Sky Dream Ice Silkworm!
He had spatial abilities and a clone skill. It was not as though he had no chance to devise a plan.
But his priorities at this stage were to find Shui Bing'er, deliver a Soul Bone to Tang San, and then complete his metal, water, and wood attributes.
Previously, he had never been in a hurry to complete those three attributes.
After all, he was only a Soul Ancestor. Ahead of him lay Soul King, Soul Emperor, and eventually godhood.
He had plenty of time to improve and fill in the gaps.
But if he wanted to make plans for the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, he would have to complete them ahead of schedule.
He was worried that introducing other powerful attributes too early would affect the plan he had envisioned.
"Find Shui Bing'er first, then deliver the Soul Bone to Tang San. I can work on completing my attributes at the same time."
With the order settled, Gu Ping'an took out the resources he had brought from the Heaven Dou Imperial Family and quickly immersed himself in cultivation.
Time passed. Night surged in like a tide, then silently receded, and a rosy cloud slowly rose on the horizon.
Boom!
A powerful aura erupted in the dawn light.
Gu Ping'an stepped out of his Cultivation Cottage and looked toward its source.
"Dugu Bo?"
"Did he break through?"
Gu Ping'an was slightly surprised, but then realization dawned.
At first, he had wondered why a Titled Douluo like Dugu Bo needed an entire day to absorb a Soul Bone over forty thousand years old. It turned out he had also been breaking through to level ninety-five while absorbing it.
"Then She Long..."
Boom!
Just as he thought of She Long, an aura no weaker than Dugu Bo's spread from where She Long was staying.
"Level ninety-five!" Gu Ping'an sighed.
After absorbing the Ten Thousand Binding Heavenly Net Vine Soul Ring, he had only reached level forty-three, close to forty-four.
A period of cultivation had brought him to level forty-four.
Becoming a Titled Douluo was still a distant prospect.
Before long!
Dugu Bo emerged with his back straight, his pace unhurried and his manner composed.
Showing off a bit, aren't you? Gu Ping'an could tell that Dugu Bo's confidence was soaring.
"Gu brat, I've reached level ninety-five!"
Dugu Bo raised his chin slightly, his face brimming with pride, as though he looked down on everything beneath him.
"Mm! I know." Gu Ping'an nodded calmly.
"Uh... I said I've reached level ninety-five!" Thinking Gu Ping'an had not heard him clearly, Dugu Bo spoke again.
"Yes! I know!"
Gu Ping'an nodded calmly once more.
Dugu Bo froze on the spot.
"Gu brat, that's your reaction to me breaking through to level ninety-five?"
Dugu Bo was baffled! Dugu Bo was going mad!
Breaking through to level ninety-five meant entering the ranks of Super Douluos.
In the past, he would not have dared dream of it.
And that was all the reaction he got? As bland as saying he had eaten a bowl of savory tofu pudding for breakfast.
With a sweep of his sleeve, Dugu Bo turned to look toward Dugu Yan's room.
"Don't bother looking. Yanyan probably went to sleep after absorbing her Soul Bone. She hasn't woken up yet," Gu Ping'an said mildly, dashing Dugu Bo's hopes of showing off to Dugu Yan.
Dugu Yan had begun absorbing her Soul Bone that morning.
By the time she finished absorbing the eighty-thousand-year left leg Soul Bone, it was already midnight.
Naturally, she had gone to rest.
Dugu Bo stood there in a daze.
He had never imagined that after becoming a Super Douluo, he would not even be able to find someone to show off to.
"All right, if you've got nothing to do, go to Skywater City and help me find a girl named Shui Bing'er."
Seeing that Dugu Bo had nothing to do, Gu Ping'an spoke up.
Doesn't he just want to show off?
He can show off outside, too.
"Sure! Gu brat, do you have any information about that girl besides her name?" Dugu Bo turned and asked.
"She's around eight years old, and her Martial Soul is the Ice Phoenix.
"You can try looking at Skywater Academy."
Gu Ping'an shared the scraps of information he knew.
"Oh, right! Try to be polite. I'm looking for a teammate, not an enemy," Gu Ping'an added.
"I understand!"
With those words, Dugu Bo vanished from the spot.
"That excited?" Gu Ping'an looked at the place where Dugu Bo had disappeared.
He had not said Shui Bing'er needed to be found immediately, yet Dugu Bo was remarkably eager.
Dawn broke, and the red sun began to rise.
Xiao Wu and Dugu Yan woke up one after the other.
"Little Brother Ping'an, where's my grandfather?" After looking around without finding Dugu Bo, Dugu Yan turned to Gu Ping'an.
"He went out to show off... no, to help me find someone."
Show off?
Find someone?
A trace of confusion surfaced in Dugu Yan's mind, but she promptly tossed it aside.
"Little Brother Ping'an, your Sister Yanyan is already level forty-seven!"
Dugu Yan's eyes sparkled as she lifted her chin slightly.
She truly was Dugu Bo's granddaughter. Her expression was almost identical to his after he emerged at level ninety-five.
"You're amazing, Sister Yanyan! Unlike me. I'm over seven years old and only level forty-four."
"..."
The expression on Dugu Yan's face stiffened and cracked bit by bit. A smile still hung on her lips, but there was no mirth left in it.
She turned and trudged back into her room, her steps uneven.
"What's wrong?"
"Didn't she want praise?"
"Didn't I praise her?"
Gu Ping'an blinked, staring blankly as Dugu Yan returned to her room.
He had completely failed to notice that he had killed the conversation.
"My lord, your subordinate has broken through to level ninety-five!" She Long quietly appeared beside Gu Ping'an and spoke respectfully.
"Mm. Go find that former young lord you used to play house with and ask whether the girl who's to infiltrate Tang San's side has been arranged."
"Yes, my lord!" She Long rose and left.
Nuoding City, Junior Soul Master Academy.
Tang San walked alone through the academy, his steps a little quicker than usual.
Ever since Xiao Wu's family had taken her away, he felt as though Dorm Seven had ostracized him.
But a few days ago, another work-study student had arrived at Dorm Seven.
She was a gentle girl named A Zi. Her Martial Soul was the Thorn Vine, a Plant-type Martial Soul just like his.
More importantly, she did not ostracize him like everyone else.
In truth, the others in Dorm Seven were not ostracizing Tang San.
Xiao Wu was boisterous and playful, mingled easily with everyone in Dorm Seven, and was also close to Tang San.
So while Xiao Wu was there, the others in Dorm Seven had gotten along reasonably well with Tang San.
Once that connecting thread, Xiao Wu, was severed, the relationship between Tang San and the others in Dorm Seven naturally cooled.
Wang Sheng had merely warned Tang San out of kindness that Yu Xiaogang was a fraud, and Tang San had nearly beaten him up.
Without Xiao Wu there to smooth things over, who would dare hang out with Tang San?
Over time, Tang San came to see it as everyone else ostracizing him.
Thus, after a lively, adorable girl who cared about him suddenly arrived, he began to feel a faint desire to see her.
Inside the crown prince's residence in the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace.
Ci Xue stared at She Long standing before him, his face looking as miserable as though he had swallowed a dead rat.
When Qian Renxue had lost She Long in the wager, he had secretly rejoiced that he was not the one she had lost.
And now!
All he wanted to ask was why he had not been the one lost back then.
How long had it even been since they last met?
The companion who had once agreed to remain stuck at level ninety-two with him forever had quietly broken through to level ninety-five?
He worried when his companion lived poorly, but grew jealous when his companion lived too well.
Qian Renxue was likewise staring at She Long in shock.
He had served her for years, and she knew he had been stuck at level ninety-two all that time.
"Uncle She, did that brat give you all the Soul Bones he obtained?"
She knew that after Tang Hao's death, Gu Ping'an had taken three Soul Bones: the left leg, left arm, and right leg bones.
Spirit Hall suspected that he had also taken a right arm Soul Bone.
With the boost from so many Soul Bones, it would have been perfectly natural for She Long to soar straight to level ninety-five.
Hearing Qian Renxue's question, Ci Xue practically had sour envy bubbling up in his mouth.
Soul Bones!
He had worked for Spirit Hall for years without ever receiving a Soul Bone as a reward. How long had She Long even been serving Gu Ping'an?
Yet he had already received three, perhaps even four Soul Bones.
"Young Lord Qian, my lord sent me here to ask how the arrangements for the spy at Tang San's side are coming along."
Before you continue