It Was Never Closed! (Seeking reads, seeking collection)

"Ahhh--"

Suddenly, a violent agony surged through him, and Lan Yu let out a shrill scream.

The pain was so intense that his mind began to blur, leaving him on the verge of losing consciousness.

His bones and meridians were suffering a torment unbearable to any ordinary person.

"Kid, you must hold on, or everything will be for nothing!" the voice of the Ice Dragon King rang out.

"Heh~ I didn't expect you to have some connection with that Evil God fellow." The Fire Dragon King sounded surprised.

"Damn it! Why does it hurt so much!!"

Lan Yu curled into a ball, feeling as if every meridian and bone in his body had been pulverized.

"That is why we told you to hold on. Our power is reshaping your bones; only in this way can you fully inherit our strength," the Fire Dragon King said.

Lan Yu gritted his teeth so hard it felt as if they might shatter.

He was once again transformed into a being of red fire and icy blue, much like when he had consumed the Infernal Delicate Apricot and the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass.

Yet, the pain he had endured back then was merely a drop in the ocean compared to this.

It was unknown how much time had passed, but Lan Yu's throat had gone hoarse from screaming by the time the Ice and Fire Dragon King finished reshaping his bones.

"Now, sit cross-legged."

Lan Yu gasped for air, yet he had to force himself to sit cross-legged through the agony.

The moment he settled into position, a sudden sensation of numbness and itching erupted from his back.

Rip--

In an instant, two beams of light—one red and one blue—burst forth from his shoulder blades.

As the light swirled, these two beams condensed into a pair of beautiful and mystical dragon wings, one red and one blue.

Following that, the left side of Lan Yu's body was covered in a layer of fiery red dragon scales, while the right side was covered in icy blue ones.

Had he opened his eyes, he would have seen that they had transformed into dragon eyes of red and blue.

Behind Lan Yu, a dragon-type Martial Soul intertwined with red and blue colors appeared, and his Innate Soul Power level began to rise rapidly:

Level 10, Level 20, Level 30...

In the end, his Innate Soul Power level settled at Level 50. Then, five red dots appeared above Lan Yu's head, transforming one by one into bright red soul rings that settled onto the red and blue intertwined dragon Martial Soul.

Under the influence of the five 100,000-year soul rings, his Soul Power Level surged straight to quasi-Level 60.

He only needed to attach a sixth soul ring for Lan Yu to become a powerful Soul Emperor.

Finally, everything had settled.

Lan Yu had not only awakened the Ice and Fire Dragon King Martial Soul, but he had also become a quasi-Soul Emperor and obtained a full set of soul bones.

Fire Dragon King Left Arm Bone, Ice Dragon King Right Arm Bone, Ice and Fire Dragon King Torso Bone, Fire Dragon King Left Leg Bone, Ice Dragon King Right Leg Bone, Ice and Fire Dragon King Head Bone, and the Ice and Fire Dragon King External Soul Bone (Ice and Fire Wings).

This cheat... it feels like it never even turned off! Lan Yu let out a long sigh of relief.

He certainly never wanted to experience that heart-wrenching agony again; he had nearly passed out from the pain.

"I truly didn't expect your Summoning Element to be able to preserve our dissipating dragon souls," the Ice Dragon King's voice suddenly echoed.

"Magic, is it... that is an interesting power system," the Fire Dragon King remarked. "That little guy found a good place to stay."

"Two seniors, you..." Lan Yu was stunned. He had assumed they were gone to the afterlife, not that they had become residents within his Summoning Element.

"We also thought we would dissipate after bestowing our power upon you. We didn't expect your Summoning Element to forcibly condense our dissipating dragon souls," the Ice Dragon King explained.

Lan Yu pondered for a moment, then asked, "How much can you two seniors remember about the God Realm?"

"This... sigh~ the time is too distant. Our memories have suffered severe erosion; we cannot recall those memories at all," the Fire Dragon King sighed.

"Is that so..." Lan Yu muttered to himself.

Suddenly, a flash of moonlight flickered, and the scene before Lan Yu changed abruptly.

He realized that the month was up, and the Summoning Element was forcibly teleporting him back to the magic world.

Lan Yu hadn't expected the month in Douluo Continent to pass so quickly.

He looked at his surroundings; it was exactly the third survey point he had collected.

"Kid, we are going to sleep," the Fire Dragon King's voice sounded once more. "You will have to solve your subsequent soul rings on your own."

"Understood." Lan Yu nodded. "I wish you both a good rest, seniors."

There was no response from the Ice and Fire Dragon King, which meant they had fallen into a deep slumber.

However, with the Summoning Element, their remaining dragon souls would no longer dissipate.

"Phew~ I wonder what will become of the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well now that it has lost the remains of the Ice and Fire Dragon King," Lan Yu sighed.

"No use thinking about that now. Let's see how they are doing."

It was already evening, so Lan Yu hurried toward the church...

Inside the church, the exhausted group was drowsy, but they heard movement coming from outside.

"Who's there?!"

"Don't be nervous, it's me." Lan Yu's voice drifted inside.

The wooden door creaked open to reveal Lan Yu himself.

After walking in, Lan Yu's gaze instinctively swept over the few people he was on good terms with.

"Huh? Where's that guy Mo Fan?" Noticing Mo Fan was missing, Lan Yu asked curiously.

Zhao Manyan sighed, "About the same as you, I suppose."

Hearing Zhao Manyan put it that way, Lan Yu finally realized.

Human nature, indeed.

Some people simply cannot stand to see others excel, so they resort to every possible means to frame and slander them.

Just as Lan Yu was catching up on their recent situation with Zhao Manyan, Bai Tingting, who had been sitting by the campfire, suddenly stood up.

She trotted over to Zhao Manyan's side and, while the latter was still bewildered, shoved him aside. Looking as if she had suffered some immense grievance, she dove straight into Lan Yu's arms.

No one had expected this scene, and everyone was left stunned.

Ever since they had set out, everyone had witnessed Bai Tingting's intentional and unintentional attempts to get close to Lan Yu.

But they weren't exactly a couple, were they?

Or was it that Ming Cong's behavior that evening had truly frightened Bai Tingting, making her subconsciously feel that Lan Yu was the one who could comfort her?

Lan Yu himself was dumbfounded. Wait, where did my big buddy Zhao Manyan go? How did he turn into the soft and fragrant Bai Tingting?

"Lan Yu, can you please not leave?"

Bai Tingting's eyes were red-rimmed, her expression so pitiful that it seemed as if Lan Yu was the only one worthy of her trust.

"Fine, fine, fine," Lan Yu agreed, "but, could you let go first?"

"I won't!"

"..." Lan Yu was speechless.

You detestable Bewitching Demon Spider, you've done a fine job indeed!

"Hmph!" Seeing this, Mu Nujiao suddenly let out a low snort.

At the same time, Mo Fan, who had just walked into the church, witnessed the entire scene and immediately wore a smile that every man understood.

"The two who claimed they would complete the survey on their own have finally returned. Well? Don't tell me you didn't finish it?"