Knock knock knock—!
Just as Chen Junting and Shangguan Wei'er were deep in discussion, the door suddenly rang from outside. All three in the room turned toward it.
"Who is it?" Shangguan Wei'er called out.
A cool, clear female voice replied from beyond the door: "Alliance Leader Shangguan, it's me—Ye Guyi. Are you ready? The first match is about to begin."
"Oh, it's you, Guyi! I'll be right down."
"Alright, I'll wait for you downstairs."
After Ye Guyi left, Shangguan Wei'er turned to Chen Junting, who was lost in thought. She wanted to remind him—but didn't dare interrupt.
Huo Yuhao stepped in instead. "Master, I should go."
"The match is starting?" Chen Junting snapped out of his reverie—but instead of responding, he turned to Shangguan Wei'er. "Alliance Leader, may I ask—who exactly is this Ye Guyi?"
The moment he'd heard the name Ye Guyi outside, Chen Junting's interest had been piqued. Her Holy Angel martial soul likely traced back to the Angel Clan of the ancient Spirit Hall ten thousand years ago.
During his first visit to Mingdu, he'd tried tracking her movements—but found nothing.
So he'd pinned his hopes on the underground tournament.
In his hazy memories, Ye Guyi's debut had occurred precisely at this soul engineering competition.
After all, when she eventually broke through to Title Douluo, her Holy Angel would evolve into a far more powerful Six-Winged Angel—a martial soul standing at the very apex of the soul cultivation hierarchy. If he could recruit her into the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect, it might secure another formidable inherited martial soul for generations to come.
His earlier silence had been spent strategizing how to win her over.
Now, asking Shangguan Wei'er about Ye Guyi was merely laying groundwork for a future approach.
"You mean Guyi…" Shangguan Wei'er hesitated.
Though Ye Guyi wasn't part of the Common Alliance, she was their investment—a weapon deployed against the Xi Shui Alliance. Shangguan knew the uniqueness of Ye Guyi's martial soul. If others learned of it, fine—but if evil soul masters found out early…
She herself wasn't afraid. Her alliance operated without moral constraints, and she'd heard rumors of the collusion between evil soul masters and Sun Moon royalty. With noble backing, she doubted they'd dare strike the Common Alliance openly.
Otherwise, she wouldn't have let Ye Guyi compete.
But if evil soul masters discovered Ye Guyi's secret prematurely, their entire plan would collapse.
"Your Eminence… you're not an evil soul master, are you?" Shangguan Wei'er teased with playful coyness—disarming any anger.
Chen Junting caught her implication instantly.
"Do you think I'm one of those sewer rats?" he chuckled—a laugh laced with frost.
His aura flared subtly. Instantly, the room's temperature plummeted. Frost crystallized across the walls.
"Of course not, Your Eminence," Shangguan Wei'er bowed slightly, her tone respectful yet unyielding. "This humble one overstepped. To atone, I offer a Dragoness as apology."
At the word "Dragoness," Chen Junting remained composed—but Huo Yuhao gaped in shock.
A Dragoness wasn't human or soul beast, but a rare entity appearing as a breathtakingly beautiful woman—covered head-to-toe in scales, save for her human-like face.
When in heat, her scales vanished, revealing her full beauty and transforming her into a miraculous spiritual cauldron.
Mating with a Dragoness allowed humans to absorb her dragon blood essence, permanently altering their physique. Their bloodline would gain a trace of draconic power, triggering a beneficial evolution of their martial soul.
Yet Dragonesses were exceedingly rare, found only in remote mountains and marshes. Worse, they carried a curse of misfortune: the first to capture one would almost certainly die. Few dared hunt them.
For Shangguan Wei'er to offer one as apology? That was extravagance!
'She's bleeding resources!' Huo Yuhao thought.
But for Shangguan, it was worth it. Though rare, the Common Alliance could still acquire Dragonesses. Securing ties with a current powerhouse and a future prodigy like Chen Junting? Priceless.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have risked sheltering Ye Guyi—the bearer of the Holy Angel—and given her a stage to compete under the noses of evil soul masters.
"A Dragoness? Intriguing," Chen Junting mused.
Don't misunderstand—he wasn't lusting after her beauty.
He'd read records of Dragonesses before. Even the wealthy Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect rarely obtained one.
What fascinated him was the cauldron mechanism:
How exactly did the dragon blood essence integrate to trigger martial soul evolution?
If he unraveled that process…
The Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect might truly live up to its name.
After all, cultivating a single Beautiful Silk Tulip required multiple generations—and even then, it only benefited one or two people.
"Good. Send her to this address," Chen Junting said, handing Shangguan a slip of paper. It bore the location of a secret Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect safehouse in Mingdu—one not yet evacuated, unknown even to most.
"Now, tell me about Ye Guyi."
—
Midnight. The first underground match concluded.
After leaving the Qingse Hotel (venue of the underground tournament), Ye Guyi parted ways with the Common Alliance members. Though allied with them, she didn't like them.
Thus, her lodging lay outside their territory.
As she entered a narrow alley, a deep, resonant voice echoed from all directions:
"The Holy Angel martial soul dares stroll through Mingdu? Bold indeed."
"Who's there?!" Ye Guyi's pupils contracted. In one motion, a longsword appeared in her hand. Golden light erupted behind her as six soul rings—yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black—rose beneath her feet.
A sense of dread coiled in her chest.
Have evil soul masters discovered me already?!
In the next blink, two figures materialized in the alley—before she could even see them clearly.
One clad in white, the other in black.
Both radiated power far beyond her own.
Yet their auras… eased her tension slightly. With her martial soul active, she could sense if someone carried the chilling taint of an evil soul master.
These two didn't.
Still, caution was warranted.
At least…
She lowered her sword slightly.
They weren't evil soul masters. She hadn't wronged them. No blood feud existed. And judging by their strength, resistance was futile—her instincts screamed as much.
So Ye Guyi tempered her usual fiery temper, facing the strangers with measured calm.
---
Author's Note:
Just to clarify—the Dragoness mentioned here does exist in the original canon.
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