Chen Ci struck again and again with his sword, occasionally using "Once" to rewind the Rock-Patterned Giant Bear.
His figure was like a dancer dancing on the edge of a blade.
His fighting style was less like a control-type Soul Master's and more like an agility-attack-type Soul Master's.
Finally, the heavily wounded Rock-Patterned Giant Bear fell to the ground.
Chen Ci approached the Rock-Patterned Giant Bear's limbs and severed them with his sword.
He lacked Chen Xin's combat experience, and finding the tendons in the Rock-Patterned Giant Bear's legs would have been too much trouble, so he simply cut its limbs off.
Once that was done, Chen Ci looked at Ning Rongrong and said:
"Rongrong, come absorb your first Soul Ring?"
At that moment, Chen Ci was covered in blood, making the smile he directed at Ning Rongrong look particularly ferocious.
But Ning Rongrong was not afraid, because he knew Chen Ci had become like this for her sake.
Enduring the bloody stench, Ning Rongrong walked over to Chen Ci. Looking at the blood covering him, she asked with concern:
"Brother Chen Ci, are you all right?
"Are you hurt?"
Chen Ci answered:
"I'm fine. All the blood on me belongs to it. It didn't hurt me in the slightest from start to finish."
As though it understood his words, the Rock-Patterned Giant Bear closed its eyes in frustration.
If it had not already lacked the strength to kill itself, it would have gladly done so on the spot to escape this humiliation.
Chen Ci immediately urged:
"Rongrong, hurry up and kill the Rock-Patterned Giant Bear, then absorb its Soul Ring.
"If you take any longer, it might kill itself."
Hearing that, Ning Rongrong hurriedly took an exquisite little knife from her Storage Soul Tool and thrust it through the chest Chen Ci had sliced open, into the slowly beating heart.
Feeling the heart-piercing pain, the Rock-Patterned Giant Bear shed tears of happiness.
At last, I don't have to suffer this humiliation anymore.
Then the Rock-Patterned Giant Bear departed the world of bears.
A yellow Soul Ring appeared over its corpse.
Ning Rongrong began absorbing the Soul Ring.
As Ning Rongrong moved away, the young girl's fragrance dissipated with her.
Only then did Chen Ci realize that the Rock-Patterned Giant Bear's blood covering him reeked terribly.
He simply stripped off his upper garments and tossed them onto the ground.
As the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's son-in-law, he could afford to lose a piece of clothing.
But since he had only recently become the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's son-in-law, he had yet to grow accustomed to this wealthy lifestyle and had no spare clothes stored in his Storage Soul Tool.
Looks like I'll have to keep a change of clothes ready from now on.
With his upper garments removed, Chen Ci sat cross-legged beside Ning Rongrong and began cultivating his Soul Power.
With Chen Xin there, he had no need to stand guard over Ning Rongrong.
Chen Xin remained hidden in the shadows.
He deliberately created the impression that Chen Ci was guarding Ning Rongrong, which could deepen the bond between them.
Having Chen Ci hunt a Soul Beast for Ning Rongrong had also been his plan from the outset.
After this Soul Hunting trip, he could tell that Ning Rongrong had grown a little closer to Chen Ci.
Before long, Ning Rongrong successfully absorbed the Soul Ring and opened her eyes to see Chen Ci bare-chested.
Her pretty face flushed, and she rummaged through her Storage Soul Tool for a little dress.
She hesitated over whether to give it to Chen Ci to wear.
Sensing Ning Rongrong's gaze, Chen Ci stopped cultivating and opened his eyes to find a little dress in front of him.
He blurted out:
"Rongrong, I may not have brought spare clothes, but I can't wear yours."
Hearing Chen Ci talk about wearing her clothes, Ning Rongrong's face instantly turned red:
"You shameless pervert! Who said I was giving you my clothes to wear!
"My clothes are just dirty, so I'm changing."
Chen Ci made no comment.
Fine, a shameless pervert it is.
Better than being taken for a freak for wearing women's clothes.
Since Chen Ci was bare-chested, Chen Xin took him straight back to Sword Peak without letting anyone else see him along the way.
After all, Chen Ci was engaged to Ning Rongrong, and appearing bare-chested in public really would have been inappropriate.
After Chen Ci finished bathing, Chen Xin took him to the residence of Ning Rongrong's family, where Gu Rong and Ning Fengzhi were also present.
As soon as Ning Fengzhi and Gu Rong saw Chen Ci, they asked:
"Chen Ci, how old is your first Soul Ring?"
Rather than answer immediately, Chen Ci first summoned the Passionate Sword.
An alluring purple Soul Ring encircled the Passionate Sword, drawing their eyes.
Only then did Chen Ci say:
"Uncle Ning, Grandpa Gu, my first Soul Ring is over fourteen hundred years old."
Looking at the Soul Ring, Gu Rong could not help saying:
"Even with the truth right before my eyes, a thousand-year first ring is still rather unbelievable."
Ning Fengzhi nodded as well, then looked at Ning Rongrong and asked:
"Rongrong, how old is your first Soul Ring?"
With such a gem displayed before hers, Ning Rongrong said somewhat sheepishly:
"Only five hundred and twenty-one years."
But soon, Ning Rongrong's expression turned rather smug:
"But my first Soul Skill gives a 25% strength boost, 5% more than an ordinary Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda."
Seeing Ning Rongrong's expression, Ning Fengzhi lightly tapped her on the head:
"If you'd absorbed all the whale rubber and raised the age to fourteen hundred years like Chen Ci's, your strength boost would have been at least 30%.
"That would already match the boost other Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Soul Masters get from absorbing their second Soul Ring."
Ning Rongrong did not care at all:
"My first Soul Skill is already stronger than everyone else's anyway. With Brother Chen Ci's thousand-year Soul Skill too, we'll only be stronger than everyone else."
"Ah, you."
In the end, Ning Fengzhi said little more, merely urging Ning Rongrong to hurry up and absorb the whale rubber.
However, Ning Fengzhi noticed that his darling daughter seemed to have grown a little closer to Chen Ci.
He felt rather worried, as though a pig had rooted up the prized cabbage in his own garden.
After turning it over in his mind, Ning Fengzhi could not resist asking Chen Xin:
"Uncle Jian, what happened during this Soul Hunting trip...?"
Chen Xin saw through Ning Fengzhi's thoughts and told him what he wanted to hear.
Finally, Chen Xin said:
"Fengzhi, since you've already arranged Rongrong's engagement to Chen Ci, you should foster their feelings for each other.
"Chen Ci's current combat strength is already considerable. I'm planning to have them go on their own for future Soul Hunting trips.
"Let them help each other and hunt Soul Beasts themselves.
"It will deepen their feelings and their bond, as well as improve their coordination."
Ning Fengzhi nodded, knowing that they did indeed need to develop Ning Rongrong and Chen Ci's feelings for each other.
But as a father, he still found it a little hard to let go.
Gu Rong said:
"Fengzhi, what's there to be reluctant about?
"Chen Ci is an orphan. Even if Rongrong marries him in the future,
"their home will still be in the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect."
Those words were like clarified butter poured over his head, and Ning Fengzhi suddenly came to his senses.
Though they spoke of Rongrong marrying Chen Ci, it was no different from Chen Ci marrying into the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
Because Chen Ci was an orphan.
Everything suddenly became clear to Ning Fengzhi, and he increased the resources invested in Chen Ci. He even considered whether to try persuading Chen Xin to help Chen Ci hunt Soul Beasts for Soul Bones.