Prerequisites for Aphrodite's Blessing

At those words, everyone's eyes fell on Ning Ze.

Dai Mubai folded his arms, looking eager to see how Ning Ze would get himself out of this.

Ning Ze pulled Ning Rongrong a little closer into his embrace before speaking.

"Since you're all so determined, I'll say a few words."

"Rongrong has the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, with top-tier boosts to strength and speed on the continent. My second soul skill can also enhance all attributes. With both our boosts stacked, holding out against Teacher Zhao head-on for one incense stick won't be difficult."

Before he could finish, Dai Mubai cut in.

"Wait. Back at the school gate, your second soul skill was clearly used to strengthen your own burst power. How did it suddenly become something you can use on teammates? Who are you trying to fool?"

Ning Ze's brow twitched. Catching sight of Zhu Zhuqing and Xiao Wu's expectant eyes, he suppressed his irritation.

"My second soul skill is special. It can be used for individual bursts, or turned into an aura for teammates. However, there's one strict condition for receiving this boost."

Hearing that, Tang San's instincts as a diehard theory enthusiast were instantly piqued, and he couldn't help asking.

"What prerequisite? Does it require a special Soul Power attribute match? Or an extremely high degree of spiritual compatibility?"

Ning Ze smiled and swept his gaze across their faces.

"To receive my boost, you first have to feel some affection or love for me."

"Anyone who bears hostility toward me, dislikes me, or feels nothing for me at all will absolutely be unable to receive this divine light of enhancement."

The moment those words came out—

Silence!

The entire place instantly fell into deathly silence!

"Huh?!"

Dai Mubai's mouth fell wide open, his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets. He stood frozen in place as if struck by lightning.

Tang San's normally calm and steady face twitched violently as well, his eyes filled with utter absurdity and disbelief.

What kind of prerequisite for a soul skill was that?!

You had to like the caster before you could receive the boost?!

Was this really something a proper soul master could possess?!

Meanwhile—

When Zhu Zhuqing and Xiao Wu heard the words "must feel affection and love for Ning Ze," their two beautiful faces instantly flushed scarlet!

A lovely sunset hue immediately spread across Zhu Zhuqing's fair, jade-like ears, and she turned her head slightly in embarrassment.

Yet the image of the young man descending from the sky in the forest, instantly killing the assassin and gently helping her up, surfaced uncontrollably in her mind. Her little heart pounded wildly.

Xiao Wu's fluffy rabbit ears drooped straight down in embarrassment, while her small hands nervously clutched the hem of her pink dress.

Her cheeks, however, were as hot as ripe red apples, and her mind was filled with the tender scenes from last night, when Ning Ze had doted on her by buying her gifts at the night market and rubbing her head.

Seeing the two girls' bashful, lovestruck expressions, Ning Rongrong nearly ground her back teeth to dust!

Ahhh! Those two little thieves! I knew they were plotting something against Ning Ze!!

Ning Rongrong's cheeks puffed up like little balls, her fiery eyes glaring fiercely at Zhu Zhuqing and Xiao Wu. She almost wanted to pull out her Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda and bury these two "love rivals" alive on the spot!

But though Ning Rongrong was spoiled and willful, she was not stupid.

Zhao Wuji, standing opposite them, was a level seventy-six battle Soul Sage!

There was a chasm as vast as the heavens between a Soul Grandmaster and a Soul Sage. Without Ning Ze's dual god-tier boosts maximizing the entire team's attributes, all of them would be pinned to the ground and beaten senseless by Zhao Wuji in this test.

Taking a deep breath, Ning Rongrong frantically steeled herself inwardly.

Hold it in! Ning Rongrong, hold it in! The bigger picture comes first. Use them to help Ning Ze pass the test for now! Once we get into the academy and settle down... this young lady will slowly settle the score with those two wild women!

Ning Rongrong forcefully swallowed down that overwhelming sourness. Still, the arm around Ning Ze's arm tightened secretly, declaring her unshakable claim.

As though he had not seen the wonderfully strange expressions on Dai Mubai and Tang San's faces at all, Ning Ze smiled faintly and spread his hands calmly.

"So, whether you can receive the enhancement from my second soul skill depends entirely on whether you harbor goodwill toward me. It's not something I can force."

Zhu Zhuqing stepped forward, her voice somewhat urgent. "I'm willing! Ning Ze, I can receive your soul skill's effect!"

Afraid of falling behind, Xiao Wu nodded quickly. "Me too! I can definitely receive Brother Ning Ze's soul skill effect!"

Tang San's expression immediately darkened.

Seeing this, Xiao Wu stuck out her tongue and added softly, "Third Brother, don't overthink it... I'm only doing this so everyone can pass the test..."

Tang San opened his mouth, but no words came out. He turned his head away.

"Alright, I'll apply the boosts to you first. Then Rongrong can add the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda's support for everyone."

As his words fell, Soul Power began to pulse in Ning Ze's palm.

A pink-gold sphere of light bloomed, condensing into the phantom image of a transparent heart as two purple thousand-year soul rings rose and revolved around him.

"Second soul skill—Aphrodite's Blessing."

He lightly tapped the air with his fingers, and three pink-gold pillars of light shot out, precisely entering Ning Rongrong, Zhu Zhuqing, and Xiao Wu's bodies.

A layer of pink-gold radiance spread around the three girls.

Xiao Wu shuddered from head to toe, her eyes widening—her Soul Power seemed to have been forcibly raised by a great deal, and her limbs were filled with inexhaustible energy. She hopped on the spot.

"Oh my god! Brother Ning Ze, my speed and strength have increased so much! Even my total Soul Power has gone up!"

Ning Ze smiled. "That's the enhancement effect of Aphrodite's Blessing. The stronger your affection for me, the greater the boost."

Zhu Zhuqing and Xiao Wu's eyes both lit up.

The higher the affection, the stronger the boost?

Zhu Zhuqing clenched her fist, feeling the power that nearly seemed ready to burst through her body. When she looked at Ning Ze's face again, her heartbeat sped up by several beats.

Ning Rongrong snorted, both proud and sour, then raised her chin and activated her martial soul.

"Alright, it's this young lady's turn!"

"Seven Treasures are renowned—first is strength! Second is speed!"

Seven-colored treasure light surged upward, and six rays of light descended upon Ning Ze, Zhu Zhuqing, and Xiao Wu.

With the dual boosts fully stacked, the auras around the four of them surged sharply. Their roiling Soul Power blasted the fallen leaves off the ground.

Only Tang San remained standing at the side.

Not a single ray of light rested on him. He stood there alone.

He could not receive Ning Ze's boost, and Ning Rongrong's Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda had not bestowed anything upon him either.

A dignified level twenty-nine control-type soul master had become the only outsider present.

His face shifted from green to white, but he could not bring himself to ask for support. Clenching his fists, he swallowed the resentment down.

At the center of the clearing, Zhao Wuji had been watching the show with his arms folded. Now, he grinned and laughed aloud.

"Hahaha! Interesting! Two top-tier supports stacked together—sure enough, you're a bunch of exceptional little monsters!"

"Little ones, the incense stick is lit. Are you ready to get beaten?"