Dragon Blood Grass and Sacred Radiance Leaf (Part 2)

At this moment, Wang Zhao looked at Golden Scale, who was happily chewing on Dragon Blood Grass, and shook his head with mixed feelings.

This little guy was really treating Dragon Blood Grass like candy.

Good thing he had a capable little teacher like Sister Dong'er. Otherwise, forget raising a dragon—he could sell the pot and iron in his house and still never cultivate Golden Scale into a respectable Martial Soul.

No matter what world one was in, scholarly pursuits were poor while martial pursuits were rich.

And here, they had to drag out the corpse of a certain young clan master of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan for another beating...

Suddenly, Wang Zhao tilted his head.

A golden-haired girl had appeared beside him at some unknown time.

Wang Zhao was no longer surprised by this, but that had been inside the Library.

This was still the first time they had met in secret outside.

"Why are you here?"

Wang Zhao asked. The surprise on his face quickly faded, and he made no move to put away Golden Scale, whose eyes were currently bulging like a husky's.

After all, Qian Renxue's sudden appearance meant that Golden Scale had already been exposed. There was no need to hide him any longer, nor was there anything to hide.

Wang Zhao had long been prepared for this. After spending so much time with Qian Renxue in the Library, he refused to believe that Spirit Hall's higher-ups had not noticed him. As for why they had tacitly chosen not to disturb him, or what schemes they might have been plotting, he did not know for the time being.

He only knew that he had never been able to resist unknown forces from beginning to end, so there was no point in worrying himself sick over them. He chose to take things as they came.

"Is this the Soul Beast pet you're raising?"

Qian Renxue did not answer the matter of following him. Instead, she shifted the subject to Golden Scale.

She had never privately investigated Wang Zhao's background, just as she had never told Wang Zhao her true name or identity. She enjoyed the feeling of having secrets between them without any great distance separating them, so she did not know that Golden Scale was Wang Zhao's Martial Soul.

Hearing that, Wang Zhao did not mind, nor did he intend to conceal anything. As he had said, there was nothing to hide, so he answered directly.

"No. His name is Golden Scale, and he's my Martial Soul."

"A Martial Soul?"

Qian Renxue could not help studying Golden Scale. Her expression gradually turned surprised. She considered herself widely knowledgeable, yet this was truly the first time she had seen such a Beast Martial Soul.

"Did you give him the name Golden Scale?"

"Mm."

Looking at Golden Scale's purple beastly body, Qian Renxue grew even more puzzled.

"Why call him that?"

"Have you ever heard a line of poetry?"

Wang Zhao smiled faintly and suddenly asked in return.

"What line?"

"A golden scale is no creature meant for a pond; once it meets wind and cloud, it transforms into a dragon."

He said it calmly.

Seeing Wang Zhao gently stroking Golden Scale with one hand, standing with such confident ease, Qian Renxue froze for a moment. A faint starlight flickered in her eyes.

"A golden scale is no creature meant for a pond; once it meets wind and cloud, it transforms into a dragon..."

She softly repeated the line word by word, again and again. Then, her voice suddenly rose slightly as she lifted her head.

"I believe you!"

"What?"

Qian Renxue did not answer.

A moment later.

She noticed Golden Scale's enormous maw moving in a chewing motion, and the curiosity she had just suppressed rose again.

"Is he eating something? A Martial Soul can actually eat?"

"Uh, just treat him like a Soul Beast."

Wang Zhao answered concisely.

Qian Renxue immediately understood.

"Then what is he eating?"

"Dragon Blood Grass."

"Hiss, you really are raising him as a dragon..."

After sighing in admiration, Qian Renxue did not continue asking about it. After all, a Martial Soul was every Soul Master's core secret. She had already been rather intrusive by asking so much.

At that moment, Golden Scale suddenly poked his head out.

He stepped closer to Qian Renxue, sniffed at her, then his eyes lit up and he began chirping, "Roro!"

"What is he saying?"

Qian Renxue looked at Golden Scale with great interest. She copied Wang Zhao and reached out to try stroking his head, while a strange thought flashed through her mind.

Does touching him count as touching Wang Zhao?

Naturally, Wang Zhao had no idea what the girl was thinking. Otherwise, his face would surely have gone dark. He merely looked at Golden Scale thoughtfully and said, "There seems to be something on you that really attracts him. He's saying that he wants it."

"Something that attracts him..."

Thinking of the Dragon Blood Grass Wang Zhao had fed Golden Scale earlier, Qian Renxue pondered for a moment. She ran her hand over her storage necklace, took out a glittering golden leaf, and waved it before Golden Scale.

"Is it this?"

Golden Scale seemed remarkably intelligent. Upon hearing that, he nodded wildly at Qian Renxue, his eyes fixed tightly on the golden leaf as though he wanted to swallow it with his gaze.

Do you even realize that you really look like a dog right now?

Seeing Golden Scale like this, Wang Zhao felt a rare flicker of embarrassment and dearly wanted to put him away immediately.

But he did not do so. Instead, he turned an appraising gaze toward the golden leaf Qian Renxue held between her fingers.

No matter how a Martial Soul mutated, it remained of the same origin as its master. There was no doubt about that.

Therefore, the instant Qian Renxue took out the golden leaf, both Wang Zhao and Golden Scale felt a fatal attraction from it.

Wang Zhao simply did not appear as impatient on the surface.

"What is that?"

He calmed his emotions slightly before asking Qian Renxue.

"My grandfather makes me carry it every morning. It's called a Sacred Radiance Leaf."

"Sacred Radiance Leaf..."

Wang Zhao pondered it inwardly, but he could not recall any relevant information.

Although his current accumulation of knowledge was far from vast, this was a treasure Qian Renxue carried on her person. He should not have failed to even hear of it before.

Thus, adhering to the principle of asking when he did not understand, Wang Zhao was about to question her further when Qian Renxue began explaining on her own.

"Sacred Radiance Leaves are a unique cultivation resource of our family. They come from a Golden Ancient Tree that is probably one of a kind in the world. They can improve the holder's affinity for the Light Attribute. If carried by a Soul Master whose Martial Soul is compatible with the Light Attribute, they can even greatly accelerate Soul Power cultivation."

"I see..."

Wang Zhao nodded, gave the Sacred Radiance Leaf a slightly regretful look, then withdrew his gaze.

This was not something he could covet. As for Golden Scale's lack of Light Attribute energy, he would consider it again when the opportunity arose.

Wang Zhao knew that the Golden Sacred Dragon, Golden Scale's evolved Martial Soul form, possessed a powerful Light Attribute.

Mu En, the Dragon God Douluo and descendant of Yu Xiaogang in the original work, was proof enough. The Light Sacred Dragon Martial Soul that had emerged through his bloodline mutation proved it.

However, Mu En's Light Sacred Dragon possessed the ultimate Light Attribute, while the Golden Sacred Dragon did not necessarily. The original work had never stated that the Golden Sacred Dragon was equivalent to the Light Sacred Dragon. It had only vaguely mentioned that Golden Sacred Dragons as Soul Beasts might not exist at all, and that if they did exist, they would belong to the Light Sacred Dragon lineage. Which was stronger and which was weaker had never been explained.

But for Wang Zhao, finding a way to replenish the latent Light Attribute source within Golden Scale could never be wrong. The crucial question was how to replenish it.

Light, darkness, life... these were all considered rare attributes in Douluo, and treasures related to them were equally scarce. Wang Zhao had once discreetly asked Bibi Dong to search for them, but there had been no leads to this day.

At this moment.

Although Qian Renxue could not see what Wang Zhao was thinking, she easily read the emotion of "really, really wants it" from Golden Scale's face.

So she smiled faintly and continued.

"Actually, once Sacred Radiance Leaves leave the Golden Ancient Tree, the energy within them can only remain for one day. So around this time every night, I'm supposed to throw it away and have my grandfather pick a fresh one for me tomorrow."

Please tell me where you throw it away...

Wang Zhao thought sourly.

Is this the happiness of having a peerless angel grandfather?

The thing he desperately wanted but could not obtain was something she used every day and then threw away.

Of course, despite thinking that, he did not actually believe Qian Renxue's nonsense.

This was a lie!

Even if the energy within a Sacred Radiance Leaf had dispersed, it was still a treasure.

Not even the Angel Qian Family could be so extravagant.

Then what was Qian Renxue's purpose in saying such a thing right now?

An answer faintly surfaced in Wang Zhao's heart.

The house had a thorough cleaning today, so there was only enough time to update one chapter. The plot will probably fast-forward to the First Soul Ring around tomorrow or the day after.

Thank you for staying with me!