After swallowing the red spider lily, Sun Meng showed no signs of discomfort.
She was about to ask Gao Shang something, but just as she stood up, her vision suddenly went black, and she toppled straight forward.
Fortunately, Gao Shang reacted quickly enough to step forward and catch her.
He checked Sun Meng's condition and found that her breathing was steady and her expression relaxed. She looked just as though she were asleep.
"Tsk, being young is great. Out like a light."
Only after confirming that nothing serious was wrong with Sun Meng, and that this was probably just a normal reaction to absorbing the red spider lily, did Gao Shang breathe a sigh of relief.
Then he scooped Sun Meng up in his arms, carried her into his bedroom, and laid her on the bed.
As for himself, he stayed in the room, cultivating while pondering Ninjutsu.
With the Fire Phoenix Wings supporting him, his practice of Fire Release Ninjutsu went much more smoothly, and his enthusiasm for cultivating rose along with it.
Time passed little by little.
Night turned to day, and day turned back to night.
After taking the Immortal Herb, Sun Meng actually remained asleep for three whole days.
During that time, Hong Hua came to see Gao Shang to discuss a location for the restaurant.
However, Gao Shang did not go in person. He merely checked the location on a map before agreeing to Hong Hua's proposal.
After all, the dishes he could offer were delicious enough that there would be no shortage of customers wherever the restaurant opened.
Besides, he had told Hong Hua to choose a spot on Nuoding City's main street in the first place.
Gao Shang handed Hong Hua five thousand Gold Soul Coins outright to purchase the premises and demolish the existing buildings.
Afterward, he continued to stay in the courtyard, standing guard over Sun Meng.
Only on the morning of the fourth day did a fluctuation of pure spiritual power emerge from the bedroom, rousing Gao Shang from his cultivation in the courtyard.
"Is it finally about to end?"
The moment Gao Shang roused, he rushed into the bedroom, where he saw Sun Meng entirely enveloped in a layer of hazy red light, forming a huge cocoon of light.
He could not sense exactly what was happening inside the cocoon, but he could clearly feel the fluctuations of Soul Power and spiritual power coming from within.
"Innate Full Soul Power. And this spiritual power... it's actually not much weaker than mine?"
Although Gao Shang was slightly surprised by her Soul Power, he could accept it. After all, this was Martial Soul Evolution brought about by an Immortal Herb of the very highest grade.
Her Martial Soul's quality could hardly be poor.
It was normal for her Innate Soul Power to be higher.
But spiritual power comparable to Gao Shang's was a little outrageous.
Although Gao Shang had never had his spiritual power precisely tested, it was definitely already on par with a Soul Grandmaster's.
Otherwise, he could not have easily affected Wang Tianyuan and the others with Genjutsu before.
However, before Gao Shang could investigate closely, the red light inside the bedroom suddenly spread outward.
In the blink of an eye, the entire room was shrouded in red.
The instant the red light covered him, Gao Shang felt as though his soul were about to be pulled out of his body.
The circulation of his Soul Power grew sluggish, and his physical coordination was affected as well.
His strength had actually been reduced by around ten percent in an instant.
"This is... an Innate Domain?!"
Gao Shang's eyes widened, and his mouth opened wide enough to fit an egg.
He had imagined that the red spider lily would be powerful, but he had never expected it to be this powerful.
A single hundred-year-old red spider lily had actually transformed an ordinary person without Soul Power into a top-tier genius with an Innate Domain and Innate Full Soul Power in such a short time.
"Fucking awesome!"
Only when knowledge was needed did one regret how little one had.
Only now did Gao Shang realize that he could not find any more fitting words to describe the scene before him.
Finally, after lasting for several dozen seconds, the red light abruptly contracted and sank back into Sun Meng's body, and the cocoon of light around her dispersed along with it.
Seeing this, Gao Shang immediately stepped forward to check Sun Meng's condition.
But as soon as he reached the bedside, he discovered that Sun Meng had already opened her eyes at some point.
Before Gao Shang could speak, Sun Meng's eyes reddened, and she lunged straight forward to hug him.
"Boohoo, boss, I did it!"
"I really did it! I'm a Soul Master too now, boohoo..."
Sun Meng hugged him so quickly and tightly that Gao Shang was caught completely unprepared. His head was pressed into her bosom on the spot, leaving him unable even to breathe.
Seeing Sun Meng cry harder and harder, Gao Shang had no choice but to struggle, laboriously poking his head out from her chest as he shouted:
"Air... gimme some air!"
As his words fell, the crying in the room stopped abruptly.
Sun Meng lowered her head and glanced at Gao Shang, who was right against her, and her expression froze on the spot.
The next second, her face rapidly turned red.
The tips of her ears and her neck were dyed red as well.
"Boss... I..."
"Never mind the 'I'! Let go of me first!"
"Ah! O-okay."
As though she had received an electric shock, Sun Meng hurriedly released him.
Ten minutes later, the two sat beside the stone table in the little courtyard.
Much of the blush on Sun Meng's face had faded, but she still kept her head lowered, not daring to meet Gao Shang's eyes.
Gao Shang rubbed his nose, gave a dry cough, and took the initiative to steer the conversation back to business.
"Sister Xiao Meng, first tell me what your Martial Soul evolved into, and whether it has any other abilities."
Sun Meng stole a glance at him.
Only when she saw Gao Shang's serious expression did her nervousness ease a little.
Then she raised her right hand, and a huge scythe a full two meters long appeared out of thin air in her grasp.
The scythe was pitch-black all over, without any unnecessary patterns. Only its curved blade, nearly a meter long, gleamed with a chilling white light in the morning sun.
"Boss, after evolving, my Martial Soul is called the Soul-Gathering Scythe."
Sun Meng lightly gripped the scythe's shaft and said softly:
"It looks like a physical weapon, but as long as it strikes someone's body, it also deals some soul damage."
Gao Shang nodded slightly.
It really does have to do with souls.
No wonder Sun Meng's spiritual power increased to this extent.
In this era, where means of defending the soul were almost nonexistent, the Soul-Gathering Scythe's attacks were practically equivalent to true damage.
One could only block them with a weapon or dodge, never take them head-on with the body.
It was simply the nightmare of every Beast Martial Soul Master.
"Does it have any other abilities?"
Gao Shang continued to ask.
He had not forgotten that red light that had suppressed him just now.
"There's also an ability that can suppress others within a certain area."
At this point, Sun Meng hesitated.
"But this ability is a little..."
"A little what?"
"A little evil."
Sun Meng lowered her head, and her voice grew softer as well.
"I can draw the souls of people who die within this area into my Martial Soul. The more souls I collect, the stronger the Soul-Gathering Scythe becomes."
After saying that, she fell silent.
During this time, she had already learned quite a bit about Soul Masters from Hong Hua.
She knew that there was a type of Fallen Soul Master who increased their strength by taking other people's lives.
She did not want Gao Shang to see her as a Fallen Soul Master.
But at the same time, she did not want to hide her abilities either.
To her surprise, after hearing her out, Gao Shang not only showed no disgust, but instead spoke with a look of shock:
"Good grief, isn't that just the Ten Thousand Souls Banner?"