Ye Family Fortress.
Ye Lingling reclined against the soft couch, a trace of confusion in her clear, limpid eyes as she kept glancing at the tall figure standing not far away with his hands clasped behind his back.
On the Sky Screen, the words "Yin-Yang Reincarnation Technique" appeared again and again, stirring her curiosity.
"Husband," Ye Lingling said softly. "Have you ever heard of the Yin-Yang Reincarnation Technique?"
Cao Xiyu turned around, a gentle smile appearing on his exceptionally handsome face. "Why are you asking about that all of a sudden?"
"I remember..." Ye Lingling lowered her eyes slightly, a faint blush rising to her cheeks. "I remember you mentioning it once while we were in bed. I just... never asked you about it at the time."
"You must have remembered wrong, darling. You were all hazy and muddleheaded then!"
Ye Lingling nodded lightly. In that hazy, post-coital state, it was entirely possible she had misheard him.
Her doubts hadn't quite faded, but then she thought of how she and her husband had been together day and night for ten years. He had never left Ye Family Fortress, and every day they had lived in perfect harmony, like a pair of immortals.
How could the "Brother Cao" whom countless people on the Sky Screen were speculating about, the one those two genius women couldn't stop thinking of, possibly be him?
Ye Lingling looked back at the Sky Screen, watching the two breathtaking figures.
Doudou had bright eyes and pearly teeth; Zhu Zhuyun had a stunning figure. The light in their eyes, that complex expression woven from resolve and tenderness, felt strangely familiar to her.
That light... how much it resembled the light in her own eyes whenever she looked at her husband.
Ye Lingling shook her head gently, casting the absurd guess from her mind.
Cao Xiyu came to her side and gently put an arm around her shoulders, but his gaze turned toward the golden Sky Screen outside the window. Deep in his eyes lay a feeling of wistfulness and relief that others could hardly detect.
Those two girls...
In her previous life, Doudou had been tormented to death by a scoundrel and the nobility. In this life, with his guidance, she had finally broken her shackles and been reborn in the flames.
Zhu Zhuyun had been a pawn of the Zhu Family, destined to spend her life imprisoned. Now, too, she had escaped her cage and raced toward freedom.
And there were many more like them, some born into hardship, some nursing regrets, some locked away in cages.
Because he had stepped into their lives, their fates had changed beyond recognition.
Thanks to his tireless efforts, working day and night, the girls now wielded enough power to control their own destinies.
The golden light of the Sky Screen remained brilliant, while a fresh wave of discussion rose without end.
"Heaven Dou and Star Luo have each had one. Which faction will the next one come from?"
"Could it be the Yin-Yang Reincarnation Technique again? That would be terrifying!"
"I'm more curious about how many people have actually cultivated this Yin-Yang Reincarnation Technique."
"Two young women are already astonishing. If there's another one..."
Before the crowd had finished talking, golden light began to swirl across the Sky Screen once more!
A brand-new pillar of golden light came crashing down!
Within the pillar, a slender figure slowly emerged.
She was a gothic girl dressed in exotic finery, with short blue-gray hair and dark blue smoky eye makeup.
[Talent Ranking, Thirteenth Place: Meng Yiran.] [Identity: Granddaughter of the Dragon Duke and Snake Granny of the Peerless Dragon-Snake Family.] [Strength: Rank 89 Soul Douluo.] [Technique: Yin-Yang Reincarnation Technique.] [Reward: One ten-thousand-year External Soul Bone.]
Buzz!
The entire continent erupted once more!
"Just as expected, it's the Yin-Yang Reincarnation Technique again!"
"Another young, beautiful woman!"
"The granddaughter of the Peerless Dragon-Snake Family! That's a major family! She actually cultivated this technique too!"
"This technique can't be anything decent! It specifically targets young, beautiful women!"
"Shut your mouth! What do you know? She cultivated all the way to Rank 89 Soul Douluo. What rank did you reach?"
"I don't care. I still think there's something wrong with this technique..."
There was now a third cultivator of the Yin-Yang Reincarnation Technique!
Heaven Dou, Star Luo, and a prominent family: three entirely different backgrounds, three young, beautiful women, the same technique, and all three at Rank 89 Soul Douluo!
Just what kind of vast force lay hidden behind this? And who, exactly, was the legendary "Brother Cao"?
Exotic Beast Academy.
The academy, renowned for cultivating Beast Martial Soul Masters, had fallen into utter chaos and shock!
The pillar of golden light that had descended from the sky had landed squarely on Meng Yiran!
"M-Meng Yiran, senior?" one student stammered, his eyes nearly bulging out of his head.
"Rank 89 Soul Douluo? You've got to be kidding! Wasn't she only at level thirty-something?"
"I sparred with her just yesterday. I thought I'd improved... Turns out she was just playing with me?!"
"The granddaughter of the Peerless Dragon-Snake Family... She hid it way too well!"
Countless students crowded around the training grounds, staring at the figure bathed in golden light, their faces filled with disbelief and envy.
Meng Yiran herself, however, seemed extraordinarily calm.
As she felt the immense energy surging into her body and sensed the call of the ten-thousand-year External Soul Bone, what surfaced in her mind were the countless nights she had cultivated with Brother Cao in the Dream Space.
It was Brother Cao who had taken her from an ordinary Soul Master with decent aptitude and helped her break through bottleneck after bottleneck, all the way to Rank 89 Soul Douluo.
It was Brother Cao who had helped her see the limits of the Peerless Dragon-Snake Family. The Dragon Duke and Snake Granny loved her dearly, but their horizons were limited. They couldn't take her to even greater heights.
"Brother Cao... where are you?" she murmured.
But just as she was lost in tender thoughts—
"BOOM!!!"
A terrifying pressure descended without warning, enveloping all of Exotic Beast Academy!
The students looked up in terror and saw a domineering figure abruptly appear above the training grounds!
He was an old man with graying hair and beard, his face twisted by savagery. Nine profound Soul Rings encircled him, and he released the terrifying aura of a Titled Douluo without restraint, leaving everyone present gasping for breath!
Tang Lie, Third Elder of the Clear Sky Sect.
"Hmph!" The Third Elder snorted. His sharp gaze stabbed toward Meng Yiran, still enveloped in golden light. "Little girl, hand over the External Soul Bone and the manual for the Yin-Yang Reincarnation Technique. Do that, and I'll spare your life!"
His words sent a wave of uproar through the crowd!
"Someone from the Clear Sky Sect?"
"A Titled Douluo! It's a Titled Douluo!"
"He's trying to steal Senior Meng's reward and technique!"
The students were terrified, but not one of them dared to step forward.
Before a Titled Douluo, they weren't even ants!
Meng Yiran's expression darkened too. She stared coldly at the figure in the air, not the least bit afraid.
"The Clear Sky Sect? One of the Upper Three Sects, and yet you stoop to stealing a junior's opportunity? Aren't you afraid of becoming the laughingstock of the world?"
The Third Elder's face stiffened, then contorted with shame and anger. "You little brat, what a sharp tongue! I answer to no one for my actions! Since you won't hand it over, I'll take it myself!"
Before his words had even faded, he thrust a hand out. A gigantic Soul Power palm descended from the sky, reaching to seize Meng Yiran!
Meng Yiran's pupils contracted. She was about to fight to the death—
But at that critical moment!
"SMACK!!!"
A crisp, yet utterly terrifying slap rang out!