Pufferfish, have you ever been in love?

"Rabbit jerky. I made it in my spare time. A few days ago, I went to the Sunset Forest to hone my combat skills and happened to run into a Soft Bone Rabbit nearing a thousand years of cultivation. I slaughtered it, but since it was too large to finish at once and I feared it would spoil, I simply turned it into jerky. With my special seasoning, the taste is absolutely top-tier," Lan Si boasted.

Qian Renxue rolled her eyes at Lan Si and retorted, "Just how much do you love eating rabbit meat?"

Despite saying this, she still opened the brocade box, took out a small piece of rabbit jerky, and began to eat. It had to be said, the taste was indeed quite good.

"Correction: I don't like eating all rabbits. I only like eating Soft Bone Rabbit," Lan Si clarified.

"If you're being overly attentive without a reason, you're either a traitor or a thief. Tell me, why did you come looking for me this time?" Qian Renxue skipped over the previous topic. She walked over to the cabinet, took out a wine glass, poured a glass of red wine, and sat on the single sofa opposite Lan Si. Crossing her legs, left over right, she gently swirled the wine glass with one hand while resting her chin on the other, her aura of superiority fully on display.

"What, we haven't seen each other in so long, does there have to be a reason for me to visit? You're breaking my heart; I even consider you a brother."

"Stop right there. Are you going to say it or not? If not, I'm leaving." Qian Renxue set down her glass and made to rise.

"Don't be like that." Lan Si flashed, appearing instantly behind Qian Renxue and gently pressing down on her shoulders.

"Your speed just now?" Qian Renxue was slightly startled. Lan Si's speed had clearly reached the level of an agility-type Soul Ancestor, yet he was only a Soul Elder, and not even an agility-type at that.

"Oh, that? One hundred sit-ups, one hundred push-ups, one hundred squats, and a ten-kilometer run every morning. It just came out after practicing for a while," Lan Si said evasively.

"Who are you trying to fool? If you don't want to say, then forget it." Qian Renxue gave him a look that said she didn't believe a word of it.

Lan Si nodded heavily, walked in front of Qian Renxue, placed his hands on her shoulders, and half-squatted so his shoulders were level with hers. He locked his clear, pitch-black eyes with her blue-gold pupils, swallowed hard, and said solemnly, "Xue'er, can you promise me one thing?"

This was the first time Qian Renxue had been in such close contact with a man other than her grandfather. Seeing Lan Si's handsome face and his clear, bottomless black pupils, a flash of panic crossed her eyes. Her cheeks flushed, her breathing quickened, and she subconsciously replied, "Speak."

"Can you help me prepare a storage Soul Tool capable of holding living things?" Lan Si asked earnestly.

"A storage Soul Tool capable of holding living things? A storage Soul Tool capable of holding living things?" Upon hearing this, Qian Renxue's face darkened instantly. She lowered her head, her bright golden hair falling forward to shadow her eyes. She muttered to herself, and her shoulders began to tremble uncontrollably.

Crack.

The wine glass in Qian Renxue's hand shattered. A massive surge of soul power erupted from beneath her feet, causing the floor to instantly crack and spread out like a spiderweb.

In the courtyard, the two Title Douluo, Snake Lance and Pufferfish, who were hidden in the shadows, watched the scene inside.

"Snake Lance, the Young Master seems to have been angered by this brat Lan Si. Should we intervene?" Pufferfish Douluo asked.

Snake Lance glanced at him with an expression as if looking at an idiot and asked bluntly, "Pufferfish, have you never been in love?"

"We are cultivators; what is there to talk about love? I have no shortage of women; I don't need to bother with those romantic affairs." Pufferfish Douluo's old face flushed, and he turned his head away, speaking proudly.

Snake Lance Douluo was right; he had indeed never been in love.

Anyone who could become a Title Douluo was a shocking genius in their youth, pursued by thousands of young women. But Pufferfish Douluo was the exception. Not to mention the toxins in his body due to his martial soul, his appearance was truly off-putting. He wasn't tall, but he was terrifyingly stocky, and he had a face like a Pufferfish—hideous and grim. In terms of looks alone, he was hard to compliment.

His ugly appearance had fostered an irritable temper. Even if there were women who liked him, it was only for his noble status as a Soul Master, never for love.

Watching Pufferfish Douluo's stubborn display, Snake Lance Douluo sighed softly, "Forget it, pretend I said nothing."

Inside the reception hall.

Lan Si had been backed into a corner by Qian Renxue.

With every step Qian Renxue took, the floor beneath her feet cracked, and Lan Si had nowhere left to retreat.

"Calm down, Xue'er, calm down," Lan Si said, a cold drop of sweat rolling down his forehead.

"A-Si, I don't think I heard what you said just now. Could you say it again?" Qian Renxue pressed a palm against the wall behind Lan Si. Crack. The wall instantly splintered.

"I said you are beautiful, the most beautiful girl I have ever seen in my life. If I had to describe it in one sentence, it would be: 'One glance to topple a city, a second to topple a nation'." Lan Si's brain raced. At this point, he couldn't care about anything else; he just had to say whatever sounded best and wait for her anger to subside.

"'One glance to topple a city, a second to topple a nation'?" Qian Renxue murmured. Once she understood the meaning, the frost on her pretty face retreated, replaced instantly by a rosy blush. She withdrew her hand, turned around, and with her back to Lan Si, said faintly, "I'll let it slide this time. You want a storage Soul Tool that can hold living things, right? Such items are rare, but not impossible to find. Go back and wait. Once I find one, I'll send someone to notify you, and you can come get it yourself."

"Then many thanks." Seeing that Qian Renxue's anger had dissipated, Lan Si breathed a sigh of relief and added, "Right, there's one more thing I need your help with. Could you release your pressure on me? I want to use it to fully fuse the External Soul Bone within my body."

"Sure." Unexpectedly, Qian Renxue agreed quite readily. She turned around, a dangerous curve forming on her lips.

Facing Qian Renxue's smile, Lan Si's scalp tingled, and a bad premonition flooded his heart.

The next moment, a massive aura swept over him, and Lan Si's footing faltered, nearly causing him to collapse to the ground.

By the time Lan Si emerged from the Crown Prince's Mansion, half an hour had passed. Dragging his exhausted body, both physically and mentally drained, he rented a carriage and returned to the Heaven Dou Royal Academy.

When Lan Si returned to his residence, he found two guests already in the courtyard, standing at his door as if they had been waiting for a long time.

He recognized one of them: Ye Lingling, the support-type Soul Master who was also a member of the Imperial Dou Team. The other was a refined middle-aged man who bore a one or two-part resemblance to Ye Lingling.