"Rongrong, mind your manners."
Accompanied by a voice as warm and smooth as jade, Ning Fengzhi and Qian Renxue strolled over side by side along the Waterside Pavilion's corridor.
Only upon hearing her father's voice did Ning Rongrong reluctantly release Meng Chen's thoroughly tormented rabbit ears.
Like a little fox that had stolen a sweet, she clapped her hands, then nimbly climbed off Meng Chen.
As though granted a pardon, Meng Chen sprang to his feet with a kip-up. He hurriedly covered his burning rabbit ears and shot Ning Rongrong a lingering, apprehensive glare.
"Daddy, you don't know what happened! I nearly fell onto a rock just now, and Meng Chen saved me!"
Ning Rongrong scampered into Ning Fengzhi's arms. Willful as she was, she still remembered Meng Chen's kindness.
She tilted her little head up and pleaded, her eyes brimming with anticipation.
"Daddy, can we take Meng Chen back to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect? All those fellow disciples are so clumsy, and they're no fun at all. I want Meng Chen to play with me every day!"
Meng Chen's scalp immediately prickled at her words, and he secretly rolled his eyes.
Play with you every day? Is that really playing with you? You just want to pet my ears for free!
Ning Fengzhi affectionately tapped his daughter's little nose and smiled helplessly.
"Don't be silly. Little Chen is His Highness Qinghe's sworn younger brother and belongs to the Crown Prince's Residence. You can't simply take him away because you want to."
Qian Renxue stepped forward at just the right moment and smiled graciously.
"If you're fond of Little Chen, little sister Rongrong, the doors of the Crown Prince's Residence are always open to you. As long as my teacher permits it, you may visit him whenever you wish. I'll sweep the couch clean and await your arrival."
"You said it yourself, big brother Crown Prince!"
Ning Rongrong turned toward Meng Chen, lifted her pointed little chin, and gave an imperious huff.
"Did you hear that? The next time I come to Heaven Dou City, you're not allowed to hide from me! Otherwise, I'll have Grandpa Sword pluck out all your rabbit fur!"
Despite her fierce threat, undisguised delight shone across her pretty little face.
As the luxurious carriage slowly departed from the Crown Prince's Residence, the courtyard, which had been noisy all morning, finally returned to peace.
Five days passed in a flash.
Over those five days, Meng Chen never ventured outside, devoting himself to cultivation in the side hall. By now, his physical strength alone was enough to clash head-on with an ordinary Power Attack System Soul Elder.
But Meng Chen knew very well that this was still far from enough.
To gain the ability to protect himself on the danger-ridden Douluo Continent, he had to break through the second blood essence seal as soon as possible!
Early that morning, Meng Chen left the Crown Prince's Residence, filled with anticipation as he hurried toward the Benevolent Heart Apothecary on Heaven Dou City's southern street.
"Young Master Meng, you're here."
The moment the shopkeeper spotted Meng Chen's distinctive golden ears, he respectfully ushered him into a private room.
Before long, Ye Cixin walked in gracefully, dressed in a plain-colored gown.
What made Meng Chen's heart sink slightly was the trace of unmistakable guilt and exhaustion in the eyes of this highly respected female physician of Heaven Dou City.
"Madam Ye, has something happened to the medicinal ingredients?"
Meng Chen asked softly upon seeing her expression.
Ye Cixin sighed lightly, then took three golden phoebe wood boxes from her Storage Soul Tool. Rich medicinal fragrances wafted from them as she arranged them neatly on the table.
"Young master, the Benevolent Heart Apothecary has used every available channel to gather the thousand-year Dragon Scale Fruit, thousand-year Blue Vein Vine, and thousand-year Earth Dragon Tendon for you. All are of excellent medicinal quality. But something went wrong with the crucial fourth ingredient, the thousand-year Sea Dragon Marrow."
Meng Chen's brows drew together slightly.
"Is it a matter of price, or does the trading company have none in stock?"
"It isn't a matter of money."
Ye Cixin gave a bitter smile.
"The caravan scheduled to deliver the Sea Dragon Marrow encountered a rare Soul Beast rampage on its return journey. More than half the caravan was killed or injured, and most of the goods they were escorting... that piece of thousand-year Sea Dragon Marrow was lost as well. I fear there won't be another available anywhere in the Heaven Dou Empire in the near future."
At this, Meng Chen could not help feeling deeply helpless.
What rotten luck! The power of the golden dragon king bloodline is overwhelmingly domineering. Without the complete seal-breaking medicinal formula, recklessly breaking the second seal could very well allow that rampaging dragon power to destroy me.
With one of the principal ingredients missing, his breakthrough would have to be put on hold.
Though disappointed, Meng Chen understood that such disasters were difficult to guard against and said little more.
He paid the Gold Soul Coins for the remaining three medicinal ingredients, carefully stored the boxes in his Soul Tool, then took his leave of the apothecary.
Walking along Heaven Dou City's bustling streets, Meng Chen looked up at the azure sky and gently rubbed his aching brow.
"Looks like the second seal will have to wait a little longer..."
At the very moment Meng Chen sighed over the setback with his medicinal ingredients,
deep within the innermost reaches of the vast Star Dou Great Forest, whose canopy blotted out the sky and sun, south of the Heaven Dou Empire.
This was an absolute forbidden zone for human Soul Masters.
Even a Titled Douluo who came here would, with the slightest carelessness...
At the center of the Lake of Life, clear and tranquil as green jade, space suddenly began to twist violently without warning.
Seven-colored heaven and earth essence, so dense it had become tangible, abruptly seethed. High in the sky, an ancient, mysterious silver dragon's silhouette flickered into view and vanished!
Deep beneath the lake, a terrifying consciousness that had slumbered for untold tens of thousands of years quietly awakened.
Humm...
Transparent ripples spread through space.
Then faint light scattered, and a small, slender figure slowly emerged from the spatial rift and drifting white mist, stepping across the water on exquisite bare feet whiter than frost and snow.
It was a girl who appeared to be about five or six years old.
She had long silver hair, a color rarely seen in this world, which cascaded like moonlight all the way to her ankles.
Beneath the sunlight, it shimmered with a sacred, dreamlike halo.
Her exquisite little face seemed the most perfect creation in existence, untouched by even the faintest trace of mortal life.
Most breathtaking of all were her deep, clear amethyst eyes, magnificent beyond compare.
"My lord..."
At the edge of the Lake of Life, space warped, and a tall figure in black robes knelt on one knee. Ferocious draconic might surged from his entire body, yet he was deeply reverent, his eyes filled with excitement bordering on fanaticism.
The petite silver-haired, violet-eyed figure paid no attention to Di Tian behind her.
She slowly raised her unsullied violet eyes, her gaze crossing towering mountains and endless space to settle on the Heaven Dou Empire in the direction of the Far North.
Not long before, the bloodline within her that belonged to the Dragon God's other half, dormant for so long, had sensed a distant yet incomparably blazing bloodline resonance!
It was precisely this unrest in her bloodline that had put Di Tian and the others on edge, leaving them no time to watch the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm and allowing him to escape.
The silver-haired girl gently bit her lip.
"That presence... is it you?"
Her voice was like a secluded orchid in an empty valley, ethereal and cool, carrying a sacred whisper from primordial times.
As her words faded, silver light flickered. The breathtaking silver-haired figure silently walked out of the Lake of Life, then gradually disappeared into the boundless sea of trees.
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