What a Useless Boyfriend

Yu Tianheng's eyes nearly split with rage, a trapped beast's whimper rumbling from his throat.

The Dugu Yan he cherished most—the girl whose fingertips he had never dared touch casually—was being violated like this!

He had never overstepped. Their greatest intimacy had been her lightly resting against his shoulder when she was exhausted after training.

That innocent, precious sense of distance had now been mercilessly crushed to pieces.

"You beast! Scum! I'll tear you into ten thousand pieces! Let her go—!"

Filthy curses and despairing roars burst through his clenched teeth, every word draining what little strength he had left.

"So noisy." Lin Jiang frowned slightly and casually curled a finger.

An emerald Azure Vine responded at once. Like a nimble venomous snake, it shot forward and wrapped tightly around Yu Tianheng's mouth, turning all his remaining curses into muffled, indistinct whimpers.

Yu Tianheng struggled desperately, veins bulging across his neck. His eyes were bloodshot from overwhelming fury and helplessness, nearly popping from their sockets.

He could only watch helplessly as Dugu Yan trembled violently beneath the strange vines,

watching red marks form on her pale skin, watching her emerald eyes gradually lose focus...

Two streams of scorching tears, mixed with humiliation, rage, and heart-wrenching agony,

finally shattered all his pride and restraint. They poured down his twisted cheeks and splashed onto the cold arena floor.

What a useless boyfriend...

Meanwhile, Dugu Yan's consciousness had long since completely scattered under the dual assault of the unbearable stimulation to her body and Lin Jiang's bizarre Bewitching Touch.

Her mind was blank. Every struggle, curse, and sense of shame seemed far away.

The sounds around her blurred, leaving only wavering, distorted lights before her eyes.

Like an exquisite doll stripped of its soul, she allowed the vines to bind and manipulate her.

Only her body still twitched faintly on instinct, proving just how intense the impact she had endured moments ago had been.

Below the arena, Ye Lingling tightly covered her slightly parted lips with her slender hands. Her cheeks above the veil had already flushed crimson from shock.

She stared blankly at Dugu Yan on the stage, tightly entangled by emerald vines, her body trembling slightly and her gaze dazed and unfocused. An utterly unfamiliar yet surging heat inexplicably swept through her entire body.

A thought so bold it made her ashamed wormed uncontrollably into her mind:

If... if the one bound by those vines and treated like that by him... were me... what would it feel like?

The thought made her legs go weak, her heart racing so fast it nearly leapt out of her chest.

Completely unlike Ye Lingling's shy fantasies, Ning Rongrong puffed out her cherry lips in anger on the stage,

glared at Lin Jiang's back with her large eyes, and muttered quietly in a voice only she could hear:

"Stupid Lin Jiang... bad Lin Jiang! If you had... had a move for bullying people like this... why have you never used it on me!"

There was even a trace of coy resentment and faint disappointment in her tone...

As though someone else had gotten to play with a toy meant exclusively for her.

On the arena stage, Lin Jiang seemed to feel that the game should end.

His gaze swept across the remaining opponents as his thoughts stirred.

"Second Soul Skill, Leaf Blade Storm!"

In an instant, countless sharp spinning leaf blades with metallic gleams along their edges appeared from thin air. Like a deadly storm of metal, they swept precisely toward the remaining enemies!

Ao Sili, the Ghost Leopard Soul Master, was already low on soul power and greatly reduced in speed. He had no time to evade the terrifying storm's sudden assault.

He only felt an irresistible force strike him. With a scream, he was violently flung away, sent straight beyond the arena boundary, and knocked unconscious.

Although the brothers Shi Mo and Shi Mo possessed astonishing defenses, their teammates could no longer support them, and Xiao Wu had continuously harassed and worn them down.

Facing the Leaf Blade Storm, which combined offense and defense with tremendous cutting power, they could only hold their turtle-shell shields firmly before them. They were driven back again and again before finally letting out muffled groans, dropping heavily to their knees, and losing the strength to continue fighting.

In the blink of an eye, the entire Huangdou Battle Team had been defeated!

Only then did Lin Jiang slowly raise his head and look toward the host in the air—the dove-spirit female Soul Master, Doudou, who had long been dumbstruck.

She hovered in midair, her white wings trembling faintly. Under the dazzling lights of the Soul Arena, her long, slender legs were rather eye-catching.

Lin Jiang's voice was calm, yet carried an unquestionable force that clearly reached Doudou's ears.

"Host, shouldn't you announce the result of this Soul Battle?"

Doudou jolted violently, as though waking from a bizarre dream.

She hurriedly looked down at the man who had nearly ended the match all by himself and was now calmly watching her.

Her heart thumped wildly a few times, her cheeks warming slightly. She quickly raised the sound-amplifying soul tool and announced in as steady a voice as she could manage, though it still trembled faintly:

"Th-the team battle... Shrek wins!"

Her voice spread throughout the venue through the amplifier. After a brief silence, even more fervent cheers and discussion erupted from the stands.

This match, where the few had defeated the many through such a bizarre chain of events, was destined to remain a topic of conversation at the Soto Great Soul Arena for a long time.

The chaos on the stage gradually subsided.

The emerald vines wrapped around Dugu Yan silently retreated as though alive. With nothing supporting her, her legs gave out and she collapsed to the ground.

Her body still trembled faintly and uncontrollably. Her empty eyes stared at the dazzling soul-tool lights on the ceiling, as though her soul had yet to return.

"Yan Yan!"

As soon as the vines around him loosened, Yu Tianheng threw himself toward her without hesitation. His voice was hoarse with endless heartache and lingering fear as he reached out to help her up.

However, before his fingertips could touch Dugu Yan's arm, she suddenly swung her hand and shoved him away with obvious disgust and resistance!

"Don't touch me!" Dugu Yan's voice was hoarse and cold. She could not even be bothered to look at him.

Yu Tianheng's hand froze in midair. His face was filled with shock and hurt as he spoke carefully, with a humble plea in his voice:

"Yan Yan... are... are you all right? Are you hurt anywhere? Let me see..."

Dugu Yan struggled to prop herself up. She could not even be bothered to hide the impatience on her face. She rolled her eyes, turned her head away, and completely ignored his concern.

Her disgust did not stem only from his helplessness on the stage just now—his inability to protect even the woman he loved.

More deeply, it came from dissatisfaction that had built up for a long time—weariness toward this man's rigidity, dullness, and unchanging nature.

He was like a cold, hard stone that could never be warmed, always adhering to those boring rules and boundaries. Even holding hands seemed to him like defying heaven's law.

But compared to that Lin Jiang...

Dugu Yan's heartbeat inexplicably skipped. The sensation of being bound by those strange vines flashed uncontrollably through her mind—

That feeling, mixed with extreme shame, faint pain, and an indescribable stimulation that made her scalp tingle, along with a sense of losing control...