He Had Just Taken in Dugu Yan, and Now Ye Lingling Too?

It was just past midnight. The wall lamps in the top-floor corridor of the Rose Hotel flickered on and off, swaying in the damp draft.

The suite's mahogany door was tightly shut. A dark shadow slid along the wall outside, darker than the night itself. Its feet sank into the thick carpet, and not a sound escaped its lips.

Just as I stood three feet from the door, a sharp gust of wind suddenly erupted from the shadows above the door frame, without any warning!

With a hiss...! Five sharp claws wreathed in crimson-gold light tore through the air, carrying a chilling killing intent, aimed straight for the shadowy figure's throat.

The shadowy figure's pupils constricted sharply, clearly not expecting someone to be lurking and keeping watch outside the door. This attack was unavoidable; the newcomer had no time to retreat and could only forcefully activate the Soul Power within his body, quickly clasping his hands together in front of his chest.

With a whoosh, three Soul Ring —two yellow and one purple—alarmed and lit up abruptly beneath her feet. A strange Begonia Flower, white and pink in color, appeared out of thin air, emitting a soft white light, and dangerously positioned itself in front of the sharp claws.

The moment Zhu Zhuqing saw the Begonia Flower clearly, her cold gaze sharpened, and she twisted her wrist in mid-air to dissipate the force.

The pure yang Armor-Piercing Dragon Qi emanating from its fingertips still grazed the edge of the petals, severing the black veil covering the shadowy figure's face cleanly!

A black veil fell down, revealing a pale yet exquisitely beautiful and aloof oval face.

"Ye Lingling?"

The door was suddenly pulled open from the inside, Dugu Yan, dressed in a clean and crisp outfit, strode out. She looked at the girl outside, whose throat was held half an inch by Zhu Zhuqing's sharp claws, a hint of surprise in her emerald eyes, before speaking crisply, "Sister Zhu Zhuqing, please have mercy. She didn't come to ambush us."

Upon receiving the signal, Zhu Zhuqing immediately withdrew the crimson-gold true energy from her fingertips and retreated back to the doorway, though her cold, sharp gaze remained fixed on Ye Lingling.

Dugu Yan looked Ye Lingling up and down, noticing that she was soaked to the bone with raindrops still dripping from the hem of her clothes. She raised an eyebrow, amused. "I wondered who had been following me all this way. It's you... What, you've been out in the cold wind all night, and now that you heard I didn't die inside, you've finally decided to show yourself?"

Ye Lingling ignored Dugu Yan's teasing. Her once empty and lifeless eyes looked over the doorway and stared directly at the white-robed youth sitting calmly in the main seat of the hall. Her clear, cold voice carried a faint tension. "I want to see Su Chen."

Inside the hall, Su Chen held a warm Teacup, his gaze falling on the girl in black outside the door. "Come in."

Taking a deep breath, Ye Lingling stepped across the threshold. As she passed Dugu Yan, she visibly paused.

As teammates who spent every day together, she knew all too well how stubborn the lingering, sweet-smelling poison in Dugu Yan's body was.

But right now, Dugu Yan not only has a rosy and fair complexion, but her Soul Power has also been refined to the peak of level thirty-nine.

In just half an hour, the deadly situation that had even Poison Douluo helpless was broken by this young man with ease!

Shocked, Ye Lingling quickly walked to the center of the hall.

Unlike ordinary noble ladies who would exchange greetings and pleasantries, she looked directly at Su Chen with a haughty and frank gaze. "During the day on the Soul Fighting Platform, your Crimson Gold True Qi invaded Yu Tianheng's body. I used all my strength to activate the Nine Heart Begonia, but not only did I fail to dispel your Qi in the slightest, I was also injured in the heart meridian by that pure Yang domineering aura."

Su Chen put down his Teacup and calmly looked at her. "So you came all night to demand an explanation, or to beg for medicine for your captain?"

"Yu Tianheng's life or death is none of my business. I only joined the Imperial Fighting Team to find a safe haven."

Ye Lingling shook her head. Before she could finish speaking, a flash of light appeared in her palm, and the white and pink Nine Heart Begonia flower reappeared once again.

But upon closer inspection, the bottom two petals of this Begonia Flower, hailed as a miracle of Martial Soul, appeared strangely withered and scorched, with wisps of black energy flowing back into her wrist along the flower stem.

"Everyone believes that the Nine Heart Begonia is a divine miracle that defies the laws of nature, that as long as Soul Master has a breath left, they can forcibly snatch life from the clutches of King of Hell." Ye Lingling looked at the begonia in her palm, her voice still so beautiful, yet tinged with a bone-chilling sorrow, "But no one knows that our Ye Clan is a single-lineage family, with only one heir per generation. There can never be more than two Nine Heart Begonia Soul Master living on the entire continent at the same time."

Hearing this, Dugu Yan, who was standing to the side, was taken aback. "I've heard Grandpa mention this before. Isn't it because your Martial Soul are special?"

"That's not special, it's a curse." Ye Lingling smiled bitterly, raising her eyes to stare at Su Chen. "The Nine Heart Begonia's ability to save people is never a stroke of luck; it uses our own lifespan and blood as a catalyst to fill the wounds of the injured. Every generation of inheritors, once they break through to the Soul Saint, will have the latent curse of withering bloodline fully awakened. Only when the previous generation of Begonia Soul Master dies can the next generation live. My mother exhausted her life force to save my father in her early years, and now only my grandmother and I remain in the entire clan."

At this point, Ye Lingling's body suddenly swayed violently, and her face turned deathly pale.

"Hmm..."

A suppressed groan escaped from her lips. During the day, she had forcibly activated her Martial Soul Origin to fight against Su Chen's Pure Yang Dragon Aura, which had already triggered the withering backlash lurking deep within her bloodline!

Click!

The illusory image of the Nine Heart Begonia floating in the palm of his hand suddenly emitted a crisp sound, and the three petals at the bottom withered inch by inch on the spot, turning into gray-black dust and scattering.

As soon as the petals withered, a dense aura of death exploded from her heart, rushing wildly through her Eight Extraordinary Meridians. Ye Lingling's knees buckled, and she fell uncontrollably to the ground, drops of crimson blood seeping from the collar of her black clothes. Her life force drained away rapidly like a burst dam!

"Lingling!!" Dugu Yan's expression changed, and he subconsciously reached out to help her, but the moment his fingertips touched Ye Lingling's arm, he was frozen by a chilling, deathly aura and abruptly withdrew his hand. "Young Master, her heart is dying!!"

Su Chen's eyes flashed with a dark golden light. Under the vision of the Delusion-Breaking Divine Pupils, countless gray-black curse lines were Entanglement the surface of Ye Lingling's heart. With the backlash from the Nine Heart Begonia, those black lines were tightening frantically, attempting to completely sever her heart meridian.

What a domineering bloodline curse! In the blink of an eye, Su Chen's plan was finalized.

The Nine Heart Begonia is known for its wide-area, all-around healing abilities, but its only drawback is that it can only heal injuries and cannot expel poisons. It is also limited by the short-lived curse that comes with trading one's life for another.

If the supreme blood and qi of the Chaos Ancestral Dragon could be used to wash away the curse and reshape her Martial Soul, not only could the Imperial Fighting Team of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy be completely emptied out, but the Dragon God Team could also be given an invincible mobile fountain!

Ning Rongrong's Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda primarily amplifies all attributes, while Ye Lingling's Begonia primarily provides group invulnerability and sustain. Once these two are combined on the field, who can stand against them?

"Guard your mind, don't withdraw your Martial Soul!" Su Chen shouted in a low voice, taking a step to stand in front of Ye Lingling.