Yu Mingxiao returned to the residence. As soon as he stepped inside, he saw Shui Xiwei sitting on the sofa in the reception room, her slender legs swinging gently. She looked a little ill at ease.
Yu Mingxiao asked softly, "This is your first time visiting our Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, isn't it?"
"Mm-hmm." Shui Xiwei nodded slightly.
"You don't need to be nervous. I'm not going to eat you."
Yu Mingxiao thought for a moment, then said, "I imagine you're not familiar with the place. How about I arrange for someone to show you around the clan?"
Shui Xiwei blinked and asked softly, "You're the host here. Aren't you going to show me around yourself?"
Yu Mingxiao raised an eyebrow and touched the tip of his nose. "That would be the proper way to treat a guest, but I've just broken through to level forty. I still need to consolidate my cultivation, and I'm going to hunt for a Soul Ring in three days. I can't spare the time right now."
"Yu Mingxiao, you've already broken through to level forty?" Shui Xiwei cried out.
Yu Mingxiao grinned. "Just got lucky."
Shui Xiwei: "..."
After a moment's silence, she couldn't help rolling her eyes. "Looks like I came at the wrong time," she muttered.
"I'm going back to my room to cultivate. Make yourself at home." Yu Mingxiao ignored her complaint and went into his bedroom.
Shui Xiwei stared after him, speechless. She had already decided to leave first thing tomorrow morning.
Three days later.
After breakfast, Yu Mingxiao and Yu Yuanzhen left the clan together and headed for the Star Dou Great Forest.
Yu Xiaogang, who was running laps around the clan grounds, happened to see them leave.
Three years had passed. With the clan's resources supporting him, his Soul Power Level had climbed to level seven. He believed that in another year, he would break through to level ten and hunt for his First Soul Ring.
"Damn it. Why did Father and Big Brother leave the clan so early? Could Big Brother have broken through?"
Yu Xiaogang watched the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon vanish into the distant sky. He clenched his teeth, his fists tightening.
But he quickly forced the thought down.
How could anyone break through that fast? At Big Brother's age, he could be in his twenties at most. There was no way he had reached level thirty already.
Father must have taken him somewhere else.
If Big Brother really had reached level thirty, Yu Xiaogang would have found it harder to bear than death.
He had trained bitterly for three years and relied on the clan's resources, yet he had gained only seven levels during the Soul Scholar stage, when advancing was easiest. And now Big Brother was going to hunt for his third Soul Ring?
His elder brother, Yu Mingxiao, was everything Yu Xiaogang had dreamed of becoming.
Brilliantly gifted and brimming with confidence.
Yet the brighter and more outstanding his brother became, the more bitter Yu Xiaogang felt.
They were twins born of the same mother, but the gulf between them was like the distance between clouds and mud, between heaven and earth.
Yu Xiaogang had even begun to imagine, with growing obsession, that Yu Mingxiao must have stolen the talent that should have been his.
Otherwise, how could his Martial Soul Awakening have failed, leaving his Martial Soul to degenerate into a fat pig with no future?
That fat pig could do nothing but let out a few useless, stinking farts. Even the wild boar Martial Souls of some outer disciples were stronger.
Smack!
A ruler struck his back. The sharp crack sent pain through him, and Yu Xiaogang sucked in a breath. He spun around to face the two guards watching him.
One guard fixed him with a stern stare. "Young Master Xiaogang, slacking off again? We've been right behind you the whole time."
"Hmph!" Yu Xiaogang touched his swollen, aching back and shot them a dark look. Suppressing his anger, he kept running.
After three years, he was used to being beaten. He had also learned, in secret, to bide his time.
Once he obtained his First Soul Ring and grew stronger, he would make those two bastards who watched him every day repay today's blow—and every humiliation before it—a hundredfold!
He already had a plan for his First Soul Ring. It would surely turn his Martial Soul back into a Golden Sacred Dragon!
Two flowers bloomed; now to follow the other branch.
Yu Mingxiao and his father entered the Star Dou Great Forest once more.
The familiar air and gentle breath of life made every pore on Yu Mingxiao's body seem to come alive, opening wide in delight.
Ancient trees stood here and there, their layered branches and leaves blocking the sunlight. Only through a few gaps did flecks of light reach the ground.
Yu Yuanzhen took Yu Mingxiao straight into the Mixed Zone. No Soul Beast meeting their requirements would be found in the Outer Zone.
They searched from the Mixed Zone all the way to the edge of the Core Zone. After an entire day, they still had not found a suitable Soul Beast.
Yu Mingxiao's Martial Soul was the Radiant Sacred Dragon.
Even without insisting on a Soul Beast with Radiant Dragon Clan blood, finding one of the right age with the light attribute was far from easy.
It was not until the second day, when they passed a stream, that Yu Mingxiao's eyes suddenly lit up.
Beside the stream, the grass was fresh and tender, but an unusual-looking deer ignored it and hunted fish along the bank instead.
Its body was white and lustrous as jade. Dragon-scale patterns marked its golden antlers, and faint white scales showed across its limbs and torso.
"A Jade Light Dragon Deer, with pure Radiant Dragon Clan blood! Father, I want that Jade Light Dragon Deer for my fourth Soul Ring!"
Yu Yuanzhen's expression shifted. "That Jade Light Dragon Deer has probably cultivated for thirteen thousand years. Absorbing its ring at your level would be far too risky."
"Father, I have complete confidence in my physique," Yu Mingxiao replied calmly.
For the past three years, he had trained hard almost every day. He had also taken two portions of Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Glue, and fusing with the source power separated from the Dragon-Slaying Blade had strengthened his body further. The Immortal Herb he had taken before had improved his physique as well.
He was certain he could absorb this Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring without trouble.
Yu Yuanzhen's face grew grave. "A Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring is different from a Millennium Soul Ring. Even if your body can withstand its surge of energy, you still have to face Soul Shock."
"Soul Shock?" Yu Mingxiao paused in thought, then said firmly, "Father, the External Soul Bone I fused with strengthened my mental power. My mental power was stronger than most people's to begin with. Absorbing this Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring won't be a problem."
Yu Yuanzhen frowned slightly and studied him for a long moment. Then he sighed. "Very well. Give it a try. If you feel you can't withstand it from the start, I'll step in and stop you immediately."
"No problem!" Yu Mingxiao smiled. "Father, I'll go kill it myself. You can stand by and keep it from escaping."
Yu Yuanzhen stared at him. "You want to kill it yourself?"
"Yes. It's a good chance to see how sharp my Dragon-Slaying Blade is." A smile tugged at Yu Mingxiao's lips.
"Well... go on, then."
This Ten Thousand Year Soul Beast has powerful blood and is stronger than an ordinary Five-Ring Soul King, Yu Yuanzhen thought, but my son is formidable too. An ordinary Soul King might not be his match. Now that he has a Second Martial Soul, this will be a good chance for him to test himself.
With Yu Yuanzhen watching over him, nothing would go wrong.
Before you continue