Tang Wulin swallowed every last drop of the richly scented liquid, even sticking out his tongue to lick back the drop that trickled from the corner of his mouth.
"Brother Yuan, breaking the seal will probably take me a day or two. Sorry for the trouble."
Jiang Mingyuan patted his chest, producing a series of thumps.
"Leave it to me. I guarantee not even a mosquito will get near you."
Tang Wulin climbed onto his bed and sat cross-legged. An indescribably strange sensation instantly spread from every corner of his body. His blood seemed to boil, and every pore spewed heat.
Tang Wulin gritted his teeth and held on. This was still within what he could endure; it wasn't as hot as Brother Yuan's body.
From Jiang Mingyuan's perspective, pale golden markings gradually covered Tang Wulin's entire body, densely weaving themselves into a net.
Veins bulged on Tang Wulin's forehead, and his expression looked quite pained. Jiang Mingyuan simply leaned against the railing and watched quietly. There were some things he couldn't help with; Tang Wulin had to face them himself.
About half an hour later, Tang Wulin's expression finally settled into calm. His breathing steadied, and the golden markings on his body gradually grew dazzling.
Jiang Mingyuan let out a relieved breath. Although he didn't know the precise situation, Tang Wulin was clearly out of danger.
Jiang Mingyuan sat on the desk with his feet propped up, quietly watching Tang Wulin, and soon grew bored.
What should I do?
Outside the window, fierce winds raged with driving rain in their wake. Dense raindrops hammered the glass.
Something suddenly came to Jiang Mingyuan's mind.
"Oh! Right! I almost forgot about it."
Opening his Storage Soul Tool, Jiang Mingyuan took out the egg he had bought at the Eastsea City Museum.
But how do I bring this egg to life?
For some inexplicable reason, he could sense that the life inside the egg had not yet faded.
"Why not try hatching it?"
Like a bird, he could build a nest, put the egg inside, and hatch it with warmth.
"But..." Jiang Mingyuan reached out and gently tapped the eggshell. "Won't I crush it if I sit on it?"
After thinking it over, Jiang Mingyuan decided he might as well just hold it in his arms.
He climbed onto his bed and sat cross-legged like Tang Wulin, placing the egg in his lap.
"Little thing, you'd better come out. Anything alive will do. Don't let my money go to waste."
Aside from certain special needs, most Soul Masters could rely on the Soul Power in their bodies to sustain their vital functions. Going several days without food or water posed no problem.
Jiang Mingyuan patted his cheeks to perk himself up.
"Come on. I have to hold out for these next two days!"
By the morning of the sixth day, the typhoon was nearing its end. Dark circles had formed beneath Jiang Mingyuan's eyes. He hadn't slept at all these past few days, and the egg hadn't shown the slightest sign of movement.
"Wulin, why aren't you done yet? The break's almost over."
Perhaps it was a coincidence. Just as Jiang Mingyuan finished his last word, he caught Tang Wulin's finger twitching out of the corner of his eye.
He hurriedly put the egg aside and leaned closer to watch carefully.
Sure enough, Tang Wulin was about to wake. His brows and eyelids kept twitching, and the golden markings on his body reached their brightest. At last, he opened his eyes, and a beam of golden light shone from them.
They were a pair of golden eyes.
Their gazes met, and suddenly, it was as though some signal had clicked into place. The same thought arose in both their hearts.
"Brother Yuan!" "Wulin!"
Jiang Mingyuan raised his hand, and Tang Wulin slowly reached out as well. The instant their fingertips met in midair, their blood boiled, and a restless urge ignited deep within them.
A tingling numbness spread from their fingertips throughout their bodies.
Tang Wulin hadn't yet grasped what was happening, but Jiang Mingyuan had a rough idea of one possibility.
Could this be a Martial Soul Fusion Skill?
But why wasn't it there at the beginning?
Right! Jiang Mingyuan remembered that he still carried the Destruction Godhead he had obtained from Tang Wulin-or rather, from the Golden Dragon King.
Could it be that, because Tang Wulin has begun breaking the Golden Dragon King's seal, his bloodline has been influenced by the Golden Dragon King and resonated with the trait I carry?
That was Jiang Mingyuan's guess.
"Wulin, how do you feel?"
After the restlessness in their hearts and the tingling in their bodies faded, incomparable pleasure took their place. It was as though their bodies and minds were crying out.
Tang Wulin swallowed, suppressing the desire that had inexplicably arisen.
"Brother Yuan, I'm fine. I feel like my physical strength has grown a lot again. And my Martial Soul..."
Tang Wulin summoned his Blue Silver Grass. Without an explicit explanation, other Soul Masters probably wouldn't even dare identify it now.
Compared with ordinary Blue Silver Grass, it had dazzling golden markings and exceptionally thick stems.
But Jiang Mingyuan couldn't care less about any of that.
Holy crap! This is a Martial Soul Fusion Skill! He absolutely had to try it.
Jiang Mingyuan reached straight forward, sliding his slender, fair fingers between Tang Wulin's until their palms pressed tightly together.
"Hold out your left hand too."
Somewhat dazed, Tang Wulin instinctively obeyed Jiang Mingyuan and held out his left hand as well.
With their hands pressed together, Jiang Mingyuan sent Soul Power into Tang Wulin's body through his left hand.
Following his instincts, Tang Wulin also unconsciously sent Soul Power into Jiang Mingyuan's body.
Their Soul Power burst from their bodies, turning into pale golden threads that danced through the air and gradually enveloped them, forming a large golden cocoon.
About thirty seconds later, the cocoon hardened, then cracked open from within like an eggshell. A woman as lovely as a flower stepped out.
Fiery red wings beat, and she landed lightly on the ground. There wasn't a trace of expression on her breathtaking face. Her features bore a seventy-percent resemblance to Jiang Mingyuan's.
She opened her eyes, revealing mismatched irises: gold on the left and scarlet on the right.
At that moment, Jiang Mingyuan held control over this body's consciousness. He could sense that his body was in peak condition.
He reached out, grasping at the space before him.
A greatsword wreathed in black-and-red flames appeared in his hand.
Jiang Mingyuan had always known that the flames of his complete form possessed astonishing power. But he had never dared use them; in that state, he would inevitably descend into madness.
Now, however, he could sense that the flames within the greatsword he held already possessed a full eighty percent of their power in his complete form.
This was the first time he could remain lucid and use his flames without restraint, with no need to worry about hurting his teammates.
However, maintaining this state was still too much of a strain for the two of them, one with two rings and the other with one.
Jiang Mingyuan had been counting the seconds in his head ever since the Martial Soul Fusion began. It lasted fifty-four seconds before their Soul Power ran dry and the state finally ended.
Tang Wulin hadn't eaten for a week, and breaking through the Golden Dragon King Seal had already consumed a great deal of his body's energy. Now that his Soul Power had abruptly been drained as well, his strength failed him, and he collapsed.
Fortunately, Jiang Mingyuan's eyes were sharp and his hands quick. He caught Tang Wulin, laid him on the bed, then took some food from his Storage Soul Tool and fed it to him.
Tang Wulin finally recovered some strength. He seemed to have realized something as well, but he still wasn't certain.
"Brother Yuan, was that a Martial Soul Fusion Skill?"