"Wait, isn't this way too cool?!" Dugu Yan exclaimed, abandoning all decorum. She circled Lu Yang several times before finally stopping in front of him to study him closely.
Previously, when Lu Yang used martial soul possession, armor would cover parts of his body. But the armor formed from soul power back then could not cover his entire body as it did now, and it had even seemed somewhat illusory.
After he obtained his third soul ring and the Winged Dragon of Ra martial soul unfolded from its spherical form, Lu Yang gained a marked improvement during martial soul possession. At the same time, the armor condensed from soul power had finally been perfected, taking on its current appearance.
Moreover, the improvements Lu Yang gained after the Winged Dragon of Ra unfolded were not limited to this suit of soul power armor. For the first time, his Winged Dragon of Ra martial soul granted him the enhancement that martial soul possession provided to a soul master.
That was right. When the Winged Dragon of Ra had remained in its spherical form, Lu Yang could use soul skills and had soul power armor, but the martial soul itself had not enhanced him. This corresponded to the spherical form's inability to attack or activate special abilities.
But once the Winged Dragon of Ra unfolded, the effects were completely different.
Combined with the dual enhancements of his first soul skill, Sunflame Dawn, and his newly acquired third soul skill, Wings of the Sun, Lu Yang now had the strength to put up a fight against a Soul King.
Of course, that was only Lu Yang's current estimate. Since he had begun cultivating, he had yet to fight a soul master in a true battle.
Neither sparring with Xiao Wu at Nuoding Academy nor training under She Long counted as a real fight. To test his current combat strength, Lu Yang felt he would still have to visit the Great Soul Arena.
"Enough, enough. Stop circling that little brat. You're making my head spin." Suddenly, Dugu Bo spoke up, stopping Dugu Yan just as she was about to ask more questions about Lu Yang's soul skills.
It was not because of any taboo among soul masters, though. As far as this old venomous monster was concerned, taboos meant nothing-if he wanted to ask, he would ask. He simply found the sight of his precious granddaughter fussing over an eight-year-old brat irritating, even if that eight-year-old brat was extraordinarily talented.
"Now that this brat's soul ring is sorted out, yours is next, Yanyan. Come along. I picked out your third soul ring long ago," Dugu Bo said.
"Oh, right, right! My turn!" Only after hearing Dugu Bo's words did Dugu Yan remember that she had yet to hunt for a suitable soul ring.
Led by Dugu Bo, the group headed straight for the target soul beast's habitat. Once they found it, Lu Yang took action himself. With martial soul possession and his dual enhancements active, he captured the snake soul beast, which was over fifteen hundred years old, with his bare hands.
The expression on Dugu Yan's face was quite a sight when he hauled the snake over and held it out before her.
After easily finishing off the soul beast, Dugu Yan began meditating to absorb its soul ring. During the process, however, a trace of jade green appeared at the tips of her hair.
Noticing this, an idea stirred in Lu Yang's mind. He walked straight over to Ye Lingling. "Senior sister, look at Sister Yanzi's hair. What's happening to her?"
At his words, Ye Lingling looked toward the ends of Dugu Yan's hair. When she saw that trace of jade green, her brows furrowed slightly.
As an heir of the Ye Family, Ye Lingling naturally knew a great deal about medicine and pharmacology. She knew perfectly well under what circumstances a condition like Dugu Yan's would appear.
"Could... could Yanzi have been poisoned? But she's a soul master with a poison martial soul herself. That shouldn't be possible, should it?" Ye Lingling said.
Lu Yang did not answer Ye Lingling's question. Instead, he turned his gaze toward Dugu Bo. Dugu Bo was also watching Dugu Yan, but the emotions mingled in his gaze were so complex that Lu Yang could not make out what he was feeling just then.
Dugu Yan absorbed the soul ring with ease, but when she stood up and tried to stretch, her movements faltered slightly.
"What's wrong, Yanzi?" Dugu Bo hurried over to ask.
"Nothing. I just feel a little tired," Dugu Yan said.
"Then let's hurry back to Heaven Dou City so you can get some proper rest," Dugu Bo said.
Without waiting for Lu Yang or Ye Lingling to answer, he wrapped all three of them in his soul power and shot straight toward the outskirts of Sunset Forest.
In the carriage back to Heaven Dou City, Dugu Yan even complained that Dugu Bo was being too hasty. She was only feeling a little unwell; it was nothing serious.
But Dugu Bo, who knew the drawback of Dugu Yan's martial soul all too well, did not agree. Terrified that anything might happen to her, he drove the carriage himself, racing toward Heaven Dou City.
Watching Dugu Bo's urgency, Lu Yang was filled with emotion. It was only because soul masters reigned supreme on the Douluo Continent that things had come to this. Otherwise, Lu Yang felt Dugu Bo might never have allowed Dugu Yan to embark on the path of a soul master at all.
Still, the changes Dugu Yan had undergone after absorbing her third soul ring also gave Lu Yang a suitable excuse. He felt that as long as he waited for the right moment to cast out the subject of "poisoning," it should be enough to make Dugu Bo take the bait.
Before that, though, Lu Yang still had to find a way to obtain the Immortal Herb Compendium and learn how to consume immortal herbs. As for using immortal herbs to refine pills or anything of the sort, he felt he had better not entertain such ideas. He had no system, and he knew nothing about pill refining. If he rashly messed around, he would very likely waste those herbs.
Lu Yang had originally hoped to obtain the Immortal Herb Compendium from the Ye Family. But from the current situation, he could not even be certain that the Ye Family knew immortal herbs existed, so he could only try another approach.
That approach was naturally to go through Qian Renxue and seek the Immortal Herb Compendium in Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan's possession. Given the value of the talent he had displayed through the martial soul evolution that followed obtaining his third soul ring, Qian Renxue should have no reason to refuse his proposal.
After returning to Heaven Dou City, Dugu Bo dropped Lu Yang and Ye Lingling off at the Ye Family, then hurried home with Dugu Yan. Dugu Yan, who had wanted Ye Lingling to go shopping with her, was deeply displeased. In the end, however, she could not prevail against her grandfather and could only follow him home in a huff.
Lu Yang did not linger at the Ye Family either. He said goodbye to Ye Lingling and prepared to return to his lodgings. But before he had gone far, She Long intercepted him and took him straight to the Crown Prince's Residence.
Lu Yang was not surprised by She Long's actions. Still, upon arriving at the Crown Prince's Residence, he made a show of asking, "Your Eminence, isn't this the residence of Heaven Dou Crown Prince Xue Qinghe? What are we doing here?"
"To see me, of course." Yet the person who answered Lu Yang was not She Long, but Qian Renxue, who stepped out from inside.
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