Yang Yunhai stepped into the room and shut the door with a soft snap. He pulled Zhu Zhuqing toward the bed and said gently, "Yiner, you can come out now."
The hotel's soundproofing was excellent, and Dugu Bo wasn't next door. There was no need to worry about Yiner being overheard.
He was eager to see how his little wife was doing now.
A flash of blue light shimmered, and Yiner appeared before them. Her voluptuous figure and stunning features seemed even more ethereal than before. A gentle, unique aura radiated from her body—just being near her made one's pores relax and spirit lift. There was a strange, indescribable sense of comfort.
Yang Yunhai could clearly sense her life energy and his eyes lit up. Looking at the lovely girl who had painfully transferred her life energy to him, he softened his expression, smiled, and said warmly, "Yiner, I really have you to thank for this soul ring absorption. You've worked hard."
Yiner instantly beamed. "This is what I should do," she chirped.
Zhu Zhuqing also recalled how Yiner had helped Yang Yunhai through the crisis during his soul ring absorption. Her gaze softened, though her voice held a note of curiosity. "Yun, I feel like Yiner has changed somehow."
"She has. This time, the thunder entered my body on its own, and Yiner also underwent refinement. She gained from it too," Yang Yunhai explained with a smile.
"Mmhm." Yiner nodded repeatedly. "I feel like I've gotten a lot stronger."
"Congratulations, Yiner." Zhu Zhuqing was clearly more talkative in front of the two of them, and her smile was much more frequent.
"Hehe." Yiner chuckled quietly.
Yang Yunhai smiled, pulled Yiner gently to the side, and asked, "Yiner, I want to temporarily hide my fourth soul ring—make it invisible. Can you help me with that? And will that expose you?"
"It won't," Yiner answered after a moment's thought. "I can completely conceal my own aura now. As long as I'm not physically present, the spiritual fluctuations from using my ability won't extend beyond a finger's width from your body. Unless someone gets very close, they won't notice anything."
"As for hiding your soul ring, I don't know for sure, but I can give it a try."
"Let's try it then." Yang Yunhai nodded, immediately summoning his Martial Soul. Four soul rings began to rhythmically circle around him.
Yiner instantly returned to the soul bone. A cool sensation quickly spread up his thigh. Soon, the fourth soul ring began to turn transparent.
In no time, under their astonished gazes, the fourth soul ring vanished completely.
"This is the best I can do," Yiner's voice echoed.
"It's enough," Yang Yunhai said in praise. "As long as I restrain my aura, no one should notice."
"Mmhm," Yiner replied promptly.
Yang Yunhai withdrew his Martial Soul, and Yiner reappeared.
"Alright, you two chat. I'm going to take a shower." He stood and walked into the bathroom.
Before long, warm water splashed from the showerhead. As he cleaned up, Yang Yunhai's thoughts turned.
This soul ring absorption had been full of surprises, and he'd even been struck by lightning—but the gains were worth it. The new ability aside, his fourth soul ring had reached 25,000 years, matching his body perfectly. His current physical strength was at least on par with a Soul King. Though his soul power level was only 45, with his eight meridians flowing freely, both the quantity and quality of his soul power far surpassed others of the same level.
'At this point, it's probably no longer possible to rely on lightning forging and energy influx for another leap forward,' he sighed inwardly.
'Unless I absorb a soul bone and drastically increase my physical strength in one go.'
"Hmm… I do have the soul bone skill, Wildfire Burns Without End, Spring Wind Brings Life Again. I can regenerate lost limbs, so swapping soul bones isn't an issue. But I'd rather not do that. Losing a limb damages blood and energy, and my bloodline hasn't awakened yet—it might interfere. So it's better to absorb a regular 10,000 year soul bone first, then switch later. Though… I don't think I have access to any 10,000 year soul bones right now."
He ran a hand through his hair.
"Looks like I'll have to stick to steady cultivation for now."
"With my current physique and Martial Soul aptitude, even normal cultivation should be highly efficient."
"So next, I'll need to familiarize and develop this newly gained Martial Soul ability. And I definitely need to join the Soul Master Tournament. Secluding myself won't work—I need opponents to train against and refine my Martial Soul abilities through real battle."
"And I'll be sure to snag the soul bone that comes as the championship prize."
"With my strength now, plus the now much-stronger Dugu Yan and Zhuqing, and the rest of our team, we should have a solid shot at winning. And no one else on the team is competing with me for the soul bone."
Qin Ming was probably gone, and Yu Tianheng had moved to the second team. That was great.
"So, to make sure we win, I still need to find a way to boost our team's strength." With that thought, he quickly finished his shower, changed into pajamas, and stepped out of the bathroom.
Seeing him come out, Zhu Zhuqing stood from the bed and walked over softly. "I'll go wash up too," she said gently.
"Okay." Yang Yunhai nodded and watched her walk past him before sitting at the edge of the bed.
Yiner quietly moved closer, wrapping her arms around his. She lowered her head slightly, her face showing a trace of hesitation.
"Yiner, what's wrong?" Sensing her mood, Yang Yunhai turned and pulled her into his arms. He gently tapped her forehead and shook her slender shoulder.
"If you want to say something, just say it. There's no need to hold back with me."
Yiner finally summoned her courage and said shyly, "Yun, can soul beasts really not coexist peacefully with humans?"
The death of the Thunder Hell Prison Vine had left her thoughtful.
Yang Yunhai paused, then shook his head. "It's very difficult."
"Think about it like this. Without wolves, sheep would graze without restraint, reproduce endlessly, and their population would explode. Eventually, the grass would be eaten down to nothing. The land would become barren, and other creatures would no longer survive. So wolves eat sheep, and sheep eat grass—that's nature's balance. Soul Masters needing to hunt soul beasts for soul rings is just one part of that cycle."
"This is one of the fundamental rules of how the world operates. It's not easily broken."
"Even among humans, although everyone can awaken a Martial Soul, only a few can cultivate soul power. That's another kind of balance."
"If there were too many Soul Masters, the demand for soul rings would skyrocket. That would spell disaster for soul beasts. And if soul beasts go extinct, Soul Masters would lose their source of soul rings. Eventually, humans would return to being ordinary people."
"Over time, there might even be regression—humans losing the ability to awaken Martial Souls with soul power. At that point, soul beasts, with their naturally stronger bodies, might rise again and multiply rapidly. Humans would fall into disadvantage."
"Later, through long struggle, some humans would once again awaken Martial Souls with soul power. The profession of Soul Master would rise again, and humans would retake dominance."
"Yiner, that's the law of this world. It's a cycle—endless and repeating. Even if life on this world were wiped out, as long as this land still exists, new life will eventually be born. A new cycle will begin."
"That said, just because different races can't coexist peacefully doesn't mean individuals can't."
"Yiner, aren't we already proving that?"
Yiner nodded vaguely, then hugged Yang Yunhai tightly and looked up.
"Yun, I don't want to leave you."
"I don't want to leave you either," he replied gently. "Don't worry, we'll never be apart."
"Mmhm." Yiner nodded repeatedly, resting her head on his chest. She didn't dare ask more.
But Yang Yunhai continued, "Yiner, it's time I told you the truth about your origins. If I'm right, you're the soul of a 100,000 year Blue Silver Emperor. I discovered you by accident in a cave. There was a box inside, and inside the box was a 100,000 year soul bone. You can probably guess what happened next—after I absorbed the soul bone, my Martial Soul and bloodline both evolved."
He still couldn't bring himself to tell the full truth. It was too cruel.
Yiner's body trembled slightly. She tensed up.
"The whole story about consuming a rare treasure was just something I made up to hide the fact that I absorbed a 100,000 year soul bone," he continued.
"As for you, Yiner, you were probably in a dormant state when I absorbed the soul bone."
"And you likely retained your memories back then. But after waking up, you had amnesia. It's probably because of the lightning-forging I did before—too much thunder entering my body. Later, after I took some rare herbs from Grandpa Dugu's garden, you likely absorbed the medicinal power and woke up. Yiner, I wasn't the one who killed you, but I was the one who caused your memory loss."
"Do you… blame me?"
Yiner stayed silent for a while. Then she looked up, eyes bright and fixed on his face.
"Yun, who killed me and whether I lost my memory—it doesn't matter anymore. The memories of someone who was killed probably weren't very good ones."
"Maybe this is a new beginning for me. Being with you… is the happiest thing in the world."
Looking into her stunning face, full of sincerity and emotion, Yang Yunhai felt a wave of emotion rise in his chest. His gaze softened, and after a long pause, he whispered, "Yiner, I promise I'll find a way to rebuild your body. If you want to improve the relationship between soul beasts and humans, I'll try—if I have the power."
He couldn't help but think about the Soul Spirit system mentioned in the sequel. Maybe it was worth a try.
"But before that, I need to become stronger. So… I'm sorry. I can't avoid killing soul beasts."
"Mm, Yiner understands." She nodded slightly.
After a moment, she seemed to think of something and lowered her head, face turning red. "Actually… even without a physical body, what Yun and Sister Zhuqing did in the bathroom last time… Yiner can do that too, as long as Yun wants to."
"..."
Right. Yiner was a 100,000 year soul beast. Her spiritual power was impressive. Yang Yunhai blushed.
"Ahem, let's talk about that later." He straightened her up as he spoke.
Yiner's face glowed pink. She shyly lowered her head and said nothing more.
Sigh. Once they returned to the academy, they'd be surrounded by third wheels again, unable to do anything. Yang Yunhai felt a bit of a headache.
As he thought, the bathroom door creaked open. Zhu Zhuqing stepped out, hair towel-dried, dressed in pajamas.
Her gaze swept over the room. Yang Yunhai was sitting, head slightly lowered in thought. Yiner clung to his arm, cheeks flushed, staring blankly at the floor.
Zhu Zhuqing looked puzzled and walked over with small steps, sitting down on Yang Yunhai's other side and taking his arm gently.
"Yun, what's wrong?" she asked softly.
Yang Yunhai snapped out of it and looked up. Fresh from her bath, Zhu Zhuqing's face was like a blooming lotus—tender, flawless, with damp black hair cascading over her fair shoulders, adding a touch of allure. He stared at her, then sighed softly and muttered, "Sigh… once we're back at the academy, things will be busy again."
Zhu Zhuqing's cheeks turned rosy. She knew exactly what he meant.
'Shameless…'
"Zhuqing…" Yang Yunhai said calmly, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her closer.
"...!" Zhu Zhuqing lowered her head and bit her lip. Her delicate hand gave his waist a discreet twist.
"???" Yiner looked up in confusion. She noticed Sister Zhuqing's heartbeat suddenly sped up.
Then she saw Yun bare his teeth in pain, lift Zhuqing's chin, and lean in. Her eyes widened, and Yun's hand moved to her waist, tugging at the sash. The moon outside shone like snow… Yiner's face turned bright red, and she quickly turned away.
Soon after, a soft blue light shimmered in the room, blending with the moonlight.
The three began cultivating for the night, only finishing when dawn broke.
The night passed quietly. The next morning, they got up early.
Dressed, Yang Yunhai watched as Zhu Zhuqing lowered her head and entered the washroom to freshen up. He glanced at the small, dried patch in the center of the bed and fell into deep thought.
"...Yun~" Yiner's soft voice sounded beside him, though she didn't show herself.
Yang Yunhai came back to his senses and began tidying up the bedding.
Before long, he and Zhu Zhuqing walked out of the room, their expressions calm, and rejoined Dugu Bo and Dugu Yan.
Seeing Yang Yunhai's serious face, Dugu Bo raised an eyebrow and shot him a look.
Yang Yunhai quickly adjusted and greeted them with a smile. "Grandpa Dugu, Sister Yan, good morning."
"Morning, Xiao Hai, Zhuqing," Dugu Yan replied with a smile.
Dugu Bo clicked his tongue. "Let's go. We'll head out after breakfast."
Two quarters of an hour later, a refined carriage slowly left Storm City, heading swiftly toward Heaven Dou City.
(End of Chapter)
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