"...Master."
Faced with Jiang Ce's temptation, Medusa gritted her teeth and forced two words out through clenched teeth.
Jiang Ce contentedly withdrew his tendrils and released the Symbiote's permission to suppress Medusa.
Then he healed her, too.
The injuries Liu Erlong and Ye Yingling had inflicted earlier healed at a visible speed. Her scales returned to their places, and her bruises faded.
At the same time,
An even more powerful surge of enhancement flooded her. Her strength, speed, defense, Mental Power, and every other attribute were all multiplied fivefold!
Medusa's eyes flew open.
"How is this possible—what exactly are you?"
"Just a little something."
"From now on, guard this garden well."
Medusa felt the unprecedented fullness of power within her and fell silent for a moment. Then she lowered her head, her serpent tail slowly coiling up. The situation was stronger than she was; she had no way to resist.
Another huge jumble of information flooded her mind, cramming it full like a puff pastry.
She stared blankly at the Black Latex Suit covering her body. She could actually use so many abilities.
Then she raised both hands. A fireball gathered in her left hand, an ice spike formed in her right, and a verdant healing glow even shone from her body.
She was practically an all-purpose Soul Beast now. The Venom Symbiote state was terrifying.
"Thank you, Master."
Jiang Ce nodded.
"Go pick and eat a few Immortal Herbs to strengthen yourself. A Gardener can't afford to be too weak. I don't want anyone invading my territory."
A treasure land like the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well definitely needed someone to guard it properly.
To prevent anyone from invading.
He then passed the relevant information to Medusa and let her pick the herbs herself.
The best choices for Medusa were naturally herbs that would strengthen her Mental Power and poison, fortify her body, and add some Dragon Blood energy.
There were plenty of Immortal Herbs here anyway. Even if there weren't enough of the immortal-grade varieties, there were still plenty of spirit medicines touched by Dragon Blood.
Medusa swallowed a Nine-Grade Purple Mushroom to strengthen her foundation and heal her hidden injuries.
The Earth Dragon Golden Melon absorbed Dragon energy, pushing her serpent bloodline to evolve toward Dragonhood.
The Green Phosphorus Seven-Absolute Flower greatly enhanced her poison attribute, doubling its potency.
The Ice Heart Snow Lotus steadied her mind and increased her Mental Power.
She also took a Green Phosphorus Snake Saliva Fruit, Dragon Breath Moss, and Dragon Blood Vine to aid absorption.
The aura around her surged higher and higher. Starting at thirty thousand years, she broke through one bottleneck after another, quickly reaching fifty thousand years.
After all, unlike humans, Medusa wasn't restricted by Soul Rings. She was a pure Soul Beast, so all the medicinal power converted directly into cultivation.
The Medusa she had been before had now become Queen Medusa.
Feeling the changes in herself, Queen Medusa was overjoyed and hurriedly bowed to Jiang Ce.
"Thank you for your grace, Master!"
Although she was now a fifty-thousand-year Soul Beast, with all the enhancements she had gained, she ought to be able to match a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast.
She had a whole heap of attribute-boosting skills, on top of the fivefold increase from the Venom Symbiote state. She was terrifying beyond belief!
And she had a whole heap of defensive skills, too.
She even suspected that a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast might not be able to penetrate her defenses.
It was simply too terrifying!
This time, she had truly turned a disaster into a blessing.
Jiang Ce nodded.
"You're all done. Now it's my turn."
The three women looked confused, but then the black, form-fitting suits covering their bodies began to writhe, wrapping them up completely and drawing them together against their will.
Jiang Ce walked over as well, transforming directly into his Venom form. The four bodies merged together,
and he copied all of Liu Erlong, Ye Yingling, and Queen Medusa's abilities.
Then,
He transformed back again, becoming the Black Latex Suits on the three women, while one part of his body took human form.
A Golden Holy Flame Dragon dozens of meters long roared out of him, surrounded by blazing golden holy flames and radiating astonishing power.
A phantom Nine-Heart Begonia flower bloomed above his head, releasing terrifying restorative power.
Then a Martial Soul resembling Queen Medusa's appeared. Golden light shone from its eyes, and it exuded a powerful Mental Power pressure.
The three women were just as astonished by Jiang Ce in this state.
They knew Jiang Ce could gain the power of Soul Beasts after devouring them, and that he could acquire a host's abilities by copying them, but they hadn't expected him to take their Martial Souls, too.
Queen Medusa was especially bewildered. He hadn't devoured her, so how had he gotten something resembling her Martial Soul?
"Not bad, not bad." Jiang Ce tested his abilities and was quite satisfied. Then he pulled Liu Erlong over. "Let's try a Martial Soul Fusion Skill."
"A Fusion Skill?" Liu Erlong looked puzzled. "I've never heard of such a thing. Is it a Soul Skill?"
Jiang Ce looked at the three women before him: one with her hands on her hips, one hugging her knees, and one with her serpent tail coiled beneath her. All three pairs of eyes were fixed on him.
"To put it simply, it's two skills working together. One kind is a Soul Skill combination—say, you use fire and I whip up wind. The wind fans the flames, making them burn hotter. In essence, we're still fighting separately; our attacks just work better when they collide."
"Martial Soul Fusion Skills are different. The Martial Souls of two Soul Masters have to be highly compatible, and their hearts have to be in sync. Their Martial Souls then merge directly into something entirely new. It's not one plus one equals two. It's one plus one equals three, or even ten."
Liu Erlong thought for a moment. "Then what are the conditions?"
"The Martial Souls must be highly compatible, and the Soul Masters' hearts must be in sync. Both are essential."
Ye Yingling asked softly, "Then can Teacher and Senior Sister... fuse?"
"Yes," Jiang Ce said. "I've already replicated her Golden Holy Flame Dragon, so my Martial Soul is now identical to hers."
"The Symbiotic Link is the highest form of being in sync. We don't need to prepare anything. When we want to fuse, one second is enough."
Medusa coiled her tail without a word, but her eyes narrowed slightly.
"What happens after we fuse?" Liu Erlong asked.
"Two identical, top-tier Martial Souls merge into one, tracing their bloodlines back to their source and touching the origin of the Dragon Clan. We'll have to test it in battle to find out what form it takes."
Liu Erlong looked down at the dark golden flames roiling in her palm, the corner of her mouth lifting slightly.
"Then let's try it."
She immediately summoned her Golden Holy Flame Dragon Martial Soul as well.
In the sky,
Two enormous Golden Holy Flame Dragons roared at the same time, turning into two golden streaks of light that slammed into each other.
Light exploded. The two Dragons merged into one, their body swelling to hundreds of meters long.
As they fused, the Dragon's body compressed further, becoming denser. The platinum flame at its core transformed completely into transparent, colorless holy flames.
Its scales turned platinum, each one shimmering with a sacred radiance.
The fully fused Dragon King let out a roar that shook the valley. Its overwhelming pressure crushed in every direction, and dark clouds blanketed the sky.
Holy Flame Dragon King.
Then,
A domain suddenly expanded with the Dragon King at its center.
The instant the domain unfolded, all attributes of every hostile target in range were forcibly reduced by fifty percent, while all attributes of every ally increased by fifty percent.
Teleportation, invisibility, and invincibility were forbidden within the domain. All spatial, concealment, and immunity skills were rendered ineffective.
The holy flames automatically locked onto every hostile target, continuously burning their Soul Power and life force. They could not be cleansed or dispelled; the only way to endure them was to withstand them with one's own Soul Power.
All enemies' Soul Skill costs doubled, while their Soul Skill damage was halved.
Dragon Martial Souls with bloodlines inferior to the Dragon King's were stripped of their will to fight and could not attack the Dragon King or its allies.
Liu Erlong felt as if her power had become so great it couldn't be real.
"So this is our Fusion Skill?"
She even wondered if she was dreaming. The enhancement and domain were far too powerful.
With a smack,
A huge hand slapped down hard on her round, pert backside.
Liu Erlong rolled her eyes and shuddered. She felt the two Phantom Dragons inside her start misbehaving again.
She nearly lost her balance.
"What are you doing?!"
After a good while, she glared fiercely at Jiang Ce. What was the bastard thinking, suddenly smacking her?
"Weren't you wondering if you were dreaming? Of course I had to make sure you could feel whether it was real."
"You horrible man."
Liu Erlong glared at him. The bastard loved teasing her.
But as she watched the Holy Flame Dragon King roaring in the sky, the corner of her mouth still curled upward. Right now, she felt overwhelmingly powerful.
"Congratulations, Senior Sister and Teacher, on fusing your Martial Souls and greatly increasing your strength," Ye Yingling said, offering her congratulations with envy.
Jiang Ce and Liu Erlong dispelled their Fusion Skill, and he turned to Ye Yingling.
"You and I can fuse our Martial Souls, too."
"Can we really?"
"Didn't your Senior Sister and I just fuse? And with our Symbiotic state, not only can identical Martial Souls fuse into a Fusion Skill, but different Martial Souls can, too."
"Different Martial Souls?" All three women exclaimed at once.
"Of course. We're all Venom Symbiotes. We're one and the same.
"Your different Martial Souls can fuse together, and since you all belong to me,
"you're connected to one another, too. You can even form Fusion Skills with each other.
"In fact, we can fuse together—all four of us."
The three women were stunned by Jiang Ce's words.
"But that's enough for now.
"Even a Fusion Skill formed from Martial Souls of the same origin is more than enough to let you run amok across the Douluo Continent.
"We'll have plenty of time to test out the other combinations later."
"Let's rest for today."
As he spoke, he flung something out of his Storage Soul Tool.
A huge bed capable of holding all four of them crashed to the ground, its legs planted firmly on the flat rocks beside the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
The three women exchanged glances. Ye Yingling blushed first, while Liu Erlong rolled her eyes—but she was the first to walk toward the bed, deliberately sticking her rear out.
After all, that bastard Jiang Ce loved thick-milk tea!
Before you continue