The night was almost over.
The sky was beginning to lighten.
Dugu Bo had already woken up, but Liu Erlong remained motionless.
"Why is it taking so long?"
"I don't know, but everything seems normal. Her aura is steadily rising, let's wait a bit longer!"
Ye Qiu checked Liu Erlong's soul power fluctuations; they were indeed quite stable.
As soon as Ye Qiu finished speaking, he noticed Liu Erlong suddenly frown, a look of pain flashing across her face.
"Kid, something's wrong!" Dugu Bo was startled.
Ye Qiu also tensed up, his eyes flashing with a blood-red light. He already knew everything.
Ye Qiu had no reservations.
He directly used his X-ray vision.
"Kid, could this mutated soul beast have some kind of trick up its sleeve? Logically speaking, with a 70,000-year soul ring, her physique and strength shouldn't have any problems, right?"
Dugu Bo also looked at Liu Erlong, whose face was contorted with worry.
"Senior..."
Ye Qiu smiled bitterly, turning to look at Dugu Bo.
"What's wrong? Just say it! Why are you just staring at me and laughing?"
Dugu Bo frowned, somewhat annoyed.
"Haha... Looks like Erlong's luck is pretty good! This girl really got a Soul Bone!"
Ye Qiu suddenly smiled.
But Dugu Bo looked like he'd seen a ghost!
"What did you say? A Soul Bone? A 70,000-year-old Soul Bone?!"
"Yeah, and it's an External Soul Bone!"
Ye Qiu said with a smile, looking at Liu Erlong, also very happy for her.
"An External Soul Bone? Are you kidding me?" Dugu Bo frowned.
*Poof!*
Suddenly, a muffled sound came, and Dugu Bo looked at Liu Erlong, his expression even more exaggerated than if he'd seen a ghost!
"This...this really is an External Soul Bone!"
"Great! Erlong succeeded!" Ye Qiu looked at the crimson dragon wings crackling with electricity that had unfolded behind Liu Erlong, and was also extremely excited.
The black Soul Ring slowly descended, respectfully mingling with Liu Erlong's other Soul Rings.
His cultivation level was also slowly rising.
"Level 82! A 70,000-year-old external soul bone!" Dugu Bo murmured to himself.
He looked at Ye Qiu in confusion.
He exclaimed in his heart that Ye Qiu's luck was heaven-defying. With him, soul bones were no longer rare items, and even external soul bones were plentiful.
"Kang!"
Liu Erlong's aura calmed down, and the Crimson Dragon Martial Soul behind her let out an excited dragon roar.
Suddenly, her wings spread open, and Liu Erlong suddenly stood up in mid-air.
Hovering in the air, each flap of her dragon wings made a crackling sound.
Waves of heat also swept towards Ye Qiu and the other person.
Under her feet, two yellow, two purple, and four black soul rings pulsed.
"Ye Qiu~ I succeeded! And I even have a soul bone." Liu Erlong opened her black eyes and looked at Ye Qiu with bright eyes.
At this moment, purple aura also overflowed from the horizon, and a faint light appeared.
Liu Erlong's black hair fluttered, and her eyebrows and eyes were like a painting, breathtakingly beautiful.
"Erlong, congratulations!" Ye Qiu looked up at her, seeing her rushing into his arms, he opened his arms as well.
"Ye Qiu~"
Liu Erlong whispered softly, clinging tightly to Ye Qiu, hugging him, and murmured gently,
"I'm a little cold."
Dugu Bo, standing to the side, gasped, covering his face and turning away.
He had almost been sweating from those wings!
"Mmm!" Ye Qiu held her tightly.
She had suffered a lot while fusing with the external soul bone.
Sweating and then being exposed to a cool breeze, she was indeed prone to catching a cold.
A surge of heat from within dried Liu Erlong's clothes, and then he looked at Dugu Bo, who was facing away from everyone.
He smiled wryly and slowly released Liu Erlong.
"Alright, Erlong, tell me about your gains!" Ye Qiu tidied her hair and asked softly.
Liu Erlong glared at the inconvenient Dugu Bo again, smiled, released Ye Qiu, and spun around in front of him.
With a charming smile, she said, "My external soul bone is called the Thunderflame Dragon Wings. It can unleash a thunderflame tornado attack, and it also increases all my attributes by fifty percent, as well as doubling the power of my dragon-type soul skills!"
"So strong?!" Dugu Bo exclaimed in amazement. It truly lived up to its reputation as an external soul bone!
Perhaps influenced by Dugu Bo's persuasive words,
Ye Qiu's attention wandered elsewhere. He realized he wouldn't need to hold hands or have pigtails anymore; holding wings seemed like a good idea too!
"!" Ye Qiu quickly shook his head, deciding to leave those thoughts for later.
He nodded seriously, "It is indeed very powerful, but it must consume a lot of soul power, right?"
Liu Erlong gave Ye Qiu a strange look, sensing a hint of desire in his gaze.
However, she didn't dwell on it; wasn't it a good thing that Ye Qiu had such thoughts?!
She nodded, blushing.
"That's right, every time I activate my external soul bone, it drains 30% of my soul power!"
"This should decrease as the quality of the soul bone improves, right?" Dugu Bo guessed, stroking his chin.
After all, the biggest feature of external soul bones is that they can grow along with the soul master.
"That's true!" Ye Qiu nodded, slightly avoiding Liu Erlong's meaningful gaze.
"What about the soul skill?"
"The eighth soul skill, Thunderflame Dragon Breath!" Liu Erlong quickly replied, "It can enhance lightning and fire attribute power, and when locked, it also has a 10% suppression effect on other non-dragon beast martial souls!"
"Hiss~ Does that mean I'll also be restricted?" Dugu Bo gasped, this soul skill was truly terrifying.
"Haha, Erlong, your gains this time are enough to make even Title Douluos envious!"
Ye Qiu laughed, taking her hand and looking at Dugu Bo with a hint of pride.
"Kid, what are you looking at? I'm waiting for the day you call me grandpa!"
Dugu Bo glared at him, and Ye Qiu's smiling face immediately fell. He shouldn't have looked at him that one more time.
"Pfft~ Haha" Liu Erlong couldn't help but giggle at Ye Qiu's embarrassed expression.
She retracted her Thunderflame Dragon Wings and leaned gently on Ye Qiu's shoulder.
In the end, her biggest gain this time wasn't her eighth spirit ring or her external spirit bone, but that she was now relying on Ye Qiu!
Dugu Bo didn't need to be envious of that, did he?
"Alright, alright!" Dugu Bo shook off the goosebumps on his body; one more look and he would explode.
He urged, "Kid, let's hurry back to Heaven Dou City!"
"Yes!" Ye Qiu nodded, his eyes flashing with bloodlust.
"Where are you going, Senior?"
"Just take me to the Dugu Mansion in Tiandou City. I haven't been there in a long time; I want to go back and take a walk!"
"Okay!" Ye Qiu replied, and space began to distort.
The three figures disappeared into the Star Dou Great Forest,
leaving only the corpse of a Thunderflame Dragon Lizard.
On the horizon, the sun was slowly rising.
...
In Tiandou City, at the Dugu Mansion,
Ye Qiu and Liu Erlong had already left.
Dugu Bo was looking at the letter that Xue Beng had given him, handed to him by a servant.
On the main street,
things were bustling with activity, and all the shops had opened for business.
Liu Erlong nestled beside Ye Qiu, holding his arm tightly, and they strolled along the street towards the Blue Tyrant Academy.
"Ye Qiu, why are you so nervous? We haven't done anything shameful."
Liu Erlong looked at Ye Qiu, whose movements were somewhat stiff, with a mixture of confusion and resentment.
"Ha, I'm just not used to it yet!" Ye Qiu awkwardly scratched his head.
"Alright! Looks like I'll have to take you out more often in the future!" Liu Erlong didn't press him, but simply abandoned the idea of eating breakfast outside.
Instead, she quickened her pace, quite considerately, to finish the walk.
"Hmm?"
Ye Qiu stopped after taking only a couple of steps.
Liu Erlong was a little puzzled, looking at Ye Qiu cautiously. If he didn't want to, she wouldn't force him.
She asked somewhat disappointedly,
"Ye Qiu... don't you want to come with me?"
"Huh?" Ye Qiu withdrew his gaze, came to his senses, and quickly explained.
"Of course not, it's what I should do to accompany you!"
Ye Qiu reached out and hugged her soft waist from behind, gently squeezing it.
"That's good." Liu Erlong blushed and happily snuggled into his arms.
"Let's go!"
Ye Qiu glanced again at the very luxurious and elegant building. A crescent-shaped decoration was located above the main entrance, surrounded by branches that resembled plant branches, the main color being golden yellow. Red patterned welcome mats were laid on the steps at the entrance.
Then he withdrew his gaze and pulled Liu Erlong away.
Liu Erlong also realized what was happening and looked back. There, she saw her good friend Tang Yuehua's territory, Yuexuan!
"Husband, when do you plan to visit Sister Yuehua?" Liu Erlong's shy voice came.
"Hmm, in a few days!"
Ye Qiu pondered for a moment and said calmly.
Some things had to be faced sooner or later.
But before that, Ye Qiu needed to explain Erlong's existence to Rongrong and the others!
Especially Xiao Wu!
He didn't want to cause any more trouble with recognizing a foster mother.
...
The sun had fully risen, and the sky was bright.
The two had already arrived at the entrance of Lanba Academy.
"Husband, we've arrived!"
Upon arriving at the entrance of her academy, Liu Erlong's face was flushed with excitement or perhaps shyness.
She lowered her head slightly and said softly.
Ye Qiu gently squeezed her hand, teasing, "Didn't you just say you'd often take me out for walks?"
"Hmph! Of course I'm happy to accompany you if you're willing!" Liu Erlong blushed, puffed out her chest, and pulled Ye Qiu to the entrance.
The students were still arriving, and looking inside, there weren't many people.
"How is it? Husband, isn't my academy alright?" Liu Erlong looked at Ye Qiu intently, as if seeking praise, with a hint of pride.
"Very good!"
Ye Qiu nodded, looking up.
The gatehouse of Blue Tyrant Academy appeared almost as tall as the gate of Heaven Dou City, only much thinner.
The white marble gatehouse, while not ornate, was imposing, with eight large gilded characters on it:
Blue Tyrant Advanced Soul Master Academy! (