Everyone Needs a Dream

At his words, Du Busi nodded.

"That's right. This is the Second Awakening of the Body Martial Soul. You should be able to feel the changes in your martial soul, shouldn't you?"

Ye An examined himself internally, giving the bones inside his body a cursory inspection—they had become lustrous and white as jade, even taking on a crystalline quality, and their strength had increased considerably.

Most importantly... he could now control every bone in his body at will. If he wished, he could turn any of them into a weapon, while growing entirely new bones in an instant.

Ye An snapped his arm outward. A silver gleam flashed past, and a bone blade appeared directly in his hand.

In other words... his current abilities closely resembled Dead Bone Pulse from Naruto.

Perhaps he could use Kimimaro's Dead Bone Pulse ninjutsu as a foundation to develop all sorts of self-created soul skills.

An unusual gleam appeared in Du Busi's eyes as he looked at the bone blade in Ye An's hand.

He reached out and carefully tested the blade's toughness and sharpness before nodding approvingly. "Excellent. A weapon formed from your own bones is extremely strong. Even against some top-tier tool martial souls, it won't be at a disadvantage."

Du Busi saw nothing wrong with this at all—after all, soul masters with body martial souls had always believed that their own bodies were their most powerful weapons. Ye An turning his bones into weapons perfectly embodied that belief.

"Teacher, just now, I could feel my spiritual power increasing considerably again. My Spirit Sea has more than doubled in size. I think... I should be able to try absorbing a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring now, right?"

Du Busi gave Ye An a long look, a smile unconsciously forming on his lips. "Of course. Since you endured the Second Awakening of the Body Martial Soul, your spiritual power has clearly undergone a qualitative leap. Now that both your physique and spiritual power meet the requirements, you can naturally absorb a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring."

"Get some proper rest tonight. Tomorrow, I'll take you and Xiao Xuan to the Star Dou Great Forest to hunt for your third soul ring."

We're bringing Sister Lexuan?

Seemingly noticing the confusion in Ye An's eyes, Du Busi said with some pride, "Vina, the princess of the Heaven Dou Empire, has reached the age for her martial soul awakening. The Emperor of the Heavenly Soul Empire invited me to attend the ceremony. Although I don't particularly want to go... it's time for you and Xiao Xuan to show your faces before the nobles of the Heaven Dou Empire."

Of course, there was another reason that Du Busi left unspoken.

Last time, the Emperor of the Heavenly Soul Empire had invited him to Princess Vina's birthday banquet. Unable to resist the emperor's repeated invitations, he had attended—and discovered Ye An, who had awakened twin body martial souls, as well as Zhang Lexuan, who possessed innate full soul power.

What if another trip to Heaven Dou City led him to another genius with a body martial soul?

The chances of encountering peerless geniuses one after another were low, but... what if?

Everyone needed a dream, didn't they?

Vina's already six?

Ye An nodded thoughtfully—Vina would awaken twin martial souls during the Martial Soul Awakening Ceremony: Snow Lotus and the body martial soul, Brain. Du Busi would take an interest in her then, and she would join the Body Sect.

In that case... wasn't Vina's future fiancé, Long Aotian, also nearing the age for his martial soul awakening?

Ye An had originally assumed Long Aotian was the child of a Body Sect elder or steward, born and raised in the sect. Over the past three years, besides cultivating diligently, he had also committed every member of the Body Sect to memory.

No one in the Body Sect had the surname Long.

So... Long Aotian was very likely someone Du Busi had discovered outside and brought into the Body Sect as well.

Still, what concerned Ye An far more was his insight into Unity of Heaven and Man, which had been interrupted by the Second Awakening of the Body Martial Soul.

Now, his body martial soul had completed its second awakening, improving both his physical strength and his martial soul. After absorbing his third soul ring... could he resume attempting to cultivate Unity of Heaven and Man?

Ye An shared his thoughts with Du Busi, who was briefly taken aback.

Then Du Busi burst into laughter. "I didn't expect you to still be thinking about Unity of Heaven and Man, brat. I promise you, once we've hunted for your third soul ring and returned from Heaven Dou City, I'll resume applying pressure to you so you can cultivate Unity of Heaven and Man."

"For now, don't even think about it. The only thing you need to do is go back and get some proper rest, so you can accompany me to the Star Dou Great Forest in peak condition!"

With Du Busi "chasing him out," Ye An left the Sect Master's Hall.

What Ye An hadn't expected was that, after leaving the Sect Master's Hall, Zhang Lexuan had neither returned to her residence nor resumed cultivating. Instead, she had stayed nearby, quietly waiting for him.

When she saw Ye An finally emerge from the Sect Master's Hall, tenderness filled Zhang Lexuan's eyes, gentle as water, and her voice was especially soft.

"Xiao An."

"Sister Lexuan, you've been waiting here all this time? I thought you'd already gone back to rest or continue cultivating."

"I was waiting for you."

Zhang Lexuan smiled faintly, stepped forward, and took Ye An's hand.

Her words warmed Ye An's heart, and he couldn't help marveling.

Having a gentle older sister was just... wonderful!

That guy Bei Bei was a wild boar that couldn't appreciate fine bran!

He'd passed up Zhang Lexuan, a gentle, mature beauty with fair skin and a gorgeous figure, to date Tang Ya, a little delinquent who'd even willingly sunk into depravity... how ridiculous was that?

But that was fine. Zhang Lexuan was mine now!

Ye An pressed his lips together, a hint of a smile appearing at their corners. "Sister Lexuan, I've completed the Second Awakening of the Body Martial Soul—and it was a Silver-Tier Second Awakening. Teacher said he'll take us to the Star Dou Great Forest tomorrow to hunt for my third ten-thousand-year soul ring."

"Before long, I'll be able to go to the count's estate with you and help you take revenge."

Zhang Lexuan froze briefly at his words.

But her first thought wasn't that her great vengeance would soon be fulfilled. Instead, she anxiously tightened her grip on Ye An's hand and carefully looked him over from head to toe.

After three years in the Body Sect, Zhang Lexuan had gained a clear understanding of the Second Awakening of the Body Martial Soul.

With a Silver-Tier Second Awakening of the Body Martial Soul, even the slightest mistake could lead to truly serious consequences!

"Xiao An, you... how did you end up undergoing a Silver Rank awakening? Is your body all right? Are you hurt anywhere?"

Seeing her reaction, Ye An smiled and obligingly turned in a circle before Zhang Lexuan. "I'm fine. Besides, shouldn't you be thinking about your enemies, Sister Lexuan? Why is my health the first thing you're worried about?"