AnnouncementA/N: In this chapter, I'll be hinting at something that might seem unrealistic at first gnce. To those of you who'd like an expnation for it, go ahead and read the spoiler. I'd recommend reading the chapter before the spoiler, regardless.

  Spoiler Ye Lingling's hair color change is indicative of a martial soul evolution or mutation after she was healed by the herbal remedy that Jian prepared for her. Her evolution is mainly just going to take away what I see as the major weakness of the Nine-Heart Flowering Apple: the fact that it, or its canon mutation, are completely stuck to one path without any sense of choice, and I'm going to let her and Jian develop their martial souls into a complementary pair (there's subtext in canon that it's easier to ascend as a pair, with Life/Destruction and Evil/Kindness as examples). As for why the mutation happens, I'm going to recap her situation objectively:

  1. She saw her whole family die, we've seen Tang Ya develop from this

  2. She's been hunted through the woods for months, managing to stay alive mostly because she got a head start, and the Sect couldn't act openly. High stress leads to stimuting will, and will can affect the soul

  3. Hestia gave her guidance, so there is a trace amount of divine power of Greek origin, and Lingling is being healed in her champion's home

  4. Jian healed her with parts of an oak tree, which is significant to Greek fae

  5. Her Martial Soul bloodline is tied to the apple, which is significant in both Greek and Celtic cultures; Greeks for Love, and Celtic for the Fae and Death

  With all of this energy and symbolism, it's basically a spontaneous ritual (read: miracle) that was activated by Jian's pure desire to help. It'd be more surprising if nothing happened to her martial soul.

  [colpse]Discimer: I do not own Soul Land or its associated characters

  Jian's fifth birthday was a retively quiet affair. His father still wasn't home yet, and with his mother and aunt Mei both due within a month or two, everyone was getting worried.

  He had finished the basics of his herbal medicine guide the night before, all that was left after cataloging all the pnts he could find and cross-referencing them was to actually try making medicines with them, and then start experimenting to make things better as he grew up. He was in no rush to make things perfect, but today he decided that he would head out and grab some herbs to help out around the house. Both his mother and aunt Mei had been shape-shifting since his dad and Uncle Nezhi left, and it made them awfully sick, so he decided to get a hit of everything to help treat them.

  The shopping was retively quick, but as he left the apothecary and went to turn home, he felt a strange certainty come to him, and chose to pause for a moment before following that feeling. He remembered what the teachers in the school of the dream world said about divine guidance, and he felt almost giddy when he realized that somehow, Hestia had heard his prayers. He felt it in the guidance, the soft fire of the hearth and the sense of home. With any further hesitance gone, he wandered closer and closer to the wall around the city, and when the guidance ended, he looked around, confused about what he should do.

  At that moment, a blue blur smmed into him, almost knocking him over, and nearly spilling his package of herbs from his arms. Acting on instinct, he grabbed whoever rushed into him to prevent both of them from falling. Looking down, he saw a child about his age, with light violet eyes and startling blue hair, looking up at him with exhaustion, confusion, terror, and then finally relief. When Jian saw the relief flood the girl's eyes, she abruptly fainted, leaving him in the middle of the road with a package of herbs, a young girl, and a look of bewilderment on his face.

  'Why do I feel like I just got conned into something troublesome?' Jian thought to himself. It might have been his imagination, but he thought he pictured a short, bck-haired girl sticking her tongue out at him.

  Regardless of his thoughts on the matter, he recognized that he had found what he was guided towards. The girl in his arms was exhausted, barely had any meat on her bones, and had scrapes, cuts, and bruises all over her body. She needed help, and he certainly had the means to do so after his trip earlier, so he firmed up his resolve, moved the girl onto his back, and began a slow walk back to his house.

  Two hours ter, he was feeling quite tired, yet satisfied as he y the girl down in one of the spare rooms at the inn. They were usually used for his parents' employees that needed somewhere to stay while they saved up to buy a house, but he commandeered the one that had been empty since one of the waitresses moved in with her new husband. After a quick trip out back to his house to grab his tools and some honeycomb, he settled down to make an ointment for the girl's wounds. There was plenty of time to figure out the story here, but she needed rest and healing first.

  For the ointment, he added oak and willow bark to treat her wounds and guard against a fever. It was the best he had on hand, and it was one of the few pnts that was actually the same in both worlds. If the trees gathered enough soul power, they could evolve into beasts, but the basic pnts were the same as he knew. What shocked him to the core though, was that after he started treating the wound with the ointment and wrapping a light linen bandage around them, her hair, which had been blue like the sea, started to fade into a lovely oaken brown. The herbs he treated her with couldn't have done that, so a suspicion he had been forming since his mother and aunt's stomachs started to swell grew rapidly. He wasn't sure it was healthy for a girl this young to start shape-shifting, so once he treated the st of the wounds he rushed out of the door, and straight into someone.

  Looking up, ready to begin apologizing for his clumsiness, Jian saw silver eyes looking down at him. His father's face was torn between worry, exasperation, and amusement, but Jian ignored all of that and just jumped right back at him, relieved beyond words that his father was home again.

  "Papa! You're back!" Jian excimed, bringing his father into the most crushing hug he could muster (the same kind of hug you'd use to hold onto a cat that was feeling particurly done with you for the moment), tears pooling in his eyes as the worries he'd been holding onto for months were finally let go.

  "There, there, son." Hao replied calmly, caressing his son's head as he looked back into the room his son came out of. He saw a young girl, about his son's age lying on the bed. Her hair was definitely blue at first, but it was slowly changing into a deep brown. Thinking about families with naturally blue hair, a worrisome thought formed in his mind 'That would be top much of a coincidence, right?' He thought to himself, doing his best to keep that thought off of his face as he looked back down to match eyes with his son. "Where did this girl come from, young man? You didn't just abduct someone because you were lonely, did you?"

  Jian looked up at his father with horror, until he saw the teasing glint in his eyes. "Papa! I would never! She ran into me while I was out shopping, and she looked hurt and exhausted, but I couldn't just leave her in the middle of the road. I didn't see her parents anywhere, so I decided to bring her back and treat her wounds. The way I see it, we can ask her about her family when she gets up."

  Hao nodded, putting away his teasing for now. "Then where were you off to in such a hurry?"

  Jian looked at his father with some exasperation. "Well look at her! Her hair is changing color! Mom has been shape-shifting since you left, and she got real sick for a while when she started, but I don't know if it's safe for a girl to start shape-shifting so young so I was running to get her to take a look!"

  Hao looked at his son in confusion. "Jian, what do you mean shape-shifting?"

  Jian just nodded his head, oblivious to his father's misunderstanding "You know, girls shapeshift when they're worried, and their stomachs swell and they get sick. Ever since you and Uncle Nezhi left, mama and aunt Mei have both been changing. I think they've been talking about changing back soon, but if they're so strong and still sick, I don't know what changing hair color does, but I'm sure they'll know all about it!"

  With that, Hao looked as though he was struck by lightning, and Jian used that moment to escape and run to get his mother. When he came to, he realized his son would be back soon, so he decided to check on the young girl and either confirm or assuage his troubling thoughts about her identity.

  When he opened the door and walked in, he noticed her stirring from her sleep, and he walked over to the chair beside her bed that her son had left.

  The girl opened her eyes slowly, blinking in confusion when she saw a roof over her head and not the canopies of trees she was used to. She tried to remember where she was or how she got here, and then the events of the day came flooding back. She flushed slightly, embarrassed she had basically just ran up to someone and dumped herself on him, but in that moment she had a feeling she hadn't felt since that night, that she was safe and everything was going to be okay.

  Looking to the side, the girl saw a man that looked like an older version of the boy she colpsed on, with eyes of pure silver. He was looking at her with curiosity, fear, and resignation.

  "You're Ye Lingling, aren't you?" Hao asked the girl, exhaustion creeping into his tone. The girl, Ye Lingling, heard none of this nuance and his words seemed to echo in her mind, filling her with a sense of dread. Her whole body tensed, and she was prepared to struggle for her life and flee, when all of a sudden a rge, warm hand settled on the crown of her head. Her face, bnk from fear, suddenly changed to a mask of confusion when the blow she was expecting never came.

  "It's been hard, hasn't it, little one?" Hao continued, and Lingling was shocked to feel a strange wetness on her chubby little cheeks. She nodded slightly, the conflicting emotions muddling her thoughts slightly. "My son brought you home to treat your wounds. My brother and I ran into the bandits chasing you while we were hunting for soul rings. It appears that either fate or the Angel God have sent you to us, so why don't you settle down until my wife and son come back? No one will hurt you here, but we should keep your identity a secret so as not to invite disaster to our doorstep. Does that sound alright to you?"

  "Un." Lingling nodded, understanding the need for secrecy.

  "Good, we'll introduce you as Ling'er, and you've just escaped from bandits from the south. Just don't mention your surname for now, and we'll work it out from there." Hao said, before turning his head towards the door.

  Jian dragged his mother into the room, pointing at the girl and missing that she was even awake. "Look, mama! Her hair changed color and everything! I'm sure you girl's all have your secrets about shape-shifting, but she's so young and frail, and the herbal books don't have a section on how to treat shape-shifting! I can help with her cuts. I can help with her malnutrition. I can even help normal sickness. But your weird womanly shape-shifting is totally out of my experience!" He huffed, looking disappointed that he didn't know how to help, and frustrated with how secretive women were.

  Xia let out a long ugh, enjoying Jian's little stunt and looking at the girl in question. Her son was right, in a way. The girl's blue hair was slowly fading into a deep brown. She honestly had no idea what was going on, but she didn't look sick. If anything, there was a sort of wintery vitality coming back to her, like a small sapling breaking through the ice and stretching its leaves.

  Hao was stunned at the sight of his very pregnant wife, and his son's earlier words came back to him. He now realized why little Jian was worried, if all his experience with girls changing shape was with pregnant women, he obviously thought the young girl was in for a rough time. The sheer absurdity broke through his shock and he let out a light chuckle.

  "I'm back," he announced casually, walking over to his wife and holding her gently. "You didn't tell me that you were expecting when I left. We could have deyed until the little one was born."

  Xia put on a look of faux annoyance and replied, "Well, I didn't know! You snuck out in the morning and left well before I found out myself." She stuck her tongue out at that to take some of the bite out of what she said, as she was really relieved to be back in her husband's arms again.

  The newly re-named Ling'er looked at this scene with a growing calm, now that the shock at being discovered was over, and she looked over at the little boy who was getting worried on her behalf. His silver-purple eyes caught her attention again, and when they looked her over they were practically radiating concern. "It's alright," she said softly, not wanting to shatter the lively atmosphere, "I don't know what's going on, but I don't feel sick."

  Jian listened to her, and with mounting resignation after he saw that his mother didn't know what was happening, he decided that this girl was going to have to be watched so she didn't get sick like his mother and aunt. "Alright, but keep an eye on your health. When mama and auntie started changing they got real sick and you look like a stiff breeze could knock you over."

  Xia chuckled, and told her son, "Jian, she's not changing like me and auntie. If she were a soul master, I'd say she was going through martial spirit evolution, but she looks like a commoner, so I'm not sure."

  "Evolution? Like in the bedtime stories? I thought you needed rare grass or to absorb a spirit ring for that to happen!" Jian replied, confused.

  Ling'er, on the other hand felt her heart bead loudly as the implications sunk in. If her martial soul evolved, then maybe she could rise above being just a healer like her mother, and she could even make a big family away from the terror of living under the thumb of the unreliable Imperial family.

  Hao was also shocked, realizing that if what his wife suspected was true, it would be even easier to hide the girl from prying eyes. Without the famous healing martial spirit, she could shelter with then and grow and live quietly in the city.

  "Alright, everyone, " Hao began, unusually serious "we need to keep whatever happened here quiet. Ling'er here has always brown hair, and whatever she awakens will be listed for the Spirit Hall records. No need to kick up a fuss and have greedy people investigate."

  Everyone in the room nodded, showing they understood. Hao continued "While you ran off to get your mother, I asked her about her family. They died in a bandit attack a few miles south of here, and she managed to escape."

  Jian was horrified by this news, and Ling'er's tears started to flow again at the reminder. Seeing this, Jian pulled her into his arms and started slowly rubbing her back. "It's okay to cry, just let it out. You can stay with us and help out around the inn. You'll be safe here, and we'll send word to the scouts to capture the bandits responsible."

  Hao nodded inwardly at the quickly evolving bond between his son and this little girl, sensing the fate at work here. The st time he had this feeling was when his wife was pregnant with Jian, and he was sure bug changes would be coming in the future. He replied to his son, "No need to worry about them. Nezhi and I ran into the bandits on our way back. It's all taken care of for now."

  Xia was startled by his admission, but sensed something wasn't quite right. She stared at her husband, raising an eyebrow and silently demanding an answer. He gave her a sublt head shake that meant he would tell her ter, and she nodded imperiously, accepting that but showing she wouldn't forget his silent promise.

  Hestia saw all of these little interactions as her divine power was fading into the little girl's soul, gd that she had found her home. As she could see the small blush on the girl's face as she was being comforted by her little champion, she was satisfied that her little nudge would bear fruit. She could sense that the girl would likely align more with her sister Demeter, but she was happy with her choices so far. Loki had come by earlier and taken a look at the world, and was somewhere between horrified and excited. It was obvious that the current trajectory of the soul beast's was at a massive decline, and this was unacceptable. While modern humans had established their dominance, the wild pces of the world continued to grow naturally. In this world, while humans had not suppressed the soul beasts quite yet, there was clear signs of the divine trapping them.

  Every time a soul ring was stolen by a human, if they weren't demonically aligned, they were almost completely cutting off their chances of ascension. The only exception was to be given tests by the divine to deviate the person's essence towards their Domain, but this kept the ws stagnant, and without new ideas, the ws would always remain soft and weak. If a time came where all the humans were cultivating demonically, it would truly spell doom for all of the ascendants.

  He was excited because with the sage on the rise, there was plenty of chaos for him to watch, and he could send a test to someone unsuspecting that would have originally dropped off slowly. There was a little snake girl whose father was dying, and she was getting desperate. Without intervention, she would be on a collision course with a foreign soul to be stolen from 'righteously'. It seemed that their family had mistakenly merged the poison sac of their so-called Martial Soul into their central dantian, which was having an adverse effect on their life essence. He decided to suppress the poison subtly, to extend the man's life, and send them to his friend Hestia's little champion. If he could solve the problem, and Loki had full faith that he would, little Jian would have a fine family supporting him and he could take in the little girl as a champion through her dreams.

  He decided to leave the little sapling to Brighid to guide, as he could faintly read the fate tying them together. Soon enough, their day of awakening would come, and after they got their feet under them, it would be time to start the trials. With the cultivation system he saw little Jian working on to keep his family close, he was sure that things would get boring if he didn't add a little excitement.