[Ding... Feng Yu'er's affection +2. Congratulations, host! You obtained Purple Chest ×2.] [Ding... Jiang Zhu's affection +3. Congratulations, host! You obtained White Chest ×1, Yellow Chest ×1.]
As soon as the two women woke up, Su Ling received notifications that their affection had increased!
"Thank you, Big Brother Su."
"Thanks, Boss!"
The two women addressed him differently. This cultivation method had only come from a purple-tier chest, yet the rewards he earned from it went far beyond that.
And he could use it on every goddess. It truly was a tiny investment yielding ten thousandfold returns!
"No need to thank me. Your getting stronger benefits me too. It's late, so you should all head back," Su Ling said.
"Okay, Big Brother Su. Then I'd like to go looking for a soul ring in the morning. Is that all right?" Ning Rongrong asked.
"Of course!" Su Ling nodded.
"Wonderful! It's settled, then. I'll ask for leave tomorrow morning, then come find you." With that, Ning Rongrong grabbed Zhu Zhuqing beside her and left. Zhu Zhuqing seemed to have something to say, but could only keep it to herself.
After the four women left, Su Ling returned to his room.
Instead of taking another Advanced Soul Power Pill, he chose to cultivate and stabilize his newly attained level forty-seven soul power.
He had stored up nearly two months of the goddesses' cultivation gains. The strongest contribution was twenty percent of Liu Erlong's daily cultivation gains.
If he used them now, his soul power might rise another level.
Sometimes, Su Ling wondered why he was working so hard at cultivating.
With these goddesses around, couldn't he become a god just by lying back!
Wouldn't properly nurturing a few goddesses be enough?
At that thought, Su Ling felt he ought to adjust his approach a little. After finding Ning Rongrong a soul ring, he should find an opportunity to give the goddesses Immortal Herbs.
In the morning, Feng Yu'er brought Su Ling breakfast again. After all, she was also a teacher at Shrek Academy and lived not far from him.
Although she was only an assistant teacher for the advanced class, she commanded considerable respect there.
Most of the Soul Elders in the advanced class knew Feng Yu'er and were aware of her performance in the previous Advanced Soul Master Tournament. She had also been the academy's top student in the previous cohort.
Having participated in the Advanced Soul Master Tournament, she also possessed tournament experience that no one else in the academy could match.
Thus, Feng Yu'er also helped guide the academy team's joint training.
When the door opened, Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing were already waiting a short distance away and had been there for quite some time.
"Big Brother Su, I'm ready. We can head to Sunset Forest."
"All right, let's go together!" Su Ling said.
"Wait! Can you take me along? I've reached level thirty too!" Ma Hongjun shouted as he jogged over.
"Sure. Come along, then," Su Ling said.
The four of them-Su Ling, Zhu Zhuqing, Ning Rongrong, and Ma Hongjun-left the academy together.
"Erlong, are you really comfortable letting Su Ling take them to Sunset Forest?"
As Su Ling and the others headed out, Liu Erlong and Flender appeared nearby, watching the four of them.
"Su Ling alone is enough. He can protect them," Liu Erlong said.
Back outside Suotuo City, Su Ling had killed two Soul Emperors single-handedly. She wasn't worried about his combat strength. Besides, he had a Defensive Formation that could protect them while they absorbed their soul rings.
"You certainly have confidence. All right, let them go," Flender said.
"Erlong, if you're free tonight, how about having dinner together?"
Flender grew a little embarrassed as he said this.
There was no longer any possibility between Liu Erlong and Yu Xiaogang. Did that mean he still had a chance?
His heart, which had already withered away, now held a faint spark of life again.
"If you have something to say, say it. There's no need for dinner."
With that, Liu Erlong walked away, leaving a bewildered Flender behind.
Meanwhile, Su Ling and the other three soon left Heaven Dou City. In less than two hours, they had entered Sunset Forest.
Three days later!
In a relatively flat stretch of woodland within Sunset Forest.
Two Soul Masters were actually absorbing soul rings just thirty meters apart.
Those two were none other than Ning Rongrong and Ma Hongjun.
Having previously searched for the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, Su Ling was quite familiar with the distribution of soul beasts in the forest and quickly found a suitable one for Ning Rongrong.
After Ning Rongrong killed that soul beast, Su Ling was about to deploy the Intermediate Defensive Formation when he spotted another soul beast passing in the distance, so he captured it for Ma Hongjun.
He activated the formation to protect both of them as they absorbed their soul rings. An intermediate formation was more than sufficient in an area inhabited by thousand-year soul beasts.
Even a Soul Emperor couldn't easily break through the formation, let alone thousand-year soul beasts.
The entire process went smoothly. In less than a day, Ning Rongrong and Ma Hongjun both completed their breakthroughs, reaching level thirty-one.
If events had followed the original story, it might have taken them nearly another year to reach level thirty-one.
After all, they had both been level thirty-one when they consumed their Immortal Herbs, with six months remaining before the Advanced Soul Master Tournament.
Now, however, the Advanced Soul Master Tournament was still over a year and three months away.
"Thank you, Big Brother Su, Zhu Zhuqing," Ning Rongrong said immediately after standing up.
[Ding... Ning Rongrong's affection +2. You obtained Yellow Chest ×1.]
"Boss, Sister Zhu Zhuqing, thanks," Ma Hongjun said. Although Zhu Zhuqing was slightly younger than him, Su Ling's standing warranted the courtesy, so that was how Ma Hongjun addressed her.
"All right, what's there to thank us for? It's just past noon. If we hurry, we can make it back to the academy tonight," Su Ling said.
"Then I'll support everyone so we can get back faster," Ning Rongrong said.
After Ning Rongrong increased everyone's agility by forty percent, the four of them returned safely to Shrek Academy that night.
But after everyone else went back, Su Ling did not return to his room. Instead, he went to Liu Erlong's wooden cabin.
Liu Erlong's affection was currently seventy-nine, and he wanted to raise it above ninety as quickly as possible.
Once it exceeded ninety, he would receive forty percent of a level seventy-six Soul Saint's daily cultivation gains.
Liu Erlong alone would be worth the combined cultivation gains of several other goddesses.
After all, the amount of soul power a Soul Saint could draw in and circulate was far beyond that of a Soul Elder or Soul Ancestor. There was a gap of thirty or forty levels.
It was also time to give Liu Erlong the Jade Spirit Art.
Of course, before giving her the Jade Spirit Art, Su Ling intended to give her an Immortal Herb first.
Although Liu Erlong was older, she still possessed considerable potential.
Without an Immortal Herb's assistance, becoming a Titled Douluo might take her more than twenty years.
But with an Immortal Herb's help, that time would certainly be shortened. If one wasn't enough, he could give her two in the future.
Knock, knock!
Su Ling knocked on the door and said softly, "Sister Liu, I'm back. Are you asleep?"
"Su Ling, you're back already?"
Liu Erlong quickly opened the door for Su Ling. In the darkness of night, she wore only a thin garment that offered tantalizing glimpses beneath it.
Those surging waves rose and fell, her proud peaks looking even more mysterious beneath their veil of mist.
"Su Ling, what are you standing there for? Come in!" Liu Erlong said, completely unaware that anything was wrong with her clothing.
She wore a nightgown with nothing underneath. How could that fail to draw the eye?
Most importantly, Liu Erlong seemed utterly unaware of it in front of Su Ling.
Was this deliberate?
Or had she really forgotten?
"Sister Liu, I came so late to give you a soul power cultivation method. Zhu Zhuqing, Ning Rongrong, and the others have already tried it, and they all felt their cultivation became over twenty percent faster than with their old methods."
"I originally intended to give it to you a few days ago, but taking them to Sunset Forest delayed me. Please don't be angry, Sister Liu," Su Ling said.
"Really?"
"Quick, let me try it!"
"All right!"
Su Ling took out the Jade Spirit Art.
Liu Erlong picked it up and looked it over, only to discover many terms and other things she couldn't understand.
Zhu Zhuqing and the others had been the same, and Su Ling had explained everything to them once.
It was precisely because he needed to explain so many terms that didn't belong to this world that Su Ling had gathered them together.
"In that case, you do it, Su Ling. This should be a route for circulating soul power, right? Just send your soul power into my body and guide my cultivation," Liu Erlong decided.
"Is that appropriate?" Su Ling asked uncertainly.
"Can't you convert your soul power to the fire attribute? My body won't reject it, so it's fine," Liu Erlong said decisively.
Allowing someone else's soul power into one's body required absolute trust.
"Come on. What's inappropriate about it? This should be the fastest way, right?" Liu Erlong said.
"It is. In that case, let's do it," Su Ling said.
"Here?"
Su Ling looked around. Surely they couldn't sit on the living room floor, and the table didn't seem suitable either.
"Come on. We'll use my bed," Liu Erlong said directly.
"Sister Liu, isn't that a little inappropriate?" Su Ling asked.
"You little brat! I'm not complaining, and you're the one getting fussy? Hurry up!" Liu Erlong said bluntly.
That was just like her: straightforward and unconstrained by convention.
Of course, her seventy-nine affection toward Su Ling also played a part.
Would she let him onto her bed without enough affection?
If her affection hadn't been high enough, she probably wouldn't even have opened the door for Su Ling tonight.
Su Ling entered Liu Erlong's bedroom. It was equally simple, with a faint floral fragrance that probably came from flower petals gathered outside.
They took off their shoes and sat cross-legged on the bed, which still retained some warmth.
"Let's begin!"
Liu Erlong sat right in front of Su Ling. His tastes were perfectly normal, so looking at a goddess at such close range inevitably stirred a few fantasies.
She was different from goddesses like Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong.
Her mature allure packed a far greater punch. After all, Su Ling came from Blue Star. Back in his previous life, a woman with this sort of charm would have been someone countless men longed to steal a kiss from.
"What are you staring for?"
"Do you like your big sister's figure?" Liu Erlong asked directly.
"Absolutely. It's beautiful!" Su Ling answered honestly.
"Then have you looked enough? If you have, let's begin. Once we're done, if this cultivation method satisfies me, I'll let you take your time and look to your heart's content!"
Watching Su Ling before her, Liu Erlong wore a trace of irritation, thinking that he really was still a child with no experience in these matters.
No, Su Ling was already over nineteen, and he'd turn twenty in a few months. He wasn't really a child.
And although she was much older than Su Ling, she hadn't truly experienced this sort of thing either.
Who didn't have desires?
Besides, Su Ling's looks were absolutely one in millions.
Now this was what handsome looked like.
Had I been blind when I fell for Yu Xiaogang?
Erlong, what are you thinking?
You and Su Ling could never be together!
While Liu Erlong's thoughts ran wild, Su Ling calmed himself and slowly placed a hand over her dantian.
"Ah..."
A soft, lovely sound escaped her lips. Liu Erlong blushed; she had cried out without realizing it.
Still, that sensation just now had felt rather pleasant.
Su Ling was baffled too. Could the area around Liu Erlong's dantian be one of her... sensitive spots?
"Sister Liu, focus. I'm going in!"
As he spoke, Su Ling converted his soul power to fire-attribute soul power, controlled a thin strand of it, and began sending it into Liu Erlong's meridians.
"Sister Liu, the Jade Spirit Art has ten layers in total, each corresponding to a major soul power realm. Each layer circulates soul power differently."
"I'll teach you the first layer first."
"All right!"
Liu Erlong followed the circulation of Su Ling's soul power and soon mastered the first layer's cultivation method. Since her own soul power had already reached level seventy-six, cultivating the first six layers of the Jade Spirit Art was easy for her.
Even so, the process took quite some time. Whenever she mastered one layer, Su Ling began teaching her the next.
Finally, after six hours, Liu Erlong successfully began cultivating the seventh layer. Her soul power transformed as a result, with the most obvious change being the increased strength of her fire-attribute soul power.
Feeling the changes in her soul power, Liu Erlong was overjoyed.
"Su Ling, your Spirit Jade Art is incredible! I don't think it's just a twenty-percent increase in cultivation speed. For me, it should be around fifty percent. And the strength of my fire-attribute soul power has increased by over thirty percent too!" Liu Erlong said, looking at Su Ling with delighted surprise.
"That should be because you've reached the seventh layer, Sister Liu. Zhu Zhuqing and the others are only at the third or fourth layer, so there should be some differences," Su Ling said.
"Then wouldn't it become even faster once I reach Soul Douluo?" Liu Erlong asked in surprise.
Su Ling nodded. "In theory, yes."
[Ding... Liu Erlong's affection +5. You obtained Purple Chest ×2, Black Chest ×1.]
The rewards had arrived. Liu Erlong's affection had successfully risen to eighty-four, shifting from liking him a little to falling in love with him.
As her affection rose, the way Liu Erlong looked at Su Ling became somewhat different.
Coupled with their surroundings, a man and woman alone in a room, the atmosphere slowly began to turn intimate.
Without realizing it, Liu Erlong began moving closer to Su Ling.
Watching Liu Erlong approach, Su Ling's breathing quickened a little.
Was I going to fire my first shot in the Douluo World today?
At this point, Liu Erlong was dry tinder that had baked in the sun for over forty years. A single spark would set her ablaze.
Besides, given her background-her mother had been a woman of the brothel-she had known about such matters from a very, very young age.
At that moment, Liu Erlong's mind was consumed by decades of pent-up desire.
With her affection level at 84 as well, she had no reservations before the man she loved and leaned in to kiss him of her own accord.
Fuck!
Holy shit! Holy shit!
Who the fuck could resist this?
If I leave now, if I snap Liu Erlong out of it, am I even a man?
Would I be doing this system justice?
If people knew I'd done that, countless people would probably spit on me.
And so Su Ling made his move, no longer holding back, turning from the passive party into the one taking the lead!
Seeing Liu Erlong's flushed face and eager advances, he embraced her, and the two began stripping away their disguises one by one, revealing their truest selves.
Before you continue