Douluo Continent: Reversing Yin and Yang, the Haotian Palace and the Angel Sect

Upon hearing Flander's roar, Liu Erlong paused. Her strength seemed to drain away instantly; she collapsed to the ground, covering her face and bursting into tears.

"I swear..." Liu Erlong bit her lip until it bled, blood dripping from her chin. She raised her head, her eyes filled with terrifying venom, and swore a poisonous oath before everyone.

"In this lifetime, I, Liu Erlong, will avenge Xiaogang! No matter who they are, I will make them pay a thousandfold!"

Yu Xiaogang had already woken up on the stretcher.

With his eyes closed, he listened to Liu Erlong's cries and oaths, his hands gripping the sheets beneath him tightly, feeling an unprecedented sense of shame and embarrassment.

He's a useless man now. He's completely lost his manhood.

Although Yu Xiaogang always used worldly views and ethics as an excuse to avoid his feelings for Liu Erlong, deep down he actually harbored a selfish fantasy about her. He enjoyed Liu Erlong's persistent pursuit and unwavering devotion to him.

But now, even that last shred of possibility has been completely extinguished. He's no longer even a real man.

Yu Xiaogang slightly opened his eyes and glanced at Flander, who was standing beside Liu Erlong with a pained expression. A dark and bitter thought suddenly popped into his mind.

If in the future, Erlong thinks he's a useless person, completely abandons him, and ends up with Flander instead...

The thought of Flander and Liu Erlong together filled Yu Xiaogang with an uncontrollable pang of sorrow and helplessness, even tinged with a hint of jealousy.

He absolutely could not accept this happening. He had to maintain his hope in Liu Erlong's heart.

Yu Xiaogang gritted his teeth and decided to tell a colossal lie.

He slowly opened his eyes, feigning extreme weakness, and called out, "Erlong... don't be impulsive."

Upon hearing Yu Xiaogang's voice, Liu Erlong quickly wiped away her tears, rushed to the stretcher, and carefully took his hand.

"Xiaogang, you're awake! Don't be afraid, I'll stay with you forever," Liu Erlong said, crying.

Yu Xiaogang looked at Liu Erlong, steeled himself, and lied in an extremely confident tone: "Erlong, Flander, you don't need to despair too much. Actually... my body still has a chance to recover."

Upon hearing this, Flander was stunned.

"What do you mean?" Flander's eyes widened, his face full of confusion. How could such an injury possibly heal?

Yu Xiaogang continued his fabrication without changing his expression: "When I was unconscious in the clinic, I vaguely sensed a highly skilled senior passing by. That senior examined my injuries and used telepathy to tell me that as long as I could find some specific rare and top-grade herbs, my body would still have a chance to regrow and fully recover."

Upon hearing this, Flander was completely stunned.

"Senior? What senior?" Flander wondered to himself.

"I've been watching over you almost every step of the way. Besides healing-type Soul Masters, who else is in the clinic? How come I, a Soul Saint, didn't sense anything?"

Flander was full of doubts and was about to ask for details.

However, Liu Erlong didn't care about any of that. She was in extreme grief, and she would cling to any hope that might cure Yu Xiaogang without hesitation.

"Really? Xiaogang, you're not lying to me?" A surprising light flashed in Liu Erlong's eyes, and his previously lifeless heart began to pound violently again.

"It's true." Yu Xiaogang nodded vigorously, pretending to have rekindled his hope.

Liu Erlong immediately stopped crying and started laughing. She excitedly hugged Yu Xiaogang's shoulders, carefully controlling her strength so as not to hurt him, but her tone was unwavering:

"Xiao Gang, don't worry! As long as there are herbs in this world that can cure you, I, Liu Erlong, will find them for you, even if it means going through fire and water, even if it means traversing the entire continent!"

Yu Xiaogang felt a secret sense of relief as he embraced Liu Erlong, burying his face in her shoulder. As for how to cover up the lie about the non-existent senior and herbs, he couldn't care less now. All he needed to do was keep Liu Erlong calm and preserve his own dignity.

Flander looked at the two embracing each other. Although he felt something was amiss, for the sake of Yu Xiaogang's face and Liu Erlong's feelings, he swallowed back all his questions and sighed silently.

……

On the other side of Tiandou City.

As night fell, Ye Lingling, a support-type Soul Master from the Heaven Dou Royal Team, dragged her weary body slowly into the ancient Ye family mansion.

Everything that happened at the martial arts arena today had a huge impact on her. The merciless violence, the horrific state of Yu Tianheng being beaten until he vomited blood and fell unconscious, and the opponent's completely unreasonable crushing of her, all instilled in her a deep sense of fear.

Ye Lingling walked dejectedly down the corridor of the courtyard with her head down.

"Lingling, you're back."

A gentle and kind voice rang out from ahead. Ye Lingling looked up and saw her grandfather, Ye Tianxin, standing in the yard, holding a pair of pruning shears and looking at her with concern.

Ye Tianxin immediately noticed that something was wrong with her granddaughter. Although Ye Lingling usually had a cold and aloof personality, she would never be like this, with evasive eyes and an aura of exhaustion and unease.

"What happened at the academy today? Did something unpleasant happen?" Ye Tianxin put down the scissors, stepped forward, and asked softly.

Looking at her grandfather's concerned face, Ye Lingling's mind flashed back to the bloody scene on the arena. She bit her lip, but ultimately shook her head.

"It's nothing, Grandpa. I'm just a little tired from training at the academy today, so I'd like to go back and rest first." Ye Lingling's voice was very soft, and she forced a smile.

Ye Tianxin watched his granddaughter's retreating figure without asking any further questions. He sighed, glanced up at the night sky, and his eyes revealed a hint of helplessness.

The Ye family is a special entity in the entire Heaven Dou Empire and even the entire continent.

Their family has inherited the Nine-Hearted Begonia martial soul for generations. This is a pure, even heaven-defying, healing-type martial soul. No matter how many soul rings a soul master possesses, the Nine-Hearted Begonia's soul skill is always the same: a wide-area, all-target healing.

As long as there is a breath left, the Nine-Heart Begonia can pull a person back from the brink of death.

However, this incredible ability also comes with a cruel curse.

In each generation, only two individuals can possess the Nine-Heart Begonia Martial Soul at any given time. Only when one of them dies will a new Nine-Heart Begonia Soul Master appear. This inevitably leads to the Ye family having a small population and a single lineage.

Ye Lingling grew up under the guidance of her grandfather, Ye Tianxin.

Ye Tianxin was a pure healer. From a young age, he instilled in Ye Lingling the idea that the Ye family possessed the Nine-Heart Begonia not for the purpose of competing or killing, but for healing and saving lives. A healer's duty is to save lives, regardless of the patient's identity.

Under the influence of this philosophy, although Ye Lingling was in the highly competitive Tian Dou Royal Academy, she always maintained a sense of awe and tenderness towards life.