Mu Changqing had been unconscious for three days and three nights. He remembered nothing of what had happened to his body; his last conscious impression was of suppressing the Golden Dragon King's bloodline.
Mu Changqing felt someone lying on top of him. Only when he lowered his head did he see that it was Na'er.
Na'er lay sprawled over Mu Changqing, her arms wrapped tightly around his waist, afraid that he would leave her the very next second.
After awakening her martial soul, Na'er had grown noticeably taller. Her skin had become smoother and more supple, and her slender waist accentuated her beauty.
Curious, Mu Changqing pinched Na'er's cheek. The gesture woke her, and she opened her sleepy eyes, rubbing them with both hands as her long silver hair spilled loose...
"Big brother! What are you doing?!"
Na'er's voice was languid. She tilted her little head slightly and looked at Mu Changqing in confusion.
"Nothing, Na'er... your eyes..."
"What about them?!"
Mu Changqing brought his face close to Na'er's, until their faces were incredibly close. Her little face flushed. With Mu Changqing staring at her like this, she felt a little embarrassed.
Mu Changqing discovered that Na'er's eyes were no longer deep black, but clear, translucent purple. From time to time, they even exuded waves of draconic might.
"Na'er, do you feel anything wrong inside your body?"
Mu Changqing carefully reached out and stroked Na'er's fair little cheek. He needed to confirm whether her second personality had fully awakened.
"No!... If anything feels wrong, it's that I'm a little hungry!"
Na'er caught Mu Changqing's large hand and rubbed her belly with her other hand.
The Silver Dragon King's consciousness had not fully awakened. Mu Changqing breathed a temporary sigh of relief, his tense mood immediately relaxing.
"Na'er, summon your martial soul."
Mu Changqing took Na'er's hand. They jumped off the bed together and went over to the balcony, where there was more room.
Na'er stood on the balcony and circulated the soul power within her body. The phantom of a gigantic silver-white dragon appeared behind her, and silver dragon scales instantly covered her slender right hand. A purple soul ring with golden patterns circled her.
Na'er raised her silver dragon claw. Suddenly, she opened her palm, and a mass of power floated quietly within it.
This power was a mixture of seven colors, each corresponding to one of the seven great elemental divine powers: water, fire, earth, wind, light, darkness, and space.
Mu Changqing was startled. After undergoing martial soul possession, he touched the mass of power with his golden dragon claw. The instant he made contact, the other elements within it began slicing at his claw.
"Holy shit! Na'er, this power is pretty damn amazing!"
Feeling the pain coming from his golden dragon claw, Mu Changqing quickly pulled it away. His strength and defense were second to none on the Douluo Continent.
The Silver Dragon King's seven great elements were still far too overpowered.
"Big brother, I can't control all seven kinds of power at once yet! Right now, I can only control the water element!"
Na'er looked at Mu Changqing's golden dragon claw, then at her own silver dragon claw. There was no telling what she was pondering.
"Na'er! Try unleashing your first soul skill and attacking me!"
"All right!"
Mu Changqing walked to the far end of the balcony, putting some distance between them.
"First soul skill, Elemental Tide!"
At a thought from Na'er, that mass of power surged. Deep-sea-colored elemental divine power instantly covered her silver dragon claw. She raised her hand and launched her soul skill at Mu Changqing.
Water elemental divine power began spreading around Na'er, forming waves of pressure. Each wave of water pressure seemed to slice through the air.
The first wave of water pressure sliced swiftly toward Mu Changqing. For the moment, he only used his golden dragon claw to block it.
As the second and third waves arrived, Mu Changqing gradually found himself unable to keep up. When the fifth wave of water pressure came, he could no longer withstand it and had to use his Golden Dragon Body, only barely managing to resist.
Na'er's first soul skill dealt area-of-effect damage. There were five waves of water elemental divine power in total, with the damage stacking with each successive wave.
"Na'er, from now on, I'll leave my back to you!"
Mu Changqing dismissed his martial soul and walked up to Na'er. He gazed at the little girl before him with both hands behind his back.
"Sure! From now on, big brother will be the spear, and Na'er will be the shield behind you."
Na'er's silver dragon claw vanished, replaced by her slender little hand. She puffed out her cheeks and clapped softly.
The two seemed to reach a resonance in an instant. They sat cross-legged, and Na'er raised her hands, pressing them firmly against Mu Changqing's. Both began circulating the soul power within their bodies.
Drawn by their soul power, the origin power of heaven and earth beneath the Golden Ancient Tree gathered toward them.
Mu Changqing and Na'er cultivated face-to-face. Their martial souls complemented each other to begin with, and their cultivation speed increased severalfold.
"It really is wonderful to be young! Back in my day..."
Mu En stood outside the door, watching the two being so affectionate on the balcony, and could not help sighing with emotion.
Mu En, too, sank into his memories. He had truly basked in boundless glory in his youth. He stopped disturbing Mu Changqing and Na'er's cultivation.
Mu En carefully walked toward the stairs. Regarding Na'er's ability to condense her own soul rings, he had warned all the elders of the Sea God Pavilion that no one was to let word of it spread.
During the three days Mu Changqing and Na'er had been unconscious, Mu En had thoroughly examined both their bodies. He had thought Na'er might be a soul beast that had taken human form, but repeated examinations had shown a human physique, so he could only let the matter drop.
"Na'er and Changqing... could they be..."
Mu En slowly descended the stairs, rubbing his hands uneasily behind his back. He began to speak, then stopped.
"Forget it! I'll take things one step at a time. Even if the sky falls, this old man will hold it up for them."
Mu En thought no more about it, and his expression became kindly once again. He planned to take Mu Changqing and Bei Bei back to the Heavenly Dragon Sect in a few years.
Mu En's cultivation was at the Quasi-Demigod Realm. He kept feeling that the continent was about to fall into turmoil, as though a great hand were invisibly guiding everyone's fate.
"Xuan Zi, there's something I need to tell you!"
Mu En had reached the first floor of the Sea God Pavilion. It could not be called deserted: someone was sleeping slumped over a table. It was none other than Xuan Zi.
No one in Shrek besides him dared act like this, and Mu En had long since grown used to it.
"Elder Mu, what is it?"
Xuan Zi stretched and yawned, looking at Mu En with an air of utter nonchalance.
"You're not getting any younger! Why don't you find a partner? That way, you can pass down your Taotie Divine Bull martial soul!"
"Perhaps Shrek could have another Taotie Douluo in the future!"
Mu En sat down on a nearby chair, his expression solemn.
"Elder Mu, I'm over two hundred years old. How could I still handle all that lovey-dovey stuff?!"
Xuan Zi smiled helplessly. He was a thoroughly straightforward man to begin with; getting him to find a partner was as difficult as ascending to heaven. In his youth, all he had done was eat and sleep. He had never even had a proper romance.