Yin-Yang Complementary Twin Soul Cores!

(You readers are incredible! This is the first time my book has advanced in the rankings. I think I might be able to take this story even further!)

(I don't have a photographic memory, so there will be mistakes. I genuinely didn't know Qian Renxue was nine years older than Tang San. I spent an hour searching the original work while writing this and couldn't find it. But since readers pointed it out, I'll revise the part about obtaining the fourth soul ring tonight. Someone who had only just started reading gave the book a low rating over this small error without ever casting a single vote. Please, just tell me what's wrong! I'll check it and fix it. I'm not someone who refuses to listen. From my side, it really hurts. A new book needs support, and a low rating over one small mistake affects the readers supporting me. I do take advice, so I'm honestly a little upset.)

Gu Yuena carried herself with cool reserve. With Lu Ming so much shorter than her, she seemed even more imposing.

Her eyes curved with a smile, and the rippling light of the Lake of Life made her pink lips especially captivating.

Yet Lu Ming felt no distance from her. Instead, he felt an extraordinarily strong sense of kinship, a pull of shared blood.

At such close range, Gu Yuena felt that same stirring in her blood. She was certain the person before her was her other half.

"Don't look at me like that!"

Gu Yuena's gaze made Lu Ming uneasy. He unconsciously gripped the hem of his blue-green skirt.

"So you can get shy?"

Smiling, Gu Yuena waved a hand and tore open space. From within it, she retrieved a silver outfit—one of her everyday sets.

A faint fragrance reached Lu Ming's nose, leaving his whole body feeling at ease.

"Here, wear mine! We'll look just like sisters!"

What kind of outrageous suggestion was that? Lu Ming's eyes widened. Did she really think he was into dressing like a woman?!

"Na'er, stop joking. I came here on important business!"

Lu Ming clasped his hands behind his back and spoke sternly.

"Aw."

A little disappointed, Gu Yuena put her clothes away. She really had been curious.

Lu Ming clenched his fists, his eyes turning fierce as he fixed them on Xiong Jun, who was gasping beneath the tree.

"But before that, I want both his paws!"

His voice was cold and left no room for argument.

Xiong Jun was terrified. Ignoring his injuries, he dropped to his knees.

"Lord Golden Dragon King, Lord Silver Dragon King, I was wrong! I failed to recognize who I was dealing with! Please, don't cut off my paws!"

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Xiong Jun slammed his forehead against the ground toward Lu Ming. The earth shuddered with each blow, and red blood ran down his face.

Lu Ming gave a soft snort.

"You're not sorry for what you did. You're sorry your claws are about to be cut off."

He shot Gu Yuena a look. His meaning was clear.

Gu Yuena understood. She had tolerated Xiong Jun's arrogance only because she had once been short of capable followers.

As time passed, Xiong Jun had grown bolder. He even dared to challenge Di Tian.

Given a little more time, would he try to challenge her, the Silver Dragon King, too?

"Sever!"

At her sharp command, the tip of the Silver Dragon Spear flashed. Xiong Jun threw back his head and screamed as blood poured from him.

With the Silver Dragon Spear in hand, Gu Yuena looked every bit as formidable as any man.

"By the way, Golden Dragon, who is this woman?"

Gu Yuena withdrew the Silver Dragon Spear and turned to Xiao Xiao.

A flicker of hostility rose in her toward the woman accompanying Golden Dragon.

Lu Ming stepped in front of Xiao Xiao and stared straight at Gu Yuena.

That only intensified Gu Yuena's hostility.

What gave her the right?

What gave her the right to have Golden Dragon protect her like that?

"Na'er, this is my sister Xiao Xiao. Don't make things difficult for her, or you and I will have a problem!"

Lu Ming's warning made Gu Yuena smile faintly, though she clenched her teeth.

"She's my sister, which makes her yours too. Hurry up and let her go."

Gu Yuena pouted. With obvious reluctance, she released Xiao Xiao from her restraint and turned her face away.

"Did you leave your voice at home? Call her Sister Xiao Xiao."

"Sister Xiao Xiao!"

Gu Yuena had had enough. She had wanted to spend more time with Golden Dragon, but now she had lost all interest.

"If you need anything, go to Di Tian. I'm going back to heal."

With that haughty remark, the little Silver Dragon vanished from the lakeshore, leaving Di Tian bewildered.

Splash, splash, splash.

Figures emerged from the Lake of Life: Bi Ji the Emerald Swan, Zi JI the Hell Demon Dragon King, the Ten Thousand Demon King, the Scarlet King, and the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, the Auspicious Beast.

The Star Dou Great Forest's mightiest soul beasts had gathered in one place. Even the air seemed heavier.

Bi Ji's and Zi JI's gazes immediately settled on Lu Ming. His beauty was simply beyond reason. If not for the modest curves at his chest,

he would have been an irresistible beauty. Beside him, Bi Ji and Zi JI seemed to lose their luster.

"So this is Lord Golden Dragon King?"

"He really is... one of a kind!"

Speaking as the Soul Beast Sovereign's representative, Di Tian barked orders at the others.

"What are you standing around for?"

"Go prepare food and give My Lord Golden Dragon a proper welcome!"

Only then did the Ferocious Beasts recover from the sight of Lu Ming's peerless face. The Ten Thousand Demon King and Scarlet King hurried back to their lairs, while Bi Ji and Zi JI massaged Lu Ming's shoulders.

Di Tian crouched before Lu Ming, his face full of ingratiating smiles.

Ahh.

That's the stuff!

Lu Ming smiled and looked back at Sister Xiao Xiao. She wore a blissful smile as she teased the little golden creature in her arms with a finger.

"What a clingy little thing."

In her arms was the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, the Auspicious Beast. Her fluffy golden fur was fine and smooth, and she smelled like blankets warmed by the sun. Holding her brought an indescribable sense of peace.

I'm so clever. If I win this big sister over, I'll have My Lord Golden Dragon's protection. Hehe!

The Three-Eyed Golden Lion basked in her own cleverness, rolling lazily in Xiao Xiao's arms.

"Yin-Yang Complementary Twin Soul Cores? A Dragon Core?"

Di Tian was astonished. In all his hundreds of thousands of years, he had never heard of a method for forming Soul Cores.

(For now, let's assume humans worked out the Soul Core method from Douluo II. After all, the author does like changing his own rules.)

Di Tian searched himself and produced an Azure Inner Core.

"My Lord, this came from a dragon that was about to reach two hundred thousand years of cultivation. It should improve Sister Xiao Xiao's physical constitution."

Even Gu Yuena, the little Silver Dragon, called her "Sister Xiao Xiao." Naturally, Di Tian and the others followed suit.

"Good. I'll remember this."

Lu Ming nodded.

Those few words were enough to thrill Di Tian. He looked like a child who had just been praised.

Then again, before the Golden Dragon King, wasn't Di Tian a child hoping his parent would notice him?

"Sister Xiao Xiao, this is a Dragon Core. The little black dragon will protect you while you cultivate. I hope you break through in one go and reach the very peak."

Xiao Xiao accepted it with both hands. Even now, she could hardly believe she was truly about to pursue the path of Yin-Yang Complementary Twin Soul Cores. And it was all thanks to little Lu, whom she had once protected.

At a loss for words, Xiao Xiao simply ruffled his hair. That said more than a thousand words could.

"Wait for me, little brother!"

At the Lake of Life,

the energy of heaven and earth was abundant, while a vast well of life force lay beneath its waters. There was no better place for a soul master to break through a bottleneck.

Xiao Xiao's first Soul Core sat in her dantian. She chose her chest as the location for the second.

Her first Soul Core leaned toward the power attributes of the Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldron, so the second needed a different attribute.

She intended to form it using the Azure Sky Sword's mental attributes. Its Soul Power vortex would have to rotate in precisely the opposite direction from the first Soul Core, the two restraining each other to achieve yin-yang complementarity.

"Condense!"

Soul Power gradually merged within her chest. She had to be extremely careful: the second Soul Core could not differ from the first in strength for even an instant.

She also had to keep the first Soul Core from drawing in and devouring the new one. Throughout the process, the two forces would tear at her body and repeatedly damage her meridians.

That was where the Dragon Core came in. With its power sustaining her, along with the energy of heaven and earth and the lake's life force, Xiao Xiao remained in good condition.

Now she only needed to proceed steadily: balance the two Soul Cores, set them spinning in opposite directions, and let them restrain each other. Then the Yin-Yang Complementary Twin Soul Cores would truly take shape.

"Sister Xiao Xiao."

First, the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and Infernal Delicate Apricot had tempered her body with ice and fire. Then the Immortal Herbs had laid a foundation, and now the Dragon Core supported her. She also had this life-filled environment, with Di Tian watching over her.

Yet even after all those preparations, Lu Ming's chest felt tight with worry.

Xiao Xiao let out a muffled groan. She had reached the final stage.

The two Soul Cores spun furiously inside her like black holes, with no sign of an imbalance.

Half a day later,

Xiao Xiao slowly breathed out a mouthful of stale air. A blue-green beam shot into the sky.

She floated gracefully in midair, her blue-green dress swaying. A strange light shone in her emerald eyes, making them glitter like gems.

"One yin, one yang, each answering the other. Yin and yang in endless motion, undying and eternal."

"Yin-Yang Complementary Twin Soul Cores—formed!"

"From this day forward, unless one of you is hiding your true strength, I, Xiao Xiao, am the strongest beneath the gods!"

Congratulations, Sister Xiao Xiao, on becoming a peerless... Douluo!