Golden Lightning Pattern Fruit, No. 3 Training Ground

"Yu Hengqing?"

Zhou Yan felt the name sounded familiar. He suddenly recalled that there was only one major family in the entire capital with the surname Yu—the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon!

And the third young master of that family was named Yu Hengqing!

"You are the third young master of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon!"

But by the time Zhou Yan snapped out of his daze and looked up abruptly to call out to Yu Hengqing, his figure had already vanished from sight.

Zhou Yan could only offer a helpless, bitter smile.

"Moving so fast! No wonder I couldn't catch up to him before. It doesn't matter, though; I'll see him again tomorrow. For now, cultivation is what matters!"

With Yu Hengqing's promise, Zhou Yan's footsteps were no longer as heavy as they had been in the past, and the burden on his shoulders seemed to have lightened.

Returning to the Thunder-Fire Hall, Zhou Yan casually joined a group and continued his cultivation.

He had to work hard to improve his strength. Even if Yu Hengqing had promised to help him in the future, it was still treating the symptoms rather than the root cause; the problems within his family remained unresolved.

Thinking back, Zhou Yan's grandfather had been a marshal of the Heaven Dou Empire, a Spirit Douluo whose strength was deeply trusted by Emperor Xue Ye.

It was precisely because of this trust that the Zhou Family, a force that had migrated from outside the capital, had gradually managed to gain a firm foothold in the city.

But five years ago, everything changed.

His grandfather had suddenly been unable to suppress the accumulated lightning power within his body, suffering a backlash that left him severely injured until he eventually passed away.

Seeing that the Zhou Family's pillar of support was gone, the various factions in the capital began to scheme about redistributing the pie.

After all, the pie in the capital was only so big; the more the Zhou Family held, the less there was for everyone else!

At that time, his father had shouldered the pressure and broken through to become a Spirit Saint, temporarily stabilizing the situation for the Zhou Family.

Only then did those jackals retract their claws and teeth.

Of course, Yu Hengqing did not know about these matters, and Zhou Yan did not want him to know.

Yu Hengqing returned to the sect and found Yu Yuanzhen, who had just finished handling sect affairs.

"Dad, do you know how to process a Century-Old Purple Vein Ginseng? I want to consume it to increase my cultivation speed!"

Yu Hengqing rarely hid anything from Yu Yuanzhen, taking out the Century-Old Purple Vein Ginseng and placing it before him.

Seeing the ginseng Yu Hengqing handed over, Yu Yuanzhen frowned slightly, his expression turning serious.

"A Century-Old Purple Vein Ginseng? How did you get this? And judging by the quality, it's a top-tier one."

Knowing that Yu Yuanzhen would question him, Yu Hengqing told him everything about his encounter with Dugu Yan today.

"Interesting. That old poison master's granddaughter would actually do something like this!"

After understanding the ins and outs, Yu Yuanzhen looked at the box on the table with great interest.

"You should go to the appointment tomorrow. Since you've already accepted the item, it wouldn't be right not to go."

"However, remember: if there is something you don't want to do, you can simply refuse. It's not as if only she, Dugu Yan, has a Title Douluo backing her."

Watching the imposing Yu Yuanzhen, Yu Hengqing sighed inwardly.

Having a dad who protects his own is really great!

"As for the Purple Vein Ginseng, don't use it yet. Your spirit power level is low right now; consuming it will only make your foundation unstable."

Yu Yuanzhen closed the lid of the wooden box, fearing that Yu Hengqing might sacrifice his long-term foundation for a moment of rapid progress.

"It's fine, Dad. The Cangming Lightning from the God's Trial has the effect of tempering spirit power. Even if I eat the whole ginseng, it won't be a problem!"

Yu Hengqing understood Yu Yuanzhen's concerns and immediately explained the hidden function of the Cangming Lightning.

Hearing the words "Cangming Lightning," Yu Yuanzhen was stunned for a moment, then remembered that Yu Hengqing had indeed told him about the two rewards from the God's Trial.

However, at the time, he had been more focused on the "three-level increase in spirit power" and had overlooked the "Cangming Lightning" reward.

"I didn't expect the Cangming Lightning to have such a function. It truly lives up to being a reward from a God's Trial! Since that's the case, I will handle this Purple Vein Ginseng properly. I'll call you once it's ready."

Upon learning of the hidden function of the Cangming Lightning, Yu Yuanzhen took the ginseng from the table and placed it into his own storage spirit tool.

Seeing that his goal was achieved, Yu Hengqing got up to return to his cultivation. Although his cultivation speed was slow, every little bit helped.

Early the next morning.

As soon as Yu Hengqing stepped off the carriage, he saw Zhou Yan, who had been waiting for a long time.

"Zhou Yan, good morning! I didn't expect you to arrive so early!"

Yu Hengqing laughed and punched Zhou Yan on the shoulder. Zhou Yan, still not quite used to Yu Hengqing being his "boss," responded somewhat stiffly.

"G-good morning, Boss!"

Yu Hengqing hooked his arm around Zhou Yan's shoulder and said with a grin, "Zhou Yan, no need to be so formal! 'Boss' doesn't sound right; you should just call me Hengqing!"

"Alright, Boss—no, I mean, Hengqing!"

Zhou Yan stumbled a bit as he changed the address from "Boss" to "Hengqing."

After the greeting, Zhou Yan consciously took a jade box out of his storage spirit tool.

"Hengqing, the Golden Lightning Pattern Fruit is inside this jade box!"

Yu Hengqing didn't even glance at it, taking the jade box directly from Zhou Yan's hand and placing it into his own storage soul tool.

Seeing Yu Hengqing accept the jade box without even looking at it, Zhou Yan asked in confusion, "Aren't you going to check it? What if it isn't the Golden Lightning Pattern Fruit inside?"

Yu Hengqing looked into Zhou Yan's eyes and said, word for word, "I trust you! So there is no need to check."

Hearing this, Zhou Yan, who had been somewhat nervous, completely relaxed; it felt good to be trusted by someone.

"Alright, Zhou Yan, I have to go to class. See you at the Thunder-Fire Hall at noon!"

Yu Hengqing checked his pocket watch and, realizing the Martial Soul Theory Class would start in half an hour, bid Zhou Yan farewell.

"Alright, see you at noon!"

After watching Yu Hengqing leave, Zhou Yan headed toward the classroom for his Soul Beast Taxonomy class.

After finishing lunch, Yu Hengqing and Zhou Yan met at the Thunder-Fire Hall as agreed.

"I can only cultivate until two o'clock today because I have an appointment to meet Dugu Yan at the No. 3 Training Ground at three," Yu Hengqing said to Zhou Yan, who was walking ahead of him.

Zhou Yan paused his steps upon hearing this and softly asked Yu Hengqing, "Do you need me to go with you?"

Having studied at the Heaven Dou Royal Academy for so long, Zhou Yan had naturally heard of Dugu Yan—the granddaughter of a Titled Douluo, a top student in the champion class, and a master of poison.

However, Zhou Yan was puzzled; Yu Hengqing had only just started school, hadn't he? How had he managed to get involved with Dugu Yan?

Yu Hengqing waved his hand, directly refusing Zhou Yan's offer to accompany him.

"It's fine! Dugu Yan just wants me to help her train her practical combat skills. You don't need to worry; just focus on your cultivation at the Thunder-Fire Hall."

Dugu Yan wanted a one-ring soul master like Yu Hengqing to help her, a master of poison, train her practical combat skills?!

Zhou Yan felt a headache coming on; he didn't know if Yu Hengqing was truly ignorant of Dugu Yan's abilities or just incredibly stubborn.

"Alright then!"

Thinking of how Yu Hengqing was his boss, Zhou Yan didn't say much more.

Time spent cultivating in the Thunder-Fire Hall passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, it was time for Yu Hengqing to keep his appointment.

"Zhou Yan, thank you for telling me about Dugu Yan's methods, but you don't need to worry about me. I'll be back before you know it!"

Yu Hengqing said to the worried Zhou Yan with a calm expression.

Seeing that Yu Hengqing was still determined to go, Zhou Yan said nothing more and silently watched him leave.

However, not long after Yu Hengqing left, Zhou Yan did not return to the Thunder-Fire Hall to cultivate; instead, he left the hall and headed in the direction of the infirmary.

The No. 3 Training Ground was some distance from the Thunder-Fire Hall, and by the time Yu Hengqing arrived, Dugu Yan had already been waiting there for quite some time.

"Junior, I thought you weren't going to show up!"

"How could that be? Since I took something from you, Senior, I naturally have to get the job done!"