theories—

“Qi follows the heart,” “Body merges with the wind,” “Breaking through wind resistance”—

Yet from this little girl’s mouth, it all boiled down to “teasing a cat with dried fish”?

What was this? The simplicity of the great way?

Or was this little girl deliberately mocking their old bones?

“Pfft—”

White Crane, who had been calmly enjoying the spectacle of the elders’ expressions, finally burst out laughing, nearly spraying his tea.

Suppressing his mirth, he cleared his throat and spoke in a seasoned tone tinged with pride and nostalgia.

“Ahem, Brother Shan, you’re all bound by rules and constraints.”

“You’re always thinking about how to use the wind but forget to first understand the wind.”

He stood and walked to Xiang Xiang’s side, proudly patting his granddaughter’s small head.

“This girl’s heart is free, so she can befriend the wind, which is free as well.”

“You, on the other hand, carry too many family responsibilities, sect rules, even schemes against enemies. How can the wind be close to you?”

His words were part truth, part distortion, but coming from him and paired with Xiang Xiang’s miraculous display, they sounded like undeniable wisdom.

The four elders were dumbfounded, rendered speechless.

Looking at the grandfather and granddaughter standing side by side—one calm and composed, the other serene—they suddenly felt that their decades of life had been utterly wasted.

Baishan sighed deeply, as if drained of all strength. Facing White Crane and Xiang Xiang, he bowed deeply.

“Brother, I was wrong.”

At his bow, the other three elders quickly rose, their faces complex as they followed suit.

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“Chief, we were also confused.”

“The young lady’s prodigious talent is beyond our short-sightedness; we nearly jeopardized the family’s future!”

They truly surrendered—not to the chief’s authority, but to the radiant path Xiang Xiang had unveiled, one they had never imagined.

Their concern and care remained, but had shifted from inhibition to how best to support her.

“All right, all right, we’re family—no need for these formalities.”

White Crane was in high spirits, waving his hand to help them up, pride almost spilling from his face.

“Since you’ve all come to understand,” he shifted his gaze to the still peaceful Xiang Xiang, “it’s time to discuss practical matters.”

Baishan immediately regained his sharpness, adjusting his glasses as his eyes rested again on Xiang Xiang.

“Brother is right. Xiang Xiang’s path and direction are correct, but the foundation needs strengthening.”

His gaze swept over Xiang Xiang’s bandaged arm.

“Her injury yesterday was partly due to the trap’s cunning, but ultimately because her body’s strength and endurance lag behind her quick reflexes and sharp mind.”

“She could think to counter the trap but lacked the power to break the beast’s tendon with stones. She sensed danger but couldn’t perform a second midair turn due to physical limits.”

“No matter how exquisite the path of the Wind Spirit, it requires a sufficiently strong vessel to bear it. This vessel is still too fragile.”

His words were reasonable and to the point.

Xiang Xiang nodded in agreement. This was indeed her greatest weakness.

“So,” Baishan looked at White Crane with unwavering determination, “I propose opening the clan’s treasury. All the spirit medicines and precious materials that can refine the body, strengthen the bones, and nourish the spirit—regardless of cost—should be used entirely on Xiang Xiang!”

“Agreed!”

“Indeed!”

The other three elders echoed without hesitation.

Before, they had thought only of protecting this rare porcelain.

Now, they aimed to forge it into an invincible divine artifact using the finest materials.

Seeing the elders’ flushed, excited faces, a glimmer of anticipation finally appeared in Xiang Xiang’s clear eyes.

From this moment on, the entire Minzhi clan—the old yet still finely tuned war chariot—would roar to life with her at its core, unleashing full power toward the supreme goal.

And she could finally begin her nearly extravagant, potential-extracting training plan without restraint.