(A beautiful picture of Bo Saixi)
[Ability acquired: Appraisal Eye LV1! (Can identify basic information about people and objects)]
Qian Renxue took several deep breaths, calming herself down.
Appraisal Eye?
Curious, she looked at her hand.
Activate—
[Character: Qian Renxue]
[Martial Soul: Six-Winged Angel]
Information appeared.
Qian Renxue nodded. This ability was pretty good.
It would make finding people much easier in the future.
She looked down at herself—
[Clothing: White silk nightgown]
[Clothing: White lace panties]
Qian Renxue: "..."
She abruptly raised her head, her face turning bright red again.
This ability...
How could it even see that?!
"Ahem..."
She cleared her throat, doing her best to look dignified.
"Now that I have Appraisal Eye, finding Lin Jiang will be easier."
Right. That was all.
Meanwhile.
At Dugu Manor.
Lin Jiang lay in bed.
A familiar notification rang in his mind—
[Ding! Qian Renxue's simulation has ended. Subversion Value +66...]
[Total Subversion Value: 156]
[Congratulations, host! Your simulation reward has been returned a hundredfold!]
Lin Jiang froze for a moment.
Then—
"Boom—!"
An immense force of mental energy exploded in his mind!
In an instant, every blade of grass and every tree in Dugu Manor, everyone's breathing and heartbeat—all became crystal clear!
Lin Jiang could even sense—
In the East Wing, Dugu Bo was meditating, the flow of his Soul Power perfectly clear.
In the West Wing, several servants were already asleep, their snores rising and falling.
And in the room next door...
Dugu Yan's breathing, the rustle as she turned over, even the sound of her quilt rubbing against her—
Everything was perfectly clear!
Lin Jiang opened his eyes, which shone startlingly bright.
This mental strength was incredible!
He sat up, struck by a sudden impulse, and activated Appraisal Eye.
His gaze fell on himself—
[Name: Lin Jiang]
[Martial Soul: Golden Dragon King]
[Age: 7]
[Soul Power: Level 26]
[First Soul Ring: 11,000-year Diamond Dragon-Armored Beast. Soul Skill: Golden Dragon Body]
[Second Soul Ring: 29,000-year Giant Strength Ancient Dragon. Soul Skill: Ancestor of Strength]
[Physical Strength: Comparable to a Soul Emperor]
[Soul Bone: 250-year Tyrant Dragon Left Leg Bone]
Not bad, not bad.
Lin Jiang nodded with satisfaction, then casually glanced at the quilt on the bed.
[Name: Green Scale Soft Cloud Silk Quilt (Dugu Yan's personal-use model)]
[Owner: Dugu Manor · Dugu Yan's personal bedding]
[Material: High-grade double-cocoon mulberry silk from the Heaven Dou Empire + ice-silk satin]
[Size: Standard single-person size, 2.0 m × 1.5 m]
[Color: Main body dark green + pale gold, with subtle embroidered patterns along the edges]
[Duration of use: Used for years since childhood; countless nights she fell asleep with this quilt clamped between her legs]
Lin Jiang: "..."
He stared at the last line in silence.
Yan Yan's... personal quilt?
The information being this detailed was one thing.
But was that last sentence really necessary?
Lin Jiang quietly looked away and lay back down.
He silently tugged the quilt closer.
He slept soundly through the night.
A faint, sweet fragrance lingered in the bedding, and Lin Jiang soon fell asleep.
He slept for three years.
Uh, no.
Three years passed in the blink of an eye.
[Three years later · Dugu Manor]
Lin Jiang sat cross-legged in the courtyard, slowly completing his cultivation.
Three black Soul Rings revolved around him.
One was ten thousand years old, one was nearly thirty thousand, and the last was... fifty thousand.
That was right. For his third Soul Ring, he had found a fifty-thousand-year-old Space-Rending Dragon Head Beast.
It had granted him a Soul Skill with tremendous explosive power: Golden Dragon Head.
It could condense Soul Power into a Golden Dragon Head and use it to attack or defend in a straight line.
As for his Soul Power—
Lin Jiang felt the surging strength within him.
Level 34.
Over these three years, he had spent most of his time strengthening his foundation rather than rushing to increase his level. Even so, his Soul Power had continued to climb.
It couldn't be helped. His foundation was just too solid.
"Lin Jiang!" Dugu Yan called from a distance. "Come eat some fruit!"
Lin Jiang opened his eyes and saw Dugu Yan approaching with a plate of fruit.
Three years had passed, and the young woman had blossomed further. Her figure was more graceful, and she swayed alluringly as she walked.
"Yan Yan, aren't you going to school today?"
"I took the day off." Dugu Yan set the plate of fruit down in front of him as if it were only natural. "I'm keeping our little darling company."
Lin Jiang: "..."
He silently picked up an apple and took a bite.
Over these three years, Dugu Yan had grown more and more... well, affectionate.
So affectionate that sometimes he found it a little hard to handle.
But today, Lin Jiang had other plans.
After eating, he wandered to a stream outside the city.
To fish.
Life shouldn't be too exhausting. You had to relax when you could.
Lin Jiang found a rock to sit on, cast his fishing line, and waited contentedly for a fish to bite.
Then he noticed a chessboard in a stone pavilion nearby.
A game was set up on it.
Lin Jiang walked over to take a look. Black and white were locked in a fierce battle; the game seemed like a dead end.
Intrigued, he picked up a black stone and placed it down.
Then he went home.
The next day, he came back to fish and saw that the white pieces had changed—someone had answered his move.
Lin Jiang raised an eyebrow.
Interesting.
He made another move.
On the third day, the white pieces had changed again.
And so it went, day after day.
Lin Jiang came to fish every day, placing one stone on the board each time. The next day, he always found a response.
The two played from afar, and the game grew ever more complex, the battle fierce and evenly matched.
The more Lin Jiang played, the more he felt that he and this person were somehow perfectly in sync.
Every move seemed to anticipate his thoughts, yet his opponent always had a brilliant response that caught him off guard.
A worthy opponent made for a worthy contest.
He just had no idea who this person playing chess with him every day might be.
Lin Jiang stared at the board, rubbing his chin.
Could it be some bored old man?
Or...
He looked up in the direction of Heaven Dou City.
This style of play seemed to carry a trace of imperial majesty.
Could it be...
Meanwhile.
At Notting Academy, in Yu Xiaogang's office.
"Ha ha ha ha—!"
A burst of wild laughter came from inside, nearly making a passing student stumble.
Tang San stood in the middle of the room, hands on his hips, grinning so widely the corners of his mouth nearly reached his ears.
"Teacher! I've finally reached Level 20!"
He trembled with excitement, his eyes reddening.
Twenty years!
Did you know how I'd spent those twenty years?
Uh, no. Four years.
But every single day of those four years, he'd been looking forward to this moment!
Yu Xiaogang sat in his chair, holding a teacup. He slowly nodded.
"Not bad."
He took a sip of tea, his gaze profound.
"My judgment was indeed correct."
"Lone Bamboo is exceptionally resilient. After absorbing its Soul Ring, your body became much more resilient too. Although it's a Ten-Year Soul Ring, your cultivation speed hasn't been slow."
Tang San sneered inwardly.
Hmph. Fast cultivation speed?
Before you continue