After speaking, Ye Qiu pinched Xiao Wu's soft cheek again and teased with a grin.
"You agree, don't you, Xiao Wu?"
"Mm-hmm… Everything Ye Qiu says is right."
Xiao Wu's face flushed crimson, and she nodded slightly, her heart beating faster. At this moment, all she wanted was for Ye Qiu to bully her more… and to squeeze out that so-called fiancée. Her gaze toward Ye Qiu was now full of shyness.
"Gift?"
Tang San looked at the two suddenly acting so intimately, confusion written all over his face. What kind of gift could make Xiao Wu this red and flustered?!
"Yes! A gift!"
Ye Qiu smiled mysteriously.
There was no way he could hide his and Xiao Wu's cultivation levels any longer. So, Ye Qiu didn't even bother trying. Instead, he said proudly, "Xiao Wu has already broken through to level 40!"
"W-What?!"
Tang San was shocked.
Even the others in Dorm Seven, who were watching like an audience at a play, gasped one after another, looking at Xiao Wu in disbelief.
"How is that possible? Ye Qiu… You're not joking, are you?"
Tang San looked doubtful—he knew very well that Xiao Wu had just recently reached level 32!
He began to suspect that Ye Qiu had lost his mind.
"Joking?"
Ye Qiu shook his head and chuckled. He extended a hand toward Tang San and said with a smile, "San, why don't you check my cultivation level and see for yourself if I'm joking?"
Tang San hesitated slightly, half in disbelief. He grabbed Ye Qiu's wrist and sent a trace of soul power cultivated from the Xuan Tian Technique into Ye Qiu's body.
As the soul power entered, it was like a pebble sinking into a deep lake—
Tang San's pupils suddenly shrank. He was utterly shocked, staring at Ye Qiu as if seeing a ghost. He could clearly feel that Ye Qiu's cultivation had surpassed level 35 by a good margin. He couldn't help but blurt out, "How is this possible?! It's been less than two months… How could you have broken through this much?!"
"Hehe…" Ye Qiu subtly withdrew his hand and straightened his back. "Of course, it has everything to do with the gift I gave my little bunny!"
As he spoke, Ye Qiu turned to smile at Xiao Wu.
Xiao Wu also smiled back at him.
Softly, dreamily, with a sweetness that could melt the heart.
Although Ye Qiu didn't let her say much right now, his happiness made her happy too. Just seeing Ye Qiu smile made her feel content.
"In short, as long as Xiao Wu gets her fourth soul ring tomorrow, she'll be a full-fledged Soul Sect!"
At this point, Ye Qiu couldn't help but feel a bit of regret. Once Xiao Wu became a Soul Sect, she would no longer qualify for the Spirit Hall's subsidies. That meant losing a fairly substantial income.
Still, it wasn't a big deal. If needed, he had a rich sugar mommy—Dugu Yan—on his side. He could afford it! Not to mention, Ma Xiu Nuo often stuffed him with money anyway.
Seeing Tang San's increasingly complex expression, Ye Qiu felt a little tired of standing and pulled Xiao Wu down to sit beside him on his bed.
"Ye Qiu, what exactly was that gift? Don't tell me it came at the cost of her potential?! If there are any side effects, what happens to Xiao Wu in the future?!"
Tang San finally snapped back to his senses, still full of shock, confusion, and concern.
He had seen methods in his teacher's notes that allowed Soul Masters to rapidly improve in a short time. They were the techniques used by fallen cultivators—sacrificing life force, potential, harming others…
But this "gift" from Ye Qiu allowed Xiao Wu to gain at least eight levels in a single hour?! Even the methods of fallen cultivators couldn't achieve that!
Seeing Tang San suddenly rush forward with concern written all over his face, Xiao Wu's face scrunched up.
Lovesick Heartbroken Red—to her, that meant more than just a rare herb.
It was a token of love from Ye Qiu. Tang San's words, which seemed like slander, made her very uncomfortable. She frowned and said with displeasure, "San, what do you mean by 'sacrificing potential'? Are you saying Ye Qiu would harm me by giving me something like that?!"
Tang San quickly explained, "Xiao Wu, that's not what I meant. I'm just worried about you—about both of you. If this affects your future cultivation, it'd be bad…"
"Haha, alright."
Ye Qiu gently stroked Xiao Wu's back to calm her down before looking at the uncertain Tang San and softly saying, "San, it's not wrong for you to think this way. After all, the speed of our breakthroughs sounds like fantasy. But I can assure you—there's absolutely nothing wrong with it."
"Why?" Tang San frowned. He didn't understand why Ye Qiu was so confident.
Ye Qiu rolled his eyes.
Why? I already ate it myself—how could I not know? What, should I give you one too, so you can experience it for yourself? You'd be ecstatic!
Even though Tang San could be annoying, Ye Qiu still tried to stay patient. Remembering how Dugu Bo almost threw him off a cliff, his face couldn't help but show a trace of fear.
He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and said solemnly, "Because… that thing saved my life. I risked everything to get it."
"Saved your life?"
Tang San was puzzled. What was he talking about?
"That's right!" Under Xiao Wu's slightly dazed gaze, Ye Qiu suddenly stood up, put his hands behind his back, and began narrating. "As everyone knows, I, Ye Qiu, am still just a child. The dangers of traveling the world need not be said. Not long after I left Nuoding City, I ran into bandits!"
"Bandits?!"
Everyone in Dorm Seven pricked up their ears simultaneously, listening closely.
Looking at the lingering fear on Ye Qiu's face, Tang San could tell he wasn't lying—based on his understanding of human emotions.
He couldn't help asking, "Then what? What does this have to do with your cultivation rising so fast?"
"Of course it's related!" Ye Qiu said in a low voice, as if holding a grudge, his voice cold with anger but soon shifting to relief. He started bluffing, "After that, I was hunted down, fell off a cliff, and narrowly escaped death… only to stumble upon a divine art—no, a divine herb!"
"Divine herb? Boss, that's it?"
Zhang Wei had walked over at some point, listening with great interest.
Ye Qiu shot him a glance.
Then he looked up at a 45-degree angle toward the sky.
The anger on his face vanished, replaced by nostalgia and a faint smile. A voice tinged with world-weariness came out of his mouth.
"Of course not. That was just the beginning of my legendary holiday."
As his words fell—
Ye Qiu looked at Tang San with a serious face and continued, "At the bottom of the cliff, I found two glowing herbs. At the time, I was on the brink of death and had no choice but to gamble. I risked everything and ate one. Not only did it heal my wounds completely, but the remaining medicinal power pushed my cultivation to level 38!"
As Ye Qiu said this, even he couldn't help showing awe on his face, as if marveling at the power of heaven and earth.
"Boundless heaven, you have not treated me unkindly! After that, I met an old man picking herbs. I was almost captured and turned into a test subject, but thanks to my personal charm, I won over the old man's granddaughter and escaped. I gained a fiancée… and a fortune!"
"And the remaining herb—that divine medicine—was something my beautiful and kind-hearted fiancée and that moody old man allowed me to bring back… so I could help Xiao Wu."
Hearing this—
Xiao Wu, who had been pinching her thigh to hold back laughter, couldn't laugh anymore.
If that's how it really was, she'd rather not have the herb.
No herb was more important than Ye Qiu!
Xiao Wu let out a cold snort, her face showing a bit of grievance and sadness. Her eyes shimmered with tears.
This scene happened to be caught by Tang San when he turned back. He knew Xiao Wu well. With her brain—no, her temperament—she wouldn't be able to fake a performance this perfect.
In his heart, he started to believe Ye Qiu's story.
At the very least, the divine herb and fiancée part—Ye Qiu likely wasn't lying.
After all, in Tang San's previous life, there had been all kinds of miraculous herbs. The Douluo Continent wasn't any worse than the world of the Tang Sect. Finding a few rare treasures wasn't that unbelievable.