Sinews and Bones Rang as One! A Twelve-Year-Old Soul King

Meanwhile,

Ye Han and Dugu Bo traveled swiftly on foot. Before long, they returned to Heaven Dou City and headed straight into a private courtyard residence.

Ye Han had bought it over the past two years as a place for their group to stay.

In the back courtyard, Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling were already waiting.

Seeing Ye Han return unharmed, both girls quietly let their anxious hearts settle.

Dugu Yan hurried forward, her emerald eyes brimming with curiosity:

"Ye Han, what exactly is the fourth Soul Skill you obtained this time? Hurry up and show us!"

Ye Lingling said nothing, but her violet eyes turned toward him too, anticipation shining in their depths.

Under the two girls' gazes, Ye Han suddenly felt as though he had become a laboratory mouse on display.

He chuckled helplessly. "All right, I'll demonstrate it again."

With a thought, crimson light flared, and the Fire Qilin immediately appeared in the center of the courtyard.

Without any unnecessary movement, the black Soul Ring beneath the Fire Qilin suddenly lit up!

Invisible spatial ripples spread in all directions, enveloping most of the back courtyard.

Spatial Prison, activate!

The next instant, the Fire Qilin vanished from its spot without warning.

Almost simultaneously, it appeared in another corner of the courtyard, scorching flames surging over its body like a blazing meteor.

Just as everyone's attention was drawn to the fiery meteor, the Fire Qilin's form blurred again, and in an instant, it stood beside Dugu Yan.

Its Qilin Claw swept out with a metallic gleam. As it approached Dugu Yan, it withdrew all its force and merely brushed against her.

It was not over yet.

Silver light flashed in Ye Han's eyes. Like a phantom, he appeared silently behind Ye Lingling and raised a hand to pat her shoulder.

By the time Ye Lingling turned around, Ye Han had already returned to his original position.

Throughout the demonstration, the Fire Qilin and Ye Han came and went without a trace within the Spatial Prison, their repeated, unpredictable teleports leaving everyone dazzled.

Once the demonstration ended, the Fire Qilin withdrew its Soul Skill, and the churning spatial fluctuations in the courtyard slowly subsided.

Ye Lingling and Dugu Yan stood with their lips slightly parted, the shock still lingering on their faces.

"This... this Soul Skill..." Dugu Yan blinked, momentarily unable to find the right words.

"Spatial teleportation, and you can even use it repeatedly. This Soul Skill is practically invincible!"

Boundless envy flashed through Ye Lingling's eyes.

Beside them, Dugu Bo suddenly grew solemn. "Ye Han, this Soul Skill is far too unusual. From now on, whenever you or the Fire Qilin use your fourth Soul Skill in front of outsiders, try not to teleport repeatedly."

Ye Han listened carefully and nodded firmly. "You've thought this through more thoroughly, Senior."

They spent half the day catching up.

Then Ye Han entered a secluded chamber with a jade box in his hands.

Inside lay two medicinal herbs.

After he swallowed them both, a warm current erupted through his body, strengthening his extraordinary meridians.

"Ah!"

Ye Han let out a moan of pleasure.

Then he immediately sat cross-legged to digest the vast, surging medicinal power within him.

Deep down, he had a vague premonition that refining these two spiritual herbs would bring astonishing gains.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

That day,

Sensing the increasingly dense, weighty fluctuations of Soul Power inside the chamber, Dugu Bo murmured:

"That child, Ye Han... if he absorbs all the medicinal power of those two immortal herbs, could he ride that momentum straight to the threshold of level fifty?"

"...A twelve-year-old Soul King. What a monster that boy is!"

At that thought, even Dugu Bo, a Titled Douluo, could not help feeling secretly astounded.

Time slipped quietly by.

Before he knew it, Ye Han had spent a full month in seclusion.

Yet things had not unfolded as Dugu Bo expected. Ye Han had not refined all the medicinal power in one go.

After absorbing his fourth Soul Ring, his Soul Power had settled a little over halfway through level forty-one.

Digesting the full power of both immortal herbs in one burst and making up the remaining eight and a half levels would not have been difficult.

But he had already made his plans and did not intend to push his Soul Power straight to level fifty.

At least... he could not break through to level fifty in front of Dugu Bo and the others.

The reason was simple: once his Soul Power reached level fifty, the Fire Qilin would mature into a true Qilin Beast.

An evolution like that would undoubtedly cause quite a stir.

Ye Han intended to attribute this evolution to the blazing Yang Spring.

The best arrangement was to complete the breakthrough when he went to cultivate at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

There was no need to rush over such a short stretch of time.

Inside the chamber, Ye Han slowly opened his eyes.

Feeling the Soul Power within him, several times stronger than before, he could not help smiling with delight.

He focused inward and brought up his status panel.

The Soul Power Level listed on the panel was forty-eight, but from his own senses, he had actually reached the peak of level forty-eight and could break through at any moment.

He had deliberately held something in reserve, concealing part of the medicinal power deep within his meridians and flesh without activating it for refinement just yet.

The main reason this seclusion had taken so long was that he had used qilin blood to nurture every meridian and bone in his body.

At the same time, he had completed their awakening.

With his cultivation finished for now, Ye Han slowly rose and stretched. A series of crisp cracks erupted from the bones throughout his body.

This was... his sinews and bones ringing as one!

Creak!

Ye Han pushed open the chamber door. Seeing Dugu Bo waiting outside, he bowed slightly. "Sorry for making you worry, Senior. I can honestly say I've never felt better."

Soul Power slowly spread from his body, openly revealing the fluctuations of level forty-eight.

Feeling that Soul Power, Dugu Bo immediately broke into a smile.

He stepped forward and clapped Ye Han hard on the shoulder, laughing heartily. "Level forty-eight! Well done, boy. You're cultivating so fast that people can't even bring themselves to feel jealous!"

"Come! We must celebrate properly today. My treat—we're going to the finest restaurant in Heaven Dou City!"

He immediately sent someone to Heaven Dou Royal Academy to fetch Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling. Together, they left the courtyard residence and headed straight for a restaurant in the busiest part of Heaven Dou City.

They chatted as they ate.

Upon hearing that Ye Han's Soul Power had reached level forty-eight, Ye Lingling and Dugu Yan reacted differently.

Ye Lingling's chopsticks paused in her hand. Her violet eyes turned toward Ye Han, holding a wistfulness she could hardly conceal.

She gave a soft huff and muttered, "I finally managed to catch up a little... and now the gap's opened up so much again."

Dugu Yan took it in stride. She placed a morsel of food in Ye Han's bowl and smiled reassuringly. "Lingling, don't let it bother you. I got used to it ages ago. You simply can't judge Ye Han by ordinary standards."

She recalled meeting Ye Han for the first time at the academy. His Soul Power Level had been lower than hers then, yet his actual combat strength had already firmly surpassed hers.

In just over two years, the gap in their cultivation had grown so enormous, but she could accept it.

Watching the three youngsters get along so well, especially the natural closeness between his granddaughter and Ye Han, Dugu Bo was delighted beyond measure.

This grandson-in-law was a done deal.

After the meal.

Ye Han set down his teacup and turned to Dugu Bo. "Senior, I intend to return to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well for another period of secluded cultivation, just as before."

The blazing Yang Spring within the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well was an exceptional mimicry cultivation site for the Fire Qilin, offering twice the results for half the effort.

Besides, the natural energy gathered in that hidden realm far exceeded that of the outside world.

Even without a special environment suited to his blood and vitality, cultivating Soul Power there was still faster than at Heaven Dou Royal Academy's ordinary mimicry cultivation grounds.

Dugu Bo was long accustomed to this and nodded his approval. "Of course. Use your own judgment. If you need anything or run into difficulties, send word to me at any time."

Just then, Dugu Yan seemed to remember something. She put down her chopsticks and looked at Ye Han with mild exasperation. "Ye Han, if you still aren't returning to the academy this time, I'm afraid Teacher Qin's newly drawn-up teaching plan will go up in smoke again."

"Oh? What happened?" Ye Han turned toward her.

Dugu Yan spread her hands and explained, "Teacher Qin only has the eight of us under him. You're away from the academy year-round, and after Yu Tianheng earned his Silver Soul Badge a while ago, he also asked Teacher Qin for extended leave and returned to the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan to cultivate in seclusion."

She paused, a hint of a smile appearing on her face. "In my opinion, seeing Lingling and me break through to Soul Ancestor one after the other probably spurred him on. He was eager to hurry back and use his clan's resources to reach level forty."

Ye Lingling added softly from beside her, "So now, only six of us are still attending classes at the academy: me, Yanyan, the Shi Brothers, Yu Feng, and Osler. We can't even put together a seven-person team for joint training."

After listening, Ye Han gave a helpless chuckle.

For him right now, advancing his own cultivation mattered far more than training to improve the team's coordination.

He said, "Team drills can wait for now. There's still plenty of time before the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament begins. Once I finish this seclusion and advance my cultivation further, we'll still have time to set aside a concentrated stretch for training together."

Ye Lingling and Dugu Yan exchanged glances, both wearing expressions that said they had expected exactly this.

Dugu Yan waved a hand. "All right, we know. Lingling and I will explain things to Teacher Qin for you. You're always away from the academy anyway, so Teacher Qin... is more or less used to it by now."