Everyone's Strength Advances by Leaps and Bounds

"I did it!" Qing Lin's face lit up with delight.

She could feel that this Third-Order Magical Beast's life was now in her grasp, and that it had submitted to her.

This had to be the special talent the young master had spoken of!

Qing Lin panted softly, beads of sweat on her forehead, but her eyes were frighteningly bright.

"Very good!"

Lu Yuan was no less excited than Qing Lin.

This was the moment he had been waiting for. Without hesitation, he immediately contacted the Fortune Catalog.

[Fortune figure: Qing Lin]

[Heavenly Snake Great Emperor Bloodline (ancestral reversion)/Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils/Dou Qi cultivation/Earth-Splitting Rock Snake]

[Intermediate copy/plunder (progress 50/30)]

[Intermediate copy or plunder available.]

"Activate intermediate copy."

Lu Yuan clenched his hands, praying that his luck would hold out today.

If he had known, he would have kissed Xiao Yi Xian before leaving the wooden hut.

If some of that daughter of fortune's good luck rubbed off on him, he would surely have good luck.

[Copy complete: forty percent of the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils' origin]

The Fortune Catalog radiated dazzling light in the boundless void.

The light crossed countless stretches of space and time, merging into Lu Yuan's own origin.

A surge of extreme cold poured out from the depths of his soul. It resonated with the bloodline in his body and merged into his eyes.

The sensation came with unexpected force. Lu Yuan felt his pupils contract sharply, and the outlines of everything in his vision turned cold and sharp. The natural energy flowing through the air was clearly visible, like countless points of light.

Forty percent of the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils' origin had successfully merged into his eyes.

A jade-green lotus appeared at the very center of each of Lu Yuan's pitch-black pupils.

Forty percent. The Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils haven't fully awakened.

The Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils are an eye technique, an innate eye technique that only descendants whose Heavenly Snake Great Emperor Bloodline has undergone ancestral reversion might awaken.

I also possess twenty percent of the Heavenly Snake Great Emperor's ancestral-reversion bloodline, giving me the foundation to awaken this eye technique. It's just that, for now, I can only activate it to the one-flower stage.

Countless pieces of information seemed to be engraved in his bloodline, and Lu Yuan understood them in an instant.

Normally, the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils had three abilities.

First: mental pressure, which caused people or Magical Beasts with weaker souls than the user to experience hallucinations.

Second: contract snake-shaped Magical Beasts and exert absolute control over them, though those with ancient bloodlines were harder to control.

Third: awaken a pupil space in which contracted snake-shaped Magical Beasts could be stored, and through which their cultivation could be devoured and absorbed into the user's own body to accelerate cultivation.

The only ability Lu Yuan possessed now was mental suppression.

It was a soul-based eye-technique secret art that relied on his innate talent.

I've lived two lives, so my soul power is no weak thing. If I use this eye technique, anyone with a weaker soul than mine will fall for it and be left dazed for a time.

When experts clash, victory or defeat can be decided in an instant. This is a trump card.

With a thought, Lu Yuan withdrew the one-flower pupils.

"Young master, I think I succeeded!"

Qing Lin had not noticed the transformation Lu Yuan had undergone in that instant. She was just about to share her joy when she saw him standing nearby and immediately ran over.

"You don't just think so. You definitely succeeded. I was watching." Lu Yuan reached out and stroked Qing Lin's head. "Now that your talent has awakened, you should know some things already, but perhaps not as much as I do."

"What you've awakened is a pair of peculiar pupils called the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils. They only appear in descendants of humans and the Snake-People Tribe, and they're connected to an ancient Dou Di expert called the Heavenly Snake Great Emperor."

"As far as I know, the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils first appeared in a descendant of the Heavenly Snake Great Emperor and a human. In your case, it's the Heavenly Snake Great Emperor Bloodline reverting to its ancestral form."

"Someone with these pupils can..."

Lu Yuan gave Qing Lin a clear explanation of the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils.

"Young master, does that mean I can contract snake-shaped Magical Beasts and command them as battle pets, and also treat them as pills to increase my own strength?" Qing Lin clasped her hands to her chest, excitement glimmering in her eyes.

"You can think of it that way." Lu Yuan nodded slightly. "In short, Xiao Yi Xian and I can grow stronger by eating poison, while you only need to contract snake-shaped Magical Beasts to grow stronger."

"Xiao Yi Xian also has to worry that once her strength reaches a certain level, she'll lose control of her Woeful Poison Body, and ten thousand poisons will devour her heart and make her body explode."

"You, on the other hand, have no hidden dangers at all, and you can even enslave powerful snake-shaped Magical Beasts at higher cultivation levels than you to fight for you."

"Strictly speaking, your Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils are a little stronger than the Woeful Poison Body."

What Lu Yuan did not say was that the Woeful Poison Body excelled in its strangeness. Its user could control poison to harm people without a trace, deal damage over a wide area, and was also highly skilled in close combat.

Overall, though, the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils were indeed the more enticing choice.

At least, if Lu Yuan had to choose between the two, he would definitely pick the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils.

"I... I've actually become this amazing." Qing Lin's big eyes curved with delight, and she wept tears of joy. "Young master, now Qing Lin doesn't have to worry about being of no use to you one day."

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Lu Yuan pinched Qing Lin's nose. "You'll always be useful. Even if all you do is serve tea, pour water, and warm my bed, you can stay by your young master's side for the rest of your life."

"But I want to do more for you, young master." Qing Lin sniffled. "Now that I have a talent, I can."

Time flew like an arrow, the years shuttling past like a weaver's shuttle.

In the blink of an eye, three months had passed since Lu Yuan and his party of four had moved into the valley Xiao Yi Xian had discovered.

That was neither a long nor a short time, but the strength of Lu Yuan, Xiao Yi Xian, and Qing Lin had undergone an earth-shaking transformation.

First, Xiao Yi Xian had broken through to Dou Shi after sleeping for three days. Afterward, by constantly devouring second-tier poisons and cultivating the Seven-Colored Poison Scripture, she had raised her cultivation to Seven-Star Dou Shi.

As for Qing Lin, after successfully awakening the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils, she had, at Lu Yuan's direction, controlled the Earth-Splitting Rock Snake and gone out with Zhang Qingqing to hunt other Third-Order snake-shaped Magical Beasts.

Her current limit seemed to be contracting five Third-Order snake-shaped Magical Beasts.

That number was far beyond Lu Yuan's expectations. After all, Qing Lin, having awakened the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils, had originally only been able to control one Fourth-Order Magical Beast, comparable to a Dou Ling expert.

Five Third-Order Magical Beasts were no match for a single Fourth-Order Magical Beast.

But after giving it some thought, he found it reasonable.

The Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils controlled their targets by suppressing them on the level of the soul.

Fourth-Order Magical Beasts were stronger than Third-Order Magical Beasts, but their souls were probably not much stronger.

Controlling five Third-Order Magical Beasts probably consumed more soul power than controlling one Fourth-Order Magical Beast.

Unless her soul realm is extremely high, taking the legion-disaster route is still an idealized notion. The elite route remains the best choice.

Ideally, she can control at least two Fourth-Order Magical Beasts, keeping one outside to fight and storing the other in her pupil space to absorb its cultivation and strengthen herself.

Lu Yuan quickly sorted out his thoughts.

He decided to reduce the number of Third-Order snake-shaped Magical Beasts Qing Lin controlled.

Then he would find a way to help her control at least one Fourth-Order snake-shaped Magical Beast.

That way, their team would have Dou Ling-level combat strength.

Before we act, I'll make another round of copies.

Advanced copy is just a little short.

"Xian'er, Qing Lin, come here and give me a kiss."