The moment Sanpao saw Liu Erlong, his slit pupils lit up, and he pounced on her with an excited growl.
Liu Erlong staggered half a step back from the impact, then laughed as she hugged his head and rubbed it vigorously. "It really is Sanpao! Did you miss me?"
A rumbling sound rose in Sanpao's throat. He stuck out his tongue and licked Liu Erlong's face hard, his tail whipping up a wind.
Yu Xiaogang shook his head helplessly. "Sanpao, be careful. You're not small anymore."
"Rrroo..."
Sanpao turned back and grunted at him twice, then turned around again and burrowed into Liu Erlong's arms.
"Oh, why are you scolding him? Look how adorable he is!"
Liu Erlong hugged Sanpao's head and gave it another couple of rubs, her face full of affection.
Yu Xiaogang smiled. "All right, whatever you say."
Liu Erlong stood up. "Sanpao has changed so much. Just what have you done all these years? He looks like he's almost become a true dragon."
Yu Xiaogang did not explain much. "Nothing much. My martial soul just evolved."
As he spoke, he circulated his soul power slightly, and three Soul Rings rose from beneath his feet in succession.
Yellow, yellow, purple!
Liu Erlong's pupils abruptly contracted, and she blurted out, "You did it!"
Yu Xiaogang nodded. "Yes. I'm already level 36 now."
Liu Erlong stared at him blankly, unable to speak for a long while.
The man who had been stuck at level twenty-nine because of his innate soul power, whom everyone had mocked as "trash," had actually broken through the limits of his innate soul power, shattering the shackles of fate through his own efforts.
He had evolved his martial soul!
She suddenly felt her nose sting again and reached out to gently stroke the side of Yu Xiaogang's face.
"All these years... you must have suffered a lot, haven't you?"
Liu Erlong's voice was very soft.
She knew how obsessed Yu Xiaogang was with martial souls-so obsessed that he shut himself in his room to research through the night, so obsessed that he scoured ancient texts for the faintest possibility, so obsessed that even watching him back then had made her heart ache.
Now he had finally succeeded, but she dared not imagine how many hardships he had endured along the way.
Yu Xiaogang raised his hand to cover hers against his face and shook his head with a smile. "It wasn't really that hard."
Liu Erlong smiled, taking it as nothing more than his attempt to comfort her, and brushed her fingertips lightly against his cheek.
Sanpao sat at their feet and looked up at them, his tail sweeping back and forth over the ground as satisfied rumbles rose from his throat.
"Oh, right."
Liu Erlong withdrew her hand, suddenly remembering something.
"You came all this way to Heaven Dou City and headed straight here to find me? You haven't eaten yet, have you?"
Yu Xiaogang nodded. "I had a couple of bites of dry rations on the road."
Torn between annoyance and amusement, Liu Erlong grabbed his arm and pulled him outside.
"Honestly, why didn't you say so sooner? Come on, I'll make you something hot. It's been over a decade since you last tasted my cooking, hasn't it?"
Yu Xiaogang let her pull him along, the corners of his mouth curving slightly. "Does it still taste the same?"
"Pah! My cooking is good now!"
Sanpao trotted eagerly along behind them.
A short while later.
Yu Xiaogang sat at the stone table in the little courtyard, three dishes and a soup steaming before him.
He picked up a piece of braised pork with his chopsticks, put it in his mouth, and chewed a couple of times. His eyes brightened slightly. "Mm, not bad. Your cooking has improved a lot. It's much better than it was back then."
Liu Erlong sat opposite him, propping her chin in both hands as she watched him eat. At his words, she raised her eyebrows proudly. "Of course! Did you think I spent the last decade or so doing nothing but growing flowers?"
Yu Xiaogang took another sip of soup and nodded.
Watching him like this, Liu Erlong could not suppress the smile tugging at her lips. She simply sat there quietly and watched him eat.
After the meal, they walked around the courtyard to help their food settle, then returned indoors and spent some tender time together.
After so many years apart, there was too much to say, too many empty spaces to fill.
Liu Erlong leaned against Yu Xiaogang's shoulder as he slowly told her about the past years: doing research in Nuoding City, working as a teacher, studying theories, and... taking disciples.
"You took disciples?"
Liu Erlong lifted her head to look at him, her eyes brightening.
"Yes, two."
Yu Xiaogang smiled.
Liu Erlong grew interested. "What sort of people could make you take them as disciples?"
Yu Xiaogang thought for a moment, then said earnestly, "In my view, their talents rank among the very best on the entire continent."
"Oh? I'll remember you said that."
Liu Erlong raised an eyebrow and poked his chest.
"One day, I'll have to take a good look at these children my Xiaogang praises so highly."
Yu Xiaogang caught the hand poking him and smiled without saying a word.
Toward evening, they left the academy and strolled slowly along Heaven Dou City's bustling streets.
For once, Liu Erlong acted like a young girl, pulling Yu Xiaogang from place to place, first holding up fabric outside a cloth shop, then picking up a pair of earrings at a jewelry stall and holding them against her ears.
Yu Xiaogang said nothing. Whatever caught her fancy, he paid for; whatever she glanced at a little longer, he paid for too. Before long, he was carrying a small pile of things.
Liu Erlong looked back at him. "Why are you being so generous this time?"
Yu Xiaogang smiled. "To make it up to you, for all these years."
Liu Erlong froze for a moment and turned her face away, though her words remained fierce. "You certainly should. You'll have to spend a lifetime making it up to me."
As they wandered, they passed a candied hawthorn stall, and Yu Xiaogang stopped to buy two skewers.
Just then, a little girl's clear voice rang out nearby.
"Grandpa, I want this!"
"Hahaha, all right. Grandpa will get one for Yanyan."
Quite a few people around them instinctively backed away.
There was something unusual about that middle-aged man's aura, a faint, uncomfortable chill clinging to him.
Yu Xiaogang looked toward the voices and saw a green-haired middle-aged man standing before the candied hawthorn stall, holding a purple-haired little girl's hand.
The man had a sinister face, his brow carrying a cold severity that warned strangers away, yet his gaze turned remarkably gentle whenever he looked at the little girl.
Yu Xiaogang's heart stirred. Dugu Bo and Dugu Yan?
Was my luck really this good?
Yu Xiaogang could think of no one other than Dugu Bo and Dugu Yan who would form such a pair in Heaven Dou City.
He felt the hand holding his arm tighten. Liu Erlong had clearly recognized them too.
Her expression remained unchanged, but her fingers unconsciously tightened a little. Inwardly, she cursed her luck. Why did we have to run into this old poison fiend?
Yu Xiaogang patted her hand and smiled, signaling that she need not worry.
"Senior Dugu Bo, are you taking your granddaughter out for some fun?"
Dugu Bo turned at his words and looked him up and down, his brows shifting slightly. "Oh? You're not afraid of me?"
"Heh, you must be joking, Senior."
Yu Xiaogang remained composed.
"You're hardly some wicked villain. Why should I be afraid?"
"Hahahaha!"
Dugu Bo threw back his head and laughed, then gave Yu Xiaogang an interested look.
"You're an interesting lad."
Yu Xiaogang looked down at the purple-haired little girl with twin ponytails beside him and smiled. "Your granddaughter is quite talented. With proper nurturing, the day she becomes a Titled Douluo will be within sight."
"Indeed! Indeed!"
Dugu Bo smiled so broadly that wrinkles creased the corners of his eyes, looking nothing like the legendary Poison Douluo was supposed to.
What grandfather did not love hearing people praise his granddaughter?
"Hello, my name is Dugu Yan."
Dugu Yan gave Yu Xiaogang and Liu Erlong a sweet smile.
Yu Xiaogang nodded with a smile. "Hello there."
Before you continue