Xiao Wu sank into a stupor without putting up even a decent fight.
Her slender arms, flushed pink, reached around Tang Yin, but he mercilessly pinned them down, scooped her up, and laid her across his lap.
Tang Yin pressed one hand against Xiao Wu's abdomen to guide the medicinal potency through her, while his other hand held her wrist, slowly feeding his Mysterious Heaven Skill inner energy into her body.
Lying across Tang Yin's lap, Xiao Wu writhed continuously, her body soft and boneless. Soft whimpers escaped her lips, and her once-fair face flushed a deep, almost dripping red.
Under the astonishing heat, fine beads of sweat covered Xiao Wu's entire body, soaking through her clothes in the blink of an eye and leaving her delicate, pink-tinged skin clearly visible.
He took off his plain white robe and draped it over Xiao Wu.
Tang Yin shook his head.
This little girl was so hopelessly weak it was ridiculous!
Although he had prepared for this, he had still overestimated Xiao Wu's willpower.
Fortunately, he had drawn up a contingency plan beforehand instead of letting Xiao Wu recklessly absorb the whale brain. Otherwise, the consequences would have been unthinkable.
Tang Yin silently counted himself lucky.
Yet just then-
Without warning, something went terribly wrong!
The murmurs slipping from Xiao Wu's lips abruptly changed, taking on a strange, rhythmic cadence.
"What's this?"
Tang Yin's sharp brows knitted.
The next moment, Xiao Wu's hazy eyes suddenly turned ruby red. A Yellow Soul Ring slowly emerged beneath her, pulsing up and down around her body.
An enormous white rabbit phantom took shape-the phantom of Xiao Wu's true Soft Bone Rabbit form.
A faint red glow spread from beneath Xiao Wu, bathing the entire Training Room in crimson.
"A soul beast's reserves? Protecting her automatically?!"
Tang Yin's expression changed.
The hand feeding inner energy into Xiao Wu to help her digest the medicinal potency trembled. He suddenly felt an enormous backlash strike him, surging into his body with brutal force.
Terrifying energy rushed toward him like rivers and seas pouring backward.
His meridians instantly swelled to their limits, almost bursting.
Tang Yin already had the reinforcement of his spirit veins martial soul, and he had undergone both a body tempering and a Soul Ring transformation. His meridians had long since become incredibly resilient, more than ten times stronger than an ordinary person's.
Yet even they struggled to withstand the impact of this immense energy.
His defenses crumbled like an army routed in a landslide. His organs shook violently, and his blood churned without pause.
Pfft!
Tang Yin grunted, and a mouthful of blood burst from his lips.
It splashed onto the floor and his plain white clothing, blooming into eerily vivid plum blossoms.
Yet his hand remained locked around Xiao Wu's wrist, firm as a rock, without shifting an inch.
Tang Yin's eyes burned like torches, filled with resolve.
Because their Mysterious Heaven Skill inner energy was connected, his aura and Xiao Wu's had almost fused into one.
If he forcibly severed that connection now-
The inner energy inside him would inevitably run rampant, and serious injury would be unavoidable.
And because his inner energy had already flowed through every bone, muscle, and meridian in Xiao Wu's body, if he forcibly broke the connection-
Xiao Wu would suffer an even more devastating backlash. Her meridians might shatter inch by inch, and even with her soul beast reserves protecting her, she would certainly die.
A thin trickle of blood dripped from the corner of Tang Yin's mouth.
Through the loose strands hanging over his forehead, he stared steadily at the little figure in his arms.
She was his sworn younger sister, a girl who trusted him absolutely, without holding anything back.
"I won't let anything happen to you!"
He uttered those words with unwavering determination.
A Pale Purple Soul Ring quietly rose.
Brilliant blue light surged from the yellow court between Tang Yin's brows, spreading like the roots of a plant to cover every meridian in his body. The Blue Silver Emperor's aura permeated the room.
Elsewhere, Tang San Niang, who was calming her emotions in her room, felt a jolt through her mind.
Her gaze pierced the intervening obstacles and abruptly turned toward Tang Yin's location.
"That's my brother's aura!"
Tang San Niang was startled.
Her brother never normally released his aura with such force.
The only time he had done so was when he absorbed his Soul Ring...
Something's wrong! My brother's in danger!
Tang San Niang's heart clenched.
The next moment, she rushed out of her room and headed straight for Tang Yin.
Inside the Training Room, brilliant blue and scarlet intertwined, blending and circulating together.
The meridians inside Tang Yin, which had been on the verge of bursting their banks, suddenly stabilized. At the same time, vitality circulated through his body, continually nourishing and repairing the damaged areas.
Meanwhile, the red light spreading from Xiao Wu's body grew increasingly intense, like blood so thick and viscous it could never dissolve.
The terrifying energy fluctuations steadily climbed along with it.
Energy as boundless as the sea surged and roared, battering the limits of what the spirit veins in Tang Yin's body could withstand.
Rushing sounds echoed again and again through Tang Yin's meridians.
They were the sounds of energy surging and crashing through him.
The vastness of a hundred-thousand-year soul beast's energy reserves was beyond imagination.
In an instant, the rate at which that energy rose even surpassed the speed at which the Blue Silver Emperor repaired his meridians.
Tang Yin's face turned white as paper, and heart-piercing pain swept through his entire body.
Beneath his fair skin, the brilliant blue spirit veins bulged one by one, and traces of blood seeped out. He resembled an exquisite piece of porcelain covered in cracks, making anyone fear he might shatter the very next second.
Yet-
Though Tang Yin looked utterly battered, the light in his eyes grew ever brighter.
Even though the pain coursing through his body was as unbearable as the bites of countless ants-
Tang Yin still clenched his teeth, held his mind steady, and drove the Mysterious Heaven Skill with all his strength.
As the Mysterious Heaven Skill circulated, he and Xiao Wu were absorbing and refining that violent energy!
The reserves of a hundred-thousand-year soul beast were so immense that even absorbing the tiniest fraction-
Sent the soul power inside him soaring at a terrifying speed.
He broke through to rank sixteen without the slightest effort!
Rank seventeen!
Rank eighteen!
Only upon reaching the peak of rank eighteen did it finally stop.
As Xiao Wu let out a soft whimper, the strange phenomena in the room receded like the tide.
After this transformation-
Xiao Wu's body had become more elongated. Her completely flat chest had risen slightly, her bottom had become a little more rounded, and her legs had grown much longer and straighter.
Her soul power had also risen directly to rank seventeen.
Xiao Wu blearily opened her pink eyes, only to see Tang Yin's bloodstained figure.
"Brother!"
The startled cry slipped from her lips. Xiao Wu hurriedly sat up and supported Tang Yin, who was swaying on the verge of collapse.
"Don't worry. I'm... fine..."
Tang Yin barely managed to offer that reassurance before his eyelids grew heavy and he slipped into unconsciousness.
This grueling tug-of-war of stamina and will had long since exhausted his last shred of strength. Holding on long enough to reassure Xiao Wu was already his limit.
Xiao Wu's eyes reddened, and tears fell like beads from a curtain whose strings had snapped.
"Brother, please don't let anything happen to you. It's all my fault for being useless. You got hurt because of me."
Bang! With a loud crash, Tang San Niang flung the door open.
At the sight before her, her heart felt as though it had been cut by knives, and tears gushed from her eyes.
"Brother!"
Tang San Niang rushed to Tang Yin's side and hugged him tightly. Her blue silver emperor martial soul emerged instantly, pouring rich vitality into his body.
Tears already streamed down Tang San Niang's face as she called to him through her sobs.
"Brother, please be all right. Your Little San Niang can't lose you."
"As long as you wake up, I'll do anything. Please."
In her panic, Tang San Niang had completely lost her usual composure.
She had even forgotten that she knew medicine.
Only after a while did she suddenly remember.
After examining him, Tang San Niang's tears gave way to a smile.
She then comforted Xiao Wu, who was still sobbing and blaming herself.
"It's all right. Our brother only fainted from mental and physical exhaustion."
The two girls then hugged each other, laughing and crying for a while before gradually calming down.
The moon climbed above the willow tips, and the night lay still as water.
Several maids hurried over after receiving their instructions. One crossed the courtyard carrying a basin of water.
Her steps were swift, but her hands remained perfectly steady.
Not a ripple disturbed the water in the basin, where a full moon lay reflected.
In Heaven Dou City, within a quiet, elegant courtyard-
A graceful, luxuriously dressed beauty in palace robes gazed pensively at the bright moon reflected in the water.
The cool moonlight complemented her noble bearing.
Yet an indescribable loneliness and desolation surrounded this beauty beneath the moon.
"Madam, you should retire for the night."
The two beautiful young maids attending her exchanged glances, and one spoke up to persuade her.
Tang Yuehua let out a wistful sigh.
"Tonight, all gaze upon the radiant moon; whose home will autumn longing settle upon?"
"Second Brother, where are you...?"
A low, hoarse voice suddenly sounded. "Yuehua, after all these years, you still haven't changed much."
In an instant, Tang Yuehua's graceful, noble composure shattered. She turned and saw a tall figure standing beneath the moonlight, both familiar and somewhat strange.
Tang Yuehua's crimson lips trembled, and tears flowed uncontrollably.
"Brother Hao, is it really you?"
She hurried forward and shakily reached out, as though afraid the man before her was merely a dreamlike bubble that would burst at a touch.
"Brother Hao, how did you grow so old? All these years, you..."
Before she could finish, Tang Yuehua was already sobbing too hard to speak.
She threw herself into Tang Hao's arms, wrapping both hands tightly around his waist as though she wanted to press herself into his body. She feared that if she loosened her grip, the brother she loved most would vanish into the sea of people again.
"Brother, I missed you so much, so very much..."
This woman, tormented by longing, sobbed like a young girl, the sound heartbreaking.
At that moment, even Tang Hao could not help showing a trace of tenderness.
He gently patted his younger sister's back and comforted her.
Only after a long while did Tang Yuehua calm down. She lifted her head and gazed deeply at Tang Hao's face.
Even if this man's face had grown terribly old-
His place in her heart would never change.
"Brother Hao, did you come to see me because you need something?"
Tang Hao's gaze shifted slightly, avoiding her burning eyes.
"My son and daughter both possess talent and gifts rarely seen in this world. I need your help getting them into the Heaven Dou Royal Academy to further their studies."
"Your children with her?"
The expression on Tang Yuehua's face was heartbreaking.
"Brother Hao, you know I would never refuse anything you ask of me. Even if... you wanted me to..."
Tang Hao's face remained wooden, and he said nothing.
"Now that you're back, you won't leave again, will you? Eldest Brother misses you too."
"I'm sorry, Yuehua. I still have to return to look after my children and protect them as they grow."
Tang Yuehua fell silent. Tears slid soundlessly down her cheeks, splashing into crystalline blossoms on the ground.
"Brother Hao..."
Her tone took on an almost pleading note. "Could you stay here a few more days? Your Yue'er really, really misses you."
At that moment, Tang Hao hesitated.
Unbidden, the image of his beloved son doting on Little San Niang surfaced in his mind.
"All right. I promise you two days."
Hearing that, Tang Yuehua smiled through her tears, a smile as radiant as a young girl's blooming across her face.
Even the two beautiful maids behind her, who dared not make a sound, stared in a daze.
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