The outskirts of Sunset Forest.
Yan Lingji stepped sideways out of the Fire Lizard's cave, lightly tossing several hundred-year-old Flame Fruits, bright red as fire, between her fingertips.
The sulfurous nest behind her had already been picked clean.
They had gotten tens of thousands of Gold Soul Coins, three hundred-year-old Flame Fruits, and a pile of Flame Grass. To fire-attribute Soul Masters, all of them were medicinal treasures that could improve cultivation.
"These two beasts preyed exclusively on humans, dragging passing Soul Masters into their cave to keep as food. They'd been hoarding this nest egg for years, and now it's all fallen into our hands."
A trace of laughter colored Yan Lingji's voice.
"Don't get smug yet. We're heading back to the city. I'll find you something good to temper your body and raise the absorption limit of your First Soul Ring. We'll make it a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring right from the start."
"A Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring for my First Soul Ring?" Yan Lingji arched a brow, surprise flickering in her eyes.
"Ten Thousand Year Soul Rings are meant to be absorbed by Soul Kings,"
Jiang Ce explained. "I can give you a threefold boost, but the stronger your body is, the more power I can feed back to you."
"First, we'll toughen up that frame of yours. Then we'll go after a Soul Beast with a cultivation of at least twenty thousand years."
"The higher the age of the Soul Ring, the rarer the Soul Skill—and naturally, the greater its power."
Yan Lingji tucked away the Flame Fruits. Her alluring figure cast a long, slender silhouette across the ground,
and her breathtaking curves, clad in a tight black leather suit, seemed even more captivating in the last rays of dusk.
"Then what should we look for?"
"Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Glue. It's a treasure that tempers the sinews and bones and raises the age limit for absorbing a Soul Ring."
Absorbing Soul Beasts could also grant feedback in the form of a stronger body, greater mental strength, and more Soul Power.
However, Yan Lingji was practically a spellcaster, and her body was too weak.
If they could get some Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Glue and temper her with it, they could greatly unleash her potential.
The feedback she received from absorbing Soul Beasts afterward would strengthen her even further on that foundation.
"Most people in this world don't know what it's worth, so the price hasn't been driven up yet."
"But just in case we don't have enough Gold Soul Coins and need to make another trip, let's kill a few more Soul Beasts along the way and get some extra money."
"Heh, Master, you certainly know how to make ends meet."
Yan Lingji's lips curled into a bewitching smile, her tone teasing.
She flashed forward like a streak of light in the dark, vanishing into the depths of the forest in an instant.
At dusk, in Heaven Dou City.
As Yan Lingji stepped through the city gates, the surrounding voices noticeably quieted.
Her black-and-red dress hugged her tall, voluptuous figure,
slender branches bearing plump fruit, her curves a full 36E.
Her features were exquisite, the corners of her eyes slightly lifted, her red lips curled in an enigmatic smile. She looked like a lazy yet dangerous fox.
Yet not a single person dared stare for long.
A sharp, murderous aura radiated from her. Ordinary people lowered their eyes in a panic after just one glance.
"My Master really is interesting."
Yan Lingji's lips curled as she headed straight for the North City Auction House.
The auction house's manager was a middle-aged man in his forties, well-traveled and experienced. Even he paused when he first saw Yan Lingji—
and not just because of her beauty. Her presence was so unusual: alluring but not gaudy, seductive but not vulgar, with an overwhelming air of authority.
Still, he didn't dare look for long.
"One piece of Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Glue costs ten thousand Gold Soul Coins."
"Two pieces. And a few pieces of thousand-year Whale Glue, too."
The manager ordered the goods brought out, privately wondering what was going on.
Whale Glue was most often used by nobles to liven up their banquets.
Ordinary households rarely bought anything older than a hundred years.
For a beauty of this caliber to come buy it herself meant either that her master was incredibly powerful, or...
He didn't dwell on it.
Years of experience had taught him not to ask questions he shouldn't.
The goods arrived: two head-sized lumps of dark golden, gelatinous material, sealed in crystal cases.
The total came to twenty-four thousand Gold Soul Coins.
Yan Lingji paid without hesitation, tossed out a "Save some for me if you get more," and turned to leave.
As soon as she stepped outside the auction house, she sensed several gazes sticking to her.
A few sharp-eyed men watched her from behind. One of them signaled to another, then hurried away.
"Heh." Yan Lingji chuckled, ignoring them.
At the Fierce Tiger Mercenary Group's base in the west of the city.
The leader, Lei Hu, a Six-Ring Soul Emperor, sat drinking in the main hall.
"Boss, we spotted a beauty over by the auction house!" A sharp-faced man sidled up to Lei Hu, eyes gleaming. He swallowed, then lowered his voice. "That figure, that face—unbelievable! I'm not bragging, but I've been around Heaven Dou City for years. I've seen every kind of beauty, but this one... tsk, tsk, tsk. She's something else!"
Lei Hu put down his cup, the corner of his eye lifting. "What's her background?"
"Never seen her before. She's from out of town, and she has no guards with her." The man leaned closer, his voice growing more obsequious. "Her eyes look like they could steal your soul. When she smiles, she's thirty percent alluring and seventy percent icy. Just one look at her, and my knees went weak."
Lei Hu rubbed his chin, a glint flashing in his eyes. "Find out who she is before we do anything. Keep an eye on her, but don't make a move."
"Yes, sir!" The man withdrew.
Lei Hu lifted his cup, unable to hide the yearning in his eyes. Just thinking about a beauty like that filled him with longing.
The Rose Hotel.
Yan Lingji shut the door and opened the crystal case. The dark golden Whale Glue gleamed warmly in the candlelight.
"My Master, is this really for... tempering my body?" She drew out the words, a hint of amusement in her voice. "And not because you're planning to do something... strange?"
As she spoke, the suggestive smile on her lips deepened.
"Why else would it be?"
"The auction house manager's look was rather strange," Yan Lingji said, lips curling. "It was almost pitying—as if he were looking at a beauty about to be ravaged."
Besides, now that she was back in the room,
when she was out, she wore a black, form-fitting bodysuit that showed off her figure, with one of her usual dresses over it.
But now that she was back in the room, her dress had changed again. Only a gauzy wrap remained, as if she were wearing nothing at all.
The implication couldn't have been clearer.
"This stuff's proper use is body tempering. Most people just use it the wrong way."
"Oh? So it has 'another use'?" The amusement in Yan Lingji's eyes deepened.
"People in this world use it as an aphrodisiac."
"..."
Yan Lingji fell silent for a moment. She looked at the tentacles swaying gently before her, narrowed her eyes, and let a seductive smile curl her lips.
"So, Master, are you already impatient to have me?"
"You're mine already. What do you mean, 'impatient'?"
Before the words had even left his mouth, the Venom veil over Yan Lingji's body rippled.
Several tentacles shot out in an instant, binding her tightly from head to toe.
Even the two mounds on her chest were squeezed into shapes like the arms of a Michelin tire mascot.
Yan Lingji's cheeks flushed bright red.
This was bad. She'd taken the joke too far.
Her Master was clearly a domineering sort who couldn't tolerate being challenged.
"You're mine already. The most important thing now is to strengthen your body."
Jiang Ce's tone was calm.
In this world, he was a Venom symbiote, not a human.
He was basically a Soul Beast,
yet, damn this world, Soul Beasts weren't allowed to become gods.
So he had to cultivate Yan Lingji and help her ascend to god-king.
If Little Scumbag could do it with a second-rate cultivation technique, then how could Yan Lingji, whom he was cultivating, possibly fail?
Then the tentacles vanished abruptly.
With nothing supporting her, Yan Lingji fell straight onto the bed, her ample curves squashing flat.
Yan Lingji let out a sigh of relief, propped up her upper body, and rubbed the spots that had just been squeezed tight.
The weight on her chest swayed.
"Honestly, Master, you're something else. You tied something this soft and delicate so tightly, without a shred of tenderness."
A hint of grievance colored Yan Lingji's voice.
She'd spent so many years raising her "darling pair," and now they'd been treated like this. It was a little cruel.
Look.
"Smack—"
A mass of liquid surged out of the black suit on her back, formed into a palm, and slapped her rounded backside hard with a crisp sound.
"Little vixen, get to work."
Yan Lingji gave a coquettish little cry, rubbed the spot that had been slapped, and asked, "So how am I supposed to eat this?"
"Use your fire to process it first. It won't work unless you swallow it afterward."
"This stuff also has a high tolerance threshold. Your strength is equivalent to a Soul King's, so eat both pieces at once. That'll have the greatest effect."
"All right."
Yan Lingji flipped her hand, and a ball of crimson fire flared to life, enveloping the two pieces of Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Glue and roasting them until they softened and melted.
"Eat it, then use the medicinal energy to temper your body."
Yan Lingji obediently ate all the softened Whale Glue.
In an instant,
her eyes turned into pools of spring water, glistening and shimmering,
and the alluring, bewitching aura around her grew several times stronger.
Her skin flushed peach-red, and a low moan slipped from her lips.
Alluring and bewitching, irresistibly seductive—she was the very image of a temptress who brought ruin to kingdoms.
"You really are a little fox. No wonder the Martial Soul you awakened was a fox."
"Refine the medicinal energy properly and circulate it through every limb and bone."
At Jiang Ce's reminder, Yan Lingji struggled to stay clear-headed.
Then,
the medicinal energy finally began to truly course through her.
The reaction was violent.
A torrent of heat surged through her body like a flood breaking its banks. Every inch of her meridians burned, every muscle reshaped itself.
She clenched her teeth, dug her fingertips into her palm, and let out a muffled groan.
"Master, is this stuff really... for tempering the body?"
"If it hurts, that means it's strengthening you."
"...It's easy for you to say, Master."
The stuff's other use was as an aphrodisiac, after all.
Yan Lingji focused her mind and circulated the Fire Charm Technique, guiding the medicinal energy inch by inch into her bones, muscles, and meridians.
She sat like that for nearly two hours.
The medicinal energy had barely dispersed, yet her body was still tinged a faint peach-red, and the mist in her eyes had yet to clear.
Two pieces of Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Glue were simply too potent.
Even with a cultivation technique to circulate the medicinal energy, she still felt as though she were burning up.
Jiang Ce sensed that her body had grown considerably stronger and nodded in satisfaction.
He let out a cackle.
Then he picked up another piece of Whale Glue and fed it to Yan Lingji.
Yan Lingji had only just recovered enough to speak when he fed it to her.
Her body flushed peach-red again, and her eyes grew soft and shimmering.
"Master..." That soft call was utterly alluring and bewitching.
"Heh heh, little vixen. Now it's my turn."
A good while later.
Someone began pounding on the hotel room door, as if there were some urgent matter.
Before you continue