On the granite arena in the afternoon.
Usually, the place was packed with noble students sparring and honing their skills, but this afternoon, the entire No. 1 Soul Fighting Arena had been cleared out.
The spacious venue held only three young figures.
"Hey! Xue Yao, are you ready yet? Quit dawdling! Are you afraid of me, miss?"
At the center of the arena, Dugu Yan stood with her arms crossed, her eyes gleaming with anticipation.
She had specially changed into a tighter, more streamlined dark-green combat outfit today, one that outlined her youthful, vibrant figure to stunning effect.
At the edge of the arena, Xue Yao was lounging against the railing.
He hadn't even taken off his coat, merely undone the top button.
Beside him, Ye Lingling held a freshly brewed cup of premium black tea, gently lifting it to his lips.
"Come on, Senior Yanyan, it's just a fight. No need to get so worked up."
"I only just got back to the academy. I haven't even touched my bed, and you've already dragged me here to be your sparring partner. If anyone saw us, they'd think I was bullying you."
"Enough talk! You're not getting out of this with excuses today!"
Dugu Yan rolled her eyes at Xue Yao, but an unmistakable hint of pride flickered in them.
"Xue Yao, don't think I'm still the Dugu Yan you could push around two years ago! For the past two years, so I wouldn't get crushed one-sidedly by that unreasonable speed of yours again, I've been meditating and cultivating even in my sleep!"
As she spoke, Dugu Yan suddenly stomped her foot, and an immensely powerful surge of Soul Power erupted from her body.
"Shh-shh—"
A snake's hiss that made one's scalp crawl rang out. Dugu Yan's short, deep-purple hair instantly grew long and began to flutter in an unfelt wind.
Her eyes turned completely into vertical pupils, while a layer of fine, diamond-shaped jade-green scales spread from either side of her cheeks down to her neck. A dangerous, chilling, poisonous aura emanated from her entire body.
Beast Martial Soul, Jade Phosphor Snake, Possession!
At the same time, two bright-yellow Hundred-Year Soul Rings rose slowly from beneath Dugu Yan's feet, pulsing up and down with a powerful pressure.
"Level 21! Soul Grandmaster!"
Dugu Yan raised her fair chin and looked at Xue Yao like a proud White Swan.
"How about that? My Soul Power has already broken through to Level 21! Even throughout the history of Heaven Dou Royal Academy, there have been only a handful of people my age to reach the Soul Grandmaster realm!"
Seeing Dugu Yan's haughty, praise-seeking expression, Xue Yao and Ye Lingling exchanged glances and couldn't help laughing.
They knew full well how hard Dugu Yan had pushed herself during those three months of closed-door cultivation.
It was all because she'd been spurred on by Xue Yao's monstrous talent. The Poison Douluo's granddaughter, who had once been rather playful, had forced herself into becoming a cultivation maniac, and that was how she'd broken through Level 20 at such a young age.
Compared to the original story, she was ahead by more than a little.
"Congratulations, Senior Yanyan. That's genuinely impressive." Xue Yao clapped perfunctorily, though there was little surprise in his voice.
"Hmph, what a halfhearted response! But it doesn't matter. Once I've rubbed your face into the ground, you'll know how powerful I am!"
A confident smile curled Dugu Yan's lips as she began boasting about the "perfect strategy" she'd painstakingly devised.
"Xue Yao, I admit that your Griffin is absurdly fast. It's the core of your 'Flash Strike' tactic. But I've already seen through your weakness!"
"No matter how fast you are, you still need room to move! If I seal off the entire arena with poison mist, your summoned beast will be a sitting duck the moment it dares to charge in. Your Flash Strike will fall apart!"
Listening to Dugu Yan's supposedly flawless reasoning, Xue Yao shook his head helplessly.
It was a good strategy, and in theory, she wasn't wrong.
But Dugu Yan had overlooked one thing—the absolute gap in their strength.
She knew only that she'd broken through to Level 21. She didn't know that the eight-year-old boy standing before her had already reached the terrifying Level 31 in Soul Power.
"If you're that confident, then go ahead."
Xue Yao lazily raised his right hand and snapped his fingers in midair.
"Lii—"
A vortex of azure wind appeared out of thin air in front of Xue Yao, hovering in midair.
Its keen eagle eyes curiously sized up Dugu Yan, who was glowing green from head to toe, then cocked its head in a humanlike gesture.
"You're not even releasing your Soul Rings? Xue Yao, you're too arrogant!"
"First Soul Skill! Jade Phosphor Red Poison!"
In an instant, a dense red miasma, nearly solid, surged out of Dugu Yan's body!
The poison mist didn't just have a powerful numbing effect on the nerves; it was also highly corrosive.
Dugu Yan's figure vanished into the mist, leaving only her snake eyes shining with green light.
"Come on! If you've got the guts, send it in!" Dugu Yan taunted triumphantly from within the poison mist.
The Jade Phosphor Snake's poison was special. Within the Jade Phosphor Red Poison, allied units had their attack and speed increased by 20%, and Dugu Yan herself was strengthened by it as well.
"As you wish."
Xue Yao's lips curved slightly as he softly uttered a single word: "Go."
The instant his voice fell, Little Griffin, hovering in midair, moved.
There was no howling wind, no earth-shaking charge.
Little Griffin merely gave its azure wings a light flap, leaving a fading afterimage where it had been.
Too fast!
Boosted by Level 31 Soul Power, Little Griffin had reached an utterly inconceivable speed.
"Vmm—"
Dugu Yan heard only the faintest tremor in the air beside her ear.
At that moment, her vaunted Jade Phosphor Poison Mist was forcibly torn down the middle, as though by an invisible sharp blade!
The terrifying sonic boom created as Little Griffin flew carved an absolute vacuum passage through the poison mist!
The supposed slowing effect, the supposed paralysis—against overwhelming speed and air pressure, they couldn't even touch a single feather on Little Griffin!
"What?!"
Dugu Yan's pupils contracted sharply.
Before she could make a single defensive move, that streak of azure lightning had already crossed more than a dozen meters and come to a steady stop before her.
Little Griffin hovered less than half a foot from Dugu Yan's nose. Its sharp eagle eyes seemed to hold a trace of amusement.
Unhurriedly, Little Griffin lifted one of its right forepaws, showing only its fluffy paw pad, then gently tapped it down on Dugu Yan's smooth, full forehead.
"Pat."
A crisp, almost adorable little sound.
Little Griffin's paw pad landed squarely on Dugu Yan's forehead.
Although Little Griffin had done its utmost to hold back, the impact was still too immense for a Level 21 Soul Grandmaster to resist.
"Mm..."
Dugu Yan felt a warm sensation on her forehead, followed by a powerful wave of dizziness that flooded her mind like a rising tide.
Her vision spun wildly, and the poison mist, the arena, and Little Griffin all blurred into double images.
"You... cheated again..."
Dugu Yan muttered resentfully, then promptly passed out.
Right in the center of her forehead was a strikingly clear paw print in the shape of a plum blossom.
"That girl. She knows she can't beat you, and still insists on fighting."
"You, honestly. You never know when to go easy on her during your sparring matches, even though you know Yanyan refuses to back down."
Ye Lingling, who had been standing off to the side, shot Xue Yao an exasperated look, though her eyes were full of amusement.
She moved gracefully over and crouched beside the unconscious Dugu Yan.
A dreamy pink-blue glow gathered in Ye Lingling's palm. Then, a crystalline, exquisite flower, as if carved from pink crystal, quietly blossomed in her hand.
Nine Heart Begonia.
As two bright-yellow Soul Rings rose, several pink petals brimming with vitality drifted down and melted into Dugu Yan's body.
Dugu Yan wasn't the only one Xue Yao had affected. Ye Lingling had been affected the most.
After all, dragons had never dwelled with snakes since ancient times. Given Xue Yao's current strength, he was certain to become a Titled Douluo one day. His other half couldn't be left too far behind, so Ye Lingling had thrown herself into cultivation just as fiercely.
Only yesterday, she had finally succeeded in obtaining her Second Soul Ring and become a Soul Grandmaster.
After only a few seconds, the furrow in Dugu Yan's brow smoothed, and her breathing steadied.
"Mm... that hurts..."
Dugu Yan opened her eyes groggily and instinctively covered her forehead with one hand.
When her fingers touched the slightly raised plum-blossom mark, she first froze, then suddenly remembered what had just happened.
"Xue Yao, you jerk! You made your bird hit me in the face! And it left a mark!"
Dugu Yan leapt to her feet and pointed furiously at Xue Yao.
"Correction: that was a Griffin, not a bird. And I didn't hit your face. It patted you on the forehead."
Xue Yao spread his hands and looked at Dugu Yan with an innocent expression. His gaze fell on the conspicuous red plum-blossom mark on her forehead, and at last, he couldn't hold back a grin.
"You're still laughing! I'm disfigured! I'm going to kill you!"
Seeing Xue Yao's gleeful expression, Dugu Yan flew into a rage and lunged at him, claws bared.
"All right, all right, Yanyan, stop it. Yao just got back, and he hasn't even eaten yet."
Ye Lingling hurried forward to hold back the rampaging Dugu Yan, gently trying to calm her down.
But on closer inspection, the corners of her mouth, hidden behind her veil, had already curved into crescent moons.
"Lingling! Which side are you on? He's bullying me, and you're still defending him!"
"Of course I'm on your side, but you really can't beat him..."
"Aaah! I'm so mad! Xue Yao, just you wait! I'm challenging you again tomorrow!"
Before you continue