It's Not Bad People Racking Their Brains You Have to Fear, but...

Lin Ze'an suddenly pulled back his finger, and the light of life receded like the tide.

His gaze moved back and forth between Dugu Bo and Dugu Yan.

After a moment of silence, he asked hesitantly, "Senior Dugu, do you often let Dugu Yan come into contact with the Aromatic Silk Beauty?"

At that, Dugu Yan looked confused as she untied the sachet from her waist. A flower glowing with purple light appeared inside. "It's right here."

"Grandpa said you told him it could neutralize toxins. And carrying it around has even raised my Soul Power Level."

Lin Ze'an studied it closely and asked in confusion, "Why is one of its leaves missing?"

"Wait..."

He seemed to realize something. Could Dugu Yan have thought it worked and simply absorbed one of its leaves?

Dugu Bo froze at those words, then whipped around to look at Dugu Yan. "Yan Yan! You didn't absorb that leaf, did you?!"

At the sight of the girl's expression, he sighed. "It's this old man's fault. I forgot to tell you that you mustn't absorb it."

Then he hurriedly turned to Lin Ze'an, his eyes filled with worry and regret.

Lin Ze'an waved a hand to reassure him. "Don't worry, don't worry. It's nothing serious."

He shook his head helplessly. "I already said not to eat it. The Aromatic Silk Beauty detoxifies whoever eats it."

It might have been fine for someone else, but Dugu Bo and Dugu Yan had poison-based Martial Souls. Eating it would be asking for death.

Fortunately, she had only absorbed one leaf. The toxins it had neutralized were replaced by newly condensed toxins.

Lin Ze'an raised his hand, and emerald-green life force flowed slowly into Dugu Yan's body.

At the same time, the entire palace filled with a rich aura of life, and Mo Ruier appeared behind him as usual.

Ling Yuan and Ghost Leopard stood at the doorway and couldn't help exclaiming, "The elder's Martial Soul is so beautiful, and her Soul Skill is beautiful too. It's so warm."

After resolving Dugu Yan's problem and seeing the two off, Lin Ze'an flopped onto the sofa and sighed helplessly.

It really wasn't bad people racking their brains you had to fear—it was certain people having a sudden brainwave.

Dugu Yan must have figured that since the Aromatic Silk Beauty could neutralize toxins, eating it would work even better. Maybe it could kill two birds with one stone and bring her body and its toxins into balance.

Forget it. No point thinking about it.

He lifted the pendant around his neck and examined it closely.

Ever since he'd fed the energy he'd extracted to Little Sprout that day, it hadn't stirred in several days. Had it still not finished absorbing it?

But once it had absorbed all that energy, Little Sprout should be able to evolve, right?

With that thought, Lin Ze'an got up and headed upstairs.

He'd better hurry up and cultivate. Little Sprout was already a bean sprout—he couldn't be even more useless than it was.

The next morning, at the training grounds.

Xie Yue and Yan were struggling miserably against the leaves and vines swirling through the air.

The emerald vines seemed alive, lashing toward the two of them from every direction, while leaves kept attacking them from above.

"Ah!" Xie Yue nearly tripped over a vine that suddenly lashed at him, stumbling backward several steps.

Yan was in no better shape. Several thick vines suddenly burst from the ground beneath him and clamped around his ankles. No matter how hard he struggled, they wouldn't budge.

He grimaced. "Junior, you're making this way too brutal."

The vines were plants, but his flames couldn't even set them alight. Breaking free by force would consume far too much Soul Power.

Just then, Hu Liena leaned against a stone pillar at the edge of the training grounds and chuckled. "Keep it up, brothers!"

They had originally planned to have three of them train against their junior, but her Soul Skill had no effect on Lin Ze'an, so all she could do was watch.

Without Hu Liena's help, the strongest of the three, Demon Charm, couldn't be used, leaving them at a huge disadvantage against Lin Ze'an.

Though even if she joined in, it wouldn't help. They had no chance of completing the fusion in front of Lin Ze'an.

"Roar—!"

Her words got under Yan's skin, and flames suddenly surged all over his body!

Blazing light shot skyward, blasting apart the vines wrapped around him.

But before he could make another move, several more vines shot up from underground and coiled around his waist and stomach.

In the blink of an eye, they had bound him tight as a giant dumpling.

"Ugh—!" The sudden restraint squeezed a groan out of Yan. His flames flared violently, but they couldn't even burn through the vines' outer layer.

Standing across from him, Lin Ze'an called out helplessly, "Senior, you have to keep an eye on your surroundings during a fight!"

Just then, a gleaming Moon Blade came whistling toward him from behind.

Seeing it, Xie Yue's lips curled into a faint smile, as if victory were already his.

But Lin Ze'an seemed to have eyes in the back of his head. Without even turning around, he casually raised a hand.

A massive vine shot up from the ground and lashed out at his command.

"Smack!"

The vine struck the Moon Blade with pinpoint accuracy. The metallic clang rang out, and the blade went flying.

Then more vines wrapped around Xie Yue. In the blink of an eye, they cocooned him, leaving only his head exposed.

That brought the sparring match to an end.

"Thank you for the match, seniors." Lin Ze'an smiled and bowed. With a wave of his hand, all the vines released Xie Yue and Yan and slowly sank back underground.

Yan grimaced. "Junior, I'm starting to feel like sparring with you is pointless."

He glanced at the red marks the vines had left on his body, then at Xie Yue, who had suffered the same treatment.

Xie Yue nodded, his expression somber. "We're several Soul Power levels behind you, but you didn't even use a Soul Skill to beat us senseless..."

Though neither of them wanted to admit it, the truth was that they weren't even on the same level in terms of combat strength.

Seeing them like that, Lin Ze'an smiled faintly as an emerald-green glow welled from his palm.

Under the nourishment of his life force, the wounds on Yan and Xie Yue healed quickly, and even the red marks left by the vines gradually faded.

"Isn't this helping you build up combat experience, too?"

Lin Ze'an lowered his hand and said casually, "Sparring with me is so safe. You still feel the pressure, and once the fight's over, I can heal you."

At that, Yan and Xie Yue's mouths twitched at the same time.

They exchanged a glance, each seeing the same helplessness in the other's eyes.

Just then, a familiar voice came from nearby. "Were you sparring just now? How did it go?"

Yue Guan spoke with a beaming smile, sweeping his gaze over them.

Lin Ze'an turned and bowed respectfully. "Master."

Hu Liena and the others quickly bowed as well. "Lord Chrysanthemum Douluo."

At that, Yan and Xie Yue were too embarrassed to speak. They lowered their heads, looking as though they couldn't bring themselves to say it.

Seeing them like that, Hu Liena shrugged helplessly and admitted, "Lord Chrysanthemum Douluo, the result was that our junior fought both of them at once without using a Soul Skill and crushed them outright."