Reaching the pinnacle from Doupo

Chapter 634 Return to Dragon Island, Reunion with the Medicine Spirit

Dragon Island is shrouded in mist, resembling a fairyland.

Qinglin had been waiting for a long time. She stood gracefully on a towering rock, her gaze occasionally drifting to the distant void, her eyes filled with anticipation.

When Lin Yuan and Zi Yan came into view, her eyes lit up and she went to greet them.

"Young Master, Zi Yan, you're back!"

Qing Lin's eyes narrowed slightly as she quickly scanned Lin Yuan, and only after confirming that he was safe and sound did her heart finally settle down.

The thought of a two-star Dou Sheng challenging a four-star Dou Sheng still made her somewhat worried.

"Hehe, we're back!" Lin Yuan smiled gently, then looked around at the increasingly prosperous Ancient Dragon Island, a hint of anticipation in his eyes. "Qing'er, how's the situation with Yao Ling? Where is she right now?"

"Don't worry, young master, the medicinal spirit has been brought back safely." Upon hearing this, Qinglin's expression turned slightly serious, and he pondered for a moment.

"Currently, she is in a coma."

“I have sealed her fighting spirit, trapped her soul in an illusion space, and placed her body in a secret room. There will be no problem.”

“I have carefully examined her body and soul and confirmed that there is no trace of another person’s soul.”

"Because I was worried that there might be some kind of medium that could be sensed and located in the medicine spirit's storage ring, I did not bring the storage ring back."

"I buried that storage ring near a branch of the Soul Hall..."

At this point, Qinglin paused briefly, then playfully tilted her head and winked at Lin Yuan, asking mischievously, "Young Master, am I doing the right thing?"

The girl's clear voice carried a hint of smugness.

Even Lin Yuan subconsciously overlooked the matter of how to handle the storage ring; it was she who came up with this idea by drawing inferences from one instance to another.

"Of course, Qing'er, you did well." Lin Yuan nodded, praising her without reservation, then changed the subject, saying, "Take me to see the Medicine Spirit, hehe, a Blood Soul Spirit Body that can help people advance to the Emperor Realm, I've been looking forward to it for a long time..."

"Yes, young master!" A hint of expectation flashed in Qinglin's eyes as she turned around gracefully, leading Lin Yuan, with Ziyan following behind him.

The group traveled along and soon arrived at a secret room beneath the main hall of Dragon Island.

Inside the secret chamber, the light was dim, and several moonstones were embedded in the surrounding walls, emitting a soft and hazy light that cast shadows throughout the chamber.

Yao Ling lay quietly on a stone bed, unconscious, her face slightly pale, but her brows revealed an indomitable spirit.

Even while unconscious, she still had her brows tightly furrowed.

Lin Yuan slowly walked to Yao Ling's side, his gaze sweeping over the girl. He then formed several hand seals and cast several restrictions into her body.

Then, he turned his head to look at Qinglin and raised an eyebrow in acknowledgment.

Qinglin nodded slightly, walked slowly to Yaoling's side, formed a few profound hand seals, and then extended a finger to gently touch the latter's brow.

"Antidote! Spirit Medicine, wake up."

With her pointing, Yao Ling's body trembled slightly, but soon she slowly opened her eyes.

After opening her eyes, Yao Ling looked around in confusion. When she saw Lin Yuan, a hint of joy flashed in her eyes, but the next moment, it immediately turned into vigilance.

She struggled to sit up and quickly checked her condition with her hands.

After confirming that her clothes were intact, Yao Ling finally breathed a sigh of relief, and her tense body relaxed a little.

Then, she raised her head, her gaze sweeping over the three people in front of her, finally landing on Lin Yuan, the only one she recognized, and asked, "Lin Yuan, where is this place? Why are you here? And who are these two?"

Although it was Qinglin who captured the medicinal spirit, the former followed instructions and did not show his face during the capture process, mainly providing some assistance.

"These two are your Seven Star Colleagues."

Lin Yuan smiled slightly, a gentle and kind smile that dispelled some of the gloom in the girl's heart.

Immediately, he pointed to the two women beside him and introduced them: "This one is Zi Yan, the Lord of Tian Shu Star; and this one is Qing Lin, the Lord of Yao Guang Star."

Upon hearing this, Yao Ling felt somewhat relieved and looked at Qing Lin with a more affectionate gaze.

The Lord of Yaoguang Star was also considered her friend.

However, when Yao Ling recalled what had happened before, her previously somewhat relieved expression instantly turned serious again.

The floodgates of her memory slowly opened, and those scenes surged into her mind like a tide.

She herself was captured by the Soul Clan Battle Saint when she went to meet up with the Lord of Yaoguang Star, but now... Lin Yuan appeared here, which surprised her, but upon closer inspection, this was not a normal thing at all.

His gaze swept back and forth across the faces of Lin Yuan and the other two, not missing a single change in expression, trying to find out the truth.

"Did you save me? Or did you... capture me?"

Yao Ling let out a soft breath, trying to make her voice sound calm, but the slight tremor at the end of her voice still betrayed her inner tension.

Looking at Yao Ling's nervous appearance, Lin Yuan's lips curled up slightly, revealing a faint, meaningful smile.

"You guessed it, didn't you?"

Before the words had even finished, the Celestial Venerable slowly walked in from outside the door, standing respectfully behind Lin Yuan, exuding a powerful and chilling aura.

Upon seeing Yuan Tianzun's figure, Yao Ling's pupils suddenly contracted, and her face instantly turned deathly pale.

"You...you're that Soul Clan Battle Saint from before!"

She gasped in surprise and instinctively tried to muster her power, only to find that her fighting spirit and soul power had been sealed, leaving her only able to weakly shrink back.

Yao Ling pointed at Lin Yuan and exclaimed in horror, "Lin Yuan, you actually colluded with the Soul Clan?!"

His voice trembled with disbelief—it was common knowledge that the Dan Tower and the Soul Palace, commanded by the Soul Clan, were mortal enemies and had fought many great battles.

At this moment, however, the Soul Clan Battle Saint stood respectfully behind the Pill Tower Master.

This bizarre scene would leave anyone bewildered, and Yao Ling was no exception... Her mind instantly went into chaos, completely unable to comprehend what was happening before her eyes.

"Collusion?" Lin Yuan shook his head and chuckled, "Hehe, you misunderstood. I was originally part of the Soul Hall. In fact, I joined the Soul Hall and became a disciple of Soul Void before I joined the Pill Tower."

As he spoke, a hint of nostalgia flashed in his eyes. Then, with a thought, he dispelled the black mist that shrouded Yuan Tianzun, revealing a face that was identical to his own.

"Now you should understand."

"A soul clone?" Yao Ling stared intently at Yuan Tianzun, as if she had figured something out, and murmured. "Yuan Tianzun of the Soul Palace greets you, young lady!" Yuan Tianzun bowed and showed the same gentle smile as Lin Yuan on her face. Then she transformed into a ray of soul light and entered Lin Yuan's brow.

This completely shattered Yao Ling's wishful thinking, and a complex and absurd feeling washed over her.

The person he admires is actually a member of the Soul Palace?

Realizing this, Yao Ling was slightly taken aback. After regaining her senses, she stared intently at Lin Yuan, her eyes filled with shock, disappointment, and disbelief. Her lips trembled slightly, as if a thousand words were stuck in her throat, but she didn't know where to begin.

Finally, her gaze turned indifferent, and she said coldly, "Tell me, what do you plan to do with me? Hand me over to Hun Xuzi in exchange for a reward?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the atmosphere in the secret room became extremely heavy and solemn.

"Jiejiejie——"

Beside her, Zi Yan smiled mysteriously and said, "Yuan Tianzun, this beauty's soul is quite delicious. It would be a waste to give it to Hun Xuzi. Let me eat her!"

As she spoke, she stared intently at Yao Ling, and at the same time, with a thought, released a wisp of her killing intent.

Sensing this aura, Yao Ling's body trembled involuntarily, and she looked at Zi Yan in horror—this aura was so strong that it was suffocating, and she was completely unable to resist it.

The Lord of Tian Shu Star is such a terrifyingly powerful being?

"Zi Yan, stop fooling around!" Lin Yuan rubbed his temples, lightly flicked Zi Yan's forehead, and said helplessly, "Look how scared you've made our Tianji Star Lord..."

"It hurts..."

Zi Yan rubbed her temples and cried out in exaggerated pain, baring her teeth at Lin Yuan, which made Qing Lin, who was standing to the side, cover her mouth and chuckle.

Seeing the three of them so intimately together, Yao Ling was somewhat taken aback.

"Don't worry, Miss Yaoling!" Lin Yuan turned his head and waved to Yaoling. "I have no intention of handing you over to Hun Xuzi. What I said in the Tianyun Mountains was just a smokescreen to divert attention."

"Although I am a member of the Soul Hall, it does not mean that I will wholeheartedly serve the Soul Hall."

"After all, I am not only the Heavenly Venerable of the Soul Palace, but also the Tower Master of the Pill Tower, the Seven Star Master and Auxiliary Star, the Elder of Canaan Academy, the Ancient Flame Saint of the Four Directions Pavilion, and the Guest Elder of the Stone Clan."

"Besides these, I have quite a few other identities, but I'm not in a hurry to tell you now. You should be able to find out later."

"In general, I can be either side if necessary."

At this point, Lin Yuan looked at Yao Ling and said meaningfully, "Perhaps, in the future I could also be a member of the Medicine Clan, the Thunder Clan, the Ancient Clan, or the Flame Clan..."

As Yao Ling listened to Lin Yuan rattle off a series of astonishing identities as if reciting a menu, her tense body relaxed slightly.

The person in front of me seems to be completely different from what I imagined!

"Why did you capture me...?" After a long silence, Yao Ling finally spoke, breaking the stillness of the secret room.

"It's nothing, I just crave your soul," Lin Yuan said frankly, without any intention of hiding anything.

"Your blood soul spirit body is of great use to me!"

"Your constitution is so rare, it's a once-in-a-millennium occurrence. It would be such a waste to leave you in the Medicine Clan, to be buried with those skeletons who won't live much longer..."

“I’ve always valued talent and don’t want to see that happen, so I’m saving you in advance.”

"Bones in a tomb?" Yao Ling frowned and sneered, "Heh, even if you are the master of the Pill Tower, you have no right to be so arrogant and look down on our Yao Clan."

"The strength and foundation of my Medicine Clan are beyond your imagination."

"Heh heh, the strength and foundation of the Medicine Clan?" Lin Yuan chuckled, his tone playful. "Are you talking about two six-star Dou Sheng elders and the seven-star Dou Sheng clan leader, Medicine Pill? Or are you referring to the Medicine Emperor's remnant soul, which can unleash near-nine-star Dou Sheng power through the Medicine Transformation Heavenly Array?"

Upon hearing this, Yao Ling was immediately startled and looked at Lin Yuan in disbelief, asking in a deep voice, "How do you know about my clan's top secrets?"

It's not surprising that people know about the Heavenly Medicine Transformation Array, but within the Medicine Clan, only the most core members know about the remnant soul of the Medicine Emperor.

Even she only learned these things after breaking through to the Half-Saint realm!
"What's so strange about knowing all this?" Lin Yuan shrugged, his voice calm and casual.

"Have you forgotten? My cheap master is Hun Xuzi..."

"Or do you naively believe that your Medicine Clan's little secrets can be kept from the Soul Clan? The Soul Clan has been preparing for a thousand years to seize the Tuoshe Ancient Emperor Jade. Not to mention your Medicine Clan, they even know the secrets of the Ancient, Flame, and Thunder Clans."

"You mean, it's the Soul Clan that's planning to attack our Medicine Clan?" Yao Ling was incredibly intelligent and naturally understood Lin Yuan's implied meaning.

“Talking to smart people is indeed more reassuring.” Lin Yuan nodded slightly and chuckled, “According to my cheap master’s plan, we’ll make our move in the next edition of the Pharmacopoeia.”

"It has only been nine years since the timeline was published in the Pharmacopoeia."

"The power of the Soul Clan is far greater than you think. The power that the Soul Clan has shown to the outside world is less than half of its true strength."

"For example, you may not know that the Soul Clan's Void Devouring Flame has already advanced to the Nine-Star Dou Sheng level."

"It alone is enough to destroy your Medicine Clan... By the way, according to the Soul Clan's current plan, the Void Devouring Flame will deal with the Medicine Emperor's remnant soul."

"Void Devouring Flame?" Upon hearing this news, Yao Ling was also taken aback. "The Void Devouring Flame, ranked second on the Strange Flame Ranking, is in the Soul Clan? And it's even a Nine-Star Dou Sheng?"

"Hehe, you really didn't know!" Lin Yuan crossed his arms, a hint of mockery in his eyes.

"That's why I said you should thank me for kidnapping you... Otherwise, with your meager strength, if you had stayed in the Medicine Clan, you would have been nothing more than a skeleton in the Medicine World in nine years, or a test subject for my cheap master."

"He still has a strong interest in researching your Blood Spirit Body, which can help people achieve the Emperor Realm."

"But I can guarantee that if you fall into his hands, it will be the most tragic outcome for you... He is different from me; he is not the kind of person who pities women!"

"Becoming his prey would be a pretty good outcome."

The calm, unhurried narration carried an undeniable certainty, as if these events were already predetermined fate.

Yao Ling listened to Lin Yuan's words with a calm expression, but her heart was in turmoil.

At this moment, she felt a mixture of anger, fear, and bewilderment—as the pride of the Medicine Clan, she had never imagined that the Medicine Clan, which she had always been so proud of, had already become the prey of the Soul Clan.

If the Soul Clan truly possesses the strength described by the person before them, they seem to genuinely have the power to annihilate the Medicine Clan.

"Why are you telling me all this?" Yao Ling bit her lower lip, her gaze fixed on Lin Yuan, trying to find the answer in his expression.

"Why? Didn't I say it's because I'm attracted to your... physique!"

Lin Yuan stroked his chin, met the gaze of the Medicine Clan's Empress, and half-jokingly, half-frankly told her his purpose.

(End of this chapter)