The next morning, the first light of dawn appeared.
Through the room's exquisite carved window lattice, mottled shadows were cast on the smooth floor.
The air was filled with a faint calming fragrance, tranquil and serene.
Liu Erlong, who was sleeping, was awakened by a peculiar sensation.
It wasn't the lazy feeling of waking naturally but a complex mixture of extreme fatigue, body soreness, and an indescribable sense of satisfaction and lightness.
Her long lashes fluttered a few times, and she slowly opened her eyes.
Her vision was initially blurry, then gradually cleared.
What came into view was Dai Chengfeng's sleeping face, close at hand.
He was asleep, his usually deep, sharp eyes, always carrying a hint of mockery and aggression, now closed.
His severe brow had softened, losing some of its intimidating presence and gaining a rare sense of calm.
Below his high nose bridge, his thin lips were slightly pursed, the corners of his mouth seemingly holding a faint, satisfied curve.
His ink-black hair was somewhat disheveled on the pillow, a few strands falling over his forehead, softening his angular facial lines.
Liu Erlong just quietly watched him, momentarily dazed.
The blush-inducing, embarrassing scenes from last night in the bath and later in the bedroom flooded her mind like a tide.
The scorching heat of skin-to-skin contact, the domineering, forceful demands, the ultimate feeling of being thrown to the clouds only to fall into the abyss...
Thinking back on it now still made her feel hot all over.
"Hmph..."
She softly hummed in her heart, tinged with a bit of reproach. "He doesn't know how to cherish beauty... brute..."
She secretly complained; this guy's energy was simply unimaginable, tiring her out so much that she passed out directly.
Now awake, she felt as if her body had been taken apart and reassembled, especially her legs, which were terribly sore.
She carefully tried to move her body but couldn't help lightly inhaling a breath of cool air.
However, amidst her complaints, a deeper, harder-to-admit emotion quietly surfaced.
How many years had she lived?
Since that person, she had become disheartened, enclosing herself under a fiery temper. When had she ever experienced such...
Such heart-stirring, bone-melting passion?
Had she really wasted all those years?
Those lonely years accompanied only by cultivation and anger seemed so pale and boring compared to the entanglements with Dai Chengfeng last night and before.
As soon as this thought arose, Liu Erlong's cheeks instantly flushed red, like ripe cherries.
"Stop, stop, stop! What are you thinking, Liu Erlong!"
She quickly rebuked herself mentally, shaking her head forcefully as if trying to shake off those embarrassing thoughts.
How could she have such thoughts? It was too shameful!
She forced herself to stop recalling those details and refocused her attention on herself.
Upon focusing, she immediately noticed something unusual.
Besides the physical fatigue and soreness, there seemed to be a warm current slowly flowing in her lower abdomen. It was very subtle, yet clear, bringing a strange sense of comfort, as if nourishing her exhausted body.
"This is..."
Liu Erlong's heart stirred, and she instinctively turned inward to examine herself.
Upon introspection, she was so shocked that she nearly cried out!
Her soul power level... had actually increased?!
The bottleneck that had stalled her at level seventy-three for a long time, which she felt was insurmountable, had somehow already been broken through without her noticing!
She now clearly felt that her soul power level had stabilized at seventy-four!
Moreover, her soul power was solid and heavy, far from the unstable feeling of a recent breakthrough—it felt more like she had been stable at seventy-four for a while.
How could this be?
She had been stuck at seventy-three for quite a while. Although she hadn't relaxed her training, reaching the Spirit Soul level made every level-up extremely difficult, requiring long-term accumulation and opportunities.
Last night... last night, she hadn't trained at all; instead, she was... she was...
Could it be... because of that?
Liu Erlong's heartbeat suddenly quickened. This guess made her feel incredibly absurd, yet it seemed to be the only reasonable explanation.
She quickly gathered her thoughts and examined her body more carefully.
The increase in soul power was undeniable, but the reason was certainly not just that.
She held her breath and concentrated, her perception spreading like a fine spider web, meticulously searching through her meridians and dantian.
Sure enough, deep within her originally fierce and dominant Fire Dragon soul power, she detected two extremely faint yet fundamentally different threads of energy, exuding a heart-stopping power.
One thread was a dark crimson, filled with cold, killing intent, and a sense of solemn judgment.
Just perceiving a trace of it made her soul tremble, as if facing the supreme verdict.
The other thread was an eerie dark purple, filled with resentment, malevolence, and madness...
Yet strangely contained a twisted vitality that sent chills down her spine.
These two forces, though extremely minute—like streams merging into a great river—were of exceptionally high quality.
They were incompatible with her own Fire Dragon soul power, yet strangely didn't conflict. Instead, they seemed to be some kind of higher-level primal force, quietly integrating...
Subtly purifying and strengthening her soul power and helping her break through the bottleneck in one fell swoop.
"What exactly is... this power?"
Liu Erlong's heart was filled with shock and confusion.
She had never seen or even heard of such peculiar and powerful energy.
They weren't soul power, but seemed more fundamental than soul power, closer to some rule of the world.
Previously, she had vaguely sensed a similar heart-stopping aura on Dai Chengfeng, but it wasn't nearly as clear as the one now integrated into her body.
Could it be... Dai Chengfeng?
Yes, during last night's intimate, zero-distance contact, besides the physical union, there seemed to be a deeper interaction at the energy level.
At that time, she was disoriented, her mind and body overwhelmed by intense sensory shocks, and didn't notice.
Only now, having calmed down, did she discover the changes within her body.
"Is it... he transferred this power... a little to me?"
Liu Erlong looked at the still sleeping Dai Chengfeng beside her with mixed feelings.
If Dai Chengfeng or Pope Bibi Dong of the Spirit Hall were here, they would surely recognize that the dark crimson power was none other than the supreme Archer God's Power.
And the dark purple was the mysterious and unpredictable Rakshasa God's Power!
Dai Chengfeng bore both divine powers, and in that state of ultimate spiritual and physical fusion, a tiny trace of divine essence along with life essence quietly flowed into Liu Erlong's body.
Even though it was so minuscule, for Liu Erlong, who had yet to touch the divine realm, it was an incredible blessing!
Understanding the key point, Liu Erlong first felt an uncontrollable surge of joy.
An increase in soul power level was something she had always desired, and becoming stronger naturally made her happy.
But immediately following was a wave of intense shyness.
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