Chapter 599: It's Still a Child!

Duan Yu's gaze was deep; a single look seemed to enter the Abyss.

Nan Yan's heart fluttered instantly, and she, feeling insecure, averted her gaze.

"Senior Sister Duan Yu, what's wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You're impressive, daring to deceive even me."

Her tone was indifferent, but the curve of her lips was grim and terrifying, making the smile on Nan Yan's face disappear, her heart quivering.

"Senior Sister Duan Yu, I don't know what you're saying?" Could Duan Yu have discovered something?

Nan Yan felt very nervous, so she lowered her head, shielding the flickering light in her eyes.

"Lift your face up."

Duan Yu's voice was as indifferent as snow, bearing an authority that brooked no objection.

Nan Yan was panicked, yet she could not resist and slowly raised her face.

Smack~

A slap, lightning-fast, struck Nan Yan's face.

The sound was quite loud, and since Ye Qingran hadn't begun the beast taming yet, many people around turned to look this way.

"Nan Yan, I really want to kill you!"

Duan Yu hated Nan Yan to death in her heart, but she hated herself even more.

She failed to recognize that Ye Qingran was that master, and mistakenly took Nan Yan as her savior!

She really has no eyes!

"Senior Sister Duan Yu, what are you doing?"

Nan Yan covered her face, hardly daring to believe that Duan Yu would slap her in such a setting.

"Just watch carefully!"

Duan Yu dropped that sentence and then ignored Nan Yan.

The onlookers, upon seeing this scene, couldn't help but gape, feeling very surprised.

"Didn't they say Nan Yan and Duan Yu have a good relationship? Why does it look otherwise?"

"That slap from Duan Yu just now left no mercy; look, Nan Yan's face is swollen!"

The surrounding disciples pointed at Nan Yan, gossiping wildly, and Nan Yan felt like a joke at that moment.

She was both angry and upset, yet dared not erupt, so she knocked out her teeth, mixed with blood, and swallowed them.

Ye Qingran held the qin with one hand, the other moving the strings.

When the first note rose with the wind and drifted into everyone's ears, no one thought there was anything special.

However, as the melody continued, the crowd realized that Ye Qingran was also playing the Soul Capturing Song.

Duan Yu discerned that Ye Qingran was playing the fourth movement of the Soul Capturing Song.

Just as back then, she had performed it outside the capital of Xuan Yuan Wang Chao.

Memory and reality intertwined, making her unable to distinguish present from past for a moment.

Because she was very familiar with this movement, after hearing a short segment of Ye Qingran's Soul Capturing Song, her conjecture grew even more certain.

A huge gap still existed between her and the master, evident merely from the quality of the Soul Capturing Song.

A hint of melancholy welled up in Duan Yu's eyes.

She has already worked so hard, yet still finds it hard to even catch up?

However, she soon accepted the fact. If she could be caught so easily, then she wouldn't deserve to be her role model, right?

Duan Yu restrained her inner excitement, trying not to let her body tremble.

She kept her eyes unblinking, fully focused on listening to and watching Ye Qingran, as if wanting to engrave this scene in her mind.

Ye Qingran played the qin with one hand, the smooth notes soaring on the wind.

They passed through the Light Pillar and entered the Azure Dragon's ears.

The Azure Dragon grew irritable, two forces within its body intertwining, seeking to contest each other.

The Azure Dragon resisted strongly, showing a look of pain.

For a moment, Dead Qi, the Azure Dragon's own will, and Ye Qingran formed a three-way stalemate.

The people below also sensed an unspoken sense of balance, yet felt it was extremely fragile, as if it would collapse in the next instant.

Sure enough, Ye Qingran's musical style suddenly shifted.

"Soul Capturing Song, entering climax!"

Duan Yu's pupils also contracted in that instant.

"This is... the fifth movement!"

She had the fortune of hearing it once in her life, back then outside the capital of Xuan Yuan Wang Chao.

Since then, the world has had no fifth movement!

Now, the melody remains, and everything stays the same!

A rush of heat rose to Duan Yu's eye corner; her eyes were moist, and her nose tinged with sourness.

After winding around, she finally found her!

Although everything was vastly different from her imagination, she ultimately got what she wished.

As for the rest, she will repay it bit by bit.

The fifth movement of the Soul Capturing Song is not only obscure and hard to understand, but also requires extremely strong mental power to master.

Even flawlessly performing the fourth movement was arduous for Duan Yu, let alone the fifth.

Yet, the fifth movement, deemed by Beast Tamers as as hard as scaling heaven, is a piece of cake for Ye Qingran!

"Instructor Ye, keep it up!"

She couldn't help but shout, and immediately she was met with looks of astonishment.

Duan Yu, are you cheering for Ye Qingran?

What's going on?

Everyone was stunned.

Even Nan Yan beside her felt her face no longer hurt.

She finally realized that Duan Yu must have known the truth.

Ye Qingran's mental power spread like mercury poured onto the ground, penetrating everywhere; the Azure Dragon greatly resisted it, but the Dead Qi also became frenzied then, seeking to drive away her mental power and thus control the Azure Dragon.

Ye Qingran first tried to resist the Dead Qi, but even when the fifth chapter was played to its peak, she still couldn't control the Dead Qi.

Although Ye Qingran could still increase the difficulty, she felt it was unnecessary.

An excellent beast tamer should know how to adapt.

"Perhaps, joining forces with the Azure Dragon would be a good option."

Ye Qingran thought to herself, and with that in mind, she began to try her own approach.

Know that beast taming never has a fixed formula, just like the Soul Capturing Song—people think the Soul Capturing Song is unchanging, but it isn't; a true Beast Taming Grandmaster can, while playing the Soul Capturing Song, adjust on the spot according to the situation, thereby achieving the best effect.

Ye Qingran's beast-taming process looked no different from Duan Yu's, yet it somehow felt more reliable...

"Either we join forces and I help you shake off the Dead Qi, or the Dead Qi controls you while I control the Dead Qi—pick one."

Of course, this was sent to the Azure Dragon via Ye Qingran's mental power.

Azure Dragon: "......"

This woman, where does she get her confidence from?

Both options reveal her arrogance!

The Azure Dragon quickly responded, choosing none of the options.

"Believe me, if you choose the former, you'll suffer a bit less..."

After observing closely, Ye Qingran discovered that the Azure Dragon's disproportionate size and aura were due to the Dead Qi stimulating its potential, temporarily making it appear mature.

Actually, it is essentially a young Azure Dragon.

It's about the size of Xiao Hu Xiao Chen.

Well, it's just a child; a little scare ought to make it behave, right?

Sure enough, upon hearing Ye Qingran's words, the Azure Dragon hesitated.

Ye Qingran sensed its hesitation and felt there was a chance.

Indeed, this dragon is just a child...

"Don't you dare trick me!"

No one heard the Azure Dragon speak; it was all conveyed via mental power.

"What would I gain by tricking you? Do you think I want to get involved? If it weren't for your being controlled by the Dead Qi, which would implicate the whole oasis, who would bother with you?"

Ye Qingran retorted angrily.

After hearing that, the Azure Dragon thought it made perfect sense.

However, it didn't realize that someone actually really wanted to tame it!

From now on, the young Azure Dragon will truly understand what is meant by "a woman's mouth, a deceitful ghost!"

"Well then, I choose to fight the Dead Qi together with you!"

Ye Qingran wanted to laugh, but she held it back.

Thus, what had been a three-way standoff changed after Ye Qingran and the Azure Dragon reached an agreement.

After all, it was the Azure Dragon's body; although the Dead Qi was all-pervasive and extremely domineering, it was ultimately fighting on foreign ground—once the Azure Dragon resisted with all its might, the Dead Qi would naturally be passive, and Ye Qingran seized the moment to strike it off guard, driving the Dead Qi out of the Azure Dragon's body!

"Roar~"

The Azure Dragon swung its massive body, letting out a heaven-shaking dragon roar, and a burst of strong light erupted from its body, washing away the Black Mist from its eyes and scales!

At that very moment, cracks appeared on the Light Pillar, growing more numerous and dense, when a gust of wind blew...

"Crack~"

In an instant it shattered into pieces, turning into specks of light that vanished without a trace.

As for those Dead Qi, they fled toward the mist sea beyond the oasis, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

The dust settled.