Leaving Sunset Forest

Dugu Bo could not be bothered to deal with this slippery brat. Instead, he nodded at his granddaughter.

"Yanyan, come, let Grandpa test your new spirit skill!"

Seeing Dugu Yan merely stare at him with an odd look and make no move, he shot Lin Hai another fierce glare. Look how badly you've shaken Yanyan!

He had no choice but to speak again, softening his tone further.

"It's all right, Yanyan. Just let loose and use it!"

Dugu Yan rolled her eyes cutely.

"Grandpa, can you release your Ninth Spirit Skill twice in a row without interruption?"

The implication was clear—did his spirit skills cost nothing and have no cooldown?

Dugu Bo was briefly at a loss for words... That little bastard had angered him so much that he had forgotten about that.

Lin Hai promptly stepped in again, wrapping an arm around Dugu Yan's fragrant shoulders with practiced ease.

"It's fine. Your Soul Power Level is already higher than mine now."

Grandpa provoked her, and her man soothed her.

Only then did Dugu Yan belatedly realize—

Just half a month ago, she had only been a Level 29 Soul Grandmaster. Now, she was already a Level 45 Soul Ancestor?

This leap, as though she had crossed into another lifetime, shook her to the core.

Oh heavens! Why hadn't this little bastard appeared in my Life sooner? All those years of bitter cultivation now seemed so laughable.

When she came back to herself, a trace of regret quietly crept into her heart.

Had she spoken too loudly and acted too spoiled toward Lin Hai earlier?

He's still holding me and comforting me softly. He really sees me as... his girlfriend. And from the looks of it, he doesn't seem to mind...

Her thoughts ran wild, and the more she thought about it, the more unbearably shy she became. A captivating flush instantly spread across her fair cheeks, like roses in full bloom.

She lowered her head, lightly biting her lower lip with pearly teeth. Only after a long while did she gather the courage to squeeze out a sentence as soft as a mosquito's buzz.

"Thank you, Lin Hai!"

A hint of surprise flashed through Lin Hai's eyes. This gentle expression of thanks was nothing like the flamboyant Beauty Serpent he remembered.

Still, seizing every opportunity was what he did best.

A teasing smile curved his lips as he deliberately said,

"Oh? Yanyan, is a verbal thank-you all I get? That seems a little insincere, doesn't it?"

At his words, Dugu Yan found courage from somewhere. Perhaps it came from the tremendous increase in her strength, or perhaps from the feelings quietly growing in her heart.

With no regard for her grandfather standing right beside them, she suddenly rose onto her tiptoes and pressed herself toward Lin Hai's cheek.

As though he had expected it all along, Lin Hai turned at just the right moment.

Their lips met, the soft warmth of the contact sending a current racing through both their hearts.

Lin Hai ultimately remained mindful of Dugu Bo's presence and stopped after only a brief taste. As their lips parted, he deliberately took half a step back in surprise, widening his eyes.

"Yanyan! You... you really did it?"

Dugu Yan was completely ignited by his shameless act of taking advantage and then playing innocent. All her shyness flew beyond the clouds as her little fists rained down on him.

"You bastard! I'll teach you to be bad!"

Dugu Bo silently watched the pair of little enemies fool around. In the end, even his usually stern face could not help but soften into a faint, gratified smile.

Lin Hai remained in the Ice House for another night.

The next morning.

After leaving behind the Earth-Tier Meditation Method, he departed the strange Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well beneath Dugu Yan's reluctant gaze, a farewell kiss still lingering at the corner of his lips.

Dugu Bo had originally intended to escort him and his granddaughter back to Heavens Dou City, but Lin Hai planned to refine pills while traveling through Sunset Forest and search for rare soul beasts.

If he encountered one with a decent species but insufficient strength, and his "blood bank" did not already have it, he would have to "borrow" some fluid or blood from it no matter what.

With no fixed return date, the three did not travel together.

Three days later, Lin Hai emerged from Sunset Forest feeling refreshed and invigorated.

The Bu Yuan Cauldron had indeed lived up to expectations. After consuming a full three days and all the Life essence Ah Yin had previously shed, it had finally refined an Elixir Pill with its brilliance concealed within—

A 160,000-year Blue Silver Emperor Spirit Ring Pill!

Lin Hai felt slightly regretful that it had failed to break through the 200,000-year mark.

What he regretted was not merely the loss of several tens of thousands of years, but the fact that he could not use this chance to confirm the limit of the Bu Yuan Cauldron's refining when using a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast as "raw material"—

Would it stop at 199,999 years, or could it reach 999,999 years?

Then again, even if it truly could touch the ceiling below a million years, at the Bu Yuan Cauldron's current refining speed, it would likely take far more than a day or two.

With Spirit Ring Pills of such an age, aside from Bibi Dong and Tang San, the two possessors of Twin Martial Souls, who else in the world could endure them?

Sigh, Teacher's second martial soul is still completely bare...

Lin Hai pondered to himself. No matter what, I have to find an opportunity to try.

But where could he find a suitable Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast?

Or perhaps... he should go all the way and have Old Bodhi Tree poke the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King?

That fellow seemed to possess a devouring attribute as well, making it quite compatible with Teacher's second martial soul...

And with its cultivation nearing a million years and a body that huge, drawing a few large tubs of blood would be nothing...

If it worked, one or two drops of blood might even be enough to refine a Hundred-Thousand-Year Spirit Ring!

Hmm... Myriad Demon King, Zi Ji, and even Di Tian would all be decent targets too.

Mm, it's settled, then! The next time I catch Old Bodhi Tree spying on me, I'll use this as an excuse to make it put in some effort...

"At the end of the day, I still need to raise my strength as quickly as possible!"

Lin Hai clenched his fist and muttered,

"The Soul Saint realm is a watershed. When I reach it, the divine artifact will surely undergo another leap."

"The Bu Yuan Cauldron's refinement ability has always basically kept pace with the levels of my other spirit rings... By then, its pill-refining efficiency will definitely improve dramatically!"

Filled with thoughts, Lin Hai returned to Heavens Dou City.

At the hotel, he took up his pen and rapidly wrote three letters.

The first was addressed to the supreme throne in Pope's Palace, that "large and comfortable" seat.

He told Bibi Dong the earth-shattering news that he had refined Spirit Ring Pills exceeding one hundred thousand years.

His words were filled with certainty and promise, telling her to wait patiently for several years.

He would prepare nine Spirit Ring Pills above one hundred thousand years for her and help her ascend in one leap to Level 99, the Peerless Peak.

The second was a tender letter to Hu Liena, expressing his longing and informing her of his whereabouts.

The third was for Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan.

In it, he mentioned the Immortal Herb opportunity at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well and subtly hinted to him:

Now that he and Dugu Bo shared a close relationship, he hoped Yue Guan would lower his stance a little during their next arranged battle.

Once the grudge between the two had been resolved, he would offer up the Immortal Herb Elixir Pill he had long prepared for him.

This was also the unspoken understanding between Lin Hai and Dugu Bo.

At the same time, he entrusted a messenger with an Elixir Pill carefully refined using the Immortal Grade Heavenly Fox Sacred Heart Grass as its main ingredient, explicitly instructing him to deliver it to Hu Liena.

As for Bibi Dong, Lin Hai considered it repeatedly. Immortal Herb Elixir Pills would indeed provide her with limited improvement.