Bright Sacred Dragon, Frost Sacred Dragon

Xiao Yi went to the front desk to collect the packaged Whale Rubber and his gold card, then headed toward the hotel room he had booked earlier, feeling rather impatient.

Striding into the room with a swagger, he shut the door, sat cross-legged on the bed, took a deep breath, and summoned Cang Ling and Zhao Lan.

Zhao Lan was the name Xiao Yi had given to his Radiant Flood Dragon; this beast possessed a pure light attribute—"Zhao" for the sun's rays, and "Lan" for the surging of a dragon.

After patting their heads, Xiao Yi took out the Whale Rubber. He raised his right hand, and a deep purple flame erupted, causing the room's temperature to soar instantly. Xiao Yi tossed the Whale Rubber into the flames and began refining the impurities; for someone like him who possessed an exotic fire, this was practically instinctual.

Before long, the Whale Rubber had melted into a golden, gelatinous substance. Normally, this would have been enough, but the flames in Xiao Yi's hand did not cease. His Soul Tool flickered, and he used his soul power to steadily guide several herbs into the mixture, which soon dissolved into pure medicinal liquid that blended with the Whale Rubber.

These were herbs Xiao Yi had collected in the Star Dou Great Forest that were mild in nature and possessed body-tempering effects; among them, a Dragon Blood Flower was particularly beneficial for dragon-type soul masters.

"Alright, let's begin." Taking a deep breath, Xiao Yi felt a surge of excitement. He changed the hand seals, using his mental power to fuse the medicinal liquid. Soon, it solidified into a pill-like object. It wasn't quite a pill in the way Xiao Yi imagined; while it looked round, it was actually just a layer of film wrapped around the medicinal liquid.

With a flick of his hand, he swallowed the liquid. A warm current began to flow through his limbs and bones, strengthening his body. At the same time, four deep purple soul rings rose from his body, swirling and circling as their color gradually shifted from purple to black.

Cang Ling and Zhao Lan, the two soul beasts, also began their metamorphosis alongside the evolution of the soul rings.

Cang Ling's blue scales began to shed, and the new scales that emerged possessed the texture of ice crystals, with silver-white frost patterns along the edges and a frigid aura appearing in the gaps.

A row of ice-prism-like bone spurs grew along its spine, extending from its neck to the tip of its tail, sharp as if carved from ten-thousand-year black ice. Its tail fin was broad, with its edges wreathed in biting ice mist.

The two horns atop its head branched into a pair of ice-jade dragon horns, translucent and white, embedded with pale blue flowing light, with extreme cold ice crystals that never melted at the tips.

Its limbs were long and powerful, its five claws sharp as ice, glinting with a cold light.

Zhao Lan's transformation was equally astonishing. Its entire body began to be covered in fine, jade-white dragon scales, with golden holy light flowing along the edges, refracting a brilliant golden glow under the sunlight without a single impurity.

Golden flame-shaped bone spurs grew along its spine from the side of its neck to the end of its tail, and its tail fin spread out like wings of light, surrounded by a halo.

The dragon horns on its head branched into a pair of gold-patterned dragon horns, looking like glazed glass, with holy light erupting from the tips.

Its limbs were thick and powerful, its five claws sharp and glinting with gold.

At this moment, Cang Ling and Zhao Lan were no longer a Gloomy Cold Ice Flood Dragon and a Radiant Flood Dragon; they had completely transformed into dragon form, and could now be called a Frost Sacred Dragon and a Bright Sacred Dragon.

Furthermore, their bodies had grown so large that the room could no longer contain them. Fortunately, Xiao Yi had been monitoring their changes, and the space within his Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils had remained open, allowing the two beasts to vanish into it, thus preventing the destruction of the room.

Xiao Yi opened his eyes, the four black soul rings beneath him, radiating intense soul power fluctuations, rotating slowly. His hypothesis was correct: the Whale Rubber had improved his physical constitution, allowing him to withstand higher-year soul rings, which in turn had driven the evolution of his soul beasts.

In truth, rather than calling it an evolution of the soul beasts, it was more accurate to say that these two beasts, already on the verge of turning into dragons, had used the evolutionary capabilities of the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils and the boost from the soul rings to cross that final threshold. Otherwise, at a normal pace—like Xiao Yi's Red Fire Python—they would have only just become flood dragons despite being at the first-ring stage.

Watching Cang Ling's dragon head nudge toward him, Xiao Yi touched it out of curiosity. Cang Ling let out two low chirps, rubbed against Xiao Yi's palm, and then vanished into the space of the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils.

"Zhao Lan, try the possession state." Xiao Yi beckoned to Zhao Lan, who had evolved into the Bright Sacred Dragon. Zhao Lan nodded obediently and turned into a beam of white light, diving into Xiao Yi's body.

Fine golden dragon scales appeared on Xiao Yi's skin, his arms transformed into dragon claws glinting with golden luster, and dragon horns sprouted from his head. His neat black hair transformed into long, golden locks that danced behind him like ribbons of light.

An Evil-Suppressing Domain, is it? It seems that after turning into dragons, they all bring a domain skill. Xiao Yi thought to himself. Through his contract with Cang Ling and the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils, he could sense that he possessed another domain skill as well.

The mere thought of all his soul beasts releasing their domains together in the future was a sight too beautiful to imagine.

Afterward, Xiao Yi took out the External Soul Bone he had obtained earlier and pressed it against the back of his hand to begin absorbing it.

The following noon.

The melodious bell for the end of class rang. Tang Ya stretched her body, which had grown stiff from sitting, and flopped onto the desk with a thud, tugging at Jiang Nannan, who was sitting in front of her.

"Hey, Nannan, why do you think Xiao Yi still isn't back?" Tang Ya asked, looking listless. She poked at Jiang Nannan, who was sitting in front of her. Ever since she had confirmed her relationship with Xiao Yi that day, she had become somewhat anxious and insecure, even though the way they had confirmed it was a bit strange.

But ever since Xiao Yi left, she had often felt restless, frequently drifting off into daydreams and unable to calm her mind to think about anything else; a certain figure often appeared in her thoughts.

"Xiao Ya, this is the third time you've asked." Jiang Nannan helplessly swatted away Tang Ya's pestering hand. Ever since she learned that her mother could be saved, she had relaxed significantly; her complexion was gradually becoming rosy, and there was less worry between her brows, replaced by more anticipation for the future.

"But..." Before Tang Ya could continue her fussing, a commotion arose at the door. Both girls looked toward the sound and saw the tall, upright figure standing in the doorway.

It was naturally Xiao Yi. The first thing he did upon returning to the academy was, of course, to find his woman.

Tang Ya was exactly the type Xiao Yi liked. While they couldn't exactly be called "two hearts beating as one," they were a different kind of compatible—Tang Ya had a craving for Xiao Yi the person, and Xiao Yi had a craving for Tang Ya's body.

Standing at the classroom door, Xiao Yi waved at the two girls inside.

Tang Ya first rubbed her eyes, then a bright smile bloomed on her face. That smile seemed to drain the color from everything around her, filling Xiao Yi's entire field of vision.

Tang Ya walked over with joyful steps, her high ponytail swaying from side to side with her pace.

"Xiao Yi~ I missed you so much." As her soft body fell into his arms, accompanied by the girl's emotionally charged words, a ripple stirred in Xiao Yi's heart. He hadn't expected Tang Ya to react this way, but the feeling of being genuinely missed by a girl touched the softest part of his heart.

Wrapping his arms around the girl's soft frame and breathing in her scent, Xiao Yi felt an unprecedented sense of peace.

"I missed you too," Xiao Yi said softly.

"Did you grow taller?" a muffled voice came from the girl in his arms.

Releasing Tang Ya, Xiao Yi gently tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.

"Yes, the harvest this time was quite significant." Xiao Yi pinched the girl's delicate nose as he spoke.

Jiang Nannan looked at the two with a hint of envy, while also feeling a bit shy and annoyed. This person had seen everything last time; how could he act as if nothing had happened? She bit her red lip, standing to the side and feeling completely out of place.

Seeing her best friend acting this way, Tang Ya's eyes darted around. She knew Jiang Nannan's situation perfectly well. Besides, if Xiao Yi could also win over Jiang Nannan, wouldn't that mean another genius for her Tang Sect? She really was a clever little thing.

As for minding if Xiao Yi found a few more sisters for her, she didn't care at all. In the Douluo Continent, it was common for strong men to have multiple confidantes.

She leaned close to Xiao Yi's ear and whispered a few words. Xiao Yi looked at Tang Ya with a strange expression. Good grief, "best friends for life," is that it?