Chapter 52: Ye Lingling's Desolation
Ye Lingling nodded lightly, brought her hands together in a heart shape, and summoned her Martial Soul.
A crabapple blossom appeared in her palms, its five pink and white petals as thin as gauze surrounding pale yellow stamens. If one counted carefully, there were exactly nine stamens.
As the crabapple blossom manifested, a delicate and refreshing fragrance spread through the air. At the same time, two yellow Spirit Rings rose beneath Ye Lingling's feet and slowly circled around the blossom in her hands.
Seeing the flower in her palm, Yu Tianlin could not help but praise, "So this is the Nine Heart Begonia. It really is magnificent, beautiful, and enchanting."
After summoning the Nine Heart Begonia, Ye Lingling immediately activated her first Spirit Skill. Her first Spirit Ring flashed with a pale yellow light, and white, petal shaped energy drifted down from the stamens of the Nine Heart Begonia, then merged smoothly into Xue Beng's body.
As the petals sank into him, the swelling on Xue Beng's face rapidly receded, and even the bruises around his eyes faded away.
Ye Lingling's first Spirit Skill was already this effective. No wonder the Nine Heart Begonia was known as a miracle among support type Martial Souls.
Watching Xue Beng's face recover, Yu Tianlin could not hold back a laugh. "Sister Lingling, I didn't expect your Nine Heart Begonia to heal this well. It kind of makes me want to beat him up again."
"You…"
After his injuries disappeared and the pain vanished, Xue Beng pushed himself off the ground, clearly ready to say something. However, Yu Tianlin cut him off before he could speak.
"Take your people and get lost," Yu Tianlin said coldly. "Or I'll heal you, beat you up, then heal you again, and keep going until I kill you."
"Hmph."
Xue Beng snorted, but did not dare walk past Yu Tianlin. He could only circle around him, give a half hearted kick to the henchman lying at his feet, and leave in a disheveled state.
Once Xue Beng had left, Yu Tianlin turned back to Ye Lingling and smiled. "Alright, that wraps things up nicely."
Ye Lingling withdrew the Nine Heart Begonia, her brows knitting in concern. "Yu Tianlin, is this really alright?"
"It's fine, Sister Lingling," Yu Tianlin replied casually. "Xue Beng and his uncle are relying on Senior Poison Douluo right now. As long as we bring up Sister Yanzi, he won't dare make a big scene."
"As for hitting him," Yu Tianlin snorted softly, "who told him to bully you? Just think of it as a lesson he had coming."
Ye Lingling nodded slightly, then lowered her gaze to the two henchmen Yu Tianlin had knocked out.
She did not say anything, but Yu Tianlin understood her meaning at a glance. "Don't worry about those two," he said. "I held back. They'll wake up on their own after a while."
While they were talking, Yu Tianlin looked up and noticed a small pavilion beside the playground below the Tianwei building. He gently took Ye Lingling by the wrist and led her over. "Sister Lingling, I have something I want to ask you. Let's talk over there."
Ye Lingling did not resist. She quietly followed behind Yu Tianlin.
At the pavilion, Yu Tianlin first helped Ye Lingling find a seat, then sat down opposite her. "Sister Lingling, where did my older brother go? I couldn't find him anywhere in the academy."
"Not just him," he continued, "Sister Yanzi and the two Shi brothers are gone too."
"And it seems Brother Yufeng and Brother Osler aren't around either. Otherwise, there's no way they would have just stood by and watched while you were getting bullied by Xue Beng."
"That's a long story," Ye Lingling said softly, lowering her eyes.
"Half a month ago, the academy conducted selection trials for the team that will participate in next year's Spirit Master Competition. After searching the entire academy, among the students who met the age requirement, not a single one had reached the Spirit Ancestor level. The highest was only level thirty seven."
Yu Tianlin was a little speechless. The highest level was only thirty seven, and there was less than a year left before the competition. He did not believe those people were the sort of monsters who could advance three ranks in such a short time.
If Heaven Dou Royal Academy fielded a team without even a single Spirit Ancestor this time, that would really be something.
"The three education committee members were furious," Ye Lingling continued. "But there was no time to fix things before the main competition, so this Spirit Master Competition can only be left as it is."
"After learning their lesson, the three education committee members decided to prepare in advance. They are now planning for the Spirit Master Competition six years from now, and want to pick a team early and train them properly."
"The seven of us are the most outstanding students from the Tianwei and Tianzhi classes, so we were chosen. The academy decided to give us focused training. In addition to regular classes in the morning, we spend our afternoons in special training under a teacher named Qin Ming."
"Just two days ago, Dugu Yan broke through to level thirty and needed to obtain her third Spirit Ring. So Teacher Qin Ming took the six of them to Sunset Forest."
"Wait, you said Sister Yanzi broke through to level thirty?" Yu Tianlin interrupted with surprise. "Why wasn't it Senior Poison Douluo who took her to get her Spirit Ring?"
Ye Lingling explained, "Senior Poison Douluo's whereabouts are unpredictable, and Dugu Yan could not reach him for the time being, so she had to go with Teacher Qin Ming. But Senior Poison Douluo already chose a target for her third Spirit Ring beforehand. With Teacher Qin Ming accompanying them, it shouldn't be hard to obtain it."
"I see."
Yu Tianlin felt a little disappointed. He had originally hoped to use this chance to get to know Dugu Bo.
"By the way, if all six of them went together," Yu Tianlin suddenly asked, "why didn't you go with them, Sister Lingling?"
At his question, a trace of sorrow flashed in Ye Lingling's eyes behind her black veil. "Their trip to Sunset Forest is not just to help Dugu Yan get a Spirit Ring," she said quietly. "It is also a form of training. I am only a support type Spirit Master with no combat power. If something unexpected happens in the forest, I would just be a burden."
"Eh? Sister Lingling, how can you think that?"
Yu Tianlin was genuinely surprised by her words and hurried to comfort her. "That's not true at all. Sister Lingling is very strong in her own way. The Spirit Beast Forest is indeed dangerous, but everyone would protect you. I don't think any of them would consider you a burden."
"On the contrary, if someone gets injured in the forest, the situation could turn very bad. With you there, you could heal them quickly and help them recover. That would be a huge help."
Of course, in his heart, Yu Tianlin actually felt that what Ye Lingling had said was not wrong.
After all, on his first trip to hunt Spirit Beasts, he had run into a ten thousand year Lightning Winged Dragon. Who knew what kind of unexpected things might appear in the Spirit Beast Forest? Even if support type Spirit Masters needed real combat experience, they could gain it at the Spirit Arena together with their teammates.
As for the Spirit Beast Forest, it was better for them to go only when they needed their own Spirit Rings.
But those were his private thoughts. Out loud, he still needed to comfort Ye Lingling.
"Alright, I don't need a child to comfort me."
Hearing Yu Tianlin's words, Ye Lingling's loneliness faded quite a bit. "Actually, it is because my Spirit Power level is too low, so I chose to stay at the academy and cultivate."
"I'm not a child," Yu Tianlin muttered in protest. "You keep calling me a kid, but you're only two years older than me. If we're talking about mental age, you should be calling me uncle."
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