An hour later.
The purplish-black patterns on Xu Huxiao's face gradually faded. He slowly opened his eyes, unable to hide the exhaustion in them, then let out a breath of stale air.
There was now one good message and one bad message.
The good message was that he had finally absorbed all the Soul Bone's source energy and stored it in his body. Once he slowly refined it, he should be able to condense a second Blood-Essence Flower at his navel.
Moreover, because the Eight Extraordinary Meridians had shared the burden of storing it, the strange purplish-black patterns on his body had vanished as well.
The bad message was that, because this energy was too massive, after fully absorbing it, his Twin Arms Martial Soul had been frozen by the energy.
Now, aside from using Martial Soul Possession, he could not use any Soul Skills.
Only after completely refining this energy and unsealing his Martial Soul would he be able to use his two Soul Skills again.
Still, it was not too bad. Besides Soul Skills, he possessed formidable close-combat ability and the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms. Even if a Soul Fighting battle was unavoidable, he still had the strength to fight.
In fact, this was his first time using the Five-Colored Heavenly Pearl to absorb and refine Soul Bone source energy.
Next time, as long as he switched to either of his other two Martial Souls while absorbing it, he could completely avoid having his Twin Arms Soul Skills sealed.
After telling Yun Ji to keep tonight's events secret and giving her a few instructions, Xu Huxiao took a bath, then collapsed onto the soft, cool bed and fell soundly asleep.
Absorbing overloaded energy twice in a single day had been an enormous test for both his body and mind.
He was now so exhausted that he did not want to move even a finger. Only sleep was the best tonic.
That same night.
Within the core region of Thousand Islands Lake, on Bright Island.
Although it was already late at night, the entire island glowed with the brilliant lights of various Soul Tools, making it even livelier than during the day.
Bhikkhu City, the capital of the Cupid Kingdom on the island, was even more prosperous and bustling.
Music, singing and dancing, acrobatics, Soul Fighting, black-box gambling—everything was available. Thousand Islands Lake was known as Love Island, while Bhikkhu City was called Tiandou's only City of Romance.
Bhikkhu City was filled with domed castle-like buildings. They were not particularly tall, but their roofs were bright and vivid in color, creating an exceptionally striking visual impression.
There were also many sculptures throughout the city, perfectly proportioned and brimming with delicate ingenuity.
All of them showcased the free artistic atmosphere of the City of Romance.
At the city's center, within the castle palace of the Cupid royal family, beneath the naked and sacred statue of the Love Goddess Venus, a noble banquet was in full swing amid the dancing waters of an open-air musical fountain.
The hostess was the queen of the Cupid Kingdom, the brightest pearl of the City of Romance, Meriel Muse.
Meriel Muse appeared to be in her thirties. Her thick, long golden curls were pinned up with ruby hair ornaments, exposing her slender, graceful neck. Her skin was as delicate and fair as a baby's, her figure lush and voluptuous, and she wore a low-cut, cinched-waist white evening gown of exquisite luxury. Every movement radiated an intoxicating feminine charm.
Ordinarily, a woman like her would be the center of a banquet or ball, surrounded by admirers.
But today, Meriel was clearly distracted and had declined every dance invitation from the elegant nobles.
Halfway through the banquet, she came alone to the highest point of the palace tower and drank beneath the stars and moon.
As she savored the fragrance of the red wine in her glass, a seductive flush appeared on Meriel's beautiful face.
She was the queen of this kingdom and the only queen in the history of the Cupid Kingdom.
After her husband, the former king of Cupid, died ten years ago, Meriel Muse forcefully seized royal power and swiftly suppressed every opposing voice with iron-handed methods.
Thus, the Cupid Kingdom had not descended into chaos after the old king's death. Instead, under Meriel's leadership, it had grown even more prosperous and had gradually begun to break free from the restrictive control of the Heaven Dou Empire in recent years.
Everything had been moving in a better and better direction, yet a crisis had now emerged that Meriel could not resolve.
If mishandled, it would cause the kingdom to collapse and fracture!
Meriel had been able to seize royal power so quickly and suppress the restless old nobles because she had a Titled Douluo father and strength of her own.
But now, both had developed problems.
Several years ago, while traveling across the continent, her father had been injured by Dugu Bo, the Titled Douluo known as Poison, the Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor. Though the poison had been expelled in time, lingering damage remained that could not be healed.
Her father, nearly a hundred years old, had told her the day before yesterday that the aftereffects of the poison meant he did not have much time left. At most, he had half a year; at least, three months. Then his life would come to an end.
That was still under the condition that he did not engage in intense combat.
As for Meriel herself, she had originally relied on the uniqueness of her Martial Soul and borrowed the Love Goddess's Divine Power. Though her cultivation would remain at only level sixty for life, after borrowing that Divine Power, she could briefly wield Title Level strength.
Yet yesterday, the Love Goddess Divine Power inside her had inexplicably vanished.
Unable to find any reason, Meriel tried praying to the Love Goddess in every possible way, but received not the slightest response from the Love Goddess statue.
Without the enhancement of the Love Goddess Divine Power, she was merely an ordinary Soul Emperor.
Although the kingdom seemed well governed under her leadership and showed no apparent danger of rebellion, Meriel knew that the old nobles' forces had not been completely eradicated and could rise from the ashes at any moment.
Those rotten old nobles could not stand seeing a woman become king.
Their mission was to overthrow her, the queen!
Now that she no longer had overwhelming strength as a guarantee, as a woman leading this kingdom, the road ahead would be exceedingly difficult.
Meriel raised the glass of red wine in her hand and took another shallow sip.
The sweetness and sharpness of the wine opposed one another yet blended together, weaving into a complex, unforgettable flavor that lingered on the palate.
Meriel enjoyed the night sky alone until an aged sigh sounded behind her. An old man in gray robes appeared, holding a wooden staff, his beard and hair snow-white and his face like withered tree bark.
Only then did the queen emerge from her thoughts.
"Liel, my child, you have truly suffered for the kingdom."
Meriel concealed the worry in her eyes and smiled. "Father, this is what a queen should do."
Then she asked, "How is the seal left behind by the Love Goddess on the deserted island now?"
The old man in gray was silent for several seconds before saying, "It is bad news. Just as you said, the Love Goddess Divine Power has completely disappeared, and the Snake Demon Soul Beasts on the deserted island are showing signs of a massive outbreak."
"However, as you know, Snake Demons are Soul Beasts with form but no substance. They will not cause much harm, only temporary chaos within the kingdom."
"I am not worried about the Soul Beasts. I am worried that the old nobles' forces will use this chaos as an opportunity to move against you."
"Liel, leave this country. This is a calamity for the Cupid Kingdom. The coming chaos and slaughter are inevitable; no one can avoid them. In my current condition, I can no longer protect you."
The old man spoke the last sentence softly, but it struck Meriel's heart like a massive stone.
Leave?
Flee her own country like a homeless dog?
No.
Impossible!
Absolutely impossible!!
This kingdom was her everything. It was the dream she had shared with the old king. She would never allow anyone to shatter her dream. No matter what methods she had to use, she would not abandon her kingdom.
Nor would she allow the kingdom to fall into division and chaos.
Meriel set down her wineglass and looked at the old man firmly. "Father, I will not leave. You do not need to protect me either. If things truly reach a critical point, I hope you will take Yan and leave. He is still young. I will stay behind."
The old man in gray looked deeply into his daughter's eyes. Once he understood Meriel's unwavering resolve, he sighed again.
"I understand. If it truly comes to that, I will protect Yan."
After making up her mind, Meriel's beautiful eyes turned beyond the island, toward Returning Moon Island.
"The situation is indeed tense now, but it is not entirely hopeless. There is still one good message: that Demon Bear from Spirit Hall is on Returning Moon Island."
"As long as we can seize this opportunity, every problem will be easily resolved."
Hearing this, the old man thought for a moment, and the wrinkles between his brows deepened.
"But we have no bargaining chip that could persuade him to offer protection. Liel, you must understand that someone with a Title does not readily agree to requests for help, and that Demon Bear lacks neither power nor money."
The corners of Meriel's lips curled upward. She picked up her glass and drained it in one gulp. The red wine stained her crimson lips, lending her an enchanting charm.
Her gaze was deep, like that of a skilled hunter.
"Father, do not worry. I have my own methods. But before the Snake Demon beast tide erupts, I need to make some preparations first..."
If she could not rely on her own strength, then finding a patron for the Cupid Kingdom could solve the problem just as well. Meriel gazed at the full moon emerging from behind the dark clouds.
That was what she thought.
The next day, as dawn swept across the lake and broke the forest's silence.
Xu Huxiao's internal clock woke him on schedule.
After sleeping soundly through the night, Xu Huxiao rose early feeling as though his body were filled with endless power, as if a sun that would never extinguish lay within him.
No, it was not as if.
There were already 'suns' condensed from Yang Origin Soul Power in my dantian, and there were two of them.
I recovered quickly.
The formidable recovery and endurance of the Nine Yang Divine Skill had already begun to reveal themselves.
The further he progressed, the stronger this effect would become with the condensation of each Golden Sun, until he broke through into the perfected realm of "Nine Yang Revolves, Life Everlasting."
After briefly imagining the future, Xu Huxiao began cultivating as steadily as ever, preparing to condense the third Golden Sun and advance toward Soul Elder.
However.
The moment cultivation began, he discovered a problem.
Because his body's meridians were completely occupied by Soul Bone energy, his Yang Origin Soul Power could not circulate through a full cycle at all!
Only the two Golden Suns in his dantian turned intermittently beneath the purplish-black energy wrapping them, refining it like two rusted gears.
Xu Huxiao felt somewhat helpless. It seemed that having his Soul Skills sealed was not the only bad message.
Before this energy was refined, he would be unable to cultivate rapidly as he had before.
Still.
Although he could not circulate his cultivation through a full cycle, he sensed that when he emptied his mind and sat in meditation, the two Golden Suns turned noticeably faster in his inner vision.
Now that he could not circulate his cultivation, his body could only rely on the two Golden Suns in his dantian to refine this energy.
"It seems that until I find another way to accelerate the refinement process, I can only replace cultivation with meditation morning, noon, and night."
Xu Huxiao sat down cross-legged and began meditating, not overly worried by his inability to cultivate.
Because he could sense that while refining this Soul Bone energy, not only was his body absorbing it, but part of it was also being converted into Yang Origin Soul Power.
Although his Martial Soul was currently frozen and his Soul Power Level could not be displayed, he knew that once the energy was fully refined and his Twin Arms Martial Soul was unsealed, his Soul Power would absolutely undergo explosive growth.
So there was no need to worry. He only needed to focus on cultivation.
Before you continue