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Two days later.
At the edge of the Great Star Dou Forest, in a dense forest.
"Nine Treasures with Fame, the third being: Soul!"
With Ning Rongrong's crisp and clear shout, a radiant, nine-layered Glazed Tile Pagoda projection appeared.
In the next moment, the third layer of the pagoda shone brightly, and a solid beam of soul power shot out, enveloping Dai Chengfeng standing nearby.
After two days of searching, Dai Chengfeng had finally found a highly suitable 3,500-year-old spirit beast for Ning Rongrong.
Now, after successfully absorbing the soul ring and significantly boosting her soul power level, Ning Rongrong couldn't wait to summon her Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda and test her third soul skill.
Dai Chengfeng closed his eyes, carefully sensing the changes in his soul power.
It was a strange feeling of fullness, as if a dry riverbed had been filled with fresh spring water. The speed of his soul power circulation noticeably increased, and its total capacity had also improved significantly.
He slowly opened his eyes, a flash of approval in them: "Not bad, this soul skill amplification effect is quite strong—about 35%."
"Thirty-five percent?!"
Upon hearing this, an expression of incredulous delight spread across Ning Rongrong's lovely face.
She covered her mouth, her voice trembling slightly: "Dai Chengfeng, you're not lying to me, are you?"
"Under normal circumstances, the initial amplification effect of the third soul skill of the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda is only about 10%!"
"This… this increase is way too huge!"
"Would I lie to you?" Dai Chengfeng chuckled.
Receiving Dai Chengfeng's confirmation, Ning Rongrong looked at him with excitement, her beautiful eyes filled with gratitude and a hint of barely noticeable shyness:
"If it weren't for your miraculous herbs and those pills, my martial soul wouldn't have evolved, and I would never have obtained such a powerful soul skill…"
At the mention of "pills," Ning Rongrong seemed to recall something. Two patches of red instantly bloomed on her fair cheeks, her voice dropped, and her gaze became evasive.
The strange heat and impulse she felt that night after taking the pill, along with what happened between her and Dai Chengfeng…
In short, the memory was deeply engraved in her mind.
"Hmm?"
Beside them, Zhu Zhuqing and Hu Liena exchanged glances almost simultaneously, each detecting a subtle nuance in the other's eyes.
After all, they had personally "experienced" the special "side effects" of Dai Chengfeng's pills…
The intense aphrodisiac effect still made them blush when they thought about it.
Ning Rongrong's current shy demeanor…
Wasn't it strikingly similar to how they had been back then?
"Anyway, thank you so much, Dai Chengfeng!"
At this moment, Ning Rongrong, overwhelmed with excitement, didn't know how to express her gratitude. She impulsively took a step forward and, while Dai Chengfeng was momentarily distracted assessing the soul skill's effect…
She tiptoed and quickly planted a kiss on Dai Chengfeng's cheek.
The soft, moist touch was brief. Dai Chengfeng instinctively touched the spot that had been kissed, looking at the beaming, blushing girl before him and smiling.
However, just as he was about to say something, he suddenly felt two 'icy' gazes piercing into him like daggers.
Dai Chengfeng stiffly turned his head to see that Zhu Zhuqing and Hu Liena had already wiped all expressions from their faces.
Zhu Zhuqing's gaze was cold, her lips pressed together, showing no emotion, but the aura around her was clearly colder than the surrounding air.
Hu Liena had her arms crossed, her peach-shaped eyes slightly narrowed, her lips curling into a faint, ambiguous smile, but the dangerous gleam in her eyes…
Made cold sweat instantly break out on Dai Chengfeng's back.
"Oh no…"
Dai Chengfeng's smile froze, becoming extremely awkward.
He looked pleadingly at the only elder who might possibly calm the situation—Grand Priest Zhu Hongye.
The Grand Priest stood with her hands behind her back, appearing detached. Feeling Dai Chengfeng's gaze, she slowly shook her head, her tone as calm as ever:
"These matters between you young people—I won't interfere."
Dai Chengfeng inwardly groaned and quickly hid behind Grand Priest, lowering his voice to a whisper audible only to the two of them, urgently begging, "Don't do that! Grand Priest! You must intervene—it'll be fatal if you don't!"
"I'm serious! Look at their eyes!"
Grand Priest helplessly glanced at Dai Chengfeng cowering behind her, completely losing his princely composure, then looked at the increasingly icy auras of the two women opposite. Finally, she sighed, cleared her throat, and spoke, "Alright, alright, we'll talk about this later."
"Now that Rongrong has successfully obtained her soul ring, we've accomplished one task."
"It's still early in the day, but the continuous traveling and searching has been quite exhausting. Let's rest here in this outer area for another day."
"We'll set off early tomorrow morning and head deeper into the central region of the Great Star Dou Forest to find a suitable fifth soul ring for Nana."
Hearing Grand Priest speak, Zhu Zhuqing and Hu Liena finally shifted their gazes away from Dai Chengfeng.
Zhu Zhuqing lightly "Mm"-ed, and Hu Liena nodded in agreement.
However, both of them simultaneously shot a glare in Dai Chengfeng's direction, their meaning clear…
This wasn't over!
Dai Chengfeng immediately sighed in relief, feeling as if he had narrowly escaped death.
Soon, everyone found a relatively open area near a water source to set up camp.
After setting up the tents, Dai Chengfeng showed unusual enthusiasm, voluntarily taking on the task of preparing dinner.
Considering that since showcasing his cooking skills a few days ago, he had been lazy and made do with simple meals these past two days. His sudden initiative was unprecedented.
Zhu Zhuqing and Hu Liena naturally understood that this guy was trying to "make amends" and win their favor.
But recalling Ning Rongrong's unexpected kiss and Dai Chengfeng's previous adamant claim of "pure relationships," their anger was hard to dissipate. They coldly observed his efforts, giving him no favorable looks.
Starting the fire, preparing the ingredients, cooking…
Dai Chengfeng bustled around, trying to find opportunities to strike up conversations with the two women.
"Zhuqing, how's the meat cooked? Is it to your liking?"
Dai Chengfeng held out a skewer of sizzling, fragrant meat toward Zhu Zhuqing.
Without even looking, Zhu Zhuqing simply replied indifferently: "I'm not hungry."
She then turned and walked to the side, picking up her water flask to sip quietly, leaving Dai Chengfeng with a cold, distant back view.
Rejected, Dai Chengfeng awkwardly turned to Hu Liena, who was cleaning her dagger:
"Nana, try this mushroom soup? I added some special spices…"
Hu Liena raised her eyelids, giving him a mocking glance:
"Oh, the soup personally made by Prince Dai? I dare not drink it. What if it contains some 'special' pill effects again? I wouldn't be able to handle it."
Dai Chengfeng awkwardly withdrew his hand, internally lamenting his plight.
He tried several more times, only to receive either a cold snort or complete disregard.
"Looks like I'll have to tackle them one by one!"
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