Chapter 97: Dian Wei

On the other side, Nan Feihuang, Lan Xue, and the others finally returned to the Gulei Kingdom.

This trip to the Star Dou Great Forest truly left them with lingering fears.

Fortunately, it ended without danger despite the scares.

After Nan Feihuang took his leave of his father the King and mother the Queen, he returned to his own Eastern Palace.

The people there must have been very worried about him, so he had to return as soon as possible to report that he was safe.

Seeing Nan Feihuang, Lv Lingqi walked quickly toward him and pounced into his arms.

Having heard about Nan Feihuang's situation from the returning Nan Feiling, she had been living in fear every day; now that she saw her beloved return, she completely lost the heroic and decisive bearing she usually held as a female general, instead becoming like an ordinary young girl, wanting only to hide in her beloved's arms to seek a sense of security.

"My... my lord, I!" Dian Wei looked at Nan Feihuang, stammering, wanting to speak but holding back.

Nan Feihuang was holding Lv Lingqi, gently stroking her short silver-white hair to comfort her, and seeing Dian Wei like this, he couldn't help but ask, "E Lai, what is wrong with you? If you have something to say, just speak plainly; stuttering is not like you."

He also noticed that Dian Wei's two hands were bright red, with the skin rubbed raw in many places.

"E Lai, how did your hands get injured?"

"It is all because of you, my lord," Xun Yu explained on his behalf. "Dian Wei believes that because he was absorbing a Spirit Ring, it caused you to be unable to leave in time due to your concern for him, resulting in you being captured by a Spirit Beast. For the past few days, this fellow has been frantically beating himself, or using his fists to strike steel to self-harm, using it to vent the unwillingness in his heart."

"I am not a good guard... causing my lord to encounter a crisis; I deserve death a thousand times over. Please, my lord, punish me." Dian Wei knelt down directly to plead guilty.

Nan Feihuang immediately helped him up. "E Lai, why must you be like this? Regarding the events of that day, I cannot blame you no matter who I blame. We must admit our mistakes when we have them, but if it is not our own fault, there is no need to force it upon ourselves. Get up!"

"Understood!" Dian Wei obeyed and stood up. "My lord, Dian Wei will surely train hard from now on; in the future, I will never let my lord fall into such a crisis again."

His greatest trait was his honesty; even though Nan Feihuang said the crisis that day was not his fault, he still felt he had the responsibility of failing to protect him.

Therefore, for these past few days, he had been training as if he were mad.

Seeing this, Nan Feihuang did not pursue the matter further. Dian Wei training harder to protect him was not actually a bad thing, as long as it was moderate and he didn't harm his body from overtraining.

"E Lai, after absorbing the Spirit Ring, what level are you at, and what is your Third Soul Skill?" Nan Feihuang asked.

"Reporting to my lord, this subordinate has reached level thirty-seven," Dian Wei said.

When he took the Strange Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum, he was level thirty; the Immortal Herb naturally could not have only raised him by one level, and obtaining the Spirit Ring finally brought out all the accumulated soul power in one go.

To have already reached such a high level—at Dian Wei's cultivation speed, he would likely be able to advance to a Soul Ancestor in about another year.

"As for my soul skill, because I absorbed a Diamond Scale Beast, it is a defensive soul skill named Diamond Body. Within five seconds, I am completely immune to all attacks. Thereafter, for every ten levels I increase, the invincibility time increases by one second. Furthermore, during this time, my attack power is increased by onefold."

"Very good!" Nan Feihuang was quite satisfied with this soul skill; it was a weakened version of his own Berserk Golden Body.

The effect was roughly the same as Xiao Wu's Invincible Golden Body, both being immune to attacks, only Xiao Wu's was three seconds, while his was five.

The slight difference was the other ability: Xiao Wu's Invincible Golden Body increased strength by onefold, while Dian Wei's increased attack power by onefold.

These two were completely different things, just like the difference between Ning Rongrong's 'One Day Strength' and 'Five Day Attack', or the Power Clan and the Po Clan.

This was also likely related to their respective martial souls; Xiao Wu's martial soul was a rabbit, and her attacks relied entirely on leg techniques, so she needed strength as a foundation.

As for Dian Wei's twin halberds, naturally, the higher the attack power, the greater the might.

Both of their soul skills were extremely well-suited to themselves.

But there was one point where Dian Wei was far superior to Xiao Wu: Xiao Wu's Invincible Golden Body was a Fourth Soul Skill equivalent to a five-thousand-year Spirit Ring, while Dian Wei's was only a Third Soul Skill from a two-thousand-plus-year Spirit Ring.

With such a large difference in Spirit Ring age, yet Dian Wei's soul skill power was slightly better, it could only mean that the quality of Dian Wei's own martial soul was far more powerful than Xiao Wu's Soft Bone Rabbit.

"E Lai, train hard. I hope that when I return next time, you will have become a Soul Ancestor," Nan Feihuang said with a smile, patting Dian Wei on the shoulder.

"My lord, are you leaving?" Dian Wei asked.

Nan Feihuang nodded. "Yes, the New Year period is coming to an end, and I must return to the Heaven Dou Royal Academy. Don't forget that my time as an Exchange Student isn't over yet, and Dugu Bo's poison hasn't been completely neutralized either; I cannot give up halfway."

Hearing this, Dian Wei said nothing, but Lv Lingqi anxiously tugged at Nan Feihuang's clothes, refusing to let go. She had been living in fear for so many days, and only after much difficulty had she seen her beloved return, only for him to leave so soon—how could she accept this?

"Lingqi, don't worry about me. The reason I want to leave now is so that one day I can be with you, with my sister, with my father and mother, and with E Lai and Wenruo, so that we will never be separated again," Nan Feihuang comforted Lv Lingqi in a soft voice.

Unlike his attitude toward Qian Renxue—toward whom, while he couldn't say he had absolutely no feelings, he mostly maintained a mindset of being insincere and duplicitous—

Toward Lv Lingqi, every word and sentence came from his heart.

"Mm!" Hiding in Nan Feihuang's arms, Lv Lingqi nodded gently.

Although she had the demeanor of a young girl at this moment, she was, after all, a general of her generation and would not always be caught up in a young girl's thoughts.

After today, she would likely enter even more terrifying bitter training just like Dian Wei; short separations were for the sake of never being separated again in the future—she could understand this logic.

"My lord, then while there is still some time today, tell me everything that happened in the Star Dou Great Forest in detail. Although Princess Feiling told me about it, her account was not entirely complete, and she knew nothing of what happened after you were captured. I feel that there is a major suspicious point in this incident, and I need to verify a guess in my heart, so I need more intelligence," Xun Yu said.

"Very well, Wenruo, it is like this..." Nan Feihuang had nothing to hide from Xun Yu. In fact, he knew what suspicious point Xun Yu was referring to, because he had realized it too.

Nan Feihuang told him everything, even informing him of the existence of Red Hare. Upon learning that Nan Feihuang had gained such a powerful backer and a reserve Spirit Ring, Xun Yu was naturally very happy for his lord, and Lv Lingqi was even more excited—Red Hare had actually come too! She had also ridden on Red Hare's back in the past.

However, compared to being happy for his lord, Xun Yu was more concerned about another matter at this moment. He turned his head, looked at the map of the Douluo Continent in Nan Feihuang's room, and with a flash of inspiration, he closed his eyes and immediately began to brainstorm.

(End of chapter)