Little Cat's Opportunity

Zhu Zhu Qing successfully obtained her third soul ring, and it had even exceeded the standard age for a third soul ring, which gave her a great sense of accomplishment.

"Netherworld Ghost Slash."

Bang, bang...

Zhu Zhu Qing tested her third soul skill. Two Ghost Blades formed in her hands, and she slashed them toward several trees in the distance, felling the towering trees outright. The power was extremely strong; it was a soul skill that combined strength and speed.

"Ahh..."

Just then, pain shot through Zhu Zhu Qing's left forearm. A black claw drilled straight out and wrapped around her left hand like a piece of armor. At the very front were five crescent-shaped blades, almost the same as the Ghost Leopard's sharp claws.

"Zhu Qing, what's wrong?" Ye Liangchen, who was examining the Ghost Leopard's corpse, heard Zhu Zhu Qing cry out and immediately thought something had happened to her.

"Brother Chen, what is this?" Zhu Zhu Qing had never seen anything like this before and was instantly bewildered. She hurriedly waved her strange left hand at Ye Liangchen.

"Little Cat! You've hit the jackpot. This is an External Soul Bone."

Ye Liangchen looked at the sharp Black Long Claw on Zhu Zhu Qing's left hand and was immediately delighted. It seemed that making Little Cat beat up the Ghost Leopard earlier had filled it with intense resentment, and sure enough, there had been a reward.

Moreover, this External Soul Bone had fused into Zhu Zhu Qing's body along with the soul ring, just like Tang San's Eight Spider Lances.

"Brother Chen, you're saying this is an External Soul Bone?" At that moment, Zhu Zhu Qing felt as if a pie had fallen from the sky and landed right on her.

"Zhu Qing, let me tell you, an External Soul Bone is different from ordinary soul bones. It's a soul bone that can grow. Don't look at this External Soul Bone of yours and think it's only two thousand years old right now. Its age will increase along with your strength. By the time you reach Titled Douluo, perhaps it will have upgraded into a hundred-thousand-year External Soul Bone."

"It's... that amazing?"

After hearing Ye Liangchen explain the marvels of an External Soul Bone, Zhu Zhu Qing was shocked. Her cherry lips opened into an "O," happiness having come far too suddenly.

"Your External Soul Bone hasn't fully fused yet. If other people see it, they'll kill you and take the bone. After this, you need to make the soul bone perfectly fuse with your left hand as soon as possible."

"But even after the External Soul Bone has perfectly fused with you, don't expose it lightly before you're strong enough. Understand?"

"Now use your will to retract the soul bone. Practice often and make it become part of your left hand."

"Brother Chen, I understand."

Seeing Ye Liangchen's serious expression, Zhu Zhu Qing also understood the importance of the External Soul Bone.

"Take your time testing it. I'm going to bring these two Soul Beast corpses back. We should be able to exchange them for at least a thousand Gold Soul Coins."

Soul bones were so precious that countless Soul Masters coveted them. Ye Liangchen warned Little Cat so she would act carefully in the future.

Zhu Zhu Qing had never expected to obtain the legendary External Soul Bone. She felt both nervous and excited. But she knew that all of this had been brought to her by the young man before her. Thinking of this, Zhu Zhu Qing fixed her beautiful eyes on Ye Liangchen as he busied himself, endless tenderness showing in her gaze.

Pshh...

Ye Liangchen took out a sharp long knife and cleaned out the Wild Boar's internal organs, then wrapped it directly with the tent, along with that Ghost Leopard.

"Little Cat, come help quickly. These are all Gold Soul Coins!"

"I'm coming, Brother Chen."

The two of them worked in a flurry to pack the two three-meter-long Soul Beasts into the tent, and Ye Liangchen directly stored them in his Soul Tool.

"Brother Chen, just how big is the space inside your Soul Tool? These two Soul Beasts are six meters long combined!"

Zhu Zhu Qing knew this fellow carried pots, bowls, ladles, basins, and a huge pile of other things with him. Now he had also packed away two three-meter-long Soul Beasts, weighing close to two thousand jin altogether. His Soul Tool had to be among the most precious.

"My Soul Tool has fifty cubic meters of space inside. Storing this little bit of stuff is child's play."

Ye Liangchen waved his hand indifferently. He also had the Game Backpack. No matter how large the Soul Beast was, he could fit it in.

"Brother Chen, your Soul Tool is really big. My Soul Tool only has around ten cubic meters."

Zhu Zhu Qing felt that although she had been born into a great clan, compared to the young man before her, she was nothing.

"Brother Chen, it's getting late. Tonight, we can only keep spending the night in this forest."

"There's a small stream over there. I'm going to wash off the blood and dirt on me. Help keep watch for me first, and later I'll keep watch for you."

Seeing how filthy she was, Zhu Zhu Qing rushed straight toward the distant stream, took off her clothes, and washed the grime from her body.

"Go on! I'll keep watch around you."

Ye Liangchen felt that this girl had already completely let down her guard in front of him. He shook his head helplessly, jumped onto a large tree, and spread out his Spiritual Sense, keeping alert for anything around them.

A short while later, after Zhu Zhu Qing finished washing, Ye Liangchen also ran to a pool of water in the distance and took a bath.

"Little Cat! No peeking!"

"Brother Chen, if I saw you, would you really be losing out?"

"Exactly. Aunt Lan and the others said that when I'm away from home, I have to guard against female hooligans."

"You're the hooligan!"

The two teased each other for a while, the atmosphere extremely cheerful.

After taking a wonderfully refreshing bath, the sky had already grown dark. Ye Liangchen casually hunted two wild rabbits, cleaned them by the stream, and the two returned to the small cave from before.

After returning to the small cave, Ye Liangchen quickly started a fire, then began roasting the wild rabbits.

"Sizzle..."

Before long, oil began to drip from the rabbit meat, releasing an enticing meaty aroma.

"Brother Chen, can we eat yet?" Zhu Zhu Qing looked at the golden-brown roasted rabbit meat and couldn't help swallowing, since she had gone nearly a whole day without eating.

"Little Cat! No need to rush. I'll add a little more seasoning."

Ye Liangchen took out saltwater and chili powder, sprinkled them over the roast meat, and the flavor instantly rose to another level.

"All right, dig in."

"Brother Chen, this tastes way too good."

"That's because you're too hungry, so you think it's delicious."

"No, it really is delicious."

After they had enjoyed a hearty meal of Roasted Rabbit Meat, Ye Liangchen thought of a way for Zhu Zhu Qing to quickly and perfectly fuse with her External Soul Bone.

"Little Cat, activate your External Soul Bone."

"All right, Brother Chen."

"Crack..."

Although she did not know what Ye Liangchen intended to do, Zhu Zhu Qing knew this man would not harm her.

"I'll press down on you with my Soul Power. After that, you'll fuse with the External Soul Bone with everything you have, and try to make it merge perfectly with you."

"Buzz, buzz..."

Ye Liangchen released his Martial Soul, applied support to himself, then pressed down on Zhu Zhu Qing with the powerful aura of his Soul Power.

"Hah..."

Zhu Zhu Qing felt a powerful Soul Power pressing down on her, as if a thousand-pound burden had been placed on her shoulders.

"Zhuqing, how is it? Can you still hold on?"

"Brother Chen, I can."

"Then use the pressure of my Soul Power to make the External Soul Bone fully merge into your left hand."

"All right, Brother Chen."

An hour later, with Ye Liangchen's help, Zhu Zhu Qing's External Soul Bone had already perfectly merged into her left hand, and she could control it at will.

"Brother Chen, this Soul Bone is completely like my own hand now. There isn't the slightest discomfort. It feels very comfortable."

With a thought from Zhu Zhu Qing, a sharp black claw appeared over her left hand. Then with another thought, the black claw swiftly withdrew.

"Not bad. Although it has already perfectly merged into your body, you still mustn't expose it outside lightly," Ye Liangchen warned her once more.

"Brother Chen, I understand. This External Soul Bone came from a Ghost Leopard, so I plan to give it a name. I'll call it Ghost Claw. When I activate the Soul Bone, my strength increases by fifty percent, and when this Ghost Claw attacks enemies, it can ignore defense and has very strong penetration."

Zhu Zhu Qing introduced Ghost Claw's abilities, leaving Ye Liangchen momentarily stunned. He felt that these External Soul Bones' enhancements to their hosts were all more or less the same. His own Wind Thunder Wings also strengthened his power by fifty percent, and Tang San's Eight Spider Lances in the original plot were about the same.

"Very good, but you can't rely too much on the Soul Bone either. Only when you become stronger yourself is it true strength."

"Brother Chen, I understand. Thank you for letting me obtain such a good opportunity."

"No need to be polite. We're friends, aren't we? Helping each other is only right."

"Brother Chen, let's rest. We still have to travel tomorrow."

After chatting for a while, Zhu Zhu Qing directly pulled Ye Liangchen into the sleeping bag they had laid out.

"Little Cat! Something's not right with you."

Ye Liangchen felt that this Little Cat was becoming more and more proactive. How was he supposed to withstand that?

Blushing, Zhu Zhu Qing leaned by Ye Liangchen's ear and whispered softly, "Brother Chen, I want to cultivate with you..."

"No improper thoughts. Go to sleep. Tomorrow we need to prepare to return to Skywater Academy."

Ye Liangchen reached out a finger and gently flicked Little Cat on the forehead, refusing to let her think about those messy things.

"Brother Chen, once I break off my royal engagement in the future, I'll follow you forever and never leave you." Zhu Zhu Qing stared at Ye Liangchen and said it with deep affection.

"What are you thinking about now? We'll talk about future matters when the future comes."

Good grief. They had known each other for less than a month, and this Little Cat had already confessed to him. Ye Liangchen could only sigh that the women of this world were all hopeless romantics.

"Brother Chen, I'm serious. In my life, there is only you. No matter what happens in the future, I want to follow you and forever be your Little Cat."

Little Cat stopped hiding it and stated her feelings outright. Then she directly threw herself into Ye Liangchen's arms and hugged him tightly.

"No need to make it sound so serious, right?"

"Little cats are usually gentle and quiet, but right now you're like a female hooligan."

Seeing Little Cat's deeply affectionate appearance, Ye Liangchen understood in his heart that this girl had completely fallen. She had even started confessing to him.

"Brother Chen, then what kind of Little Cat do you like? I can change for you at any time."

Zhu Zhu Qing lay quietly in Ye Liangchen's arms, her large eyes fixed on his handsome face. Unfortunately, it was already dark, so she could barely see anything.

"Don't overthink it. You just need to live happily. Don't care about what others think."

Ye Liangchen rubbed Little Cat's soft long hair, feeling extremely wonderful. This feeling of petting a cat was really not bad.

"Brother Chen, do you know why I didn't object back then when we met in Star Dou Forest and you called me Little Cat?"

"Why?"

"That's because you're so good-looking, Brother Chen."

"Huh! Little Cat, something's not right with you! So it turns out you've been lusting after my looks."

"Brother Chen, you're right. I do want you. Ever since you saved me in Star Dou Forest, I've never been able to forget you. My youngest aunt told me to work hard to survive, to break free from the cage of fate, and she hoped I could find happiness of my own. This time, I fled to the Heaven Dou Empire for the purpose of finding you. Thank goodness the heavens let us meet in the Border Mountain Range. Brother Chen, would you call this fate?"

"Aren't you going to look for Dai Mu Bai? He's your fiancé."

"What would I look for him for? So we could fight my sister and Dai Weisi together? How could we possibly have any chance of winning? The gap in strength between us is too great. We were always meant to be whetstones for Dai Weisi's rise as the imperial heir. I'm not stupid—why would I go with him just to die?"

Listening to Zhu Zhu Qing's account, Ye Liangchen felt as if the usual trope had been turned on its head. He had thought this Little Cat had come looking for that tiger Dai, but unexpectedly, she had actually come looking for him.

But it did not matter. Either way, Little Cat could not run away now. Besides, he still had to go take the Immortal Herbs later. Without those Immortal Herbs, that Shrek bunch could only become mediocre nobodies, and he could not possibly just watch Little Cat go off to die.