Three hours later, the wooden door slowly opened. Dugu Yan walked out wearing a verdant dress, looking refreshed and possessing an indescribable, ethereal quality.
When her gaze met Oscar's, who had been guarding outside the entire time, her excitement was simply overflowing. Dugu Yan tapped her toes lightly, transforming into a silhouette that instantly arrived before Oscar and threw herself into his arms.
"Little Ao, thank you. If not for you, perhaps I would never have had such an opportunity in my lifetime." Dugu Yan's soft voice rang in Oscar's ear.
Just as Oscar was about to say something, Dugu Yan's fragrant lips pressed against his.
With his mouth blocked by Dugu Yan, Oscar naturally wrapped his arms around her slender waist. The two didn't need many words; everything was contained within this kiss.
A long time later, their lips parted.
Oscar continued to hold Dugu Yan, asking softly, "There's no need for words of gratitude between us. After all, as the ancients said, husband and wife are one. Although we haven't yet tied the knot, having you alone in this lifetime is enough for me."
After saying this, Oscar asked, "How was the improvement?"
"I know." Dugu Yan smiled sweetly, then continued, "Little Ao, this Acacia Heartbreak Red truly lives up to its reputation as the Emperor of Fairy Herbs. The improvement it brought me is simply too immense."
Hearing this, Oscar knew his guess and estimation hadn't been wrong. Dugu Yan consuming the Acacia Heartbreak Red would absolutely bring an unexpected boost.
As Oscar was thinking, he heard Dugu Yan continue, "After consuming this Acacia Heartbreak Red, my soul power level smoothly reached forty. However, because my soul power had already reached a bottleneck, it couldn't manifest fully. Otherwise, my soul power would have increased by at least five levels or more."
"Besides that, my physical constitution and mental power have both reached the level of a Soul King from the original eight-thousand-year standard. I have a premonition that although my fourth soul ring isn't as terrifying as yours, it can at least reach the level of fifteen thousand years."
"In other words, after consuming this Acacia Heartbreak Red, my physical constitution and mental power have increased by more than double."
Hearing Dugu Yan's words, Oscar frowned slightly. Actually, these improvements were within Oscar's expectations, but if this was all there was, then this Emperor of Fairy Herbs seemed somewhat unworthy of its name.
While this improvement was significant for Dugu Yan, it didn't quite justify the status of Emperor of Fairy Herbs.
Noticing Oscar's frown, Dugu Yan's smile grew even wider. Given her current understanding of Oscar, she could roughly guess his thoughts.
However, Dugu Yan didn't explain too much. She let go of Oscar, left his embrace, and after taking a few steps back, slowly said, "Of course, my improvement naturally wouldn't stop there. What truly surprised me is that my martial soul has also evolved."
Hearing this, Oscar's brows finally relaxed. After all, only this would be worthy of the Acacia Heartbreak Red's title as Emperor of Fairy Herbs.
As her words fell, green light began to radiate from Dugu Yan's body. The diamond-shaped crystal on her brow condensed abruptly, and a pair of verdant crystal dragon horns slowly grew on top of her head. However, their state wasn't complete; they were like the horns of a young dragon, appearing not domineering but rather playful and cute.
The changes didn't stop there. Originally, when Dugu Yan activated her martial soul, her legs would turn into a snake tail, but this time they didn't. Her legs underwent no special changes, but her hands did.
Scales grew densely over her jade arms, and her hands transformed into a pair of sharp verdant crystal dragon claws, beautiful yet carrying a cold glint.
Immediately after, Dugu Yan twisted her waist, and a verdant dragon tail covered in dense green scales suddenly appeared. The verdant dragon tail was about 1.2 meters long, with its tip just touching the ground.
Dugu Yan opened her small mouth, and a dragon roar carrying a hint of dragon might suddenly rang out, shaking the soul.
Oscar stared blankly at Dugu Yan in this state. Her previous softness had diminished, replaced by a sense of majesty and dominance. However, due to the pair of small verdant dragon horns on her head, she appeared somewhat playful and cute.
"A dragon... the martial soul evolved into a dragon?" Oscar murmured softly.
Seeing Oscar staring at her in a daze, the smile on Dugu Yan's lovely face became even more radiant. "How is it? Little Ao, is the change big?"
Oscar nodded blankly. This improvement was indeed something Oscar hadn't anticipated. He had guessed that Dugu Yan's martial soul might evolve, but he hadn't expected it to be this significant.
"Big."
Looking at Oscar's dazed appearance, Dugu Yan smiled and said, "The change and improvement brought by the martial soul evolution are the biggest. My soul skills have also undergone some benign changes because of it."
"My martial soul can no longer be called the Jade Scale Snake; it should be called the Jade Scale Poison Dragon. However, this isn't my complete state. I have a premonition that when I break through the two major bottlenecks of level seventy and level ninety, my martial soul will truly evolve step by step into its complete form."
Hearing this, Oscar seemed to understand something. "This is like this Acacia Heartbreak Red opened a path of evolution for your martial soul. However, given your current strength, you cannot fully evolve yet. You need to complete the final evolution step by step as your strength increases. Your future achievements will all depend on your subsequent improvements, right?"
Hearing Oscar's words, Dugu Yan nodded excitedly because Oscar's guess was completely correct. Although her martial soul had evolved, it wasn't the final form. It would continue to progress as her strength increased in the future.
After level seventy, it might be called the Jade Scale Poison Dragon King, and at level ninety, the Jade Scale Poison Dragon Emperor...
Of course, the current Dugu Yan didn't know what the future held and was just making a hypothesis.
Seeing Dugu Yan confirm his guess, Oscar suddenly felt a bit incredulous. He thought to himself, are you the transmigrator or am I? Why do I feel like you are even more awesome than me? Am I, Oscar, destined to be a kept man?
In the original story, he relied on Ning Rongrong and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan, but now he relies on Dugu Yan?
Shaking his head, Oscar snapped out of his wandering thoughts and asked, "Then what about the changes to your soul skills?"
Dugu Yan smiled faintly. "Little Ao, why don't you test it personally? Anyway, we are both at level forty now, and your physical constitution and mental power are far above mine."
She paused, then gave a wicked smile, which almost made Oscar unable to resist going up to take a bite. The current Dugu Yan was simply a combination of a mature sister and a young girl—damn, she appealed to everyone, men and women, young and old!
She then continued, "And even if you accidentally lose to me, it's not embarrassing. After all, I've never won against you before."
Hearing this, Oscar frowned. "Never won?"
Dugu Yan pouted. "Don't think I don't know you were letting me win on purpose, just to make me happy."
Hearing this, the corner of Oscar's mouth twitched. So you knew everything? If that was the case, Oscar always felt something was a bit off when he was with Dugu Yan.
In fact, many times hunters appear in the form of prey, just to go with the flow. They capture you when you are off guard, and you don't even know it, foolishly thinking you are the winner...
However, Oscar didn't dwell on this now. He smiled slightly, and a sky-blue jade sword condensed in his left hand.
"Dear Miss Dugu Yan, Oscar challenges you."