The Worship Hall's bedchamber.
Cheng Ran's consciousness slowly rose from the depths like a fish that had slumbered for a long time.
The first thing he felt was the flow of soul power within his body, so surging and abundant that it almost overflowed.
"Hmm?"
Qian Renxue's voice immediately rang out, carrying a hint of eager excitement as she sought credit. "Evil God, you're awake?"
"Xiao Xue?" Cheng Ran checked the body's condition. "Wait, what level are you now?"
"Level seventy-nine, Evil God."
Damn, the AFK leveling speed this time was pretty damn good!
Cheng Ran stretched and took the opportunity to feel Qian Renxue's body.
Well, after this nap, even her figure had grown fuller. The curves of her chest were a whole degree more pronounced than before he slept, yet her waist had become even slimmer. A faint golden sheen shimmered across her skin, clearly an outward manifestation of the enormous increase in soul power.
"Looking like this at fifteen-won't you be the ultimate blend of innocence and sex appeal in another two years? Hehehe, lend me your body later."
"Use it whenever you want, Evil God." Qian Renxue looked obedient. "Oh, while you were sleeping, I obtained an external soul bone..."
Qian Renxue took the gleaming, wing-shaped soul bone out of her Storage Soul Tool.
"I haven't absorbed it. I was waiting for you to wake up and decide."
Within the sea of consciousness, Cheng Ran tilted his head back and sighed deeply. "Xiao Xue, tell me honestly. Have you ever kicked a drug addiction?"
"Huh?" Qian Renxue froze. "What drug?"
Cheng Ran's tone was complicated. "It's just that, with self-control like yours, you'd definitely qualify to moderate an abstinence forum in our world.
"A hundred-thousand-year external soul bone! Something countless people dream of! You actually managed to resist absorbing it after getting your hands on it!"
"Evil God, I was just afraid something might go wrong..." Qian Renxue said quietly.
"This really is a treasure." Cheng Ran examined it. "An external soul bone doesn't take up a regular soul bone slot. They're extremely rare throughout the Douluo Continent, let alone a hundred-thousand-year one. Absorb it. It's very compatible with your martial soul."
Qian Renxue took a deep breath and pressed the soul bone against the place where her back met her shoulder blades.
The instant the soul bone touched her skin, blue-white light burst forth.
An immense surge of energy poured from the soul bone, spreading along her spine throughout her body before finally gathering in her back, forming a wondrous resonance with the wings of her Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul.
Qian Renxue gave a muffled grunt as eight platinum-feathered wings unfurled on their own behind her.
The external soul bone's energy flowed into those eight wings like a gentle stream.
The already dazzling platinum color now gained a somewhat translucent clarity.
With her eyes closed, Qian Renxue felt the tingling warmth spreading from her back and couldn't help murmuring, "That feels so good..."
Cheng Ran watched it all from within the sea of consciousness. "I get it. It's like getting a happy-ending massage at a wellness spa...
"This external soul bone has directly strengthened your angel wings. Your flight speed, agility, and even the wings' own defensive strength will all go up a notch."
A short while later, Qian Renxue opened her eyes, her voice filled with delighted surprise. "This one soul bone comes with two soul skills. One is Angel Storm, which releases all the wind attribute power in the wings at once to deal damage over an area.
"The other is Light Wing Protection. When I fold my wings, it creates a light-attribute protective field centered on me that blocks energy attacks."
Cheng Ran nodded. "An area-of-effect skill, a defensive skill, and the attribute bonuses fused into the wings themselves. That's a massive win."
Qian Renxue folded her eight wings, unable to stop the corners of her lips from lifting.
At the same time, propelled by the external soul bone, her soul power rose again, finally stopping at the threshold of level eighty.
"Level eighty."
Cheng Ran said, "Mm, but there's no rush to hunt for your eighth soul ring."
Qian Renxue paused. "Why?"
"The power of faith inside you is increasing every day now. At this rate, it won't take long for it to accumulate to a truly terrifying amount."
Cheng Ran paused. "When that happens, we'll trigger the Angel Nine Trials and have the Angel God begging on her knees for us to inherit her divine position. With divinely bestowed soul rings available at a click, why bother working so hard to hunt soul beasts?"
Qian Renxue thought it over and found the Evil God's words very reasonable. "Then shall we go to Nuoding City now?"
"Let's go, let's go. Time to steal a march on them." Cheng Ran's voice carried a hint of excitement. "The little bunny's starting school. We'll go snatch her up first, and pick up that little girl from Dugu Bo's family while we're at it, putting together the core of a Golden Generation."
"Let's set off!"
Outside Nuoding City stood an unremarkable tea stall.
It was late summer, and the sunlight still carried a touch of sweltering heat.
Two people sat in the tea stall, one old and one young.
The older one had long jade-green hair and piercing eyes, with a disquieting aura faintly emanating from his body.
He was none other than Poison Douluo, Dugu Bo.
The younger one was eleven or twelve, also with long jade-green hair. Her features were delicate, and her eyes were full of curiosity and anticipation.
"Grandpa, will Sister Qian really come?" Dugu Yan asked quietly, holding her tea bowl in both hands as her fingertips rubbed uneasily along its rim.
Dugu Bo set down his tea bowl and looked toward the main road outside the stall. "She said we'd meet in Nuoding City after two months, so she'll definitely come. That girl doesn't seem like someone who would break her word."
Dugu Yan pouted. "But we've already been waiting for days..."
"What's the rush?" Dugu Bo glanced at his granddaughter. "Hasn't the remaining poison in your body already been cleared out over these two months? Even you can feel that your soul power flows much more smoothly than before. That's all thanks to the prescription that girl left."
Dugu Yan nodded slightly.
Indeed, after following Qian Renxue's prescription to recuperate over the past month, the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison in her body had been completely eliminated. Not only had it left no aftereffects, but thanks to the nourishment from the medicinal baths and the spring water of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, her meridians were even less obstructed than before.
Even her monthly period, which used to hurt so much she wished she were dead, now felt heavy, healthy, and easy.
"Sister Qian is amazing," Dugu Yan said sincerely.
Dugu Bo grunted. "The angel cultivation technique she's put together over the past few months is even more incredible... The two of us have really found ourselves a powerful backer this time."
Dugu Yan's eyes lit up. "Grandpa, does that mean you'll count as an elder of Spirit Hall from now on?"
Dugu Bo fell silent for a moment. "Ahem. I don't care about empty titles like that."
He reached out and stroked his granddaughter's head. "You, though-when you're following that girl in the future, you can't be as willful as you used to be."
"I'm not willful!" Dugu Yan puffed out her cheeks. "Sister Qian is so amazing. If I follow her, I'll definitely become amazing too!"
Seeing the rare admiration and longing in his granddaughter's eyes, Dugu Bo felt deeply comforted.
Just then, soft footsteps sounded outside the tea stall.
A young woman approached from the far end of the main road, her steps unhurried and her bearing ethereal.
Dressed in white that outshone snow, with golden hair cascading like a waterfall, she possessed an allure somewhere between innocence and seductive beauty as her gaze shifted. The curves of her chest filled out her fitted outfit in a perfect silhouette, and beneath her slender waist were long legs. Already over one hundred seventy centimeters tall, she looked like an angel who had stepped out of a painting.
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