A Slender, Jade-Like Maiden

At night, as Ye Tian lay on his bed, drowsiness quickly washed over him, followed immediately by the familiar sensation of vertigo.

Once his consciousness cleared, he found himself back in that familiar mental space.

Time here with Dong'er moved differently than his own; it was currently daytime.

The moment Ye Tian appeared, Dong'er, who had been meditating, suddenly paused. She made an excuse to dash back to her dormitory and lie down, and a second later, her spirit form appeared before Ye Tian.

"Brother Ye Tian!"

Ye Tian caught the girl as she threw herself at him, smiling as he looked her over.

Dong'er had grown quite a bit; the top of her head was nearly reaching his shoulder. Judging by the fine silk robes she wore and the smile on her face, it seemed she was living quite well within Martial Soul Hall.

"Brother Ye Tian, why did you disappear for three years before showing up again!"

Having eased her longing, Dong'er stood before Ye Tian, staring at him without blinking. The implication was clear: today, Ye Tian had to give her an explanation.

Ye Tian gave a bitter smile. He didn't want this either; who could have known that while the system remained silent for three months, three whole years had passed on Dong'er's side.

He pulled Dong'er down to sit and briefly revealed his secret. His arrival in her dreams wasn't something he could control at will.

Perhaps because he had previously felt Dong'er was still young, he had been able to visit every week, but after this time, he had no idea how long it would be before he could come again.

Fortunately, he had plenty of time for this visit—a full month.

Ye Tian felt a month was a long time, but Dong'er was dissatisfied, though there was nothing she could do. If she annoyed that mysterious presence in the shadows, it would be a huge loss if she couldn't see Brother Ye Tian ever again.

Dong'er was like a perpetually happy lark, chirping away as she recounted her experiences over the past three years.

"Brother Ye Tian, guess what level I am now?"

In three years, with the resources of Martial Soul Hall and a teacher like Yue Guan, Ye Tian thought for a moment and gave his answer, "Level twenty-three?"

"Brother Ye Tian, you're really underestimating me."

Dong'er looked at Ye Tian with a grin, her small mouth softly uttering a number that shocked him.

"I'm already level twenty-nine, and in three months at most, I'll be a Soul Elder!"

Ye Tian was truly stunned. A ten-year-old Soul Elder—with this kind of talent, even the protagonist Tang San would be crushed into dust.

"Dong'er, how have you been cultivating over the past three years?"

"Hee hee, not long after you left, Master Yue Guan had me take on another master—Master Gui Mei."

"With the support of both masters, I sold the Foundation Strengthening Pill you left me for a good price. The two masters only took a symbolic amount, and ninety-nine percent of it was exchanged for rare treasures beneficial to my cultivation."

At this, Dong'er suddenly remembered something and hurriedly said, "Brother Ye Tian, wait a moment," before her spirit form vanished.

Dong'er retrieved her Storage Ring from a hidden compartment and dumped everything inside onto the bed—over thirty treasures in total, including even a five-thousand-year soul bone.

"Brother Ye Tian, see if there's anything you need and just take it."

Dong'er spoke with absolute confidence; she was now among those with the highest status in Martial Soul Hall below the level of a Soul Saint.

There was no other reason: the Foundation Strengthening Pill, a miraculous medicine with such excellent effects on the younger generation, could only be obtained through her.

In this day and age, who didn't have descendants or friends? If one took a few dozen of these Foundation Strengthening Pills, someone with level five innate soul power could become level seven, and level seven could push to nine or even higher—it was even possible to reach Innate Full Soul Power.

Anyone with soul power above level seven was a guaranteed Title Douluo in the future!

Moreover, when this Foundation Strengthening Pill was given to a child born with a deficiency, he became a genius with full soul power upon awakening his martial soul. With such publicity, families in Martial Soul City with members above the Soul Douluo rank came one after another to purchase them.

With Yue Guan and Gui Mei backing her, even families with Title Douluos had no intention of using force. Naturally, Dong'er, as the source of the Foundation Strengthening Pills, saw her status in Martial Soul Hall rise rapidly.

"Brother Ye Tian, I heard from my two masters that even the Pope wants to take me as a disciple!"

"However, the Pope has a condition: I must break through to level thirty before I turn ten."

"Does Dong'er want to be the Pope's disciple?"

Ye Tian hadn't expected that even after he had completely altered Dong'er's fate, the plot would still loop back to this.

"My two masters said the Pope has even better things in her possession."

Dong'er's eyes darted about, a flash of cunning crossing her gaze.

There was something else she hadn't said.

If she became the Pope's disciple, she would be the future Saintess of Martial Soul Hall, and then she could arrange for people to search for the Brother Ye Tian of this world.

Three years had passed, and under the unreserved tutelage of Yue Guan and Gui Mei, Bibi Dong was no longer as naive as when she first met Ye Tian; she was now quite shrewd.

Ye Tian hadn't deliberately hidden anything when chatting with her, so Bibi Dong had probed and learned many of Brother Ye Tian's secrets.

For instance, Brother Ye Tian's world was clearly much further ahead than hers; perhaps the Brother Ye Tian of this world hadn't even been born yet.

However, that didn't stop her from using everything she could from now on to build her own influence.

In the future, she would surely become the only Pope of Martial Soul Hall not of the main line, and only then, when she met the Brother Ye Tian of her childhood, would she be able to repay his kindness.

Ye Tian wanted to refuse, but seeing Dong'er's firm gaze, he knew she would be heartbroken if he didn't take anything. So, he casually picked a few medicinal herbs and asked Dong'er for a formula called Body Forging Liquid.

"Dong'er, let me see that soul bone in your collection."

Bibi Dong handed over control of her body. Ye Tian picked up the soul bone and toyed with it for a moment, discerning its age.

This spirit bone is five thousand three hundred years old, which is quite a decent piece, but it still falls short of being worthy of Dong'er.

"System, can you increase the age of a spirit bone?"

"Yes. By spending a certain amount of Fate Points, you can upgrade a spirit bone to any age."

"Then take a look and tell me how many Fate Points it would cost to upgrade this spirit bone to ten thousand years."

A few seconds later, the system's voice rang out again.

"Upgrading a spirit bone to ten thousand years requires 6,000 Fate Points. Upgrading to thirty thousand years requires 20,000 Fate Points, and upgrading to fifty thousand years requires 500,000 Fate Points..."

"Stop, stop, stop!"

Hearing these prices, Ye Tian hurriedly called a halt. He glanced at the Mall and noticed that the spirit bones sold there were at most one-third more expensive than the system's processing fees for the same age.

He couldn't help but feel that he would be losing out if he used the system to upgrade the spirit bone's age.

"System, tell me, how much are you skimming off the top?"

"Host, please do not slander me. I am the most compliant system in existence and would never embezzle a single Fate Point!"