Yu Xiaogang Brought Liu Erlong to the Door! So Eager?

"On the outskirts of Sunset Forest, we'll first get a clear picture of the soul beast distribution. We'll decide on the specific target once we get there."

Gu Qing carried a simple pack on his back, while Tang San followed at his side with a bundle half the height of a person strapped to his back.

"Be careful on the road."

Flender stood at the entrance and pushed up the glasses sitting crookedly on his nose. "I'll watch over the academy."

Gu Qing nodded, then gave Ning Rongrong, Xiao Wu, and Zhu Zhuqing, who had come to see him off, a few more instructions regarding their training. Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing stood beside Xiao Wu. The moment they saw Gu Qing, a faint blush rose to both their cheeks, yet neither mentioned what had happened the previous night.

Xiao Wu suspiciously swept her gaze back and forth between the two of them several times. She always felt that something had happened between them and Brother Gu that she did not know about, but with their departure imminent, she could not press the matter.

Gu Qing and Tang San headed side by side toward the academy gates. Just as they reached the entrance, a two-horse carriage suddenly came down the official road in the distance, the emblem of Blue Tyrant Academy prominently displayed on its carriage body.

The middle-aged man driving the carriage wore a green robe. His features were refined, but he was covered in dust and grime. It was Yu Xiaogang, who had been gone for nearly a month and a half. When he spotted Gu Qing and Tang San standing at the academy gates from afar, he jumped down from the driver's seat and hurried toward them.

Before Yu Xiaogang could speak, someone lifted the carriage curtain from within, and a tall figure leaped directly down. She was a woman who looked to be in her early thirties, with long fiery-red hair that burned like blazing flames beneath the morning sun.

Her features were sharply defined, and there was a natural, valiant fierceness between her brows. Yet she also possessed a pair of slightly upturned phoenix eyes, whose every glance naturally carried a touch of seductive charm.

She wore a dark-red, close-fitting combat outfit that outlined her full, proud breasts and taut, powerful waist. Her hips were round and perky, her long legs straight and slender, and her entire body exuded the lush charm unique to a mature woman.

It was Liu Erlong.

Gu Qing halted, quickly running through the situation in his mind. Yu Xiaogang had been gone for nearly a month and a half, and now he had returned with Liu Erlong. That meant the matter of Blue Tyrant Academy had already been settled, and most likely successfully.

Otherwise, with Liu Erlong's temperament, she would not have made this trip herself. Still, to coax this powder keg away from her own territory, Yu Xiaogang had probably done no small amount of talking.

Yu Xiaogang quickly walked up to Gu Qing. His face carried a trace of travel-worn exhaustion, but his eyes shone with barely suppressed excitement.

"Headmaster Gu, I've settled the matter with Blue Tyrant Academy. This is Liu Erlong, the headmaster of Blue Tyrant Academy. She wishes to discuss the specific details of the merger with you in person."

Liu Erlong stepped forward, crossing her arms before her chest as she openly sized Gu Qing up. The boy before her was half a head taller than she had imagined, with exquisite, handsome features and skin as fair as snow. His entire face possessed a unique appeal somewhere between boyhood and adulthood.

But that was not what drew her in most. It was Gu Qing's eyes—deep, calm, like a bottomless cold pool. When she met his gaze, it felt as though all the surrounding clamor had been shut out, and she could not help wanting to sink into that stillness.

Moreover, Gu Qing possessed an indescribable aura. It was not the immaturity of a young boy, but a special charm that was steady and reserved while somehow making her heart race.

Liu Erlong unconsciously looked at him twice more. Her gaze slid over his brows and eyes, settled on his sharply defined jawline, then traveled down over his broad shoulders and lean, powerful waist.

This kid really has trained his body well. Then she abruptly came back to her senses and mentally slapped herself.

Liu Erlong, what are you looking at? He's only—how old?

"You're Gu Qing?" Liu Erlong cleared her throat. Her tone carried deliberate skepticism, but because of her earlier distraction, her imposing manner had already weakened without her noticing.

"Xiaogang told me there was a twelve-year-old boy who injured Immovable Bright King Zhao Wuji with one punch and wanted to swallow up my Blue Tyrant Academy. I thought he was exaggerating, but now it seems..."

Liu Erlong could not help glancing again at Gu Qing's tranquil eyes. The latter half of her sentence—then perhaps I should ask what gives you the right—reached her lips, yet somehow turned into, "You do look like you have some ability."

The instant the words left her mouth, Liu Erlong regretted them. What did she mean, look like you have some ability? She had clearly come here to question him!

Gu Qing met Liu Erlong's gaze without retreating in the slightest under the pressure of her Soul Sage aura.

"You flatter me, Headmaster Liu. But I do indeed possess the ability to absorb Blue Tyrant Academy. If you don't believe me, you may test me yourself."

Liu Erlong narrowed her eyes slightly and raised her right hand. Soul Power gathered in her palm, and a dragon-shaped blaze exploded into existence. A low dragon's roar sounded through the air as the pressure of a level seventy-eight Soul Sage erupted without reservation.

Tang San took a slight step back at his side and assumed a defensive stance.

Gu Qing remained completely still. He raised his right hand, and a gentle, dark-jade glow lit up in his palm. Then a Black-Gold Lotus emerged from his hand and slowly rotated.

The petals overlapped layer upon layer, each edge glinting with a cold metallic luster. A faint purplish-gold light shone from the lotus heart.

Immediately afterward, a purple-black soul ring rose from beneath the lotus pedestal, and the Soul Power fluctuations of a millennium first ring silently spread outward.

Everyone present changed expression at once.

Flender's eyes widened. He had seen Gu Qing fight. He had seen Gu Qing crack Zhao Wuji's Martial Soul Avatar with a single punch. But he had never seen Gu Qing's martial soul. He had never imagined that Gu Qing's martial soul would be a lotus—and that this lotus had a millennium first ring!

Zhao Wuji stood beside him, the flesh on his face twitching several times. When Gu Qing had sent him flying with one punch before, he had assumed the kid possessed a top-tier beast martial soul, which was why his physical body was so monstrous. He had never expected it to be a plant-type tool martial soul.

Dai Mubai, Ma Hongjun, and Oscar stood at the edge of the training ground, each carrying brooms and shovels over their shoulders. At that moment, all three were frozen in place.

The Fire Dragon in Liu Erlong's palm suddenly jolted, as though some invisible force had seized it by the throat. The Fire Dragon martial soul within her was frantically warning her—not out of fear, nor because it was being suppressed, but due to a far more complex instinctive reaction.

The Fire Dragon was trembling. It sensed the destructive aura hidden deep within that lotus. That power belonged to none of the attributes it knew. It was a pure, ultimate force of destruction. As the owner of the Fire Dragon martial soul, Liu Erlong was more sensitive to that aura than anyone else.

Was this boy really only twelve years old?

Before Liu Erlong had fully recovered from the shock of the millennium soul ring, Gu Qing had already withdrawn the Buddha Wrath Tang Lotus. He turned slightly and gave Tang San behind him a small nod.

Tang San understood and stepped forward. Three soul rings lit up beneath his feet in sequence. The first was interwoven yellow and purple, the second a deep, rich purple, and the third black as ink.

Liu Erlong's pupils abruptly contracted. The Fire Dragon at her fingertips silently dissipated into the air. She looked at the three soul rings beneath Tang San's feet, then at Gu Qing's eyes, which remained as steady as a deep pool. Most of the doubt had vanished from her voice, though her brows were still faintly furrowed. "Even if your strength qualifies, Blue Tyrant Academy is the work of half my life. If I'm to hand it over to you, you need to give me a reason I can trust."

"Erlong."

Yu Xiaogang stepped forward and stood beside Liu Erlong, lowering his voice.

"You've seen Headmaster Gu's strength with your own eyes. He can also train students with soul ring configurations that far exceed common sense, and he can help people evolve their martial souls. You and I are both soul masters. An opportunity like this will not come twice in a lifetime."

Liu Erlong remained silent, neither nodding nor shaking her head. Seeing that she said nothing, Yu Xiaogang moved half a step closer. He lowered his voice even further, and an oddly solemn note entered his tone.

"Erlong, haven't you always wanted to find someone worthy of entrusting yourself to? Though Headmaster Gu is young, his talent and background are right there for all to see. Even a Titled Douluo personally protects him.

"If you can grow closer to him, not only will Blue Tyrant Academy have security, you'll also be able to..."