As dusk approached, the banquet, which had lasted longer than expected, finally came to an end.
During this time, Quan Yi and Huo Wu had also fostered closer relationships with the others.
Although they were initially a bit nervous, they realized that the two didn't possess the arrogance or other negative traits often associated with genius soul masters. On the contrary, they were very approachable and friendly.
This made it easier for them to open their hearts and interact with the two.
More importantly, Quan Yi's research and insights into martial souls proved to be immensely beneficial, especially his personalized advice, which was highly valuable.
It was because of this that the banquet eventually turned into a cultivation seminar where they specifically sought guidance from Quan Yi.
After the seminar concluded, everyone reluctantly left the hotel under Dugu Yan's watchful gaze.
However, Ye Lingling quietly remained until the very end.
Inside the room where Quan Yi and Huo Wu were staying, they prepared four teacups, awaiting their guest's arrival.
Soon after, the sound of two girls conversing echoed outside the silent room.
"Yanzi, I want to go in alone. Can you please stand guard outside for me?"
Ye Lingling held Dugu Yan's hands, looked at her earnestly, and expressed her intention.
Seeing Ye Lingling's expression, Dugu Yan understood her resolve.
She could only agree, "Okay, I'll wait for you outside."
A grateful smile appeared on Ye Lingling's face.
"Thank you, Yanzi."
This thank you conveyed a lot. After saying this, Ye Lingling resolutely knocked on the door and, with Quan Yi's permission, pushed it open and entered the room alone.
Upon entering, she immediately saw Quan Yi and Huo Wu sitting quietly at one end of the table, with two chairs and two cups of tea placed at the other end.
She glanced at the situation inside the room and went straight to the chair directly in front of Quan Yi, gently sitting down.
"You're more courageous than I imagined."
Quan Yi met Ye Lingling's gaze calmly, offering a faint praise for her courage to enter the room alone and choose to face him directly.
Ye Lingling picked up the steaming teacup, took a small sip, and replied in her beautiful yet extremely hollow voice, "Thank you for your praise.
However, let's get straight to the point.
I heard from Yanzi that you two represent the Quan and Huo families and have come to recruit our Ye family. Is this true?"
An alliance between two major soul master families, especially one between soul master families each possessing a Titled Douluo, is of great significance.
This matter has not yet spread to the soul master world, but now, having learned this news in advance, Ye Lingling was completely certain that they were serious.
"Since that's the case, then I won't beat around the bush either."
She put down the teacup and looked directly at Quan Yi, "You should have learned about the specific situation of our Ye family through Yanzi.
If you want our Ye family to join, it's simple: remove the curse of the Nine Heart Sea棠. If you can't do that, then let's not waste each other's time."
The tea in the cup on the table rippled, as did her calm eyes.
At this moment, many emotions surged in her mind.
Anticipation, fear, hope, disappointment...
A series of complex and conflicting emotions spread in her mind, but she still directly stated her thoughts.
Under her gaze, Quan Yi gently shook his head and, under Ye Lingling's gradually cooling gaze, said, "At this stage, I cannot guarantee whether I can remove the curse of the Nine Heart Sea棠."
This sentence completely plunged Ye Lingling's expectant mood to the lowest point.
If there was anger, there certainly was some, but more than that, she felt dissatisfied and powerless with fate.
'Am I just supposed to accept this predetermined reality and continue to pass on this damn Nine Heart Sea棠 with the lives of my blood relatives?'
Just when hope was completely turning into despair, Quan Yi uttered his second half.
"However, I now have a certain degree of confidence in helping you escape the destined ending brought about by the Nine Heart Sea棠."
"Bang!"
The aloof and gentle Ye Lingling slammed her hands heavily on the table, looking at Quan Yi with extreme excitement, and questioned in a trembling voice, "Please don't tease me anymore.
Do you think I would believe you?"
The originally hollow tone was filled with intense anger, but her eyes were the complete opposite of her tone.
Her eyes were full of eagerness, she urgently wanted to confirm whether what Quan Yi said was true.
In response, Quan Yi decided to immediately satisfy the other party's wish.
He said softly, "If you don't believe me, then I'll show you right now.
Extend your right hand."
Ye Lingling extended her red palm towards Quan Yi, staring at him aggressively, as if to say, 'Let's see what you can do'.
Quan Yi raised his right hand, and dark gold and emerald green light instantly covered his palm and forearm.
In the next moment, a set of dark gold dragon纹 hand armor covered with vibrant leaf vein patterns appeared in Quan Yi's hand.
The moment the ultimate wood aura in Quan Yi's martial soul naturally radiated, Ye Lingling felt a strong palpitation. At the same time, the martial soul imprint on the back of her hand naturally appeared.
In her palm, a pink Sea棠 flower bloomed.
"What is this? Aren't you a fire-attribute soul master?"
Looking at the Nine Heart Sea棠 that was directly forced out by the ultimate wood aura, Ye Lingling's entire world view was shaking.
She didn't understand ultimate attributes, but she could still distinguish that this was a wood attribute, and moreover, it was an extremely high-quality attribute that could exert strong martial soul suppression on her Nine Heart Sea棠.
Quan Yi didn't explain much, he retracted the claw blades on his fingertips and slowly extended his hand towards the Sea棠 in Ye Lingling's hand.
His movements were extremely gentle, afraid that his actions would hurt the flower.
In Ye Lingling's extremely astonished gaze, he gently pinched the flower branch and then, very naturally, brought the Sea棠 from the other party's hand to his eyes.
In an instant, the mark on the back of Ye Lingling's hand suddenly disappeared, and Ye Lingling herself also felt a disconnection from her martial soul. Even her body was rapidly weakening.
However, this terrible negative effect did not make her worry. On the contrary, her entire expression fell into a strong surprise.
At this moment, she felt the heavy shackles that had bound her completely break apart. This feeling of freedom made her eyes turn red and her heart extremely excited.
At this time, Quan Yi gently smelled the Sea棠 and said softly, "Let me take away your curse."
