Gu Yue looked at Li Chen, her gaze burning.
Li Chen instinctively avoided Gu Yue's gaze and pondered inwardly.
The rewards he obtained within his body could be sensed by powerful people. This was not good news.
But at this moment, Li Chen was not worried either.
A dragon bloodline would, at most, make Gu Yue curious about him, not hostile. After all, there were very few dragon-type Soul Beasts left now.
"So you're Her Excellency Heavenly Phoenix. Auntie Leng, is there something wrong with me?"
Li Chen feigned confusion.
Leng Yaozhu smiled. "Nothing much. I just feel that there seems to be a power inside you that hasn't awakened yet, and it gives me a sense of closeness. Come into the room. Auntie will examine you."
"Well, all right."
They entered the room.
Leng Yaozhu placed her hand on Li Chen's shoulder, and Soul Power poured into his body.
The next moment,
a Bright Phoenix suddenly appeared, looking for all the world as though his Martial Soul had awakened!
"Is this... a Bright Phoenix?!"
Leng Yaozhu's eyes widened.
"How could this happen? You actually have a second Martial Soul inside you! How did no one discover it during your awakening?!"
Leng Yaozhu looked at Li Chen, her heart aching.
A Bright Phoenix-this was one of the top Martial Souls!
Its quality was even a notch above her Heavenly Phoenix.
Leng Yaozhu took out a crystal ball and placed Li Chen's hand on it. The crystal quickly displayed a number: 10!
"Innate full Soul Power, too!"
Leng Yaozhu drew a deep breath.
"What on earth is going on... How did this go undetected when you awakened at six?"
Leng Yaozhu sank into thought.
This was far too strange.
However, this situation soon reminded Leng Yaozhu of someone: the founder of the Spirit Pagoda, Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao!
According to legend,
Huo Yuhao's Martial Soul had merely been Spirit Eyes, and his innate Soul Power had only been rank 1.
Yet this Spirit Ice Douluo had encountered a fortuitous opportunity in the Far North and actually developed a second Martial Soul, the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion!
At this point, Li Chen could only play dead. "I don't know either, Auntie Leng. I just felt something was off after I obtained my second Soul Spirit."
After hearing this, Leng Yaozhu said, "Let Auntie see your Soul Spirits."
Li Chen nodded.
A stalk of Lone Bamboo and a fox Soul Spirit appeared.
The Lone Bamboo was a hundred-year Soul Spirit, while the other, a pink fox, was a thousand-year one.
"Your..."
Leng Yaozhu was dumbfounded.
"Who put together this Soul Spirit combination for you? Absorbing a hundred-year Lone Bamboo as your first Soul Spirit-isn't that sheer nonsense?!"
"And how did you end up absorbing a second Soul Spirit for just your second Soul Ring? This, this, this..."
Leng Yaozhu was stunned, momentarily at a loss for words.
Soul Spirits could provide Soul Rings, and a hundred-year Soul Spirit could provide up to two.
A thousand-year Soul Spirit could provide three.
In other words,
Li Chen's hundred-year Lone Bamboo could provide at least two Soul Rings, yet Li Chen had actually absorbed another thousand-year fox!
It had to be understood,
there was a limit to how many Soul Spirits a Soul Master could absorb. Each additional Soul Spirit placed a greater burden on the Soul Master.
In other words,
ordinary Soul Masters had to be cautious about absorbing Soul Spirits and find the best ones they could.
Although Soul Spirits and Soul Rings could now be upgraded through the Spirit Ascension Platform, this Lone Bamboo was far too low-grade. Leng Yaozhu could hardly bear to look.
Moreover, this meant Li Chen had completely wasted one of his hundred-year Lone Bamboo Soul Spirit's Soul Ring slots, while also burdening his body more heavily.
This was simply a cardinal taboo that crippled one's potential!
Li Chen rubbed his nose.
These were Soul Spirits the Tree of Sorrow Martial Soul had chosen on its own. There was nothing he could do about it either.
Leng Yaozhu was heartbroken:
"Honestly, what is your dad so busy doing all day as some lousy chairman? He should at least pay some attention to your cultivation!"
"Your first Martial Soul, the Tree of Sorrow, came with innate full Soul Power! Even if we don't know what it does, he can't just squander it like this..."
"I really don't know what to do with you."
Li Chen scratched his head awkwardly. "It's fine, Auntie. I think it's pretty good. At worst, I'll use the hundred-year Lone Bamboo Soul Spirit for my fourth Soul Ring."
Leng Yaozhu nearly fainted at that.
A hundred-year fourth Soul Ring-was that something a fucking human would do?!
"Phew!"
"All right, what's done is done. If you want to absorb a Soul Spirit in the future, you must come and tell Auntie. Your dad doesn't pay attention to you, so you have to be careful yourself. Understand?"
Li Chen nodded. "Understood. Then, Auntie, do you know where this second Martial Soul of mine came from?"
Leng Yaozhu began pondering.
Beside her, Gu Yue also watched curiously, blinking.
She had only recently entered human society and was curious about everything concerning human Soul Masters.
"I think you might have stumbled onto the right result by accident. Perhaps this second Soul Spirit of yours, the thousand-year demon fox, underwent some unknown change with your body."
"Something similar to Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao, causing you to gain a second Martial Soul."
Leng Yaozhu offered her conjecture.
She knew it was far-fetched, but this was the only explanation she could give right now.
Otherwise, where had this second Martial Soul come from?
Surely it couldn't have dropped off someone else?
Li Chen feigned delighted surprise:
"So that's it! That's wonderful. I won't have to be trash anymore! I'm going to make one hell of a comeback!"
Leng Yaozhu chuckled. "Oh, how could it be that easy? You've already absorbed two Soul Spirits, and we don't even know how many more your body can withstand."
"If things go badly later, you might not even be able to equip this Bright Phoenix Martial Soul with enough Soul Rings to reach Titled Douluo."
Li Chen feigned dismay. "Ah, then, Auntie, what should I do?"
Fooled you. With the Dark Holy Dragon Bloodline, there's nothing to worry about at all.
In fact, logically speaking, someone with a Soul Beast bloodline should not have been able to absorb Soul Rings.
But the Tree of Sorrow seemed to have forcibly altered the rules of the world.
"How about this? Why don't you become Auntie's disciple from now on?
"Our Heavenly Phoenix Leng Clan has researched Phoenix Martial Souls for years, and Auntie is also the deputy master of the Spirit Pagoda. In the future, whether you want to enter the Spirit Ascension Platform or need other cultivation resources, Auntie can provide them."
"What do you think?"
With the map unrolled, Leng Yaozhu finally revealed the dagger.
The moment she saw Li Chen's Bright Phoenix Martial Soul, she had wanted to take him as her disciple.
After all, although the Leng Clan, the Spirit Pagoda's second-largest clan, looked glorious to outsiders, it had actually reached the point where its line was about to end!
Neither she, Leng Yaozhu, nor her younger sister Leng Yulai had any descendants.
Leng Yulai had even been missing for years.
Thus, the Leng Clan was very anxious. Without descendants, its family holdings would instead become a dangerous burden. It was not as though history lacked clans whose estates had been devoured because their lines had died out!
Li Chen displayed just the right trace of uncertainty:
"Well, Auntie, can I really do it? I feel like I might not meet your expectations."
Leng Yaozhu smiled. "You can. Auntie will teach you slowly. Even if you don't become a supreme powerhouse in the future, you'll still be better off than you are now."
"Mm, all right. Thank you, Auntie."
Leng Yaozhu smiled in satisfaction.
Yes, she liked this child's personality.
He was honest and did not talk much.
Once brought into the Leng Clan, he would also be easy to control.
Leng Yaozhu could not guarantee anything else, but she was actually very confident about getting Li Chen to Super Douluo.
After all, Leng Yaozhu herself was a rank-98 Peak Douluo and a Four-Word Battle Armor Master!
By forcibly piling on the Leng Clan's vast resources, she could carry Li Chen straight to Super Douluo.
When the time came, the Leng Clan would at least not plummet straight to rock bottom.
"All right, let Auntie introduce you. This is Gu Yue, a first-year student at the Shrek Outer Court. She's also Auntie's student. Get to know each other."
With that,
Leng Yaozhu smiled and walked out the door.
She had only come to Shrek this time to watch the competition on behalf of the Spirit Pagoda. She had not expected to snap up an overlooked Bright Phoenix Martial Soul as well. This was simply an enormous stroke of good fortune.
Once Leng Yaozhu had left,
Gu Yue suddenly shoved Li Chen against the wall and propped up his chin with her hand.
"Are you from the Dark Holy Dragon Clan?"
The Silver Dragon King's presence burst forth from Gu Yue, immediately making Li Chen feel a crushing pressure!