Cai'er's Departure, First Use of the Two Daggers

The moment Shengyue spoke, waves of white light flashed from the Thousand Strikes Spiritual Furnace, lifting Long Haochen into the air.

In an instant, surging auras filled the air as Long Haochen was suspended. Countless strands of Thousand Strikes spiritual power coursed through his body, continuously tempering him in an exceptionally unique manner.

A moment later, the Thousand Strikes ended.

Long Haochen was gently lowered to the ground. He looked relaxed and had already fallen into a deep sleep.

"It's over." Shengyue's expression was somewhat strained. Clearly, Thousand Strikes Marrow Cleansing had been an enormous drain on him as well.

At those words, reluctance flashed through Cai'er's eyes. She gritted her teeth, stepped forward again, took Ye Ling's hand, and wrote several words on it: "Don't forget me."

"Alright." Ye Ling stroked Cai'er's soft, silky hair and said gently, "Who knows? We might be able to meet again before the Demon Hunting Group begins."

Ye Ling's words caused a flicker of surprise to pass through Cai'er's eyes, followed by a hint of excitement. Shengyue's expression, meanwhile, became slightly awkward. Good heavens, he could hear the implication behind Ye Ling's words.

Wasn't he saying Ye Ling could come looking for her whenever he wanted?

Cai'er had now been persuaded by him, so she would certainly continue cultivating the Power of Reincarnation. But Ye Ling would definitely be part of her reason for doing so. If Cai'er suddenly no longer wanted to cultivate later on and tried to run away because of the pain, perhaps they could bring Ye Ling along to see her.

Eh?

That actually seemed possible.

Using Ye Ling as Cai'er's goal was not a bad thing either.

Before long, Cai'er returned to Shengyue's side. Carrying the lingering reluctance of knowing she would not see him for some time, she was taken away by Shengyue.

Watching them leave, Ye Ling picked up the purple Forget-Me-Not Ring in his hand. He said nothing more and simply slipped it onto his index finger.

"We'll meet again soon." He spoke toward the place where they had disappeared.

Then he turned to look at Long Haochen lying on the ground and sighed helplessly. Forget it, he should send this guy home first.

Ye Ling grabbed Long Haochen, slung him over his shoulder, and headed toward his house.

Inside a wooden cabin somewhere on Mount Odin.

Bai Yue was washing clothes. This had been her means of making a living for the past ten years.

"Aunt Bai Yue."

Bai Yue suddenly heard someone call out to her. When she turned around, she saw Ye Ling, along with Long Haochen draped over his shoulder.

"Ye Ling?" Seeing Long Haochen over Ye Ling's shoulder, Bai Yue froze for a moment, wanting to know what had happened.

"On my way back, I saw Haochen unconscious on the road, so I brought him home." Ye Ling looked at Bai Yue without the slightest blush as he twisted the truth. Come on, he had given Long Haochen such an opportunity—cleansed his impurities and increased his External Spiritual Power. So what if he had knocked him out?

What was the big deal?

Though Bai Yue was somewhat puzzled, she did not say much and silently took Long Haochen from him.

The moment she received Long Haochen, a colorless gleam that almost no one could detect flashed from her hand. Stimulated by the light, Long Haochen woke up and looked around in confusion.

"Mom?" Long Haochen looked at Bai Yue in bewilderment, then glanced around him in confusion, still rather dazed. "Why am I here? Wasn't I with Brother Ye?"

Suddenly, he turned his head and spotted Ye Ling nearby. He immediately remembered something—hadn't Ye Ling knocked him out just now?

Just as he was about to say something, Ye Ling suddenly raised a finger and gestured for him not to speak.

Seeing this, Bai Yue could not help covering her mouth with a soft smile. If anyone else had acted like that, she might have thought Long Haochen was being bullied. But if it was Ye Ling, she did not see it that way.

"Ye Ling, don't go back just yet. Stay for a meal before you leave," Bai Yue said.

"Alright, Aunt Bai Yue." Ye Ling nodded.

Then he took Long Haochen into his room.

"Brother Ye, why does my whole body ache so badly? Even when I trained until I collapsed before, it never hurt this much!"

Long Haochen was extremely helpless. Whenever he encountered something he did not understand, he would ask Ye Ling—that had become a habit long ago. Besides, his last memory was of being knocked unconscious by Ye Ling.

"Do you remember that Thousand Strikes Marrow Cleansing?" Ye Ling asked.

"I remember." Long Haochen nodded.

"Just now, I had that senior use the effect of one Thousand Strikes Marrow Cleansing on you. That's why you feel like this. It was equivalent to washing away all the impurities in your body and completely laying the foundation you had failed to establish before."

Ye Ling explained calmly.

But though the speaker did not mean much by it, the listener took it to heart. Upon hearing this, Long Haochen's azure eyes grew moist. He was touched. Ye Ling had given him such an opportunity instead of using it himself.

"Don't overthink it. Are you done resting? If you are, come out. I'll help you stabilize your foundation," Ye Ling said.

Then the two of them left together.

At that moment, two daggers appeared in Ye Ling's hands, one bright and one dark, each shimmering with layers of unusual aura.

They were the Light Dragon Dagger and the Shadow Dragon Dagger. Although Ye Ling had yet to try mastering the Space-Time Dragon, using these two downgraded daggers was no problem at all.

Long Haochen froze when he saw them. He was quite curious about when Ye Ling had started using daggers, but he did not say much. He simply began swinging the Wooden Sword in his hand and charged at Ye Ling.

Half an hour passed.

Long Haochen lay on the ground, panting heavily. Under Ye Ling's guidance, he had completely mastered the strength that had suddenly increased, and he would no longer have any trouble controlling it.

Still, at that moment, there was only one thought in his heart.

"Brother Ye is really strong!"

Long Haochen had originally thought that Ye Ling had used daggers and suppressed his own strength because he intended to go easy on him.

But to his surprise, Ye Ling's skill with daggers was terrifying, no weaker at all than when he used a sword. Even though Ye Ling used very little spiritual energy, Long Haochen was still completely suppressed by him at the same level.

In half an hour, they exchanged over a hundred moves. If Ye Ling had not held back, Long Haochen would have died a hundred times over in that half hour alone.

Long Haochen understood this deeply, which was why he could not help but sigh.

Soon, Bai Yue came to call them to dinner. After they had eaten, Ye Ling bid them farewell and hurried back on his own.

Watching Ye Ling leave, Bai Yue fell into thought, then turned her gaze toward Long Haochen beside her.

"He really is a dependable child. If things truly go as Xing Yu said, perhaps entrusting Haochen to him in the future would be a good idea."

Bai Yue sighed inwardly.

She was worried.

She could not bear to part with her child.

But...

If an eagle never left its nest, how could it soar through the nine heavens?

Odin Sub-Temple.

Inside Ye Ling's room.

At this moment, Ye Ling was not sitting cross-legged. Instead, he silently held the two daggers in his hands.

One was the Light Dragon Dagger, and the other was the Shadow Dragon Dagger.

In Ye Ling's hands, they seemed vividly alive!

And as Ye Ling gripped the two daggers, he appeared to be trying to do something.

"Now I can try choosing to completely awaken this martial soul," Ye Ling muttered.

Then, he began.