The Mysterious Food-Type Soul Master

At the entrance to the Heaven Dou Auction House.

Ye Qiu looked up at the blazing sun, then turned to Dugu Yan behind him and said with an awkward smile, "Yanzi, I'm really sorry about what just happened. I wasn't paying attention for a moment..."

"It's fine. I'm not that oversensitive."

Dugu Yan waved a hand, folded her arms, and turned her slightly flushed face away.

Ye Qiu took her by the shoulders and suggested with a smile, "It's getting late. How about I treat you to a meal? It'd be a way to thank you for your help."

"No need."

Dugu Yan refused outright and rolled her eyes at him. "Compared to you saving my life, this was just a matter of chicken feathers and garlic peels, not worth mentioning. Just take me back to the Sunset Forest..."

"All right, then."

Ye Qiu shrugged and didn't press her.

"I'll treat you to a feast next time I get the chance. Let's find somewhere without anyone around first."

As soon as he finished speaking,

Ye Qiu led the way toward a rarely frequented alley.

Seeing this, Dugu Yan immediately followed.

At a corner in the alley, Ye Qiu turned and held out his hand to Dugu Yan...

"..."

Dugu Yan pressed her red lips together and placed her hand in his palm.

The next moment, the space around them rapidly twisted, swallowing them in the blink of an eye and making them vanish from where they stood.

A rapid patter of footsteps approached from afar.

"Hmm?"

A young man with long, dark-purple hair stood at the entrance, then hurried into the alley. He frowned as he looked at the empty corner.

"I definitely saw Yanzi and the others come in here?"

"..."

Meanwhile,

inside the Heaven Dou Auction House.

Ning Fengzhi and Ning Rongrong's group were sitting in a room beside the auction hall, waiting for the rest of the items he had won.

Ning Rongrong crouched beside the coffee table and gently poked the milky-white Healing Pill with a finger. She looked up at Ning Fengzhi, who was holding a Soul Ascension Pill and examining it closely, and asked curiously:

"Dad, is there something wrong with these pills? You've been staring at them for so long."

"There does seem to be something odd about them."

Ning Fengzhi held the Soul Ascension Pill between his fingers, a hint of surprise in his eyes.

The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda was one of the Martial Souls afflicted by a Martial Soul defect, and the sect masters through the generations had never stopped studying Martial Souls... especially support-type Martial Souls.

After examining the pills for only a short while, Ning Fengzhi noticed something unusual and said, uncertain and surprised:

"These pills don't look like they were refined from medicinal ingredients. They seem more like something produced by a food-type Soul Master's Soul Skill."

"Fengzhi, what makes you say that?"

Before Ning Rongrong could speak, Sword Douluo, who was sitting beside them, opened his eyes.

"Uncle Jian, your eyesight should be better than mine."

Ning Fengzhi smiled and put the pill back on the red cloth on the coffee table. "Leaving aside the Soul Power they contain, just look at the appearance of these three Soul Ascension Pills... They're flawless, and they're all exactly the same size."

"Huh?"

Ning Rongrong immediately focused her attention on the three Soul Ascension Pills on the table.

Sword Douluo leaned forward with interest and examined them alongside Ning Rongrong for a moment. He frowned. "It seems... there really isn't a single flaw to be found."

"Only a food-type Soul Master could achieve this level of craftsmanship."

Ning Fengzhi spoke with complete confidence.

"Huh? Could that guy called Ye Qiu be a food-type Soul Master?"

Ning Rongrong craned her neck in surprise.

"But that's impossible, isn't it, Dad? He's a Soul Elder!"

"Didn't you say support-type Soul Masters have the hardest time cultivating? He's about the same age as me, and as a support-type Soul Master—and a food-type, the hardest kind to cultivate-even with Innate Full Soul Power, he shouldn't be so far ahead of me."

Ning Rongrong couldn't believe Ye Qiu's talent.

After all, she had grown up in fine clothes and with the best food, and she was a genius with level-nine Innate Soul Power, yet she had only just reached level twenty-six.

Even if she didn't much like cultivating, even if she had worked hard,

she still wouldn't have broken through to level thirty.

Ning Rongrong had at least that much self-awareness.

"Haha... Rongrong, you must understand that geniuses in this world are as plentiful as crucian carp crossing a river. Perhaps his talent is truly that outstanding?"

Ning Fengzhi gently poked his daughter's forehead and said meaningfully, "Besides... I never said he had to be a food-type Soul Master. It could also be someone close to him, couldn't it?"

"Dad, you might as well not have said anything~"

Ning Rongrong covered her forehead and pouted.

"Haha..."

Ning Fengzhi couldn't help laughing, but his expression gradually turned serious.

"Still, no matter what, this young brother named Ye Qiu is worth our Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's best efforts to recruit."

"Indeed."

Sword Douluo straightened up, his eyes growing somewhat solemn. "If these two kinds of pills really are the work of a food-type Soul Master, and if the Soul Ascension Pill's medicinal effects can improve further... their value would be immeasurable."

"You're absolutely right, Uncle Jian. That's exactly what I was thinking."

Ning Fengzhi nodded in wholehearted agreement.

He guessed that Ye Qiu might not have fully explained the pill's effects, but surely it would never harm anyone who took it.

Otherwise, the Heaven Dou Auction House's appraiser would have detected it.

"..."

At first, Ning Rongrong only half understood, but she quickly caught on.

Leaving aside the Healing Pill's powerful healing effects,

if the Soul Ascension Pill could grow, wouldn't it be able to let a Soul Elder... or even a Soul King gain a level without any conditions?

At the Soul Grandmaster level,

a difference of one level

meant at least four or five months of arduous cultivation!

Ye Qiu?

Ning Rongrong huffed inwardly and silently committed the name to memory.

If she could recruit Ye Qiu to the sect, Dad would surely see her in a new light, and Grandpa Jian and Grandpa Bone would spare no effort in praising her... Haha!

Ning Rongrong narrowed her eyes, already beginning to imagine it.

Before long,

several burly men pushed a huge iron cage into the room. The dog girl from earlier was locked inside...

Ning Fengzhi calmly took out his red card and handed it over.

"Please settle the bill for me. Also... arrange for someone to take this young lady to my residence."

"..."

"Senior, I'll take my leave now. Until next time!"

Sunset Forest.

Ye Qiu waved to Dugu Bo and his granddaughter, then vanished from where he stood.

"That brat's Soul Skill really is convenient."

Looking at the empty spot, Dugu Bo couldn't help remarking on it.

"And it's beyond imagination, too..."

Thinking of that boundless space, Dugu Yan couldn't help murmuring to herself.

"Oh?"

Dugu Bo raised an eyebrow and looked at Dugu Yan curiously. Before he could ask, Dugu Yan looked at him and spoke first. "Speaking of which... is it true that even you couldn't do anything to him, Grandpa?"

"Uh... well..."

Dugu Bo immediately felt a little guilty. Looking embarrassed, he said:

"It's mainly because that brat's Soul Skill is too underhanded. Grandpa couldn't even touch him, and on top of that, the brat is immune to all poisons..."