The sun slowly sank below the horizon.
Six hours later, Song Qingling was the first to open her beautiful eyes. Her aura surged at once.
"Qingling, it looks like your Soul Power has increased quite a bit," Qin Xuan said with a sigh.
"Mm." Song Qingling nodded slightly, unable to hide her excitement.
"Brother Qin, after taking those two Immortal Herbs, my Soul Power rose five levels in one go. I've reached the Soul Grandmaster bottleneck."
"At the same time, the elemental power of the Ice Soul Dragon Abyss Spear has improved significantly."
"The boost was within my expectations," Qin Xuan replied calmly.
Song Qingling glanced at the moonlight spilling in through the window and asked in confusion:
"Brother Qin, how long did it take me to absorb the Immortal Herbs?"
"Six hours. That's quite fast." After speaking, Qin Xuan turned to Xia Hui, his face once again grave.
Another two hours passed.
Xia Hui finally opened her beautiful eyes and sprang to her feet.
A purple pagoda rose behind her, two zhang tall and with nine tiers in all.
"This is..." Song Qingling stared in disbelief.
Beaming, Xia Hui explained to the two of them:
"The Aromatic Silk Beauty made my Crape Myrtle Exquisite Pagoda Martial Soul evolve into the Crape Myrtle Star Pagoda."
"The Crape Myrtle Star Pagoda has nine tiers in all, allowing me to break through the limits imposed by Soul Rings."
"Moreover, the Crape Myrtle Star Pagoda is a dual-attribute Martial Soul that can both support and control. At night in particular, it can draw on the power of the stars to speed up the recovery of my Soul Power."
"My heavens! Even the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda might not measure up to the Crape Myrtle Star Pagoda!" Song Qingling cried, excitedly throwing her arms around Xia Hui.
At that, Xia Hui said with some disdain:
"The Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda may be hailed as the greatest support-type Martial Soul on the continent, but in my opinion, it's all reputation and no substance."
"As long as it remains shackled by the limit of absorbing only seven Soul Rings, it'll never deserve to be called a top-tier support-type Martial Soul!"
"By the way, Xia Hui, you've reached the Soul Grandmaster bottleneck too, haven't you?" Song Qingling asked.
"Of course!" Xia Hui replied with a grin.
At that moment, Qin Xuan cleared his throat and spoke solemnly:
"Tomorrow, you two should return to the Spirit Hall Primary Academy and have a teacher accompany you to hunt Soul Beasts."
"I'll be devoting myself to cultivation here for the next four years. Don't slack off either, or lose your drive to improve."
"The Immortal Herbs have laid a solid foundation for your bodies. As long as you work hard, you should have no problem reaching the Titled Douluo realm within twenty years."
His words meant that the two girls might not see Qin Xuan for the next four years. A trace of disappointment inevitably flashed in their eyes.
"The gap between people really is huge."
"Qingling and I have cultivated like mad for two years, and even then, it took the boost from the Immortal Herbs to reach the Soul Grandmaster bottleneck."
"But Brother Qin had Level 20 Soul Power from the moment his Martial Soul awakened."
"Don't worry, Brother Qin. We won't let you leave us too far behind!"
Xia Hui tried to laugh it off, but a hint of helplessness slipped into her words.
"Xia Hui, with an attitude like that, my efforts to cultivate you haven't gone to waste." Qin Xuan nodded with satisfaction, then looked out the window and said meaningfully:
"Even before taking the Immortal Herbs, your natural gifts were already quite good. Now, with the Herbs' added effects, you're true paragons of talent."
"But don't let success go to your heads, and don't compare yourselves to me."
"Only a handful of people across the entire continent have awakened god-level Martial Souls."
As the little princess of the Purple Heaven Sect, Xia Hui was well-traveled and knowledgeable. She thought for a moment, then slowly said:
"Other than Brother Qin's Nine Nether Evil God Tiger, the only god-level Martial Soul I know of is the Great Enshrined's Six-Winged Angel."
"Besides the Great Enshrined, who else could have a god-level Martial Soul?"
"You'll find out in time." Qin Xuan put on an air of mystery, then quickly changed the subject. "Let's get some sleep. You can head back to the academy tomorrow."
As he spoke, he went into one of the suites first.
Seeing that Qin Xuan didn't want to say more, Song Qingling and Xia Hui went into the other rooms.
The villa had eight rooms in all, so there was no shortage of places to sleep.
The other person Qin Xuan had mentioned with a god-level Martial Soul was, of course, Qian Renxue.
He hadn't counted Bo Saixi.
That was because Bo Saixi's Sea God Martial Soul wasn't innate. It had transformed into a Martial Soul later, after she received a blessing from the Sea God.
By his estimate, Bo Saixi had, at most, Innate Full Soul Power. She definitely hadn't reached the standard of Innate Level 20 Soul Power.
Lying on the soft bed, Qin Xuan stared at the ceiling and began to plan.
The Herb Garden in my storage ring needs to be moved somewhere safe and put in someone's care.
After all, there are plenty of herb seeds in the garden, and they can keep growing back. There'll be casualties in large-scale battles down the road, so the herbs will come in handy.
But there's no need to rush with the Herb Garden for now. I can visit Star Luo City in four years and see what the Purple Heaven Sect is like.
Moving the Herb Garden to the Purple Heaven Sect would be the best choice.
It's pretty amusing, really. Song Qingling and Xia Hui are always comparing themselves to me in secret. What a joke.
I'm the chosen successor of the God of Evil, and I have memories from my past life. As long as I don't die young, in twenty years, won't I be without equal?
Could the God of Evil, like the Sea God, have left a high priest behind to guard his inheritance grounds?
Forget it. There's no point thinking about that now. I need to focus on getting stronger!
Qin Xuan's eyelids grew heavier and heavier. Before long, he drifted off to sleep.
Time flew by, slipping past like a little stream.
Four years passed in the blink of an eye.
On the streets of Spirit City,
three extraordinary figures—a man and two women—caught the eyes of passersby.
The man stood six foot one, with sharp brows, bright eyes, and regular features. He wore a black brocade robe, and his long black hair fell to his shoulders, bound behind his head with a dark headpiece.
There was no doubt that he was Qin Xuan. The two women beside him were Xia Hui and Song Qingling.
The women were about the same height, around five foot six. They weren't as tall as Qian Renxue, but their height was still about average for women.
Xia Hui had let down the bun she used to wear. Her fiery red hair spilled over her shoulders like a waterfall, and her figure was curvaceous. She wore a purple princess dress trimmed with gold.
Beside her, Song Qingling's skin was as fair as snow, her beauty pure and pristine. She had tied her silver hair high in a ponytail and wore a snow-white combat outfit. She looked valiant and spirited, yet as cold as an iceberg, making people wary of meeting her gaze.
In terms of looks and charm, Song Qingling and Xia Hui far surpassed Hu Liena and were on par with the Shrek Three Beauties.
Song Qingling's looks and bearing even seemed to surpass those of the Shrek Three Beauties by a little.
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