Crack, crack, crack!
The massive granite boulder, tall enough to tower over two people, turned gray-white in an instant, then crumbled into a heap of stone dust!
The entire area fell silent.
On the distant hillside, Meng Shenji gaped, his jaw nearly dropping off.
Bai Baoshan rubbed his eyes, wondering if he had fallen under an illusion.
Qin Ming and Yu Tianheng were utterly dumbstruck, as if they had lost the ability to think.
"It... It worked?"
After a long while, Meng Shenji finally let out a hoarse groan:
"She... She really absorbed a seventy-thousand-year Soul Ring?!"
"And... without a scratch?!"
At that moment, the Martial Soul Theory they had built up over decades shattered into pieces.
Dugu Bo looked at the group of stupefied "spectators" in the distance. A smug, cold smile tugged at his lips before he turned to Dugu Yan, his eyes brimming with pride:
"Good! Good! Good!"
"Yan Yan, how do you feel?"
Dugu Yan stood up, feeling the surging power within her, vast as the sea, as well as her fifth Soul Skill, so powerful that it made even her heart pound.
She turned to Dugu Bo, excitement glittering in her eyes:
"Grandpa, I feel... better than ever!"
"And just as senior said, I really did gain that skill..."
Dugu Yan's lips curled into a faint, dangerous smile:
"Medusa's Gaze!"
The very same Soul Skill as Dugu Bo's Head Soul Bone!
"Hahahaha!
Good!
What a Medusa's Gaze!"
Looking at his spirited granddaughter, Dugu Bo couldn't help bursting into laughter, the sound shaking leaves from the surrounding trees.
He strode over to Dugu Yan and looked her up and down, his eyes filled with undisguised pride and affection:
"Level fifty-three!
Three levels at once!
And you've gained such an exceptional Soul Skill!
Yan Yan, you've already far surpassed what Grandpa achieved back in the day!"
On the surface, he was praising his granddaughter, but Dugu Bo immediately used his spiritual power to send a message to Yu Nan within Dugu Yan.
"Senior, your methods are truly divine. I admire you from the bottom of my heart!
Without you watching over her, Yan Yan could never have absorbed this seventy-thousand-year Soul Ring.
The Dugu Family will never forget this immense kindness!"
"Enough with the flattery."
Yu Nan's languid voice rang in Dugu Bo's mind, carrying a note of nonchalance:
"This girl has a solid foundation. Now that she's my host, I won't let her remain mired in the ordinary.
This is only the beginning."
Hearing this, Dugu Bo was even more overjoyed.
With a powerhouse like him saying that, the Dugu Family's future wouldn't merely be glorious—it would soar to the heavens!
Just as the grandfather and granddaughter were basking in the joy of their sudden rise in strength,
a hurried figure suddenly burst through the poisonous fog, which had yet to fully disperse.
"Yan Yan!!"
With a desperate cry, Yu Tianheng rushed over without a second thought.
Dugu Bo's brow furrowed slightly, a flash of displeasure in his eyes.
He had never cared much for the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's arrogance.
Though Yu Tianheng seemed sincere in his feelings for Yan Yan,
at such a critical moment, all the boy had done was cry out in despair. He hadn't been able to help at all.
Still, he knew the boy was Yan Yan's boyfriend, and that they had always been close.
Dugu Bo snorted, but in the end he dispelled the Soul Power barrier in Yu Tianheng's way and let him rush through.
"Yan Yan!
Are... are you all right?!"
Yu Tianheng rushed up to Dugu Yan, his hands trembling as he tried to grip her shoulders, his eyes bloodshot.
Tears still streaked his face, and he looked utterly wretched.
He was nothing like the young master of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.
"Do you know how dangerous that was?!
That was a seventy-thousand-year Soul Ring!
How could you be so reckless?!"
Yu Tianheng's voice grew hoarse with emotion. His words held both the relief of having escaped disaster and reproach for Dugu Yan's risk-taking:
"What would I do if something happened to you?
Did you ever think about how I'd feel?!"
As he spoke, Yu Tianheng reached out to pull Dugu Yan into his arms, wanting to feel her warmth and make sure she was still alive.
But—
Just as Yu Tianheng's hand was about to touch Dugu Yan,
she instinctively took half a step back.
It was a tiny, slight movement.
But between them, it seemed to draw an invisible chasm.
Yu Tianheng's hand froze in midair. He stared at Dugu Yan in shock:
"Yan Yan...?"
Dugu Yan looked at the man before her, his face streaked with tears and his expression agitated.
What surged in her heart wasn't gratitude, but an inexplicable... irritation.
Even disappointment.
Once, Yu Tianheng had been perfect in her eyes.
He was one of the twin stars of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, the top student at Heaven Dou Royal Academy, and a rising star among the younger generation.
He was powerful, confident, domineering—the very image of the partner she had always dreamed of.
But now...
Looking at this man, who was making a scene over a little danger and even trying to use "love" to hold back her pursuit of strength,
Dugu Yan suddenly felt that he was so weak.
Not merely weak in strength, but weak in spirit.
As she absorbed the Soul Ring, she had witnessed Yu Nan's might firsthand: he could block out the sky with one hand and regarded a seventy-thousand-year-old evil spirit as no more than an ant.
That lofty spirit of "all beings below the divine realm are ants," that calm mastery over everything, had already been carved deep into her soul.
After seeing a True Dragon soar through the heavens, how could she ever care for a lizard on the ground again?
Beside Yu Nan's towering, mountain-like presence,
the so-called "Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon" Yu Tianheng seemed like a tiny loach that hadn't even grown up—childish and laughable.
"I'm fine, Tianheng."
Dugu Yan spoke lightly, her voice calm to the point of coldness.
She reached out and gently brushed aside Yu Tianheng's hand, still frozen in midair. There was no trace of her former affection or tenderness in her eyes.
In their place was a distant, condescending air:
"The path to power is full of thorns. If you don't even dare to risk this much, how can you ever reach the summit?"
"You..."
Yu Tianheng stared at Dugu Yan in disbelief, as if looking at a stranger.
The Yan Yan he knew had always been proud, but around him she was gentle and sweet, touched by his concern.
She would worry when he got hurt.
But now, standing there, she radiated an oppressive force that left him struggling to breathe.
That look in her eyes...
It was as if she were looking at a child who didn't know any better—or perhaps, at a weakling.
"Yan Yan, you've changed..."
Yu Tianheng murmured to himself, a deep panic welling up inside him.
"People change, Tianheng."
Dugu Yan turned away and no longer looked at him. Instead, she gazed into the distance, her voice wistful:
"I used to think that winning the Spirit Master Tournament and being with you would be the greatest happiness of all."
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