Long Live Aunt Zhao

"An Lan! An Lan! An Lan!"

Her clear calls echoed through the Intermediate Spirit Ascension Platform. The girl bounced up and down, waving at him, her silver hair fluttering lightly with her movements.

An Lan gazed at her lively figure, a smile unconsciously lifting the corners of his mouth.

He glanced to the side at the Blood Dragon, which was barely clinging to life, and couldn't help but quip, "You sure know how to pick your opponents."

Na'er giggled and stuck out her little tongue, looking utterly mischievous.

After four years together, everyone around her believed that the Silver Dragon Spear in her hand contained the bloodline of a high-ranking dragon clan, giving her an innate bloodline advantage over all Soul Beasts, especially dragon-type Soul Beasts.

Since everyone believed that, she no longer had any qualms about using her bloodline.

Usually, in the Spirit Ascension Platform, she loved nothing more than unleashing her dragon might at will to intimidate and drive away all kinds of Soul Beasts.

At that moment, the Soul Beast An Lan had badly wounded and sent flying staggered to its feet. It was the Diamond Mammoth, with five thousand years of cultivation.

Its thick, Dark Gold fur was already drenched in blood. One of its fearsome tusks had snapped off completely at the root, leaving a terrifying bloody hole in its face, while the other was more than half broken. It looked utterly wretched and had clearly lost the ability to fight.

The Diamond Mammoth had yet to steady itself when a three-meter-long black tiger suddenly came flying out of the forest on the other side. It traced a miserable arc through the air and, by sheer coincidence, crashed right onto the mammoth's back.

The already gravely wounded Diamond Mammoth could no longer hold on. It let out a pained roar and toppled to the ground with a thud, unable to get back up.

And so, the three Dragon Tiger Elephant brothers were reunited. The Lan-Na-Hui Trio had rid the Intermediate Spirit Ascension Platform of three more pests!

A moment later, Yuanen Yehui, her red hair flying, emerged from the forest in the direction the Dark Demon Evil Tiger had been thrown.

Her breathing was slightly ragged, and there was a little dust and tiger blood smeared across her face. Though she looked a bit disheveled, her eyes shone brightly, brimming with fighting spirit.

At the sight of An Lan, her stern features softened at once. She raised a hand and called out, "An Lan! Na'er!"

Before she'd even finished speaking, she lightly tapped the ground with her toes and leaped gracefully to their side.

"Haha, Redhead, you look so miserable!" Seeing Yuanen Yehui's appearance, Na'er mocked her without the slightest mercy.

Yuanen Yehui glanced at her calmly, deliberately puffed out her chest, and curled her lips into a disdainful smile.

Na'er, you're a loser!

After four years together, she knew exactly how to strike at the glutton's weak spot.

If the parts that were supposed to grow didn't, what good was eating so much?

The smile vanished from Na'er's face in an instant. She stared at Yuanen Yehui with eyes full of envy, silently going mad inside. Damn it! She'd changed her diet eight times this year already. How was she still no match for that red-haired gorilla?

Yuanen Yehui felt even more pleased. Smiles didn't disappear; they simply moved from Na'er's face to hers.

She pointed at the three Dragon Tiger Elephant brothers sprawled on the ground and looked at An Lan with a smile. "They're all down to their last breath. Finish them off."

A Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Spirit could provide a Soul Master with four black Soul Rings. Besides testing their own strength, their other goal in entering the Intermediate Spirit Ascension Platform this time was to help An Lan's Phantom Sea Spirit Kun reach ten thousand years of cultivation, allowing him to advance to the rank of a forty-level Soul Ancestor.

"Okay."

An Lan gave a slight nod and raised his hand, gathering his strength. A massive spear of Soul Power coalesced above the three beasts, its cold light flashing before it plunged down with the force of ten thousand jun.

"Boom—!!"

A deafening crash erupted. The five-thousand-year Diamond Mammoth, the four-thousand-two-hundred-year Thorn Dragon, and the four-thousand-year Dark Demon Evil Tiger—all three ferocious Soul Beasts—died on the spot, bringing their wicked lives to a final end.

An Lan quickly drew in the three clusters of Soul Power, which slowly merged into his Soul Ring.

With the addition of one thousand three hundred and twenty years of cultivation, the Phantom Sea Spirit Kun's cultivation gap was finally filled.

The Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring was complete!

Three ink-black Soul Rings circled his body, and An Lan's aura surged abruptly.

"Let's go!"

Their goal achieved, the three nodded to one another, then activated their signal devices and voluntarily left the Intermediate Spirit Ascension Platform.

When he awoke from the metal cabinet, a pair of golden eyes bright as the morning sun came into view. An Lan's eyes immediately lit up with delight. "Teacher, you've finished your seclusion!"

The newcomer was An Lan's second master, Le Lingzhao, who had been in seclusion for half a year.

Le Lingzhao gazed at her precious disciple, whom she hadn't seen in six months, and reached out to rub the top of his head. She smiled warmly. "Not bad. You've grown quite a bit in half a year."

A Spirit Sea Realm level of spiritual power was required to bear a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Spirit—in other words, spiritual power of at least five hundred points.

An Lan's spiritual power had long since reached the required level, and his physique was more than sufficient. So Le Lingzhao wasn't concerned about his Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring; she was more interested in how much he'd grown.

Na'er immediately came forward with a grin. "Aunt Zhao, you were in seclusion for so long. You must have broken through to Limit Douluo, right?"

"I did." Le Lingzhao nodded with a soft laugh, then reached out to stroke her hair. "Our Na'er is getting prettier and prettier too."

Four years had passed. At some point, Na'er had quietly changed the way she addressed Le Lingzhao and Leng Qingning from "big sister" to "auntie."

Le Lingzhao naturally knew what the little girl was thinking. Since her and Leng Qingning's identities weren't suitable to be made public, she was more than happy to go along with it.

Le Lingzhao turned her gaze to the other girl who was eyeing her precious cabbage and beckoned. "Huihui, come over too."

Yuanen Yehui came forward as asked and said softly, "Congratulations, Aunt Zhao."

Le Lingzhao rubbed her little head as well. "You've grown taller in half a year too. Not bad. As it happens, I've just come out of seclusion. Tomorrow, I'll take you all out for a good time and let you relax."

The cheers she'd expected never came. Looking at the three children exchanging glances, Le Lingzhao furrowed her brows slightly. "What's wrong? You've worked so hard at cultivating for four years. Aren't you happy that I'm taking you out to clear your minds?"

The sound of high heels tapping against the ground came clearly to their ears. Leng Yaozhu approached at an unhurried pace, smiling brightly. "You really couldn't have come out of seclusion at a worse time. These three little ones have been telling me for ages that they want to go out and train on their own for a few days."

"I see."

Le Lingzhao immediately understood. They'd found it restrictive having an elder tag along.

She looked at An Lan. The boy had grown to about chest height on her—though that was with her wearing high heels.

In principle, she should let them go out and gain some experience on their own. But the three of them were only ten, after all, and she couldn't help worrying.

After a moment's thought, she said, "I can stay behind, but Dabai and Xiao Bai have to go with you."

"Fine, I guess." An Lan looked as if he were only agreeing reluctantly.

"Long live Aunt Zhao!" Na'er and Yuanen Yehui cheered.

Seeing them, Le Lingzhao pretended to be annoyed and pinched An Lan's cheek. "You ungrateful brat! You're only ten, and you already don't want your teacher anymore?"

"Of course I do!" An Lan rubbed his pinched cheek and quickly put on an ingratiating smile.

"Fine, I won't disturb you young people while you enjoy yourselves." Le Lingzhao gave his hair one last ruffle, then turned and led Leng Qingning out. "Come on, come on. Now that we're the same rank, let's go have a match first."