Bi Ji Arrives, The Dao Protector

"Mm!"

Yu Hengqing took advantage of the brief lull to pull a healing pill from his storage and pop it into his mouth, allowing the medicinal power to treat his injuries in time.

Once that was done, Yu Hengqing cast the Lightning Attraction Technique again, and lightning surged rapidly within the thunderclouds.

The third bolt of lightning crashed down violently.

"Wait, something's wrong. Leiyi, why is the power of this lightning still increasing? Normally, the intensity should be about the same as the second bolt, but this one is clearly ten percent stronger!"

Sensing the anomaly, Yu Hengqing immediately stopped the technique, but not before his Thunder Armor was torn open, leaving a hole the size of a bowl.

Standing under the tent, Dugu Bo and Yu Hezai also sensed that something was amiss.

"Senior, you've noticed it too, haven't you? The energy in the thunderclouds above is still accumulating; this defies all common sense."

Yu Hezai looked up at the thunderclouds with a grave expression. Even though Thunder Valley experienced lightning far more frequently than anywhere else, it never resulted in a situation where the thunderclouds continuously intensified.

"I, too, feel that these clouds are abnormal. It would be best to have Xiao Qing return for now!"

Even with all the strange things Dugu Bo had witnessed in his life, he had never seen anything that so blatantly defied the laws of nature.

Before Dugu Bo could take action, the fourth bolt of lightning struck down toward Yu Hengqing.

Just as everyone had feared, the power of the fourth bolt was clearly greater than the third.

"Leiyi, could this be because I'm using the Lightning Attraction Technique?"

Yu Hengqing dispelled his badly damaged Thunder Armor. He had drawn the fourth bolt specifically to confirm if the intensity was indeed rising, and the result had met his expectations.

Although Leiyi had been focusing most of his attention on Yu Hengqing and his armor, he had also been sensing the state of the thunderclouds.

"It is not the Lightning Attraction Technique. The essence of the technique is to use the high-concentration lightning power within your own body to draw the power from the clouds; it does not affect the strength of the lightning itself."

"Unless, something is strengthening the clouds above us!"

Yu Hengqing instantly understood what Leiyi meant. This Thunder Valley was truly not as simple as he had imagined.

"If that's the case, then today's Thunder Body Tempering ends here! If it's like this next time, we'll just retreat and find another place to practice."

Having witnessed the power of Yu Yuanzhen, Yu Hengqing knew very well that an ordinary Title Douluo did not possess the strength to arbitrarily increase the intensity of thunderclouds.

Therefore, rather than risking the ire of some powerful entity, it was better to move to a new location.

If his God Trial progress slowed down, so be it. As long as he kept his life, everything else could be managed; the God Trial wasn't going anywhere.

With that decided, Yu Hengqing walked toward Dugu Bo and the others.

However, before he had taken many steps, a familiar aura appeared within Leiyi's sensory range.

"Xiao Qing, that soul beast Bi Ji is heading our way. Be careful."

"What is she doing here? According to the information we gathered earlier, shouldn't she be busy healing the fierce beasts or other soul beasts? This is suspicious!"

Puzzled, Yu Hengqing stopped in his tracks, activated the soul guidance device Dugu Bo had given him, and turned to look toward the distant cliff edge with a wary gaze.

At that moment, Bi Ji, who had just arrived at the cliff, was preparing to locate Yu Hengqing when she saw him staring directly at her.

She noticed me from this far away? Her sensory perception is stronger than most Title Douluos.

Facing Yu Hengqing's hostile gaze, Bi Ji stood calmly on the cliff, meeting his eyes from the valley floor.

In the blink of an eye, Bi Ji's figure vanished from the cliff. Yu Hengqing instantly completed his martial soul possession, relying on Leiyi's perception to lock onto her position with precision.

When the distance between them closed to the point where they could speak, Bi Ji stopped and called out to Yu Hengqing in a serious tone:

"Yu Hengqing, after some deliberation, I have decided to act as your guardian until Senior Thunder Dragon becomes your Wisdom Spirit Ring, to ensure you do not perish in an accident."

"Of course, since this matter was not agreed upon by you, we have collectively decided to compensate you with this Purple Lightning Marrow Crystal."

Bi Ji produced a fist-sized crystal and tossed it to Yu Hengqing, who caught it firmly and inspected it.

The crystal was entirely purple, with glowing purple veins running through its center, as if someone had sealed a bolt of purple lightning within the stone itself.

"In that case, I won't stand on ceremony and will accept this Purple Lightning Marrow Crystal!"

As he spoke, the crystal in Yu Hengqing's hand vanished into his storage.

Yu Hengqing knew full well that Bi Ji was lying. Given the attitude of the fierce beasts toward humans and their own immense power, they would never care about the thoughts of a "weakling" like him.

It was just like how humans treated ants at their feet; if they were in a good mood, they might toss a crumb, but if they were in a bad mood, they wouldn't care if the ant starved to death.

The Purple Lightning Marrow Crystal he had just accepted was, in all likelihood, something Bi Ji had taken from her own private collection.

But one does not strike a smiling face. Since Bi Ji had offered a gift, Yu Hengqing could not simply leave her standing there.

"Senior Bi Ji, please come up. The tea is already brewed and waiting for you!"

Yu Hengqing stepped aside and gestured for her to follow.

"Very well. Come to think of it, it has been a long time since I last tasted human tea!"

Watching the polite Yu Hengqing, Bi Ji knew that her gift had been effective.

She had defied the opinions of the others to come here personally, hoping to explore a new relationship between soul masters and soul beasts through Yu Hengqing.

If things were ruined by the hot-tempered ones like Xiong Jun, Bi Ji felt it would be a loss that outweighed the gains; if the relationship between humans and soul beasts did not improve, it would only lead to the extinction of one of the two races.

Seeing Yu Hengqing and Bi Ji chatting pleasantly, Dugu Bo and Yu Hezai, who had been hiding in the shadows, returned to the tent.

The two of them sat quietly by the table as if nothing had happened, save for the extra teacup filled with tea that had appeared on the surface.

In Yu Hengqing's view, Bi Ji coming to monitor him was actually a good thing; no matter how effective medical treatment was, it could not compare to Bi Ji's soul power.

After all, the former required waiting for the medicine to take effect, while the latter provided direct healing through soul power.

Bi Ji lifted the curtain and entered the tent, where she saw Yu Hezai and Dugu Bo sipping tea.

"Senior Bi Ji, you've arrived! Please, have a seat!"

Considering that Bi Ji and Dugu Bo did not know each other, Yu Hezai took it upon himself to bridge the gap.

"Senior Bi Ji, this is Senior Dugu Bo, a ninety-second-level Title Douluo with the title of Poison!"

"Senior Dugu Bo, this is Senior Bi Ji, she is..."

Yu Hezai glanced at Bi Ji with some hesitation; he knew she was a soul beast with a cultivation of over one hundred thousand years, but that did not seem appropriate to mention.

Seeing Yu Hezai's troubled expression, Bi Ji set down her teacup and took the initiative to speak to Dugu Bo: "A ninety-eighth-level healing-type Title Douluo."

Upon learning that Bi Ji was a ninety-eighth-level healing-type Title Douluo, Dugu Bo's hand, which was holding his tea, paused involuntarily, and his palms began to sweat slightly.

Setting aside the fact that Bi Ji's strength far exceeded his own by six levels, reaching a terrifying ninety-eighth level, the mere title of a healing-type Title Douluo was enough to make Dugu Bo gasp.

The only healing-type Title Douluo Dugu Bo had ever met was the head of the Nine Heart Begonia family.

Even with a soul power level of only ninety-three, that individual's healing abilities could make their teammates nearly immortal.

To what terrifying extent, then, must the healing abilities of the Bi Ji before him reach?

Furthermore, Dugu Bo had never heard of the name or deeds of "Bi Ji."

An answer was ready to emerge: the person before him must hail from a powerful, reclusive family.

At the same time, the fact that they dared to send out such a rare healing-type soul master proved that they possessed absolute confidence, believing that no one would dare to harm Bi Ji.