Dugu Yan possesses the rare Spirit, Blue Scale Snake, which comes with potent venom.
The Blue Scale Snake grants her powerful poison abilities but also causes her to suffer from the poison's backlash.
Dugu Yan had been cultivating for several years, and signs of being affected by the poison's backlash had appeared, causing her eyes to turn green.
She appeared enchanting yet had a straightforward personality, and she initiative greeted Ye Lingling.
Ye Lingling smiled and said:
"Hello, Senior Sister, my name is Ye Lingling. I just arrived at the Academy today."
Dugu Yan nodded, looked at Long Chen, and asked:
"You're not a new student as well, are you?"
Long Chen shook his head.
"I came to send Lingling off. It's her first time leaving home, so please take good care of her from now on."
"Don't worry, with me here, no one will dare bully her. My Bi Lin Snake Poison is not to be trifled with."
As Dugu Yan spoke, she had a look of arrogance.
However, she indeed had the capital to be proud.
Poison has a restraining effect on most Spirit Masters, not to mention the Bi Lin Snake Poison is a potent venom.
Dugu Yan should now be a two-ring Battle Spirit Master, which is quite good among her peers.
Furthermore, she has a powerful background like Dugu Bo, so almost no one in the Academy dares to provoke her.
With her protecting Ye Lingling, Long Chen felt much more at ease.
Dugu Yan suddenly asked:
"Oh, right, Ye Lingling, what is your Spirit?"
"A Tool Spirit, Nine Heart Begonia."
"Nine Heart Begonia? Is that the Spirit with the strongest healing ability? I've heard my grandfather mention it."
Dugu Yan seemed very satisfied with her new roommate.
She also had a strong personality and liked capable people.
Most of the students at the Royal Academy were connected through relationships, and there weren't many truly capable individuals.
After settling everything for Ye Lingling, Ye Tianming and Long Chen prepared to leave.
From childhood, Ye Lingling had always been a good girl, growing up in a happy family environment.
However, her grandmother's death was quite a blow to her, and she was no longer as lively as before.
As they were leaving, Long Chen instructed:
"Lingling, Dugu Yan is quite nice. Get along well with her, and if you encounter any problems at the Academy, remember to find Teacher Liu."
"Okay, I understand. You two go back; don't worry about me. I'll take good care of myself."
"Then you study hard here. After a while, Uncle Ye and I will come to see you again."
Ye Tianming briefly gave Ye Lingling a few more instructions, then left with Long Chen.
Walking back, Ye Tianming said:
"This is Lingling's first time leaving home, but this is a necessary path for your growth. I hope she adapts quickly."
"With Teacher Liu there, there shouldn't be any problems."
"Mm. Xiao Chen, after Lingling enrolls, you also need to start studying. Aunt Bai and I will guide you in your cultivation."
"Okay, I will study hard."
Long Chen was also looking forward to the upcoming cultivation.
However, in his plan, he not only needed to cultivate but also to learn knowledge related to medicine, such as detoxification, compounding medicine, and alchemy, to prepare for entering the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
"Uncle Ye, can you help me find some books related to medicine? I want to study them in my spare time from cultivation."
"Medicine?"
Ye Tianming frowned, somewhat puzzled.
"Xiao Chen, why are you also interested in medicine?"
Long Chen answered earnestly:
"Uncle Ye. Seeing Dugu Yan in Lingling's dormitory, I suddenly thought of a problem. Although Lingling's Nine Heart Begonia has powerful healing abilities, it cannot detoxify. If we encounter a Spirit Master with potent poison abilities like Dugu Yan, we would be helpless. But if I had detoxification abilities, I wouldn't fear poison Spirit Masters."
Ye Tianming smiled and nodded.
"Xiao Chen, at such a young age, you consider problems quite farsightedly. You are right; Spirit Masters with potent poison abilities have a restraining effect on most Spirit Masters. However, for powerful poison Spirit Masters, ordinary medicinal herbs are simply useless against their toxins."
"Uncle Ye, I know that too. But mastering an extra skill is always useful."
Ye Tianming patted Long Chen's head.
"Okay. Since you want to learn, I'll find them for you. However, you must remember that cultivation is the more important matter."
"Mm, I know."
A few days after returning to the Ye Estate, Ye Tianming found several medical books for Long Chen.
Those books meticulously illustrated detailed images of various medicinal herbs.
Next to each herb, there was a detailed textual description.
It not only introduced the name of the herb, its growing environment, and harvesting season but also thoroughly explained its medicinal properties, effects, and precautions for use.
Various exotic herbs truly opened Long Chen's eyes.
In addition to the images and descriptions of herbs, the collection also interspersed some medical prescriptions and alchemy techniques.
Long Chen knew that mastering such complex medical knowledge would not happen overnight; it required accumulation over time.
What he learned from books alone was not enough; he also needed to put it into practice in daily life.
He secretly made up his mind to study that knowledge diligently and quickly master skills such as detoxification, compounding medicine, and alchemy, to be fully prepared for potentially encountering Dugu Bo in the future.
Under Ye Tianming's guidance, Long Chen began to cultivate, gradually mastering the power of his Spirit.
In his spare time from cultivation, he also studied those books about medicinal herbs, learning a lot about them.
Half a year passed in a flash.
On this day, Ye Tianming received good news and joyfully found Long Chen.
"Xiao Chen, Lingling has finally broken through to level ten and can acquire her first spirit ring!"
"That's great! Uncle Ye, let's go help Lingling hunt a Spirit Beast together."
"Mm, we'll go to the Academy to find her tomorrow."
Three months ago, Long Chen and Ye Tianming had visited Ye Lingling.
Ye Lingling had gradually adapted to studying at Heaven Dou Royal Academy.
Early the next morning, Ye Tianming set off with Long Chen.
Upon seeing Ye Lingling, Long Chen happily said:
"Lingling, congratulations! You'll soon have your very own first spirit ring and Spirit Ability."
Ye Lingling smiled happily.
"Chen Ge, what level is your spirit power now?"
"I'm pushing for level fifteen."
"That's amazing. From now on, the gap between us will only grow wider."
"Lingling, you're already incredible. After you acquire your spirit ring, your spirit power will increase significantly."
After leaving the Academy, the three of them headed together to the Sunset Forest, two hundred li east of Heaven Dou City.
After more than half a year, entering the Sunset Forest again, Long Chen's feelings were completely different.
Having learned about medicinal herbs, the various strange flowers and plants in the forest now seemed even more valuable to him.
Besides Spirit Beasts, those flowers and plants were also within his scope of attention.
Ye Lingling's Spirit is quite special; no matter how many spirit rings she possesses, her Spirit Ability will always be only one—area-of-effect healing.
Therefore, the type of Spirit Beast she needed to acquire a spirit ring from was not very demanding.
Of course, Spirit Beasts with self-healing abilities were more suitable.