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When Ye Lan was about ten meters away from the side gate of Heaven Dou City, as he had expected, Xue Qinghe blocked his path.
"This brother here—are you Ye Lan?" Xue Qinghe approached Ye Lan with a gentle smile.
"May I ask who you are?" Ye Lan replied with feigned surprise.
"I am Xue Qinghe, a few years your senior. If you don't mind, you can call me Brother Xue," Xue Qinghe said warmly.
"Xue Qinghe? The current Crown Prince?" Ye Lan asked.
"That's right. I didn't expect Brother Ye Lan, all the way in Soto City, to have heard of the Heaven Dou Crown Prince," Xue Qinghe said with admiration, though inwardly he wondered—Is Ye Lan particularly concerned with the Heaven Dou royal family?
"Your Highness's good name precedes you. You are the esteemed Crown Prince—what virtue or ability do I have to address you as 'Brother'?" Ye Lan responded respectfully.
Xue Qinghe laughed heartily. "If even a 'scholar' isn't qualified to call me Brother, then no one in the world is! Brother Ye Lan, don't be so formal—there are plenty who call me Brother Xue."
Ye Lan nodded and agreed.
When Qian Renxue disguised herself as Xue Qinghe, she was refined, courteous, and perfectly composed.
It was as if she possessed a kind of natural charisma that made people feel easily drawn to and trusting of her.
But what kind of person was Qian Renxue behind the mask?
In Ye Lan's eyes, Xue Qinghe was a fitting Crown Prince.
"Brother Xue," Ye Lan said politely.
Xue Qinghe nodded with a smile. "Brother Ye Lan, this isn't the place to chat. Why don't we take my carriage and find a more suitable place to talk? I've admired you for quite some time."
As he spoke, Xue Qinghe wrapped an arm around Ye Lan's shoulder and led him toward the six-horse carriage.
At the very moment Xue Qinghe made contact with Ye Lan's shoulder, a simultaneous pulse emanated from both the Six-Winged Angel and the Radiant Blue Silver Grass—spiritual fluctuations from their martial souls.
Oh?
A ripple stirred in both of their hearts.
Ye Lan thought to himself: I didn't expect that once my martial soul reached innate level 20 spirit power, its quality would match the Six-Winged Angel—it has reached a god-level martial soul.
Martial soul fusion skills, unless passed down like the inherited fusion skills of the White Tiger and the Netherworld Civet, usually only manifest when martial souls resonate at first contact.
And for such a fusion to occur, both martial souls must be of similar quality and complementary nature.
His Blue Silver Grass possessed Ultimate Life and Ultimate Light.
So then, could Qian Renxue's martial soul possess Ultimate Holiness and Ultimate Fire?
No wonder she was born with full spirit power and dual ultimates. That's terrifying.
After all, even with the same martial soul, innate spirit power and attributes can vary—some are strong, some weak.
Qian Renxue, however, knew little about martial soul fusion skills. After all, for tens of thousands of years, no martial soul capable of fusing with the Six-Winged Angel had ever emerged, so Qian Daoliu never taught her anything about it.
Still, Qian Renxue found the sensation strange. The Blue Silver Grass could trigger a reaction from the Six-Winged Angel? What is the true nature of Ye Lan's martial soul?
Each harbored thoughts of their own, but neither revealed any reaction to the sudden spiritual resonance, acting as if nothing had happened.
Xue Qinghe gently led Ye Lan toward the six-horse carriage, his right hand naturally dropping from Ye Lan's shoulder.
Qian Renxue let out a subtle sigh of relief. That strange feeling—the urge to get closer, to merge with Ye Lan—had faded.
But with its disappearance came a faint sense of loss.
Ye Lan, his expression unchanged, glanced at the luxurious carriage before him—far grander than the four-horse one he had borrowed.
He couldn't help but marvel inwardly: Damn feudalism... So this is the Crown Prince's ride, huh?
Qian Renxue's gaze casually swept over Ye Lan's face, but with just one glance, time seemed to stand still.
"Brother Xue? Is there something on my face?" Ye Lan asked, touching his cheek.
"Hmm, your hair and collar are a bit messy," Qian Renxue said and immediately stepped forward to help him tidy up.
Ye Lan felt like a puppet on strings—unable to reject, yet hesitant to accept.
He hadn't expected Xue Qinghe to be so bold—just reaching out like that.
What's the intention? Testing for a martial soul reaction? Probably. I'll just pretend I don't notice anything unusual.
Even though he knew Xue Qinghe was actually Qian Renxue, the experience of a woman in disguise fixing his appearance felt undeniably strange.
Meanwhile, Qian Renxue examined Ye Lan's eyes while helping him adjust his clothes—shamelessly so.
Golden—just like hers!
Staring into Ye Lan's deep golden eyes, she felt as though she were looking into a mirror.
Beautiful.
While straightening his attire, she inevitably touched his body again and again.
The sensation of martial soul resonance kept returning. But seeing that Ye Lan's expression remained unchanged, Qian Renxue relaxed.
Seems like I'm the only one who can feel it. That's good—I won't have to reveal myself just yet.
Spending time with Ye Lan as Xue Qinghe felt easy and natural to her.
Had she approached Ye Lan as Qian Renxue instead, she had no idea how she would've behaved. After all, it had been more than a decade since she interacted with anyone her age. Even her interactions with his sister, Xue Ke, were done while wearing the mask of Xue Qinghe.
"Not bad. Brother Ye Lan must have many female admirers," Xue Qinghe said with a smile after fixing Ye Lan's appearance. "I didn't expect that a 'scholar,' in addition to his deep theories, would have an appearance that is just as refined. I'm sure you attract plenty of attention from the ladies."
"Not really," Ye Lan replied, thinking of Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing. His relationship with both of them was probably a little more than friendship... or maybe just a teacher-student bond?
"Not really?" Qian Renxue echoed inwardly.
"I didn't expect Brother Ye Lan to be so devoted to research. But that's alright. I have a younger sister—I could introduce you two. With your looks and intellect, I'm sure she'd take a liking to you," Xue Qinghe said with a grin.
"Haha, Brother Xue, I don't think I'm quite that charming," Ye Lan replied with a laugh.
"Come on then, let's go to my hall and chat," Xue Qinghe said, gesturing toward the carriage.
Under the guidance of the attendants, Ye Lan boarded the six-horse carriage.
The interior was far more spacious and lavish than the four-horse one.
As the carriage rolled on, Xue Qinghe began introducing Ye Lan to the sights of Heaven Dou City—the Great Spirit Arena, the various academies, the auction houses, commercial districts, gourmet streets, and more.
He also spoke of the empire's history and culture, and his own understanding of martial souls.
The conversation flowed naturally, the two speaking as if they were old friends reunited after many years.
Xue Qinghe eventually asked, "Brother Ye Lan, do you know what it means to be a king?"
Ye Lan thought for a moment before answering, "What is a king? In my view, a king is one who bears the weight of all people."
"To bear the weight of all people?" Xue Qinghe asked.
"Yes. If there is only one king, there must be countless people. Why would a single king emerge from among them? This is because the people yearn for a king's arrival and for his leadership. The king's duty is to shoulder the hopes of the people, while the people, in turn, sustain the king," Ye Lan explained.
(End of Chapter)