The Heaven-Defying Demon Dragon and the Heart! (Part Two) (Please invest! Bookmark! Send recommendation votes!)

Twin martial souls were among the greatest gifts in the Douluo World. Even if they did not rank first, their place in second was beyond dispute. And if artificial, acquired factors were excluded, they were the greatest gift of all!

Qin Xu was thrilled and excited. Although his Heaven-Defying Demon Dragon martial soul had already given him an extraordinarily high ceiling, twin martial souls would open his future to boundless seas and skies, granting him limitless potential.

The heart, Qin Xu's second martial soul, was one of the finest body martial souls.

After releasing his heart martial soul for the first time, Qin Xu felt his blood grow hot, beginning at his chest and spreading throughout his body. Warm, radiant energy welled up all through him. This was hardly surprising: only the heart and blood together formed the complete, top-tier body martial soul—the heart!

Before Qin Xu could examine what made his heart martial soul different, however, Zhao Yong rushed over and seized his shoulders. His eyes blazed as he stared intently at Qin Xu, as though trying to see straight through him.

"The heart! The blood! There's no mistake—it's the heart martial soul!" Zhao Yong shouted, completely losing his composure, his delight impossible to conceal. "It really is the heart martial soul!"

Although Zhao Yong's family was not like Qin Tianji's, where each generation had only a single heir and children were hard to come by, his descendants could hardly be called numerous.

He had fathered two sons. His eldest, Zhao Zhang, was Qin Xu's maternal grandfather and had died in the Star Dou Great Forest, leaving only one child: Qin Xu's mother, Zhao Linglang. His younger son, Zhao He, was a core disciple of the Body Sect and had one son, Qin Xu's uncle, Zhao Lingwu, who currently had no children.

That was why he was so excited to see Qin Xu awaken a heart martial soul. This was a descendant of his own blood!

"A heart martial soul! A top-tier body martial soul! A true dragon martial soul! An ultimate martial soul!" Qin Tianji was equally ecstatic, laughing wildly without a shred of restraint. "The very finest twin martial souls! Hahaha! Heaven has finally smiled on our Qin Family! Hahaha!"

The two old men's utter loss of composure left Qin Xu staring dumbfounded from the side. Zhang Lexuan was grinning foolishly too, a dazed smile on her delicate face. She, too, seemed lost in the wonderful news that Qin Xu had twin martial souls.

It was no wonder the quiet, elegant Zhang Lexuan wore such an expression. She cared far too much about Qin Xu. Now that he had awakened the peerless gift of twin martial souls, how could she not be happy and excited?

A little while later, Qin Tianji and Zhao Yong calmed down.

"Xu'er, don't casually reveal your twin martial souls to outsiders," Qin Tianji instructed. "Focus on cultivating your first martial soul, the black dragon, for now."

"All right." Qin Xu nodded.

Standing beside them, Zhao Yong wanted to object to Qin Tianji's words, yet could find no grounds to do so. Having Qin Xu cultivate his black dragon martial soul first was undoubtedly the right choice, because Qin Xu was currently the young patriarch of the Black Dragon Qin Family and the sovereign of the Black Dragon Duchy.

"Old Zhao," Qin Tianji said, turning to Zhao Yong with a trace of pleading in his voice, "I hope you'll do your best to keep Xu'er's twin martial souls a secret. Until he matures, there are too many uncertainties."

Zhao Yong nodded without hesitation, his expression turning solemn. "Old Qin, rest assured. Xu'er is my great-grandson. The blood of our Zhao family flows in him too, and he is the only bloodline my son left in this world. Of course I want him to grow up safe and healthy."

"Thank you!" Qin Tianji smiled in relief, then turned to Zhang Lexuan. "Little Lexuan."

Zhang Lexuan immediately answered with a serious expression, "Great-grandfather, I understand!"

It was not that Qin Tianji was overly suspicious. The Qin Family simply had no room left for mistakes.

"Well, now that Xu'er has completed his martial soul awakening, it's time I returned to Heaven Dou City," Zhao Yong said, a smile returning to his face. He had come for two reasons: to celebrate Qin Xu's birthday and to witness his martial soul awakening. With both accomplished, it would hardly be appropriate to linger.

After all, he was not only related to the Qin family by marriage, but also an imperial retainer. As someone with close ties to both the Black and White clans, his most important task at present was to mend the rift between them. Now that his grandson possessed a peerless gift, a brilliant idea for repairing the relationship between the Qin Family and the imperial family had come to him.

For now, he urgently needed his sect's support and to learn the emperor's own thoughts.

"I won't keep you," Qin Tianji said, nodding expressionlessly. "I'll consider adjusting my attitude toward the imperial family."

In truth, Qin Tianji's outlook had already changed after Qin Xu awakened his gift of twin martial souls. Whereas he had previously entertained the idea of breaking completely with the imperial family, he now felt that the Black-White Alliance still needed to exist, even if only in name.

He needed to create a relatively peaceful environment for Qin Xu.

Zhao Yong was delighted. Naturally, he understood why his old friend's attitude had changed. He patted Qin Xu's head and smiled. "Xu'er, Great-grandpa is leaving now. I'll come see you again in a while."

"Goodbye, Great-grandpa! Xu'er will miss you!"

Qin Tianji saw Zhao Yong off.

Qin Xu and Zhang Lexuan also returned from the Offering Hall to their sleeping palace.

Beneath the eaves of the sleeping palace, Qin Xu stopped and looked up. It was midsummer, with clear skies stretching for ten thousand miles. A blazing sun hung overhead, its brilliance bathing the surrounding lands, its fierce heat scorching the earth. He stared directly at it, his eyes shifting thoughtfully.

"What is it, little brother Xu?" Zhang Lexuan asked softly.

Because of their relationship, Zhang Lexuan always called Qin Xu "little brother Xu" when they were alone together.

"Sister Xuan, let's go up to the Star-Appointing Platform." Qin Xu lowered his gaze and turned to Zhang Lexuan.

The Star-Appointing Platform stood behind Qin Xu's sleeping palace. Forty-nine meters tall, it was one of the highest structures in the royal palace. According to legend, a Black Dragon Duke of some past generation had built it as a cultivation site for his wife. It was now Zhang Lexuan's exclusive cultivation spot, where she often drew down moonlight.

"All right." Zhang Lexuan nodded. She did not ask why Qin Xu wanted to go there, simply following his wishes and heading toward the Star-Appointing Platform.

They soon arrived at the foot of the Star-Appointing Platform. Over a hundred steps led up the nearly fifty-meter-high structure—undoubtedly a considerable challenge for ordinary people, but no difficulty at all for soul masters.

Zhang Lexuan gathered Qin Xu into her arms and leaped, soaring through the air before landing easily atop the platform.

This was hardly surprising, for Zhang Lexuan was already a Soul King, with soul power as high as level 59. Within three months at most, she would break through her bottleneck and become a Soul Emperor. Even then, she would be no older than sixteen.

Someone of her age with such cultivation was as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns throughout the entire soul master world.

Qin Tianji had remarked more than once that even the Twin Holy Dragons, who had swept across the continent over a hundred years ago, had been no better at Zhang Lexuan's age—and might even have fallen short of her.

Atop the Star-Appointing Platform.

"Sister Xuan, I'm going to convert my innate soul power here. Please stand guard for me," Qin Xu told Zhang Lexuan.

"All right," Zhang Lexuan immediately agreed. "Do your best, little brother Xu."

Converting innate soul power was not something accomplished in a single stroke, nor was it a process that could not be interrupted. Zhang Lexuan herself had possessed innate full soul power, so she was naturally familiar with it and found nothing strange about Qin Xu's decision.

Qin Xu then sat cross-legged on the ground, his hands overlapping at his dantian, palms facing the sky. Facing the sun, he closed his eyes, steadied his breathing, and gradually sank inward.

A little while later, an invisible current began to circulate around Qin Xu's body.

Zhang Lexuan's lovely eyes shone, and delight appeared on her face. She knew this meant Qin Xu had entered meditation and begun converting his innate soul power.

The process of converting innate soul power was also the process by which a soul master came to understand and analyze their martial soul. Only by understanding one's own martial soul, knowing its characteristics, and grasping its nature could one become a qualified soul master.

Qin Xu knew this like the palm of his hand.

His mind was clear, his consciousness immersed within his body. Streams of wondrous energy refined his bloodline and flesh. A pleasurable sensation rising from his marrow left him utterly relaxed and elated. His body was responding to his innate soul power, and his innate soul power was taking on his own traits.

At the same time, inherited knowledge concerning the Heaven-Defying Demon Dragon martial soul appeared in his memories and consciousness one piece after another. His body changed in tandem, completing the first martial soul possession of his life as a soul master.

The traits of a true dragon martial soul were unmistakable. A pair of dragon horns sprouted from Qin Xu's head, magnificent yet fierce, each roughly three inches long. Fine scales appeared along both sides of his cheeks and the front and back of his neck, flickering in and out of view like ink-dark mountains amid clouds and mist. His body seemed to grow a little taller as well.

Zhang Lexuan took it all in, her delight deepening. To her, Qin Xu looked even more adorable under martial soul possession, with an added air of nobility. As for the darkness element that stirred with the appearance of his martial soul, curiosity and a desire to explore glittered in her moonlight-clear eyes.

Elemental resonance—something that only appears with an ultimate attribute. Just as Great-grandfather said, little brother Xu's martial soul really does possess ultimate darkness. How wonderful!

So Zhang Lexuan thought.