Martial Soul Possession!
An enormous, ghostly green serpent silhouette coalesced behind him, enveloping him as nine soul rings-two yellow, two purple, and five black-pulsed up and down around him.
"Sixth soul skill: Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor Break!"
The serpent's head above Dugu Bo abruptly opened its jaws. A black-purple beam laden with the heavy aura of death shot straight toward the Purple Sun Heavenly Spiritwood beside the cliff, so fast that it had no chance to struggle.
Crack!
The beam pierced straight through its thick trunk. In an instant, the Purple Sun Heavenly Spiritwood's soul light dimmed, and its vitality rapidly drained away.
First soul skill: Moon of the Nine Heavens!
Already prepared, Ye Yan leaped high into the air. Soul power frantically gathered around him, forming an enormous pink full moon beneath his palm, before he plummeted like a meteor.
Boom!
The full moon exploded violently the instant it touched the Purple Sun Heavenly Spiritwood. Before the shock wave of that overwhelming energy, the trunk disintegrated into dust, leaving a huge crater in the ground.
In the distance, Dugu Yan and Lingling watched him with stars in their eyes. That pink moon had been so beautiful.
Ye Yan rose and surveyed the drastically altered surroundings, gaining a new understanding of a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Skill. Unfortunately, it consumed far too much soul power; a single use had nearly drained him into a dried-out husk.
The motes of light within the crater gradually condensed into a pitch-black ring, sending an unnerving pressure washing over him.
To be honest, Ye Yan was a little nervous about properly absorbing a soul ring for the first time. After all, this was no sacrifice. If he could not endure it, his body would burst, and he would die.
However, the spiritual power of a plant-type soul beast that had only just passed ten thousand years was considerably weaker than that of an animal-type soul beast of the same age. It should... probably be fine, right?
Ye Yan gritted his teeth. All or nothing! He drew the soul ring toward him and began absorbing it.
The moment the soul ring enveloped his Blue Silver Grass, an immense surge of energy rampaged through his meridians. At the same time, the Purple Sun Heavenly Spiritwood's remnant soul launched an assault on his sea of consciousness.
But...
Your opponent was Ye Yan, a cheat-powered contender with the combined spiritual power of two lifetimes, the enhancement of the Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew, two top-grade Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bones, and the Ice and Fire Golden Body!
The soul ring suffered a crushing defeat X﹏X
Eight hours later, Ye Yan successfully absorbed it and gained a passive soul skill called Purple Spirit Sun. Its effect permanently increased his soul power recovery and circulation speed by three hundred percent.
From now on, he could activate his soul skills faster and sustain them longer. It was perfect for someone with twin martial souls like him ≽^⚈⩊⚈^≼
His cultivation also rose from rank twenty to rank twenty-six. That was only because the immortal herbs he had eaten did not directly increase soul power; otherwise, it would have risen even higher.
His formerly somewhat childish face had matured considerably, and his figure had become taller and more upright. Douluo hormones truly lived up to their reputation (five stars).
With the soul ring acquired, the group returned to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. Ye Yan told the two girls not to return to school just yet.
"Yanyan, Lingling, let's stay here and cultivate for a while. Aside from how much our soul power has changed, there's also Lingling's new martial soul, Sacred Heart Begonia.
"I'm afraid Ning Fengzhi of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect might get some nasty ideas if he finds out. You should know that he values the title of the world's number-one support martial soul above everything else."
"Exactly. Xu Xiaoyan is right. I've dealt with that old fox Ning Fengzhi plenty of times. He's a smiling tiger."
Dugu Bo nodded in wholehearted agreement. If Ye Yan had not mentioned it, he really would have forgotten about that.
Lingling's face instantly went pale upon hearing this. Dugu Yan held her hand and told her not to worry. With her and her grandfather here, nothing would happen to her.
Ye Yan secretly winked at Lingling, signaling that he would find a way to resolve it and that she could rest easy.
As for how exactly he would resolve it, all he had to do was win Ning Rongrong over. Ye Yan believed there was nothing that calling someone "Father-in-law" could not solve.
After reassuring Lingling, Ye Yan found an excuse to take Dugu Bo to the Crown Prince's Mansion. On the way, he told him about pledging allegiance to "Xue Qinghe."
Dugu Bo was somewhat surprised. He had not expected Ye Yan to become involved in the imperial family's power struggle at such a young age, and he told him how Prince Xue Xing had once led a group to rescue him.
"Grandpa Dugu, I'll need a treasure for my future cultivation-the national treasure, the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud. With His Highness the Crown Prince's help, I might have a chance of getting it. But since Prince Xue Xing did you a kindness, let's forget it."
Ye Yan naturally knew about this. Even Dugu Bo's title as a guest elder had come about because of Xue Xing. His only purpose in bringing it up was to retreat in order to advance.
Dugu Bo fell silent for a while. Over all these years, he had long since repaid the debt of having his life saved. In comparison, his own grandson-in-law's path of cultivation was certainly more important.
"Since you need it, I'll accompany you this once. I've more or less repaid Prince Xue Xing's kindness anyway."
"Thank you, Grandpa."
When they arrived at the Crown Prince's Mansion, Qian Renxue was visibly surprised. Wasn't Dugu Bo always siding with Xue Xing against me? Why had he suddenly come along with Ye Yan?
Ye Yan stepped forward to introduce him to her.
"Brother Qinghe, this is Grandpa Dugu. You probably know him already. A while ago, I met his granddaughter, Dugu Yan, and we formally agreed to marry. Since I knew you were short on top-tier experts, I begged Grandpa to come with me."
Engaged?
Qian Renxue clenched her teeth. You didn't even discuss something this important with me! Do you even see me as your boss?
No, no. Little Angel forced herself to calm down. There was no point getting angry over this old lecher. At least he had brought Dugu Bo, a Titled Douluo, over to her side. With him here, affairs out in the open would be much easier to handle.
In particular, she could now arrange to poison Xue Ye. The reason she had delayed acting for so long was Dugu Bo's presence; deceiving someone whose title came from poison was extremely difficult. Now that he was one of her own, there would be no problem, no matter how he examined him.
At that thought, her mood immediately improved. She politely invited Dugu Bo to sit and showered him with flattering words. Dugu Bo gave her face as well, and host and guest could truly be said to have enjoyed themselves.
Once their conversation ended, Ye Yan took Dugu Bo to a side hall to rest, then secretly doubled back alone.
Seeing him return, Qian Renxue found everything about him irritating.
"Well, if it isn't the Dugu Family's wonderful son-in-law. How could you bear to come back?"
Ye Yan took out an exquisite jade box and looked at her pitifully.
"Lady Xue'er, this is a treasure Dugu Bo has cherished for a long time. It's called the cockscomb phoenix sunflower, an immortal-grade herb. Legend has it that it was formed from a fallen phoenix. Eating it can greatly strengthen the power of your flames and raise your soul power level without any side effects.
"Dugu Bo would only give it to me if I agreed to become his grandson-in-law. I had no choice, so..."
Looking at the flower shimmering inside the jade box, Qian Renxue felt a pang in her heart. She had never imagined that he would be willing to give her such a precious treasure, yet she had doubted Ye Yan's loyalty.
Little Angel did not hurry to accept it. Instead, she asked what he would do.
"Silly, this immortal herb doesn't match my attributes. Besides, you've spent years disguised as Xue Qinghe, and your cultivation has advanced slowly. You need it more than I do."
Ye Yan did not answer her question directly. Instead, he gazed at her affectionately, looking as though he had her interests entirely at heart.
After all, immortal herbs were precious to begin with. Giving her something he himself lacked would better demonstrate how much he valued her-or perhaps, how much he loved her?
Before you continue