After a long while, their lips parted.
A hint of daze entered the young woman's beautiful eyes.
Seeing this, Lin Yan smiled and said,
"Then how about we don't sleep tonight?"
At his words, Ye Lingling's delicate face turned as red as an apple.
"W-What are you saying?"
After all, she was Ye Rou'er's own daughter, raised and taught by her personally.
Ye Lingling was gentle and conservative in her thinking; she wasn't as uninhibited as Dugu Yan.
Though she was several years older than Lin Yan, she grew incredibly shy whenever he said something so suggestive.
Watching her bashful expression, Lin Yan quietly pulled her a little closer.
Just then, Dugu Yan emerged from the bathroom after washing up. She kicked off her slippers and climbed into bed as she spoke.
"What are you two whispering about?"
Lin Yan chuckled.
"Lingling and I were discussing whether we should stay up all night. Haha."
As soon as he finished, Dugu Yan squeezed herself into Lin Yan's arms too.
She tilted her chin up and scolded him with a laugh.
"You little rascal, are you trying to wear the two of us out? Stay up all night, indeed. You've got some nerve~"
"Hehe~ I just can't bear to leave you and Lingling. It'll be ages before I'm back next time."
At well over six feet tall, Lin Yan was long past being the little boy he'd once been. With one young woman tucked under each arm, he looked perfectly natural.
And Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling seemed to have long since grown used to sharing Lin Yan.
A cool breeze brushed past, and the lights went out.
Whispers drifted through the bedroom, along with a heady, tantalizing air.
"Oh, right! Don't go flirting with other women out there. If you get all worked up, just hold it in. No looking for women, understand?"
"Then before I leave, I'll have to take care of all the pent-up Evil Fire from these past two days."
"Get out of here. When have we ever let you build up any?"
The next day.
As the morning sun rose, Ye Lingling was the first to wake.
She instinctively reached to embrace the person beside her, but found only empty space.
"Hmm? Lin Yan..."
The young woman slowly opened her sleepy eyes and realized that, at some point, only a trace of warmth remained beside her.
"That guy..."
"Has he already left?"
Seeing Dugu Yan still on the bed, breathing in faint snores, a hint of disappointment flickered in Ye Lingling's eyes.
Meanwhile, outside Heaven Dou City.
Lin Yan drew in his Dragon Wings and landed. Then he called softly into the empty air.
"Elder Ci Xue."
As his voice faded,
a shadow appeared before him moments later. It gradually took shape, transforming into an old man.
"Young master!"
Ci Xue bowed slightly to Lin Yan, his manner utterly respectful.
Clearly, Qian Renxue had held Lin Yan in extraordinary regard over these past six years. Even her guardian had to show him the proper respect.
Lin Yan said nothing about it; he was used to this by now.
"Elder Ci Xue, you should know the situation on the Great Enshrined's end."
"This trip may be dangerous, so you don't need to come along. That way, you won't be caught in an awkward position if we run into one of our own."
"But..."
"Don't worry. I'll explain it to Sister Xue'er."
Ci Xue had just begun to object when Lin Yan cut him off. With that, he had no choice but to agree for now and seek Qian Renxue's decision once he returned.
"Very well. Take care on your journey, young master."
With that, Ci Xue stopped arguing and vanished in a flash, turning into a dark shadow.
It wasn't that he truly intended to abandon Lin Yan. He was going back to ask Qian Renxue what she thought.
After all, Qian Renxue was his young mistress.
With Ci Xue gone, silence soon settled over the area, broken only by the wind and the rustle of leaves.
At last, Lin Yan let out a long breath.
He didn't want Ci Xue following him because he feared that Tang Hao, who was guarding Tang San, might discover Ci Xue's identity.
There were only so many Titled Douluo on the continent. If the two of them crossed paths, Tang Hao certainly wouldn't let the matter go easily.
The best-case scenario would be Ci Xue escaping Tang Hao and returning to Spirit Hall for help.
As for the worst-case scenario...
Lin Yan guessed that if Tang Hao figured out which side Ci Xue was on, it could, to some extent, affect Qian Renxue's Infiltration Plan.
So no matter what, he couldn't let Ci Xue continue following him.
And as for Tang Hao, that cancer!
The next time he returned to Heaven Dou City, Lin Yan planned to come clean to Qian Renxue and tell her he'd found traces of Tang Hao in secret.
Then Qian Renxue could bring people from Spirit Hall to encircle and attack Tang Hao. Lin Yan would lie low for a while, then show himself again after Tang Hao was captured. Wouldn't that resolve the crisis perfectly?
With Tang Hao no longer a threat, Tang San and Xiao Wu would be at his mercy.
At the thought, Lin Yan looked into the distance, a glimmer of curiosity and anticipation for the future appearing in his eyes.
"Tang San!"
"We're finally going to meet."
"Don't disappoint me too much!"
If he remembered correctly, the leading man favored by both the Asura God and the Sea God was only level 29 right now.
With strength like that, could he really still surpass Lin Yan in the future?
Several days later.
Shrek Academy.
To avoid exposing his External Soul Bone in front of Tang Hao and bringing a death sentence upon himself,
Lin Yan put away his Dragon Wings several kilometers from Shrek Academy and continued on foot.
Finally, after walking for a while longer, he reached Shrek's gates.
"Phew~"
"I finally made it!"
Lin Yan wiped his brow, though there wasn't a bead of sweat on it, and peered inside the academy.
"Huh? Where is everyone?"
Over the years, Lin Yan had returned to Shrek every so often to visit Wen Ruan. After all those trips, he knew the academy very well.
Seeing no one inside, he walked in on his own.
Following his memory, he first went to the girls' dormitory where Wen Ruan stayed. Finding no one there, he headed to the training ground.
"So that's where she is!"
Watching the ice-blue figure fighting several people on the training ground, Lin Yan's lips curved into a sweet smile.
"What a coincidence. I arrived just in time for the new students' assessment."
He didn't choose to greet her right away. That would disrupt the assessment and throw off Wen Ruan's attack rhythm.
That's right!
Unlike the original story, where Zhao Wuji personally came down to conduct the assessment, the one fighting Tang San and the others now was none other than Wen Ruan, a level 52 Power Attack System Soul King.
Wen Ruan had her Ice Dragon Butterfly Martial Soul Possession active. Two crystalline Dragon Wings beat in the air as she deftly wove through the group's attacks.
Although Tang San and the others were boosted by the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, they still looked utterly miserable facing Wen Ruan.
"I never thought this upperclasswoman would become so powerful."
A seventeen-year-old Soul King was a rare talent across the entire Douluo Continent. Even the Golden Generation of Spirit Hall couldn't match Wen Ruan's strength.
Watching the genius he had personally "nurtured" display such power made Lin Yan's smile grow wider.
The battle on the training ground was drawing to a close. Tang San and the others were nearly out of Soul Power and on the verge of defeat.
But just then, the Second Soul Ring at Xiao Wu's feet suddenly lit up.
[Second Soul Skill: Charm!]
Xiao Wu didn't know her place and launched a mental attack at a Soul King. As expected, the backlash immediately knocked her unconscious.
"No! Xiao Wu!"
Tang San immediately dashed to Xiao Wu's side.
Seeing Xiao Wu pass out for some unknown reason, Tang San's eyes turned bloodshot. He panted like a bull, then roared furiously.
"You dared to hurt Xiao Wu. You've already chosen your death!"
The next second, he pulled all kinds of Hidden Weapons from the storage belt at his waist.
"Not good!"