After successfully obtaining a Soul Ring, Yu Tianjiao didn't linger in Sunset Forest. On his way out, he took the chance to test his new Soul Skill. He punched a thousand-year-old magical beast to pieces, then headed straight for Heaven Dou Royal Academy.
The return of this once-brilliant genius, who had made Heaven Dou Royal Academy so proud, was met with tremendous enthusiasm from all the teachers and students.
And the one who welcomed him most wasn't his nephew Yu Tianheng, who had grown up with him, but...
"Little Brother Tianjiao!"
A green-eyed woman with short, deep-purple hair and a spirited air came flying over and threw her arms around Yu Tianjiao.
"Sister Yan!"
Dugu Yan. If the story had followed its usual course, this venomous beauty of a snake would have been Yu Tianheng's girlfriend.
But back when Yu Tianjiao and Yu Tianheng first entered Heaven Dou Royal Academy, Dugu Yan had been in their year, too. Seeing how small and pretty Yu Tianjiao was, she couldn't resist picking on him.
The outcome was hardly surprising. Yu Tianjiao beat her like a spinning top.
Other girls who got beaten would leave in tears, their eyes red.
But Dugu Yan had been precocious from a young age and admired strength. After getting beaten, she acted as if nothing had happened—and instead, she stuck to Yu Tianjiao.
Yu Tianjiao spent four whole years at Heaven Dou Royal Academy. From the moment he enrolled, he surged ahead, breaking through to level forty and becoming a Soul Ancestor. With his increasingly handsome looks and a maturity far beyond his peers, he had Dugu Yan so smitten that she could no longer see anyone else.
Besides, though she wasn't exactly a peerless beauty, her Jade Phosphorous Serpent Martial Soul gave her an unusual allure. When she used Martial Soul Possession, she was practically one of the Snake-People Tribe from Dou Qi Continent!
More importantly, her grandfather, Dugu Bo, had a secluded residence in Sunset Forest. It had not only the Yin Yang Dual Instrument Eye, but also a whole heap of Immortal Herbs!
To be honest, Yu Tianjiao really coveted those Immortal Herbs!
For their sake, he didn't mind trading on his good looks.
Besides, Yu Tianjiao had already called off his engagement. He was finally free and unburdened!
So Yu Tianjiao took the initiative and slipped an arm around Dugu Yan's slender waist.
That gesture made the eyes of Dugu Yan, who had waited for him for three whole years and was now nearly twenty, redden.
She had meant to put on the airs of an adult big sister and tease this little brother she found so delightful at first sight. But now, all she wanted was to quietly savor the warmth of his embrace.
After all, whenever she'd tried to get close to Yu Tianjiao before, he had neither rejected nor accepted her, acting utterly irresponsible.
And now this wicked little brother was finally responding to her!
As it happened, Yu Tianheng had privately told her a couple of days ago that Yu Tianjiao's engagement had been called off. Could it be that she finally had a chance?
Dugu Yan was overjoyed. Her gaze grew tender and alluring as she looked at Yu Tianjiao. If not for all the people around them, she might have planted a kiss on him right then and there.
"Hmph, mind your manners! Call me Sister Yan!"
Though she muttered the words, her eyes had curved into happy crescents, and the smile she couldn't hide gave away her feelings.
That was just how it was on this love-struck continent: every pretty girl was love-struck.
But if they were all going crazy over him, Yu Tianjiao not only didn't mind—he hoped they'd turn it up a notch.
And there she was, another pretty, love-struck older sister making her entrance.
"Tianjiao, welcome back."
Yu Tianjiao turned at the sound of her voice. A beautiful woman stood a meter away, tall and slender in a black dress, with a black veil over her face, clear blue eyes, and long blue hair. She held her hands together in front of her abdomen, standing graceful and poised.
In those clear blue eyes, Yu Tianjiao could see unmistakable joy and a gaze as gentle as water.
Ye Lingling was a classmate of Yu Tianjiao's, too.
Her Martial Soul was the Nine Heart Begonia Martial Soul, passed down through a single lineage.
When Yu Tianjiao was at Heaven Dou Royal Academy, he had always looked after her.
It wasn't because he was after her looks. It was simply that the Nine Heart Begonia Martial Soul could heal just about anything.
It was the greatest healing Martial Soul on the entire continent!
Unfortunately, Ye Lingling had a slender, willowy figure. Just by looking at her, you'd never guess she had the most powerful healing-type Martial Soul on the continent.
"Lingling? You came too!"
A tender smile appeared on Yu Tianjiao's face.
Compared with Ning Rongrong, who had come to the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan not long ago to break off her engagement, Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling had truly been wonderful to him.
When his Soul Power first began to decline, Ye Lingling came to see him every day. She tried to solve the strange problem with his Soul Power using her Nine Heart Begonia Martial Soul, which was said to heal all injuries.
To make sure the treatment worked, she even held his hand throughout. Every time, she left only after she had drained her Soul Power and worked up a sheen of sweat.
Even when people started gossiping that she and Yu Tianjiao had a special relationship, because she was always leaving his dorm with unsteady steps, she kept treating him every day. She even let her cultivation slip because of it.
That treatment continued for three whole months, until Yu Tianjiao returned to his clan and Ye Lingling had no choice but to stop.
To be honest, looking back on those days, Yu Tianjiao felt like he was young Xun'er, with Ye Lingling as young Xiao Yan.
All in all, she was a good girl. He couldn't let her slip away.
And Dugu Yan had been very good to him, too. She was practically the black-hearted little cotton jacket of her grandfather, Dugu Bo.
When she found out his Soul Power was declining, she actually planned to take him to Dugu Bo's secluded residence in Sunset Forest and steal some Immortal Herbs for him.
Yu Tianjiao knew he wasn't sick. It was just that the damned system had kicked in, so he refused.
But Dugu Yan assumed he was too embarrassed to accept, and went off to steal the Immortal Herbs herself.
Dugu Bo caught her red-handed.
Dugu Bo really did dote on his granddaughter. When he heard what had happened to Yu Tianjiao, he was angry that his own little cotton jacket had turned black-hearted, but he still picked out a few medicinal herbs that might help and had her deliver them.
But Yu Tianjiao never took them.
Knowing Dugu Yan, if he accepted them, she'd insist he eat them in front of her before she was satisfied. But if he really ate them, they'd go to waste.
So he stuck with the excuse, "Three years, then the Dragon King returns."
Then, while Dugu Yan still couldn't beat him, he tied her up and went straight back to the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.
Even so, Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling kept up with him through Yu Tianheng, who was still studying at Heaven Dou Royal Academy.
Now that they had met again, they were just as close to him as before, as if he had never left.
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