Douluo: Emerald Poison Emperor [37]

Hearing her name suddenly called out, Dugu Yan could no longer play the ostrich. Blushing, she reluctantly poked her head out of Chen Ming's embrace. When she realized the person in front of her was her dormmate, Ye Lingling, she felt a mixture of embarrassment and relief.

Although they hadn't spent much time together, Dugu Yan had a good impression of Ye Lingling. Despite being introverted, Ye Lingling was gentle and kind toward others and had unique insights into poison and medical practices.

Though younger than Dugu Yan, Ye Lingling possessed the compassion and dedication to healing that even many older healing-type Soul Masters in their seventies or eighties lacked, fully living up to the thousands-of-years-old reputation of the Nine-Hearted Begonia.

Among the few people Dugu Yan respected at Heaven Dou Imperial Academy, Ye Lingling was undoubtedly one of them. While Dugu Yan hadn't explicitly said so, she felt Ye Lingling likely regarded her as a friend too.

As expected, Dugu Yan's assumptions about Ye Lingling were correct. Although Ye Lingling was intensely curious as to why Dugu Yan, who usually ignored other men completely, was acting like a shy young girl in a young man's arms—with her clothing even slightly disheveled—her concern for the injury far outweighed her interest in gossip.

Carefully guiding Chen Ming, Ye Lingling had him lay Dugu Yan gently on the ground. Then she held Dugu Yan's wrist and cautiously probed her injuries using soul power.

Although Ye Lingling's soul power and spiritual power were merely at a respectable level for a Grand Soul Master, far from the sweeping detection capabilities of higher-level Soul Masters, her experience as a member of the Nine-Hearted Begonia family and the martial soul's sensitivity to life energy allowed her to quickly identify Dugu Yan's internal issues.

Upon discovering that Dugu Yan's injuries were limited to minor damage to her meridians and internal organs—posing no threat to her life nor any long-term impact on her cultivation—Ye Lingling let out a sigh of relief. She then summoned her Nine-Hearted Begonia martial soul, with its two yellow soul rings glowing softly.

The Nine-Hearted Begonia martial soul is unique in that it has only one healing soul skill, regardless of soul power level, the number of soul rings, or their ages. The soul power level merely affects the strength and range of the healing.

Similar to the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda, the soul rings on the Nine-Hearted Begonia only influence the soul skill's energy consumption. A ten-year soul ring and a 99,999-year soul ring offer the same healing power, but the ten-year ring consumes significantly more soul power—sometimes dozens of times as much.

As for what effect a 100,000-year soul ring would have on the Nine-Hearted Begonia, no one knew. After all, there had never been a Nine-Hearted Begonia Soul Master on the continent who had absorbed a 100,000-year soul ring. It was unclear whether such a ring would grant the martial soul an additional skill or simply amplify its existing healing capabilities.

Ye Lingling's soul power surged as she cast her healing skill twice in quick succession. The first healing light enveloped Dugu Yan, restoring her complexion almost instantly and healing the minor abrasions on her body.

The second healing didn't visibly alter Dugu Yan's appearance, but as the light faded, Dugu Yan suddenly sat up, covering her cheeks with her hands.

At this point, Chen Ming should have noticed and paid attention to Dugu Yan's emotions. However, his focus was completely absorbed by Ye Lingling—or, more accurately, by the Nine-Hearted Begonia martial soul glowing in her hands.

Although Chen Ming's cheat-like abilities were tied to profound spiritual and metaphysical domains, they often worked unpredictably. However, when Ye Lingling activated her soul skill just now, Chen Ming distinctly sensed something unique within her soul power.

How should he describe it?

It wasn't a matter of strength or weakness. In that fleeting moment of perception, Chen Ming felt that Ye Lingling's soul power possessed a special kind of authority. This authority was far beyond anything he had previously encountered—even surpassing the laws embedded in the soul rings he had absorbed.

It was a difference in priority, akin to the priority +1 mechanic in Pokémon moves. This kind of priority outclassed any speed attribute, belonging to a higher-order mechanism—something that couldn't be achieved by simply stacking stats.

Although Chen Ming had never encountered gods or divine beings in the Douluo world, he instinctively felt that Ye Lingling's martial soul was somehow connected to deities or the Divine Realm.

Under Chen Ming's heated gaze, Ye Lingling's body tensed slightly. When she turned and realized that his gaze wasn't focused on her but rather on her martial soul, she finally relaxed.

"Probably just stunned by the Nine-Hearted Begonia's abilities," Ye Lingling thought to herself.

As the heir of the Nine-Hearted Begonia, Ye Lingling was accustomed to people being amazed by its power. She assumed Chen Ming was no different from the many soul masters who had been awestruck upon seeing it for the first time. She had no idea that Chen Ming had, in those brief moments, uncovered a secret about the Nine-Hearted Begonia—one that even the lineage itself didn't know or dared not confirm.

At that moment, Dugu Yan, who had been covering her face, began to feel annoyed.

Although she was conflicted and shy, with her face buried in her hands, Dugu Yan had been secretly paying attention to Chen Ming's actions. When she noticed that Chen Ming had been staring intently at Ye Lingling for what felt like forever without saying a word to her, she quietly spread her fingers to peek. Seeing that Chen Ming's deep gaze was fixed on Ye Lingling, a sudden feeling of grievance welled up within her for no apparent reason. Tears began to stream down her face as she cried softly.

Hearing Dugu Yan's sobs snapped Chen Ming back to the present situation. Realizing what was most important at that moment, he crouched down beside her, gently patting her shoulder.

"Miss Dugu? Miss Dugu Yan?"

"Call me Dugu Yan!" she retorted, giving him a light elbow jab while keeping her face covered.

"Yan Yan—no, I mean, Dugu—" Chen Ming accidentally let slip a more intimate nickname. Before he could correct himself, Dugu Yan nudged him again, and he decided to ignore the slip entirely.

"How are you feeling now? Does your body still hurt? Issues arising from soul master cultivation are no trivial matter. If your meridians are damaged, that's not easy to fix. Give me your hand so I can check your condition."

Without waiting for her response, Chen Ming gently grabbed the hand Dugu Yan had been using to cover her face and began probing her condition with his soul power.

To his surprise, her internal meridians were completely healed, her internal organs showed no signs of injury, and even the chaotic disturbances in her dantian caused by agitated soul power had been entirely resolved. The effects of the Nine-Hearted Begonia were beyond Chen Ming's wildest imagination. Truly worthy of its legendary reputation as a martial soul capable of raising the dead and growing flesh on bones.