After a short wait—
Ye Qingxian finished absorbing the Snow-Hoofed Unicorn Horse's soul ring. A powerful aura burst forth from her, and though she was a support-type Soul Master, Lin Xiao still felt a jolt of unease just standing nearby.
Dugu Bo spoke calmly:
"In the realm of Soul Masters, there are two major bottlenecks—one at the Soul Sage level, and the other at the Title Douluo stage. The latter needs no explanation. But reaching the Soul Sage stage allows one to manifest their true martial spirit—unlocking its full power."
Lin Xiao nodded.
He agreed. Even soul beasts undergoing human cultivation typically only assumed full human form after level 70. Even a Title Douluo would be unable to distinguish their origins after that.
Ye Qingxian stood tall in snow-white robes, her sleeves billowing in the breeze.
She opened her eyes, radiant and refreshed.
"My Nine-Heart Begonia True Form triples the healing effects of my soul skills. Unless someone is instantly killed, I can pull them back from the brink in moments—fully restoring them."
The Nine-Heart Begonia was a truly divine healing-type martial spirit. All of its soul skills focused on one thing: large-area healing.
Even after her spirit's evolution, that core trait hadn't changed. Its curses had been lifted, and its healing powers further enhanced.
In the original story, when Tang San faced the Heaven Dou Royal Battle Team—who had a Nine-Heart Begonia user—he had to use the extreme poison of his Eight Spider Lances to incapacitate six opponents just to force Ye Lingling to heal Xiao Wu.
In other words—
If one wasn't vulnerable to poison or control-type soul skills, a team with a Nine-Heart Begonia support was essentially immortal.
Lin Xiao felt safer than ever.
Aunt Ye really is a comforting presence!
Dugu Bo gave a direct evaluation:
"The Nine-Heart Begonia's healing is terrifying. AOE too. On the battlefield, it's more troublesome than a Title Douluo."
"Even when two Title Douluo fight, if a Nine-Heart Begonia healer isn't killed immediately, one could easily take on two."
One versus two, two versus four, four versus eight… you could see how things snowball.
Unfortunately, no one's that dumb. In real battle, they'll do whatever it takes to eliminate the support first.
Ye Qingxian patted the dust from her skirt and smiled:
"Those two girls at home must be worried sick by now—fretting and waiting, but also full of anticipation. We ought to return and share the good news."
Dugu Bo laughed heartily.
"Absolutely, absolutely!"
He wasn't the only one eager to get back. He couldn't wait to bring the good news to Yanyan.
That poor girl—so young, and already orphaned.
If not for Ye Lingling as her friend—and now Lin Xiao entering her life—her personality would have likely grown more withdrawn, more solitary… just like his.
Dugu Bo couldn't bear that thought.
He clapped Lin Xiao's shoulder hard—hard enough to make the boy wince—and declared loudly:
"Lin Xiao, thank you!"
"If you weren't so young, I'd already be thinking of entrusting Yanyan to you! But hey, we can still arrange a betrothal now, and when you grow up—she's yours!"
Dugu Bo had a sharp eye. One glance, and he could tell Lin Xiao wasn't an ordinary fish in the pond—he was a dragon waiting for the storm.
Actually…
Innate full soul power. A Phoenix spirit. A celestial herb-enhanced body. Iron will. Extraordinary character…
You didn't need sharp eyes to see it. As long as Lin Xiao didn't die, he'd be destined to shake the world.
And he seemed genuinely self-disciplined too?
Dugu Bo's eyes lit up.
He'd been wondering who to entrust Yanyan to in the future… and now the answer stood right before him!
Age was no issue—he could wait!
But Lin Xiao's expression twisted, horrified.
"Senior Dugu! I'm still just a kid! Isn't this basically forced marriage?! If Yanyan-jie hears what you said, she'll definitely be angry—you're treating her like some commodity!"
Dugu Bo's face froze. He was about to explain when—
Ye Qingxian's displeased voice chimed in.
"Talking about this with a six-year-old? What, are you afraid Yanyan can't get married? Pushing a child into it like this... If I didn't know your character, I'd think you were trying to sell off your granddaughter for personal gain."
The sharpness of their words left Dugu Bo speechless.
Finally, he mumbled:
"I was only joking... How'd I end up sounding like someone selling his granddaughter for glory?"
"I just saw Yanyan getting along well with the boy, and I admire him—that's all. You twist my good intentions like this…"
"I won't bring it up again!"
With that, Dugu Bo flicked his sleeve and fell silent, clearly irritated and embarrassed.
Lin Xiao let out a long sigh of relief.
The atmosphere had turned awkward.
Ye Qingxian and Dugu Bo both stayed silent.
Trying to lighten the mood, Lin Xiao gave a sheepish chuckle.
"By the way, this actually reminds me of something…"
No one responded.
Lin Xiao: "…"
So he continued talking to himself:
"When my corrupted flame first erupted in Soto City, I didn't have Aunt Qingxian to heal me. I endured it all on my own…"
"Nearly died."
That got both Ye Qingxian and Dugu Bo to glance at him.
Lin Xiao went on:
"There was a Soul Sage who wanted to take me to a brothel. I refused. He thought I was picky, so he gave me two 'options'—buy a virgin's innocence, or marry into a 'proper' family."
"I turned him down."
"Because once you give in to the corrupted flame, there's no going back. You lose your self-control—and eventually your soul."
"That was the main reason."
"But there was another."
"I didn't think it was fair."
"Buying someone's innocence is just privilege in disguise. And marrying a girl without ever meeting her? That's a decision made by her parents. Who ever asked the girl what she wanted?"
Dugu Bo snorted.
"This world runs on power. A Soul Master takes a common girl and throws some silver at her—call that 'kindness.' And you want to be the odd one out?"
Ye Qingxian, however, sighed softly.
"The phoenix is a bird of the five virtues—noble and pure. If you allow yourself to fall, you may gain momentary ease… but you'll never soar again. You'll never become a true phoenix."
Lin Xiao smiled faintly.
"But that's not the point of my story."
"Senior Dugu, what I meant was: elders often arrange life paths for the young without asking. I'd never met that girl—or her parents. And they didn't know a thing about me."
"Yet they agreed to a marriage. No one asked her what she thought."
"You just said you'd give Yanyan to me—did you ask her?"
Dugu Bo's face flushed red.
He knew it—this brat had baited him the whole way just to lecture him.
Little devil!
"Enough! Stop scolding me in riddles!"
"If Yanyan really said no, do you think I'd force her?"
"I was just… getting ahead of things, that's all…"
Lin Xiao and Ye Qingxian gave him a long look.
They didn't say a word.
Dugu Bo squirmed under their gazes.
Annoyed, he waved his sleeve.
"Let's go! Time to head home and get this over with!"
What kind of looks were those?!
You think I'd really sell my granddaughter off?!
He just wanted to reserve a spot for Lin Xiao. If Yanyan wasn't interested, he'd just swallow his pride and call it off.
Sigh… how irritating!