In the fifth week since Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling arrived at Exotic Beast Academy, Ye Lingling—after receiving her mother's reply from Heaven Dou City—sighed softly and helplessly shook her head at Dugu Yan, who was watching her expectantly; her family had nothing comparable to an Immortal Herb.
"So, are you going to pledge yourself to Yu Yan?"
Seeing her best friend shake her head, Dugu Yan hesitated a moment before pressing on to ask Lingling's thoughts.
"It's hardly unthinkable for a support system Spirit Master to attach herself to a powerful one."
Rather than answer directly, Ye Lingling stated a bit of common knowledge among support system Spirit Masters.
"Fine. Yu Yan is a decent guy; you wouldn't lose out by following him."
Once Lingling had made her meaning clear, Dugu Yan accepted it.
Trade something from home equal in value to an Immortal Herb, or pledge herself utterly to Yu Yan—those were the options Dugu Bo had given.
A Nine Heart Begonia Spirit Master's healing power is formidable; the more spirit rings, the stronger the healing. With a high-rank Nine Heart Begonia at your side, you effectively have a second life.
Ye Lingling glanced at the two small buildings next door. "All right. When Yu Yan gets back tonight, we'll go find him."
"…So it can work that way—an idea I'd never considered. I'll need another Spirit Master to test it."
In the library, Yu Yan—constantly revising the notes in his hand—thought up one or two more ways to compress spirit power.
Whenever he wasn't sure of the outcome, he'd take a mission from the Soul Master Guild and use wicked Spirit Masters as test subjects.
A new idea meant finding scoundrels to experiment on; that had become Yu Yan's routine.
The only problem: thanks to Yu Yan, Xiao Wu, and Bai Chenxiang's relentless "careful cultivation," almost no wrong-doing Spirit Masters remained near Ice Soul City.
Now, finding suitable test subjects was really too hard.
"We need more guinea pigs again. Ice Soul City is almost cleaned out—should we start looking near another city?"
Xiao Wu, reading amusing anecdotes about Spirit Masters, felt sorry for the villains even as she asked if they'd have to hunt evil Spirit Masters elsewhere.
"Mm… there really aren't many left around Ice Soul City. Following this viable line of thought will require quite a few test subjects."
Reminded by Xiao Wu, Yu Yan began calculating which city to raid next for experimental material.
"How about Häagen-Dazs City, capital of the Hagendas Kingdom?"
"It borders Star Dou Great Forest, and where the two meet there's a maze of mountains teeming with villainous Spirit Masters—plenty of material for us."
The moment the topic came up, Xiao Wu thought of a place near Exotic Beast Academy that was both close and crawling with scum.
"Works for me."
Yu Yan had no preference; anywhere he could test his theories on live subjects was fine.
Hearing him agree, Xiao Wu spread a detailed map of the Hagendas Kingdom and began planning how they'd operate once they reached that mountain range beside Star Dou Great Forest.
While cleansing Ice Soul Grassland, Xiao Wu had heard that in those mountains people slaughtered weak Spirit Beasts in droves just to sell the Spirit Bones they produced.
Under Yu Yan's influence she accepted Spirit Masters hunting Spirit Beasts for rings, or Spirit Beasts eating humans, but she couldn't abide senseless massacre. Spirit Hall and both Empires had laws forbidding indiscriminate slaughter of weak Spirit Beasts.
The sun slid down the sky, sunset painting a gorgeous canvas as Yu Yan and Xiao Wu returned to their dorm.
They'd barely arrived when, while sorting through the day's ideas, Yu Yan saw Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling coming to find him.
"Yu Yan, Lingling needs to speak with you."
After greeting Xiao Wu, Dugu Yan stated their purpose outright.
"Mm?" Yu Yan looked up, shifted his gaze to Ye Lingling. "What is it?"
He had no strong opinion of her—she hadn't pestered him after his refusal, nor kept raising the matter. Neutral, neither good nor bad.
"I'm still asking you to lift the curse on the Nine Heart Begonia Spirit. If you agree, I'll follow you forever and obey your every order."
"His Grace Dugu gave me an ancient scroll for swearing an oath to the gods. Should I ever betray you, the scroll's ritual will punish me severely."
Having thought it through, Ye Lingling met his eyes and stated her purpose without hedging.
Her direct nature made her lay everything on the table, including proof she would never betray him.
When Dugu Yan said Lingling needed something, Yu Yan had guessed what it was; he hadn't expected the second half.
"Have you asked your family about this?"
After a long pause, Yu Yan asked the key question.
"I have."
Ye Lingling's answer was terse.
That old fox Dugu Bo really does know me well!
He had to admit the scheme Dugu Bo had cooked up held considerable appeal.
The Nine Heart Begonia was the strongest healing Spirit on the entire Douluo Continent—bar none.
No one could guarantee they'd never be injured, but a Nine Heart Begonia bearer could guarantee your life.
In the records Yu Yan had read, a seventieth-rank Nine Heart Begonia Spirit Master had dragged a Spirit Douluo back from Hell when the man had been down to his last breath.
How grave must the wounds have been to leave a Spirit Douluo with only a single breath? One example: the records stated the man's heart had visible cracks.
Even so, that seventieth-rank healer had brought him back and fully restored him.
From the brink of death to perfect health in half an hour.
Ye Lingling's pledge looked like loyalty from one person, but the true stakes were her Spirit, the oath-scroll guaranteeing loyalty, and the network her bloodline had built over generations.
Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling were too young to see the twists in Dugu Bo's plan, but Yu Yan—shrewder—could read the hidden chips on the table.