Sea God's Light

After their meal, Snow Empress and the others followed an Island Guardian Soul Master to Sea God Mountain, the island within an island surrounded by the Ring Sea.

"This is the Sea God Hall, where we worship Lord Sea God, and Sea God Island in the truest sense. The staircase ahead is where you must undergo your trials. There are a total of one thousand and one steps."

After finishing his explanation, the purple-robed Soul Master quietly withdrew.

From Ning Rongrong's perspective, Sea God Mountain practically towered into the clouds, but her first trial only required her to climb thirty-six steps. As a dignified Soul Grandmaster, surely she could manage that much?

P.S. The difficulty of the trials varied according to each participant's cultivation.

When they crossed the Ring Sea and reached the foot of Sea God Mountain, their hearts sank, as though some majestic, solemn force field had enveloped them.

"Miss Ning Rongrong, shall we try together first?"

Faced with this downright bizarre change, Mu Xia felt it would be better to have company. The young master would have been the best choice, but unfortunately, he was absent, so she had to settle for the next best option.

Ning Rongrong nodded. She had been thinking the same thing. The two joined hands and stepped toward the stairs.

Thud!

It was as though they had struck something. They staggered backward several paces, their eyes filled with shock.

"What happened to you two?"

As a fellow human, Ling Yuan cared quite a bit about them. After all, they were among the few sweet younger girls who called her big sister.

"It was sort of like getting hit by a Dayun truck made of cotton. It didn't hurt, but we couldn't fight it either. We just got bounced back."

Ning Rongrong answered her question, and Mu Xia nodded in agreement.

After briefly catching their breath, they approached the staircase again. Just as they were about to step onto the first stair, they felt a powerful repulsive force resisting their advance.

"Nine Treasures Turn Into Glazed Glass: first, strength!"

Ning Rongrong summoned her martial soul to support them. Multicolored balls of light sank into her and Mu Xia, and with a thirty-percent strength boost, they finally managed to stand on the first step.

Once Ning Rongrong stood fully upon it, tremendous pressure surged over her like a tide blotting out heaven and earth, frantically crushing her body.

That was not all. A thin golden mist also gathered around her.

Something's wrong!

Ning Rongrong could clearly feel the soul power within her rapidly draining away. Gritting her teeth, she prepared to take her second step.

The pressure was even greater this time. Her pretty face flushed crimson, and cold sweat kept dripping from her forehead.

Having finally managed to plant her foot, Ning Rongrong gasped for breath. What kind of staircase is this? Isn't this a little too ridiculous?

She had actually thought this trial would be easy, yet reality had ruthlessly shattered her beautiful dream. If two steps were already this difficult, how was she supposed to manage the remaining thirty-odd steps?

This question is too hard! I don't know how to solve it!

Mu Xia was in much the same state. Food-type and support-type Soul Masters ranked among the weakest in physical constitution across the entire Soul Master system.

After leaving the staircase, Ning Rongrong immediately began cultivating because she had consumed so much soul power, meditating to replenish it.

When she awakened again, she felt her body brimming with soul power, and she was considerably more refreshed.

After carefully examining herself, a knowing smile appeared on Ning Rongrong's face.

"This Sea God's Light seems to be a tremendous help with cultivation. Pressure from every direction can help us improve our physical condition, while rapidly consuming and replenishing soul power can also stimulate its growth."

Mu Xia's eyes lit up at those words. This was what concerned her most. Thanks to the young master's immortal herb, her soul power had risen dramatically, from rank twenty-one three years ago to rank thirty-two now.

But once the medicinal effects had been fully absorbed, her cultivation speed had returned to its old "tortoise crawl." How could she possibly accept that?

She, Mu Xia, had no intention of being some ornamental vase. She would climb to the very top, one step at a time, one step at a time!

She also wanted to stand openly by Xu Xiaoyan's side as her properly wedded wife, not some maidservant!

"First Soul Skill, Healing Sugar Tangerine!

Third Soul Skill, Tranquilizing Orange!"

Mu Xia summoned two kinds of oranges of different sizes and gave half of them to Ning Rongrong.

"These are my soul skills. The smaller ones can heal physical injuries, while the larger ones calm the mind and relieve mental fatigue."

After a brief explanation, she eagerly ate the oranges and closed her eyes to begin cultivating.

And so Ning Rongrong and Mu Xia began their arduous cultivation journey. Ye Yan only returned half a month later.

Absorbing a soul bone did not take nearly that long. He had finished in four days. For the rest of that time, he had stubbornly refused to leave, clinging to Bo Saixi all day and taking liberties with her.

He had annoyed her to no end, so she finally used his trial as an excuse to forcibly toss Ye Yan over here.

"Young master, you're finally back! Mu'er missed you so much!"

Mu Xia had been attempting to climb onto the fifth step, but when she saw him return, she excitedly threw herself toward him. What trial could possibly matter more than the young master?

"Big Sister Mu Xia, slow down. Don't fall."

Ye Yan hurriedly opened his arms to catch her. His big sister's figure was far better than Bo Saixi's.

Hmph! ╯^╰

You wicked woman, if you won't treasure me, plenty of other people will!

Clearly, Ye Yan's resentment after going so long without getting any "meat" was far from insignificant. Bo Saixi was simply too conservative.

At most, she allowed him to hold her hand and kiss her. She would not let him do anything else. Even something as important as savoring her lovely feet required ages of pleading.

Forget her. Speaking of which, has Mu Xia gotten lighter again? His little hand slipped down to squeeze the pert, juicy peach behind her. It was not as full as before.

Looks like cultivating here really is grueling. My poor big sister, thank you for all your hard work.

Huh?!

Ning Rongrong had originally intended to imitate Ice Empress and the others, acting aloof and ignoring Ye Yan. She had never expected her teammate to defect and surrender outright.

With no other choice, she walked over to Ye Yan as well, glaring at him with her cheeks puffed out.

"It's only been a few days, and Rongrong's gotten even prettier."

Looking at the girl puffed up like a pufferfish, Ye Yan raised his hand and ruffled her hair, letting flattering words spill out as though they cost nothing.

Hearing him call her pretty, Ning Rongrong suddenly felt that she was not quite so angry anymore. Still, she kept a fierce expression as she demanded to know why he had taken so long to return.

Ye Yan laughed awkwardly and decided to deploy his grand art of changing the subject.

"Big Sister Rongrong, you're so smart. Have you figured anything out these past few days about breaking through the Sea God's Light?"

At the sight of his humble, eager-to-learn expression, Professor Ning Rongrong took the stage.

"Then you've certainly asked the right person. Take out your little notebook and write this down. Everything I'm about to say is solid, practical information. It's very important.

First, you can't use offensive soul skills during the trial, or the attacks will be reflected back at you.

Second, start cultivating as soon as you come down from the stairs. There's a pleasant surprise waiting."

As for how easy it was to be flung away when first stepping onto the stairs without properly controlling one's strength, she deliberately left that out, secretly wondering what sort of embarrassing spectacle Ye Yan would make of himself later.

"So that's how it works. Thank you, Big Sister Rongrong."

Although everything she had said was something he already knew, Ye Yan still put on an expression of having learned a great deal.

After all, he was just sweet-talking his wife~