Candy Martial Soul's First Soul Skill: Golden Dragon Body!

The sweet, refreshing flavor burst across his mouth. The candy rapidly melted, and a vast surge of energy flowed through his meridians like a flood, merging into his internal organs.

The blood within his body seemed to ignite under that energy, turning scorching hot. A faint golden glow covered Nan Liujing's entire body, and his skin vaguely carried the impression of dragon scales. It was extremely faint, however; without close inspection, it would be impossible to see.

His Spirit Connection Realm Spiritual Power allowed Nan Liujing to keenly sense that his strength, speed, attack, and defense had all increased dramatically. His strength, in particular, had risen to an astonishing degree.

"Why does this soul skill feel like Tang Wulin's first Blood Essence Soul Ring skill, Golden Dragon Body?"

Feeling the changes in his body, Nan Liujing suddenly widened his eyes and thought in astonishment,

Could the opportunity the Heavenly Tribulation Bead stole have been the Golden Dragon King Bloodline within Tang Wulin?

Good heavens.

At that thought, Nan Liujing was instantly fired up, like he'd eaten a Snickers.

Golden Dragon Body was an ability Tang Wulin had gained when he broke through the Golden Dragon King's second seal. It provided an immense boost to the body.

If a physically frail soul master like Xu Xiaoyan used it, she would immediately possess the strength to uproot mountains and overwhelm the world. She might not match assault-type soul masters of the same rank in physical constitution, but compared to most agility-type soul masters, she would be about on par.

To put it another way: since soul skills are useless to you, this humble one happens to know a little martial arts.

More importantly, Nan Liujing himself was a Weapon Soul Master. Under normal circumstances, his physical strength could never improve as much as that of a Beast Martial Soul master. With Golden Dragon Body, he had made up for that weakness during the early stages of being a soul master.

Rustle, rustle.

Before he could more thoroughly savor the exhilarating feeling Golden Dragon Body brought him, Nan Liujing heard footsteps rushing toward him from afar.

Without making a sound, he withdrew his golden soul ring and silently stood on the branch, waiting.

To Nan Liujing's surprise, he was not currently circulating Soul Power, yet the Golden Dragon Body soul skill showed no signs of dissipating. It did not even consume the Heaven and Earth Origin Energy automatically absorbed by his soul ring. It was as though someone had pressed pause.

When Tang Wulin himself used it, even standing still would consume Bloodline Power. The difference between the two was like heaven and earth.

Was this the power of the Heavenly Tribulation Bead?

He just wondered what effect Golden Dragon Candy would have if someone else ate it.

"Pant, pant, pant!"

Rapid breathing echoed through the dense forest. Ye Xinglan's azure eyes warily swept across the surrounding thick brush, filled with vigilance and apprehension, as though something terrifying lurked nearby.

"Unlucky, unlucky, unlucky!"

Ye Xinglan's pretty face was flushed red, the lingering result of her anger. She had never felt so unlucky before.

First, her father had made her wait a day before entering the Spirit Ascension Platform, all to wait for the nephew of some so-called old friend. She had waited and waited, but he never showed up, so she entered the Spirit Ascension Platform herself. Then, after killing only a few ten-year soul beasts, she ran into a thousand-year soul beast.

The Green Bush Wolf was not an especially powerful soul beast, but she was only a Rank 12 soul master. How could she possibly fight a thousand-year soul beast? Yet this rare chance to experience the Spirit Ascension Platform was not something she wanted to give up just like that. With no other choice, she could only run.

Fortunately, Green Bush Wolves had a habit of pursuing their prey for long periods, preferring to exhaust them to death before attacking. Otherwise, she would not have made it this far.

But maintaining Soul Power while fleeing for so long had severely drained her. At most, she could hold out for another minute or so before she truly had to consider activating the distress signal.

She slashed forward with the longsword in her hand, scattering the brush across the ground. Ye Xinglan's eyes flashed, and she gritted her silver teeth. "You've chased me for so long. Even if I die, I'm cutting you a few times first."

Beyond the brush lay a relatively open area. Though the canopy overhead remained lush and dense, keeping the accumulated sunlight from filtering through, the Green Bush Wolf could no longer rely on the terrain to stalk and frighten its prey. It could only emerge from the bushes.

With a tap of her toes, Ye Xinglan darted into the clearing. The instant she entered, her delicate brows twitched.

For some unknown reason, the ground ahead was covered in countless cracks, dense as a spiderweb. At its center was a deep pit, with not a single blade of grass nearby.

"Whoosh."

The sound of fur brushing against leaves came from the bushes behind her. Ye Xinglan's heart tightened, and she cautiously looked around.

She did not stop until she reached the center of the clearing. The bright yellow longsword in her hand, its blade wrapped in pale yellow starlight, emitted a sharp gleam. Its tip pointed at the ground, ready to strike at any moment.

"Come out," Ye Xinglan shouted.

"Whoosh."

A blurred shadow flashed through the brush to her left.

Ye Xinglan hurriedly looked over, but only saw the grass swaying faintly.

Frowning slightly, she pretended to sit cross-legged on the spot. A faint fluctuation of Soul Power appeared around her body, making it seem as though she were meditating to recover her Soul Power.

This time, the Green Bush Wolf could not hold back. A low growl rumbled in its throat, and icy killing intent filled its pitch-black eyes. Slowly, it moved behind Ye Xinglan. Then it suddenly burst from the brush like a green afterimage.

Its razor-sharp wolf claw tore through the air and viciously swiped at the back of Ye Xinglan's head.

Almost instantly, the only soul ring on Ye Xinglan's body lit up with yellow light. She slapped the ground with her left hand, releasing a surge of Soul Power that forcefully launched her nearly one and a half meters into the air.

The wolf claw struck empty air, exposing the Green Bush Wolf's back. Ye Xinglan's eyes narrowed. Gripping the Stargod Sword in both hands, she viciously thrust toward its waist. A cluster of starlight flew from the sword tip, seemingly containing more than a dozen sword gleams infused with intensely piercing star power.

Within the dim surroundings, it was like scattered starlight, brilliantly dazzling.

The Green Bush Wolf gave a low roar. The dark green fur on its back abruptly mutated, and over a hundred long, thin spikes of wolf fur rapidly shot upward.

The starlight collided with them but failed to inflict any damage. Instead, it was shredded apart into countless fragments.

Ye Xinglan's pupils contracted. She hurriedly held the Stargod Sword horizontally before her. The next moment, the wolf-fur spikes that had shredded the starlight slammed fiercely into the blade.

The tremendous force sent Ye Xinglan flying. Her face flushed, and a sweet taste rose in her throat.

After landing again, a trace of blood stained the corner of Ye Xinglan's mouth. She wiped it away with her hand and coldly stared at the dark green Green Bush Wolf.

She swore that once her cultivation became powerful enough, she would kill a Green Bush Wolf every time she entered the Spirit Ascension Platform to vent her anger.

"Aw, aw."

Yet just as Ye Xinglan unwillingly prepared to activate the distress signal, the Green Bush Wolf instead grew agitated, baring its fangs at her.

Its nearly two-meter-long body lowered slightly. Powerful Soul Power fluctuations spread outward as it entered a complete combat state, entirely different from the relaxed ease it had shown when dealing with Ye Xinglan earlier. It was as though it faced a formidable enemy.

Ye Xinglan froze. At first, she thought the Green Bush Wolf was deliberately acting this way to draw her attention before launching a sneak attack.

But slowly, the Green Bush Wolf actually backed away several steps.

If it was pretending, then its acting was truly impressive.

"So..."

Ye Xinglan placed her left hand over the distress signal button and slowly turned her head. Her beautiful eyes immediately widened.

About ten meters behind her stood a handsome boy around her age. He had an obscure blue-green staff resting on his right shoulder and watched her with a smile on his lips.

Floating around him was a purple soul ring.

Inside the room, Ye Changming finally let out a sigh of relief after seeing Nan Liujing appear behind his daughter with a purple soul ring. He had been frowning for quite some time.

"His first soul ring is a thousand-year one?"

Several startled cries rang out from the Spirit Pagoda staff.

Na'er blinked innocently. She did not understand soul rings; she only thought her brother looked incredibly cool.

The staff member who had brought everyone to the Spirit Ascension Chamber, however, had a change in expression. He stared at Nan Liujing, seemingly lost in thought.

"You ran into a Scoundrel Wolf. You really are unlucky." Nan Liujing walked over.

Scoundrel Wolf was the Green Bush Wolf's nickname.

It clearly had the strength to swiftly kill its prey, yet it insisted on taking things slowly and playing it safe. Still, this was why Green Bush Wolves did not go extinct from the major soul beast forests until two thousand years ago.

Seeing that it was a person, Ye Xinglan visibly relaxed. She stood up and said in a haughty tone, "You're unlucky too. That Scoundrel Wolf is a thousand-year soul beast."

The thousand-year first soul ring had indeed shocked Ye Xinglan, but she did not believe a one-ring soul master could defeat a thousand-year soul beast.

Nan Liujing smiled. "How about I one-shot it for you?"

Ye Xinglan said disdainfully, "If you can one-shot it, I'll drink all the water in the Heaven Dou River on the spot."

"Remember what you said." Nan Liujing's smile vanished as he unhurriedly walked toward the Green Bush Wolf.

Ye Xinglan pursed her lips. Though she was disdainful inside, she still prepared to lend him a hand. In truth, she did not know whether a one-ring soul master could defeat a thousand-year soul beast. It was simply her nature—she refused to believe that someone else could accomplish what she herself could not.

The Green Bush Wolf let out a chilling, muffled growl. Then it saw the human walking toward it swing the staff in his hand.

The staff was not long, and logically, even when swung, it should not have been able to hit it. Yet the instant it swept across, it abruptly extended beyond twenty meters. Blinding dark blue lightning crackled and burst from its surface.

Whoosh.

A fierce whistling sound tore through the air. Only then did the Green Bush Wolf suddenly realize what was happening, but it was clearly too late.

With a bang, its two-meter-long body was violently sent flying by the Coiled Dragon Staff. The crack of shattering bones was clearly audible. At the same time, raging currents of electricity frantically bored into its body, as though its internal organs were being torn apart. The excruciating pain made the Green Bush Wolf instinctively circulate its Soul Power in an attempt to resist.

But to the horror of its limited intelligence, the current forcibly sealed the flow of Soul Power within its body. Though it lasted only briefly, it interrupted the best moment for it to protect itself. That was the truly fatal part.

Under Ye Xinglan's astonished gaze, Nan Liujing drove the Coiled Dragon Staff, now retracted to its normal length, directly into the ground. Then it extended again, lifting his entire body into the air.

At the instant the Coiled Dragon Staff reached its maximum extension, dazzling lightning burst from Nan Liujing's eyes. He gripped the staff in reverse and smashed it downward. The dragon scales covering the Coiled Dragon Staff seemed to come alive, releasing a deep dragon's roar as it carved a dazzling semicircle of lightning through the dim air.

"Rumble!"

Before Ye Xinglan's eyes, the Coiled Dragon Staff viciously slammed into the Green Bush Wolf, whose body was wrapped in electricity and whose movements had been heavily restricted.

The instant it struck the ground, a cloud of blood exploded. Violent tremors spread in every direction, and nearby grass and leaves instantly shattered amid fine arcs of electricity.

At the center of the attack, the Green Bush Wolf had been smashed into a puddle of meat. The sight was vividly clear in Ye Xinglan's vision. The golden strands of hair at her forehead fluttered slightly in the gale of Soul Power, while her beautiful face had long since gone blank.

Having completed a one-hit kill, Nan Liujing inwardly marveled at the immense increase Golden Dragon Body gave to his strength and attack power. Yet his expression remained calm. Since he was putting on an act, he had to see it through.

"The river water doesn't have much flavor. Want me to add a piece of candy for you?"

Ye Xinglan pretended not to hear him. "A soul beast's actual combat strength cannot be judged entirely by its age, but the Green Bush Wolf was still a thousand-year soul beast. You didn't even use a soul skill. How exactly did you kill it?"

"Didn't you see?" Nan Liujing asked with a smile.

Ye Xinglan's expression stiffened. She had indeed seen it, but the problem was... she had not understood it.

So one-ring soul masters really could kill thousand-year soul beasts. It was not as the textbooks claimed, that only two-ring soul masters possessed the strength to contend with them.

"Don't dwell on it. Killing a Green Bush Wolf is nothing." Nan Liujing collected the spiritual energy. Another hundred-year commission.

Honestly, that Green Bush Wolf was not even as formidable as the Yuhao Happy Beast.

Nothing... A string of black lines crossed Ye Xinglan's forehead. She had been chased for one or two kilometers by that thing.

Watching Nan Liujing's back, Ye Xinglan seemed determined to carve the sight into her memory. She said in a deep voice, "My name is Ye Xinglan. What's yours?"

"Lu Mingfei." Ye Changming had already told Ye Xinglan his name, but Nan Liujing still wanted to tease the girl, so he simply did not use his real name.

"Lu Mingfei, I'll remember you." Ye Xinglan's sky-blue eyes fixed intently on Nan Liujing.

Ever since the moment she had awakened the Stargod Sword Martial Soul, her father had told her to constantly temper her heart through the sword. And the best way to temper her heart was to challenge those who stirred it.

Nan Liujing ignored the fighting spirit blazing in her eyes and calmly asked, "Want to form a team?"

Ye Xinglan's gaze shifted. "Can we?"

"No." Nan Liujing shook his head.

Ye Xinglan stared blankly, then snapped angrily, "Then why did you ask whether I wanted to form a team?"

Nan Liujing chuckled. "I just asked casually. Who knew you'd actually agree?"

With that, he carried the Coiled Dragon Staff on his shoulder and headed into the distance.

Ye Xinglan suddenly clenched the Stargod Sword in her right hand. She breathed deeply again and again, forcibly calming herself down.

"Bastard. If I wasn't unable to fight... if I hadn't run out of Soul Power, I'd definitely spar with you."

With a cold snort, she planned to find a safe spot to recover her Soul Power.

"Hey, do you want to really form a team?"

Just as Ye Xinglan grumbled and headed to one side, she suddenly heard that bastard call out to her again.

Ye Xinglan did not bother responding at all.

"You can learn practical combat techniques faster if you follow me," the enticing voice called.

Ye Xinglan stopped.

A gentle smile rested on Nan Liujing's handsome face.

Based on memories from his previous life, he knew just how devoted Ye Xinglan was to combat and cultivation. One could say she was haughty and had a poor personality, but no one could deny that the girl's talent in martial arts was truly exceptional. At such a young age, she had already awakened a Sword Soul.

The last person known to clearly awaken a Sword Soul had been Ji Juechen during the era of Dou Two.

"If you're willing, follow me." This time, Nan Liujing truly turned and left.

Ye Xinglan turned to look at him with a complicated expression. After a moment of silence, she still chose to follow.

The cruelty of the soul beast forest far exceeded her imagination. One person's strength would always be inferior to two people's.

She quickened her pace and soon walked shoulder to shoulder with Nan Liujing. Though they were both six years old, Nan Liujing was still a few centimeters taller than her.

"We should find somewhere for you to restore your Soul Power first." Nan Liujing became alert again, constantly watching the nearby brush for dangers that might emerge.

Ye Xinglan paused, then said softly, "Thanks."

"No need to thank me. It's only natural for companions to help each other," Nan Liujing said casually.

Companions?

Having trained her swordsmanship alone at home since childhood, Ye Xinglan had never had so-called friends. Upon suddenly hearing that word, her mind could not help but drift.

She secretly glanced at Nan Liujing's profile, though no one knew what she was thinking.

Soon, Nan Liujing found a suitable location with a broad field of view for Ye Xinglan to restore her Soul Power.

Ye Xinglan sat cross-legged, faint yellow Soul Power light radiating from her body.

Nan Liujing stood in front of her and looked up at the sky, an indescribable sense of oppression weighing on his heart.

It seemed the sky was beginning to gather dark clouds.