Blessing in Disguise

She had experienced something similar before. A few years ago, Xia Tianling had taught her a cultivation technique called [Azure Hill Sky Fox Art], and even her teacher, Bibi Dong, had greatly praised it as an exceptionally profound method.

Somewhat worried, she checked the situation inside through the cultivation room's special observation mirror. Seeing that neither of them had encountered any problems, she did not interfere further.

Who could have imagined that this state would continue into the second day, the third day, and the fourth day?

The morning of the sixth day.

By then, several people were already standing outside the cultivation room. Aside from his few companions, everyone else possessed extremely high Soul Power cultivation.

The two Titled Douluo stationed at the academy had both arrived. Several Healing System Spirit Masters were also present, including a Healing System Spirit Douluo.

This was Spirit Hall's current Holy Son. No degree of caution could be considered excessive.

Just as the two Titled Douluo were discussing whether to force their way through the door, fortunately, the inheritance finally came to an end.

After releasing Spiritual Power continuously for four days, Xia Tianling was already on the verge of collapse. The instant he sensed that the inheritance had ended, he could no longer hold on and fell to the ground.

His final thought was, Damn it, I really got myself screwed this time.

After completing the inheritance, Zhu Zhuqing's aura surged explosively. Her entire body seemed like a sharp blade thrusting toward the heavens, yet she also appeared somewhat ethereal and indistinct.

"Tianling!"

"Your Highness!"

"Brother Ling!"

"Junior Brother!"

"Boss!"

Zhu Zhuqing had shouted first.

The moment she opened her eyes, before she even had time to rejoice at breaking through to level thirty, she saw Xia Tianling collapse from exhaustion before her. She hurriedly caught him.

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Seeing that the two had both awakened, the people outside immediately broke down the door and surged in all at once.

The Healing System Spirit Douluo hurriedly extended his Soul Power toward the limp Xia Tianling to examine his condition. At the same time, he summoned his martial soul and bombarded Xia Tianling with one healing soul skill after another.

"Don't, don't heal me, Teacher Wang. I'm fine." Xia Tianling lay weakly in Zhu Zhuqing's arms. "I just overdrawn my Spiritual Power a little. I'll be fine after resting."

"Spiritual Power overdraft? That's easy enough." A voice rang out. "Seven Treasures Manifesting Glazed Tile, Sixth: Spirit."

A Spiritual Power enhancement enveloped him, gradually restoring the Spiritual Power that had been drained from him.

The speaker was a Soul Emperor from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

As one of the Upper Three Sects, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had always maintained friendly relations with Spirit Hall. Furthermore, Sword Douluo Seven Kill Sword Chen Xin and their sect master Ning Fengzhi were even honorary elders of Spirit Hall. Naturally, the two powers cooperated extensively.

"Tianling, thank you."

Zhu Zhuqing held the pale Xia Tianling, her eyes slightly reddened.

He had ended up like this entirely because of her.

Xia Tianling merely smiled indifferently. "Why are you thanking me? This is what I should do. Didn't I say it before? You're my partner. If anything happens, I've got you covered."

Xie Yue and Yan: ? Why have we never seen you take such good care of us? Favoritism, huh?

"Stop talking and get some proper rest."

At this point, not only were Zhu Zhuqing's eyes red, but her face was as well.

Seeing that their Holy Son was fine and even had the leisure to flirt with a beautiful girl, one of the Titled Douluo immediately grew irritated.

"Alright, disperse. Go cultivate on your own. Ning Tao, escort His Highness back to his residence."

However, Xia Tianling knew nothing of what happened afterward.

His mental state was truly terrible. He had only forced himself to say a few words before closing his eyes and falling unconscious.

When he woke up, it was already the next morning.

"Ugh, that sleep felt amazing." Xia Tianling sat up from his familiar bed and stretched hard. Ever since he had started replacing sleep with cultivation, he had not relaxed like this in a long time.

Huh? His Soul Power had actually broken through to level forty?

Perfect. He could take Kitten to the Star Dou Great Forest to obtain soul rings. He wondered how she was doing after receiving the inheritance.

That had been truly dangerous. Things had gone so smoothly for so long that his vigilance had dropped. He had nearly capsized this time. In the future, he should ask the system first whenever he encountered something uncertain.

"Tianling! You're awake."

Just as Xia Tianling sat on the bed reviewing the gains and losses from this incident, Zhu Zhuqing pushed open the door and entered. Seeing his rosy complexion, she cried out in delight.

"Huh? Zhuqing, you didn't go cultivate?"

"Young man, you're quite fortunate." Hearing Zhu Zhuqing's cry, the Healing System Spirit Douluo from yesterday also walked in. He had remained in the living room downstairs all night in case anything unexpected happened.

"After you fell unconscious yesterday, this little girl never left your side for even a moment. Ah, youth really is wonderful." The old man sighed wistfully. "Since everything's fine, this old man won't disturb you young people any longer."

Zhu Zhuqing's face reddened as though it could drip blood. Without saying a word, she lowered her head and crouched beside the bed.

She hadn't left all night? This Kitten really...

"Cough, well, Zhuqing, how does your body feel after completing the inheritance?" Feeling a little awkward, Xia Tianling hurriedly changed the subject.

"I broke through to level thirty, and my body feels much lighter." Zhu Zhuqing thought for a moment before answering seriously. "Also, I can freely transform that dagger you gave me yesterday."

As she spoke, Zhu Zhuqing summoned the Assassin's Blade.

Perhaps it should now be called the Assassin's Claws.

A pair of pitch-black claws appeared over Zhu Zhuqing's hands, radiating an aura of sharpness.

The claws fit the structure of her hands perfectly. As her fingertips moved, they gave off faint, low scraping sounds.

The sound was extremely quiet. If not for a cultivator's powerful senses, it would have been impossible to hear.

"Not bad."

With a swift kip-up, Xia Tianling sprang from the bed to the floor. "Come on, let's get Little Ao and Little Fatty. We're heading to the Star Dou Great Forest to hunt soul rings."

"Won't we call Senior Sister Hu Liena and the others? And why do you call Ma Hongjun Little Fatty? He doesn't look fat at all." Zhu Zhuqing put away the claws and asked curiously.

"This trip to the Star Dou Forest is partly to hunt soul rings and partly to train ourselves. Senior Sister and the other two have completed countless missions. Even I'm ashamed of my battle experience compared to theirs, so naturally they don't need to come with us."

Although Xia Tianling had participated in several operations against Evil Soul Masters before, he had mostly gone to gain experience and polish his credentials. He had not actually taken part in much fighting.

"As for why I call Ma Hongjun Little Fatty, it's because he was a chubby kid when he was little. I've called him that for so many years that it just stuck. It's basically a nickname."

The two chatted as they headed toward the teaching building.

Though it was mostly Xia Tianling chattering away while Zhu Zhuqing occasionally responded with a soft "mm" or a nod.

They successfully found Oscar and Ma Hongjun training at the practice grounds. When they heard that Xia Tianling had turned misfortune into fortune and broken through to level forty, they immediately offered their congratulations.

The four-person team successfully assembled. After applying to the Titled Douluo overseeing the academy, a top-tier Spirit Douluo immediately led them toward the Star Dou Great Forest.