Mysterious Azure Flame, Eve of Soul Hunting, Yes, Wife My Lady!

"Senior, are you satisfied with the test result?"

Ye Qing's voice came from behind, his tone three parts irritating and seven parts smug.

Dugu Bo's eyelid twitched.

Satisfied my foot!

The old man wanted to teach you a lesson, not be your sparring partner!

"Grandpa, are you alright?"

Dugu Yan ran over to Dugu Bo, looking anxiously at his expression.

Dugu Bo took a deep breath, suppressing the frustration in his heart, and said in a deep voice, "I'm fine."

After a pause, he added another sentence, "This kid's martial soul is very strange."

"That cyan flame doesn't seem to just resist poison; it actively decomposes the poison and then absorbs it to grow stronger."

"Absorbs?"

Dugu Yan froze. "You mean..."

"That's right."

Dugu Bo turned around, emerald-green eyes flashing with solemnity. "Your kid's Chaos Green Flame took my poison as nourishment."

As soon as these words came out, even Ye Qing himself was stunned for a moment.

Treating poison as nourishment?

He really hadn't noticed that point.

Just now he was too busy being shocked and smug to carefully feel the changes in the Chaos Green Flame.

Calming down now to look inward, he indeed found that the Chaos Green Flame within his body was a sliver more vibrant than before.

Although it was only an extremely faint sliver, it had indeed grown stronger.

Good grief, this martial soul could not only suppress poison, but also devour poison to strengthen itself?

Wasn't this the natural enemy of poison-attribute soul masters?

No, maybe it wasn't just able to devour poison.

Dugu Yan clearly realized this as well, her emerald-green eyes filled with shock. "Doesn't that mean in the future, all soul masters who use poison will be good for nothing in front of Ye Qing?"

"You can't really put it that way."

Ye Qing shook his head, unusually analyzing it with a serious attitude.

"The Chaos Green Flame does suppress poison, but this suppression has its limits."

"Just now when Senior used the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor's natal poison, the Chaos Green Flame needed ten breaths to completely refine it."

"If the intensity of the poison exceeds my endurance limit, or the attack method isn't pure poison but comes with soul power attacks, I'll still get hurt if I'm supposed to."

He looked at Dugu Bo, a trace of sincere flattery in his tone. "If a Title Douluo like Senior uses soul power together with poison to attack me, I won't be able to defend against it at all."

"After all, the gap in strength is right there. This is what they call overpowering ten techniques with sheer force."

Dugu Bo's eyelids twitched.

This kid... was he complimenting himself?

Or was he giving himself a way to back down gracefully?

"Hmph, it's good that you still have some self-awareness."

Dugu Bo gave a grumpy huff, but the depression in his heart dissipated quite a bit.

"Kid, this Chaos Green Lotus and Chaos Green Flame of yours probably have an extraordinary background."

Ye Qing silently gave a thumbs-up in his heart.

Obviously.

Standard issue for transmigrators, how could he dare show his face without a special martial soul?

Speaking of which, though, he really hadn't completely figured out all the abilities of the Chaos Green Lotus.

The characteristic of devouring poison to strengthen himself just now was an unexpected windfall.

If this was one of the hidden abilities of the Chaos Green Lotus, were there other abilities yet to be uncovered?

It seemed he needed to hurry and get a soul ring to see what his first soul skill was.

"Senior."

Ye Qing suddenly turned serious, cupping his fists in a salute. "May this junior ask you for a favor?"

Dugu Bo raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

"Help me hunt my first soul ring."

Ye Qing's black eyes flashed with a burning light. "I need a soul ring to break through the soul master realm."

According to his previous agreement with this kid, if Ye Qing could preliminarily resolve the poison in his body within a year, he would officially accept him as his granddaughter's husband.

Although the work to actually resolve the poison hadn't officially started yet.

Still, this kid's Eight-Petal Immortal Orchid given to Yanyan directly increased her soul power by five ranks; that token gift was already heavy enough in weight.

More importantly, he was truly curious now.

Curious about what kind of astonishing power this Chaos Green Lotus would bloom with after obtaining its first soul ring.

"Alright."

Dugu Bo slowly nodded. "We set off early tomorrow morning for the depths of the Sunset Forest."

Dugu Yan immediately raised her hand. "I'm going too!"

"No."

"I want to go!"

"There are ten-thousand-year soul beasts haunting that place."

"With Grandpa there, what do I have to fear?"

Dugu Yan righteously interrupted Dugu Bo's words, then walked over to Ye Qing, naturally hooking her arm around his.

"Besides, my man is hunting his first soul ring, what would it look like if I, his wife, weren't present?"

Ye Qing: "..."

Dugu Bo: "..."

Weren't you still so shy you wouldn't admit to this title earlier? Why is it rolling off your tongue so smoothly now?

Dugu Yan also seemed to realize what she had just said. The tips of her ears turned slightly red.

Yet the strength with which she held Ye Qing's arm tightened a fraction more instead.

"I'm going anyway."

Dugu Bo took a deep breath, then let out a long sigh.

Fine, whatever.

A grown girl couldn't be kept at home, keeping her around too long only makes enemies.

Right now he just wanted to hurry back to his bamboo house and drink a cup of tea to calm his nerves.

"We set off early tomorrow morning."

"Kid, get a good rest tonight, don't let your legs go soft when it's time to hunt soul rings."

Ye Qing grinned. "Senior, don't worry."

"I have great stamina."

Dugu Yan's face instantly flushed red. "What are you talking about!"

"I said I have great stamina, I soaked in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well for a month and I'm fine, how could my legs go soft just from going out to hunt a soul ring?"

Ye Qing looked completely innocent. "Where's your mind at, Yanzi?"

Dugu Yan: "..."

She wanted to bite someone.

Watching the deflated, leaky-quilt-cotton-vest look of his granddaughter, Dugu Bo suddenly felt his mood improve quite a bit.

Well, even though this kid was irritating, he was still somewhat useful occasionally.

The night grew deeper.

The water surface of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well reflected the stars all over the sky, ice-blue and crimson lights interweaving into dreamy light and shadow within the ripples.

Ye Qing sat cross-legged by the pool, closing his eyes to regulate his breathing as he felt that brand-new power within his body.

The Chaos Green Lotus floated quietly in his dantian.

The Chaos Green Flame flowed slowly through the meridians around his body.

Every cycle it completed, he felt his physique grow a fraction tougher.

"Tap..."

A slight footstep came from behind.

Dugu Yan walked over to his side, saying nothing as she simply sat down quietly.

The two of them sat side by side just like that, neither speaking.

After a long while, Dugu Yan suddenly said softly, "Ye Qing."

"Hmm?"

"Tomorrow when we hunt the soul ring, you won't push yourself too hard, right?"

Ye Qing opened his eyes, tilting his head to look at her.

Starlight spilled across Dugu Yan's profile, softening her usually cold and arrogant features a fraction.

Her emerald-green eyes reflected the stars, so beautiful they didn't look like human eyes.

"What, worried about me?"

"Duh."

Dugu Yan didn't deny it, her voice muffled. "Who tells you to always play outside the playbook."

"If something happens to you, who will cure my grandpa's poison? Who will cure my poison? Who will pay back all those debts you owe me?"

Ye Qing couldn't help laughing.

This stubborn-mouthed habit was exactly the same as the Old Poison.

"Don't worry."

He raised a hand, tucking a stray lock of hair behind Dugu Yan's ear with a motion as natural as if he had done it countless times.

"I'm someone who values my life the most."

"I didn't even manage to die back when I was good for nothing; now that I've finally defied the heavens to change my fate, if I flip my car while hunting my first soul ring, that would be too embarrassing for a transmigrator."

"Transmigrator?"

"Uh, it just means genius."

Dugu Yan gave him a suspicious look, but ultimately didn't press the matter.

She had already grown used to this person occasionally popping out weird vocabulary she couldn't understand.

"Anyway, perform well tomorrow."

Dugu Yan stood up, patting the non-existent dust from her skirt, her tone returning to its usual cold arrogance. "Don't embarrass me in front of Grandpa."

"Yes, Wife My Lady!"

"You're not allowed to call me Wife My Lady!"

"Alright, my darling."

"You're not allowed to call me darling either!"

"Then how about babe?"

"You—shameless!"

Dugu Yan turned and walked away, her steps so fast it looked like a soul beast was chasing her from behind.

Watching her figure disappear at the doorway of the bamboo house, the smile on the corners of Ye Qing's lips slowly faded.

He turned back around, facing the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well once more, his black eyes reflecting the ice-blue and crimson rippling light.

"My first soul ring, my journey as a soul master is finally going to officially begin!"