Sparring with Gu Yue Na

There was a combat arena near the hotel where they were staying, though it required payment.

Chen An paid the venue fee and entered one of the combat grounds with Gu Yue Na.

This combat ground was relatively private, with no spectators and no surveillance.

The two had already taken their positions, both wearing calm expressions.

Gu Yue Na had inherited part of the Dragon God's combat experience and techniques, so she was practically battle-hardened.

Having long grown accustomed to fighting, she was naturally calm before a battle and did not feel nervous.

Chen An's calmness was more superficial. He was still somewhat nervous and uneasy inside.

Mixed in with that was excitement and anticipation for the coming battle.

Looking at the petite Gu Yue Na in the distance, he did not dare underestimate her in the slightest.

On the way here, Gu Yue Na had told him about her current strength.

She had only awakened her Martial Soul after her primary consciousness recovered some time ago.

It had been less than half a month, and her Soul Power was currently only rank twelve.

She was just one rank above him, not a major gap, but she was the Silver Dragon Queen.

Her combat experience, techniques, and control over power were simply beyond comparison with ordinary people.

There was probably no one in this world who understood battle better than she did.

Facing an opponent like this, Chen An, a complete novice when it came to combat, naturally did not dare let down his guard.

It was worth mentioning that Soul Beasts who took human form were generally rank ten when they awakened their Martial Souls.

Only Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts could take human form and cultivate anew. Any Soul Beast that could reach the hundred-thousand-year level could not possibly have poor talent.

As for someone like Gu Yue Na, she was a super genius among Soul Beasts.

After taking human form and cultivating anew, her Martial Soul could also be considered a god-tier Martial Soul.

When a god-tier Martial Soul appeared among humans, its Innate Soul Power could reach rank twenty.

However, her situation could not truly be measured by human standards.

Even with a god-tier Martial Soul, her Innate Soul Power upon awakening was, like that of other Soul Beasts, rank ten.

Chen An's situation was even more special than Gu Yue Na's.

Each of his Martial Souls was equivalent to a god-tier Martial Soul, yet they were not true Martial Souls.

Strictly speaking, the Creation Holy Tree could not even be considered a Martial Soul.

His Innate Soul Power had been zero. The rank ten Soul Power he gained after being resurrected had come from the Creation Holy Tree's revival.

"Come on. Let me see your power." A phantom of a Martial Soul began to appear behind Gu Yue Na.

It was a silver dragon-shaped phantom, different from the robust strength of ordinary giant dragons.

This Silver Dragon was noble and beautiful, possessing a softness unique to women.

The silver dragon scales on its body gleamed brilliantly, more luxurious and beautiful than gemstones.

Most peculiar of all, though the scales were clearly silver, they shimmered with seven-colored halos.

Every color gave off the sense of being connected to the natural world itself.

After releasing her Martial Soul, Gu Yue Na's aura changed as well.

Previously, she had seemed somewhat lazy and unconcerned, but now she was like a noble queen.

She looked heroic and valiant. If her face were not still so youthful, calling her a goddess of war would not have been inappropriate.

She carried the cold, murderous air of someone about to march onto a battlefield and slaughter all in her path, an intimidating presence that inspired fear.

A purple Soul Ring slowly rose beneath her, radiating powerful energy fluctuations.

Her first Soul Ring was already a thousand-year one, enough to demonstrate just how extraordinary she was.

This was a Soul Ring, not a Soul Spirit; it was a Soul Ring evolved from her own body.

After Soul Beasts took human form and cultivated, they did not need to hunt Soul Beasts to obtain their first six Soul Rings.

Their own Bloodline could evolve the Soul Rings most suited to them.

Only after cultivating to the Soul Sage level did they need to attach additional Soul Rings.

In this era, Soul Rings were generally bestowed through Soul Spirits rather than obtained directly.

It was worth mentioning that Gu Yue Na was rather special. After taking human form and cultivating anew—

Not only did she not need to attach her first six Soul Rings, she would not need to attach the later ones either.

She could evolve every Soul Ring she needed herself.

Seeing Gu Yue Na's vastly transformed aura, Chen An took a deep breath and circulated the Soul Power within him.

Gray-black dragon scales slowly covered the surface of his body, and his hands transformed into dragon arms.

Dragon scales also covered his neck, extending all the way to both sides of his cheeks.

It was as if he had donned a suit of armor meticulously crafted from dragon scales.

The armor fit his body perfectly, hard yet not lacking flexibility.

The dragon scales did not impede Chen An's movements in the slightest.

A dense Death Qi drifted out from his body.

With this deathly energy surrounding him, Chen An resembled a warrior who had emerged from a hell of death.

After activating his own dragon power, Chen An's aura underwent a tremendous change as well.

His nervousness and unease vanished, replaced by a cold and resolute gaze.

Chen An was exceptionally calm at this moment.

Though describing his state of mind as ashes of a dead heart was not quite appropriate—

It was indeed the closest description of his inner state: a deathly still calm.

No Soul Rings appeared around Chen An. He simply had no Soul Rings.

Even when he used metal-element power, no Soul Rings would appear.

Gu Yue Na watched Chen An with great interest as an unusual reaction arose in her Bloodline.

For some reason, she kept feeling the urge to taste Chen An's blood.

It was as though doing so would bring her some kind of benefit.

She could not say exactly what benefit it would bring; it was simply an inexplicable feeling.

Fortunately, the feeling was not particularly strong. Otherwise, Chen An might not have been able to stand safely before her right now.

It was only because Chen An did not know that Gu Yue Na had taken an interest in his blood.

If he knew, he would never dare have any further contact with her.

This was no longer like seeking the skin of a tiger; it was like seeking the skin of a female tyrannosaurus.

One careless move, and she might drain every drop of blood from him.

Who could have known that Gu Yue Na did not feel an affinity toward his dragon Bloodline, but had her eye on it instead?

If she had felt the same way toward Tang Wulin's Golden Dragon King Bloodline, there would have been no such thing as her becoming lovesick.

"Let's begin." Chen An looked at Gu Yue Na in the distance, battle intent surging in his eyes.

The instant his words fell, Gu Yue Na moved. Orbs of light appeared around her and shot toward Chen An.

The light orbs differed in color and energy, each representing Earth, Fire, Wind, Water.

Earth was heavy and solid, its energy orbs like chunks of dense, hard rock.

Fire was blazing hot, leaving flaming trails as it streaked through the air.

Wild winds howled with ear-piercing shrieks, swift and sharp, like countless wind blades slashing forward at once.

The water bullets were gentle and soft, yet not to be underestimated; their impact was hardly weak.

She had launched attacks of all four elements the moment she acted, giving Chen An quite a challenge from the outset.

Seeing the attacks fly at him along different trajectories, Chen An took a deep breath and advanced instead of retreating.

On the way here, he had gone over Gu Yue Na's fighting style in his mind.

He knew she was essentially a long-range mage who would continuously unleash ranged attacks.

Compared with melee attacks, this kind of attack was easier to evade.

After all, ranged attacks had trajectories and took some time to reach their target.

Although that time was only an instant, there was still an interval.

With his current agility and speed, he might be able to dodge some of them, but avoiding every attack was unrealistic.

To threaten a long-range mage like Gu Yue Na, he needed to get close.

This was today's third chapter. This extra chapter was for yesterday's bookmark goal being reached. Please vote with your monthly tickets, bookmarks, and recommendation tickets.

For every day that monthly tickets exceed ten—excluding the six monthly tickets automatically granted by the update system—there will be one extra chapter. More than fifty recommendation tickets will also earn an extra chapter, as will more than two hundred bookmarks. I will keep my word. I hope everyone can support me more, and we can encourage each other.

Yesterday, there were no monthly tickets, over thirty recommendation tickets, and just over two hundred bookmarks, so there was one extra chapter today.

I hope everyone with tickets can cast them. The recommendation-ticket goal for an extra chapter is still easy to reach, so please vote more.