First Meeting with Di Tian, Bargaining with a Tiger

"Do not worry, I mean you no harm! I came to find you because of your status as the heir to the Thunder God, and Xiong Jun's appearance was an accident."

Bi Ji did not rashly step forward, remaining where she was as she attempted to soothe Yu Hengqing's emotions.

"Let me treat you first! The injuries on your body cannot be delayed any longer; if they are, the effort required for subsequent treatment will only increase."

"Xiao Qing, you can listen to her. There is no malice in her, and your injuries truly cannot be delayed."

With Leiyi's reassurance, Yu Hengqing finally lowered his guard slightly and took a step toward Bi Ji, though he still clutched the pendant in his hand.

Seeing that Yu Hengqing was willing to approach, Bi Ji felt relieved. She stepped forward and channeled her soul power to treat him, a green radiance slowly enveloping his body.

Under Bi Ji's healing, the muscles and meridians that had just been torn by soul power began to regenerate rapidly, healing as if they had never been damaged in the blink of an eye.

If not for the lingering sensation of pain, Yu Hengqing would have thought the tearing and swelling he felt moments ago were merely an illusion.

Within a short while, the pain vanished, replaced by the itchy sensation of healing wounds that made Yu Hengqing instinctively want to scratch.

After about half an hour, Bi Ji finally stopped channeling her soul power.

Once the treatment ended, Yu Hengqing stretched his limbs and suddenly felt light, as if nothing had ever happened.

"I have only suppressed your injuries temporarily, giving you the illusion that you are fully healed."

"In reality, nearly one-fifth of your meridians can no longer circulate soul power. This is only the result because your meridian strength far exceeds that of an ordinary person; if it were anyone else, they would likely never be able to cultivate again!"

Yu Hengqing took Bi Ji's warning to heart, but since he had things he needed to do, he was willing to pay the price; besides, he had ways to remedy the situation later.

"By the way, I haven't asked your name yet."

Having treated Yu Hengqing, Bi Ji prepared to take him back to the Life Lake to meet the Silver Dragon King for further treatment.

Before Yu Hengqing could answer, a blood-covered Yu Hezai suddenly appeared and pulled Yu Hengqing backward.

"Xiao Qing, who is she?"

Yu Hezai's aura was nowhere near as powerful as it had been before, but he still stood guard in front of Yu Hengqing with a look of vigilance.

"Her name is Bi Ji, a soul beast who is quite friendly toward humans!"

Hearing Yu Hengqing suddenly call out her name, Bi Ji, who had been about to explain herself, became guarded for a moment. No one in this era should have known her name!

"The injuries on my body were treated by her."

Although Yu Hezai could not quite understand why a soul beast would heal a soul master, he expressed his gratitude to Bi Ji out of politeness.

"Thank you for treating my boy, but we must be going now, so we won't continue to disturb you!"

With that, Yu Hezai turned his back to Bi Ji, preparing to pull Yu Hengqing away.

He had been fighting that powerhouse for a long time, but suddenly, the powerhouse seemed to sense something, his expression changed, and he fled into the distance. Yu Hezai had seized that opportunity to escape and return for Yu Hengqing.

Because Yu Hezai did not know if that powerhouse would return, he wanted to take Yu Hengqing away from this place of trouble as soon as possible.

Yet, no matter how hard Yu Hezai pulled, Yu Hengqing did not move.

Just as Yu Hezai was about to say something, he turned his head and saw a man appear beside the woman without any warning.

"A pleasure to meet you. Allow me to introduce myself: I am Di Tian, and she is Bi Ji!"

In the blink of an eye, Di Tian teleported from Bi Ji's side to Yu Hezai's, calmly reaching out to stop Yu Hezai's movements.

"Greetings, I am Yu Hengqing, and this is Yu Hezai, my second cousin."

Long before Yu Hezai thanked Bi Ji, Yu Hengqing had learned of Di Tian's arrival from Leiyi. After all, the only soul beast left who was more powerful than Xiong Jun and Bi Ji was Di Tian.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Yu Hengqing, heir to the Thunder God's divine position."

Di Tian responded to Yu Hengqing very politely, then ignored Yu Hezai. With Yu Hezai's strength as a Soul Douluo, he was not even worth Di Tian's notice, let alone his courtesy.

Yu Hezai did not react, continuing to stand in front of Yu Hengqing while quietly watching Di Tian, whose hand rested on his shoulder.

The atmosphere suddenly fell silent.

"Let me treat Yu Hezai as well."

Bi Ji, standing behind Di Tian, suddenly spoke up to break the silence.

Knowing that Yu Hezai's injuries could not be delayed, Yu Hengqing quickly chimed in, "Yes, Second Cousin, go and get treated! Don't worry about me!"

Yu Hengqing let go of Yu Hezai's hand and pushed him forward slightly, which also prompted Di Tian to withdraw his hand from Yu Hezai's shoulder.

After Bi Ji took Yu Hezai away, only Di Tian and Yu Hengqing remained at the scene.

"Yu Hengqing, I wonder if I might invite you to be a guest at the Life Lake?"

Di Tian looked down, meeting Yu Hengqing's eyes, his tone as casual as if he were inviting an old friend.

"Is it the Silver Dragon King inviting me, or are you, Di Tian, inviting me?"

Facing Di Tian's "invitation," Yu Hengqing did not back down, meeting Di Tian's gaze as he asked with a smile.

Upon hearing Yu Hengqing's question, Di Tian suddenly unleashed a trace of killing intent, pressing it directly onto Yu Hengqing.

However, Yu Hengqing acted as if nothing were wrong, not moving a muscle, as if Di Tian had not unleashed any killing intent at all.

"I hope that as the heir to the Thunder God, you will still be this brave next time."

Di Tian withdrew his killing intent and answered Yu Hengqing's question earnestly.

"It was Lord Silver Dragon King who asked me to invite you to Life Lake!"

Yu Hengqing had already guessed as much regarding Di Tian's answer; after all, only the Silver Dragon King could make Di Tian act in such a manner.

"Since it is an invitation from the Master of Soul Beasts, I naturally cannot decline. I must trouble you to lead me and my second cousin to meet with the Silver Dragon King."

"Only you may go. Lord Silver Dragon King is not someone just anyone can see."

Di Tian displayed a hint of "impatience" toward Yu Hengqing, who was pushing his luck.

"Then I must trouble you to wait until I have escorted my second cousin out of Star Dou Forest before I accompany you to Life Lake."

Yu Hengqing certainly knew that Di Tian would never take Yu Hezai to see the Silver Dragon King, and Di Tian knew this as well; reaching a compromise to this extent was already good enough.

"I will wait for you at the perimeter of Star Dou Forest. If you do not return, I will leave the forest and hunt you down."

Di Tian cast a glance at Yu Hezai, who had returned with Bi Ji, and left without looking back. Seeing this, Bi Ji also stepped forward to follow.

"Second cousin, how are your injuries? Did Bi Ji heal you properly?"

Looking at Yu Hezai, whose complexion was much better than when he first appeared, Yu Hengqing hurriedly asked.

Yu Hezai did not answer Yu Hengqing immediately; he glanced at the departing Di Tian and Bi Ji.

"What did you pay to make them willing to let the two of us go?"

Only after the figures of Di Tian and Bi Ji had vanished did Yu Hezai slowly open his mouth to ask.

"I just paid a bit of my freedom. Let me accompany you out of Star Dou Forest first; the less time we spend in this godforsaken place, the better."

Hearing this, Yu Hengqing shrugged indifferently and lifted his feet to walk toward the outside of Star Dou Forest.

To this, the only response Yu Hezai gave Yu Hengqing was silence; being weak, there was nothing he could do.

If he had been just a little stronger, he could have taken Yu Hengqing away from under that person's nose, and these subsequent events would never have occurred.

"Second cousin, this isn't your fault. They were targeting me from the very beginning. As long as I came to Star Dou Forest to obtain a soul ring, I would have encountered them regardless of when I arrived."

"If my strength were only a little greater, at the very least, we could have escaped from the start."