Ye Lingling raised her hand and summoned a platinum-white begonia blossom, with a heart-shaped gemstone at its center.
She stared blankly at the Martial Soul in her palm. Tears welled uncontrollably in her eyes and dripped onto the gemstone. Choking with emotion, she called out its name.
"Sacred Heart Begonia!"
Both were top-tier support Martial Souls, and both faced severe restrictions. Just as the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda had a superior form, the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, the Nine Heart Begonia naturally had one as well.
Not only had its healing abilities greatly improved, but it could now mend mental wounds and counter all negative conditions. Most importantly to her, its Martial Soul restriction had finally been lifted.
Her Soul Power had also risen from its original rank twenty-two to rank twenty-eight-a full six ranks. Overwhelmed with excitement, Lingling threw her arms around Ye Yan and planted a fierce kiss on him.
"Xu Xiaoyan, what you said was actually true! Mother will be so happy when she finds out! (=^▽^=)"
Standing nearby, Dugu Yan had already opened her arms to embrace Lingling when she saw how excited she was. She never expected Lingling to pass right by her and kiss Ye Yan instead.
You bastard!
I'm still right here!
The capable Yanyan reached out and pulled the two apart, demanding to know why Lingling had done that. Ye Lingling was momentarily tongue-tied, unsure how to answer.
Ye Yan shielded her behind him and swung Dugu Yan's delicate hand, trying to muddle his way through.
"Yanzi~ Ye Lingling was just too excited about her Martial Soul Evolution. Be magnanimous and don't get angry."
"Hmph!"
Dugu Yan pouted. Seeing him instinctively protect Lingling left a sour ache in her heart. One was her fiancé, and the other was her closest friend. Why had everything changed after they absorbed the immortal herbs...?
"Xu Xiaoyan, you weren't flirting with Lingling while I was absorbing my immortal herb, were you?"
"Of course not! Oh, right, Yanzi, you and Lingling should rest here for now. I still have two immortal herbs to absorb. Remember not to get too close to the spring in the middle."
Ye Yan deployed his grand art of changing the subject, earning a suspicious stare from Dugu Yan. But... forget it, forget it. She couldn't let one rotten man ruin the bond between sisters. Dugu Yan took Lingling's hand, and the two made up once more.
After escaping Dugu Yan's death stare, he looked toward the octagonal mysterious ice grass and infernal delicate apricot on either side of the spring. Activating Invincible Golden Body, Ye Yan flashed forward, uprooted both immortal herbs, and stuffed them into his mouth.
Barely three breaths after swallowing them, his body began to tremble violently, turning entirely red and blue.
Feeling two extreme forces wreak havoc inside him, Ye Yan hurriedly plunged into the spring to balance them out and make them easier to absorb.
"Xu Xiaoyan!"
He moved too quickly. By the time Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling noticed, he had already fallen into the spring. Both girls instinctively stepped forward, only stopping when they remembered his earlier warning. They gazed anxiously at the spring, where only red and blue remained.
Two days passed in the blink of an eye. The calm surface began to churn, and a fair-skinned figure leaped from the spring. It was Ye Yan, who had completed his Ice-Fire Body Refinement.
The two girls, who had waited so long on the bank, instinctively looked up. Huh? What was that?
A gentle breeze swept past. Only then did he realize that the water's tyrannical energy had completely eaten away his clothes.
Ye Yan blushed and darted behind a rock. Only after putting on fresh clothes did he emerge again.
Dugu Yan and Lingling inspected him curiously, reaching out to pinch him. Xu Xiaoyan's skin had become much smoother, and the aura surrounding him seemed more profound.
A week later, Dugu Bo finally returned, now carrying a black mask.
"Hahaha! Xu Xiaoyan, you were right! That Shi Nian really did have a Head Soul Bone. I also found a Secret Technique in his storage ring."
Oh? A Secret Technique?
Ye Yan took the booklet and leafed through it. It contained the cultivation method for the Seven-in-One Fusion Skill. Though it had many restrictions, its effects were genuinely powerful.
They had no use for it, but Dong'er's Spirit Hall certainly would. He could give it to her as a gift when he had the chance. (ˆつ⩊⊂ˆ)੭
"Eh? Who's this? Where's Ye Lingling?"
Only then did Dugu Bo notice Yanzi holding that golden-haired figure in her arms. Strange. He remembered his granddaughter having only one close female friend.
The three exchanged smiles. In the end, Dugu Yan explained it to him.
"Grandpa, this is Lingling! Xu Xiaoyan picked an immortal herb for her, and after she took it, her Martial Soul evolved and she became like this. I got one too! My cultivation has already broken through to rank thirty~"
"What?!"
Dugu Bo was startled. Immortal herbs? He looked toward his medicinal garden. Sure enough, many of the extraordinary-looking herbs were missing. He turned to Ye Yan with a smile that wasn't quite a smile.
"Well, well. So this was why you deliberately lured me away with a Soul Bone, you little rascal."
Ye Yan scratched his head sheepishly. What he had done really wasn't very decent, but he couldn't exactly tell the old man outright that he wanted to take his immortal herbs and give them to his other wives, could he?
After taking out the earth dragon golden melon and successfully bribing Dugu Bo, Ye Yan began helping him transfer his toxins. With his body now immune to all poisons, there was no need for those complicated medicinal ingredients. A few drops of blood were enough.
Yanyan also absorbed the Illusion Wisdom Skull. Not only did her spiritual power increase substantially, but she also gained a Soul Skill called Illusion Space.
Once the toxins had been transferred, Dugu Bo eagerly swallowed the earth dragon golden melon. He took much longer to absorb it than either girl had-a full two days.
After absorbing the immortal herb, Dugu Bo successfully broke through to rank ninety-four. A jade-green ripple of Soul Power erupted around him, sending fierce winds surging wildly.
"Hahaha! I've never felt so clearheaded and refreshed! It's as though I've been reborn!"
Huh? What the hell?
Ye Yan looked Dugu Bo up and down. Why was this old man giving off a chill? Did he want to become an angel investor too?
Dugu Bo felt uncomfortable under his scrutiny. Could my Martial Soul have evolved too? He took out a mirror and checked. Nothing had changed. He was still just as handsome. (✿^‿^)
"Ahem. Now that my cultivation has improved so much, it's time I took you to acquire Soul Rings. I know exactly what sort of Soul Beast Yanzi needs. But Xu Xiaoyan, what attributes does your Blue Silver Grass require?"
As an illiterate who had never attended school, Ye Yan naturally knew nothing about Soul Beasts. But that was fine. It was enough that Dugu Bo knew.
"For mine, any plant-type soul beast over ten thousand years old with life as its primary attribute will do."
Ten thousand years?
Though Dugu Bo was somewhat surprised, he didn't dwell on it. After all, Ye Yan's first ring was already a hundred-thousand-year one. This counted as restraint.
Sunset Forest was his home turf, and he knew its high-level Soul Beasts like the back of his hand. If he remembered correctly, there were several ten-thousand-year plant-type soul beasts to the north.
"Come on. Let's go take a look."
Their luck was good along the way. They encountered a Soul-Eating Demon Spider over fifteen hundred years old, and Dugu Bo knocked it unconscious with a single blast of Soul Power.
Yanyan finished it off and smoothly absorbed its ring, gaining an area debuff Soul Skill: Jade-Scale Spider Poison. It reduced the speed and defense of enemies within its range by forty percent. Not bad.
The four then continued deeper into the forest. Two days later, they found a towering ancient tree beside a gray stone cliff.
According to Dugu Bo, this was a Purple Sun Heavenly Spiritwood, a high-level plant-type soul beast. Rooted in the earth, he drew in the essence of the sun and moon, and his life energy was pure.
"Haha, my worthy son-in-law, watch this old man show you a trick."
Before you continue