The next morning.
Dugu Manor, rear courtyard.
Just like last night, early in the morning, after transferring the energy gained from Ring Fusion into Dugu Yan's body, Xia Liang sat cross-legged nearby and meditated to restore his depleted Soul Power.
Dugu Yan also sat cross-legged, carefully sensing the entire process of the Ring Fusion Energy merging with her own Soul Power inside her body.
By the time Xia Liang's Soul Power had fully recovered, it was already noon.
The blazing sunlight shone down on the grass in the rear courtyard.
Dugu Yan ended her meditation. The remaining Ring Fusion Energy in her body had completely dissipated. She rose to her feet and swept her gaze around, meeting Xia Liang's eyes as he stood up as well.
"I didn't disappoint you last night, did I?" Dugu Yan asked with a smile.
Xia Liang nodded approvingly. "Not bad. I didn't expect you to last that long. You're quite capable."
"Of course!" Dugu Yan seemed to enjoy praise, and her face was full of smiles. With her arms folded across her chest, she said righteously, "Whenever we cultivated together, my grandfather always said I was stupid. But I'm not stupid at all. He just doesn't know how to teach."
"Still, it seems Ring Fusion really can't be learned after the fact. I've worked very hard, but I still can't find a way to fuse Soul Rings. It looks like I'll never be able to learn External Mixed Poison in this life. But thank you for being willing to spend time teaching me."
Having said that, Dugu Yan looked at Xia Liang gratefully. She wanted to say more, but she did not speak.
After a moment of silence, she casually asked, "Xia Liang, what do you think about the gossip spreading around the academy?