As the warm, surging energy of the Heart of Eros continued to pour into her, Lan Yin finally began to transform.
Light swirled around her as the phantom of a tall, supple Blue Silver Emperor slowly appeared behind her. Fine patterns, like liquid gold, shimmered across its leaves, radiating an ancient, sacred aura of life.
Then countless points of light gathered like fireflies, outlining the graceful figure of a woman.
She looked to be around thirty, at the age when a woman was at her gentlest and most captivating. Her long, azure hair cascaded down her back like a waterfall, faint light shimmering through its strands.
She wore a blue-and-gold gown, its layered hem edged with golden ribbons that rippled like waves with her every gentle movement.
Her skin was like the finest white jade, its smooth surface gleaming softly in the light.
Her clear blue eyes were like flawless sapphires.
Lan Yin raised a hand and touched Yang Fan's cheek with her fingertips, so gently that it felt like a feather drifting down.
"Do you like how I look now, Fan?"
Lan Yin's voice was gentle yet strong. For some reason, Yang Fan felt as if a few little deer were bounding around in his heart.
Embarrassed, Yang Fan turned his head away.
You were just so weak and helpless, and now you're already flirting with me. How can a blade of grass be such a quick-change artist? In my previous life, you'd have been a Sichuan opera master, carrying on the art of face-changing as an intangible cultural heritage.
And a grandmaster, at that!
Seeing this, Lan Yin smiled. Remembering the Story of the Stone Yang Fan had told her over the years, she gently turned his head back toward her.
"I only asked one little question, but you'd think I was the one being unreasonable."
Lan Yin lowered her eyes slightly, her long lashes trembling softly. The faintest bitter smile touched her lips, and her voice was as light as a breeze.
"After all, Brother Fan must have some Sister Xue'er in his heart. She's more articulate than me, better at acting coy, and knows just how to make you happy."
Lan Yin looked up. A thin sheen of tears shimmered in her eyes, but she stubbornly refused to let them fall. A hint of wounded reproach crept into her voice.
"Here I am, waiting eagerly for you, only to make myself look petty. I suppose I was just being presumptuous, thinking Brother Fan still remembered a mere plant like me."
Lan Yin sighed softly and turned away from Yang Fan, her shoulders drooping slightly. Her voice sank until it nearly dissolved into the air.
"You must have found yourself some new amusement, since you're so cold to me. I've only been wasting my heart on you."
She suddenly let out a quiet laugh. It was soft as shattered jade falling onto a plate, clear but touched with chill.
"The tears of a blade of Blue Silver Grass like me couldn't possibly reach you. I may as well go back now, before I become an eyesore to Brother Fan."
With that, Lan Yin turned her head slightly, her gaze passing over the hem of Yang Fan's clothes before darting away, as though looking at him any longer might make her lose control. She gently smoothed the loose strands by her temple and turned to leave, though her steps were painfully slow.
"Such a drama queen! Your Blue Silver Emperor body is still right here, and your soul is still attached to the Heart of Eros in my sea of consciousness. Where exactly do you think you're going?"
Yang Fan had had enough of Lan Yin's theatrics. He also regretted telling her that Dream of the Red Chamber when he'd been bored, all to win her over.
Cao Xueqin, you've done me in!
"Don't bring up Xue'er. I've been by your side for all these years. Don't you know what an innocent, virtuous man I am? You're the only one I've ever cared about this much."
Yang Fan wasn't lying. Across both his lives, Lan Yin was the first woman he'd ever cared about so deeply.
Although much of it was because he wanted to activate the Heart of Eros, and he'd certainly had less-than-pure intentions after seeing Lan Yin's soul, too.
Well, men were always drawn to beautiful things.
But was "innocent and virtuous" really the right phrase? It seemed cursed in the Douluo World, much like "unparalleled wisdom."
The innocent and virtuous God King Tang. The wise beyond compare Silver Dragon Fish.
God King Tang was also wise beyond compare. Even after reading all three Douluo novels, Yang Fan couldn't say which of them was wiser. Either way, they were both truly something.
Lan Yin had no idea Yang Fan was irreverently poking fun at the highest "wisdom" in this world. She only cared about his words: that he cared about her.
Her little face immediately turned bright red. Then she darted back into her Blue Silver Grass body and went quiet.
"High attack, low defense? Interesting."
Yang Fan found it amusing to watch Lan Yin disappear.
She looked mature, but inside she was still a little girl.
Now that Lan Yin's wish had been fulfilled, after all the emotional ups and downs, she had finally met the Heart of Eros's standard for true love. Yang Fan could finally begin his first journey to another timeline.
But he wasn't in a hurry. The Heart of Eros was still damaged, and once he left, he'd have to stay there for a full six months.
He planned to use the Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Glue first.
That way, he could raise his body to the limit of what he could currently achieve. He wouldn't even dream of getting a hundred-thousand-year whale glue, and there was no need for it anyway. If he could hunt a hundred-thousand-year whale Soul Beast, his physical strength would already be at least on par with an ordinary Titled Douluo.
Because Yang Fan had bonded with the Heart of Eros, and it had also taken in Lan Yin's soul, it had automatically set the Douluo Continent as its earliest anchor point in the timeline. No matter how much time passed on other timelines, nothing here would change.
Time spent in another timeline would pass there as usual. The next time he entered, the same amount of time would have elapsed.
For example, he planned to spend half a year in the Legend of the Dragon King timeline. When he returned, the Douluo Continent would still be at the moment he'd left, while the Legend of the Dragon King timeline would have advanced by half a year from the point when he'd departed.
Yang Fan quickly discovered a way to exploit a loophole. He could spend twelve hours in another timeline, then return to the Douluo Continent, and repeat the cycle. That way, he wouldn't have to worry about missing opportunities or major events because of the time difference.
Unfortunately, the damaged Heart of Eros wasn't powerful enough to let him do that yet. He'd need to work hard to collect more fragments.
For now, the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well on the Douluo Continent was the best choice. Dugu Bo was much easier to handle than God King Tang or the Silver Dragon King.
Once he returned from the Legend of the Dragon King timeline, he'd crookedly grin, pull out countless soul-guided missiles, and have a nice talk with Poison Douluo about how the fittest claimed a treasured land.
Ahem, of course he was joking. He didn't think he could break into the Federation or the Tang Sect munitions factory within six months and get his hands on that many strategic weapons.
His main goal this time was the Soul Spirit System. Once he had it, he planned to try working with Qian Renxue, expanding the Treasure Appraisal Pavilion and establishing the Spirit Pagoda of this era.
He was still working out the details, and he wasn't sure whether this trip would go as smoothly as he hoped.
There was no Divine Realm in the Legend of the Dragon King timeline, but Tang Hao and Ah Yin still existed there.
He'd asked the Heart of Eros why Ah Yin would still help the wicked in the future after he'd stolen her away and made her his Blue Silver.
The Heart of Eros explained that it was still incomplete and couldn't unify multiple timelines. That kind of authority belonged to a Super Divine Artifact, or even a supreme Super Divine Artifact. Even in its complete form, it would still be a step short of becoming one.
That put Yang Fan at ease. If he got the chance, he'd definitely upgrade it to that level. Otherwise, seeing people close to him become intimate with someone else on another timeline would make his skin crawl.
Even if he knew they were only alternate-world counterparts, it still felt wrong. He was even considering capturing the Peerless Golden Tree and the Dragon King Life Core and feeding them to his own Blue Silver.
One grab, and they'd be refined in an instant.