Chapter 38: Ability?

While Chen Ming was left in awe of the Nine-Hearted Begonia's healing capabilities, Ye Lingling was equally astonished by Chen Ming himself.

She was able to probe the injuries within Dugu Yan’s body thanks to her family’s ancestral experience and the Nine-Hearted Begonia spirit’s natural affinity for sensing life force—a combination of generational accumulation and innate talent that others could not replicate. Yet, how was Chen Ming capable of doing the same?

"A spirit of the mental type? It doesn't seem like it. He looks to be about my age; his spirit power couldn't possibly be above level forty, could it?" Ye Lingling shook her head inwardly.

As she approached Dugu Yan, Ye Lingling quietly studied Chen Ming while casually asking her friend, "Who guided the spirit power in your body? Was it the teacher overseeing the training grounds?"

"It was... it was Chen Ming," Dugu Yan replied to Ye Lingling instinctively.

"?"

A question mark seemed to hover over Ye Lingling’s head at the answer. She knew Dugu Yan was on the verge of breaking through to level thirty. For a quasi-spirit grandmaster to suffer internal injuries due to chaotic spirit power, anyone capable of suppressing that power would need at least level thirty-five cultivation—and that was without even considering the level of control required.

Not every spirit master possessed excellent spirit power control; most spent their time slowly grinding away to improve their level, rather than painstakingly refining the control aspect, which didn't yield immediate, visible results. Under normal circumstances, it would take a spirit master of at least level forty or fifty to intervene and safely guide Dugu Yan’s chaotic energy back into an orderly state, and even then, success could not be guaranteed.

The original injuries inside Dugu Yan were not particularly severe, suggesting that the spirit power had been brought under control quickly, preventing further damage to her meridians. Was this something a peer could accomplish? In any case, Ye Lingling didn't believe that even with her own dedicated training, she could achieve such a feat.

Ye Lingling scrutinized Chen Ming and suddenly asked, "How old are you, what is your spirit power level, and what is your spirit?"

"Oh? My name is Chen Ming. I’m eleven this year. My spirit is the Emerald Scorpion King, and my spirit power is level twenty-three—no, twenty-four. I just enrolled this year. Why do you ask?"

"I am Ye Lingling, spirit Nine-Hearted Begonia, a healing-type spirit grandmaster." After a brief introduction, she pointed a finger at Dugu Yan. "Was the spirit power in her body really controlled by you?"

"I barely managed it. If she had gained another spirit ring or if her cultivation were just a few levels higher, I’m afraid I wouldn't have been able to suppress it so easily." Since this wasn't something illicit like a spirit bone, Chen Ming simply admitted it.

"You..." Ye Lingling stared at him in silence for a long moment before finally speaking. "Your talent is truly rare."

"Thank you for the compliment. I’ve always had a bit of a knack for this," Chen Ming replied casually.

"That’s an understatement," Ye Lingling thought, feeling a slight sting of envy at his humble-brag. Seeing that Dugu Yan was fine, she stopped playing the third wheel, sat back down on a rock, and gazed quietly at the flowerbeds. Unlike her previous relaxed, bored posture, she now sat quite demurely, looking every bit the cold, unapproachable beauty. It was hard to tell which was her true personality.

After ensuring Dugu Yan was fully recovered, Chen Ming let go of her hand. The two sat there, staring at each other in awkward silence. Finally, with her neck flushed red, Dugu Yan broke the tension. "I’m heading back to my dormitory. I just... need to go rest."

"Oh," Chen Ming nodded and stepped aside to clear her path.

"Are you not going to say anything else?" Dugu Yan asked, looking up at him.

"I was mainly afraid that if I said too much, you wouldn't be pleased."

It was the truth. Having been single for two lifetimes, Chen Ming really didn't understand the inner workings of a girl’s mind. He had been forbidden from dating in school, and once he started working, he had no heart for it. Though he sometimes felt lonely at night, the thought of the high costs and the complexities of modern dating always deterred him. He didn't know what Dugu Yan’s attitude toward him was, and he feared that one wrong word could lead to trouble—perhaps even a visit from Dugu Bo, which would be the end of him.

In the Douluo Continent, this wasn't just a matter of social embarrassment; it was a matter of life and death. While he wasn't exactly a reckless youth, he wasn't close enough to Dugu Yan to be shielded from her grandfather’s wrath. Dugu Bo was a Titled Douluo; even if Chen Ming had high poison resistance, a single flick of the old man’s finger could dissolve him into a puddle.

Facing Chen Ming’s sincere expression, Dugu Yan felt a pang of frustration. Whatever she had intended to say was swallowed back down. She stood up, checked that she could move freely, gave Chen Ming one last deep look, and walked over to Ye Lingling. She whispered something into her friend's ear, and the two left the mimetic training ground toward their dorms.

Chen Ming shrugged and headed toward his own courtyard, intending to make some preparations for Dugu Bo’s eventual arrival. While the original story suggested Dugu Bo wasn't a man to kill a savior in a fit of rage, it never hurt to have a backup plan.

Out of Chen Ming’s sight, Dugu Yan’s posture slumped, and she looked at Ye Lingling with a pitiful expression. "Lingling, please, you have to keep today a secret for me."

"I can keep it a secret, but it’s impossible that no one else saw you two on the way here," Ye Lingling sighed, clutching her head. Others feared Dugu Bo, but the Nine-Hearted Begonia lineage did not; in fact, her grandfather had once mentioned that Dugu Bo owed their family a favor. She didn't feel the same constraints as others, treating Dugu Yan as one of her few genuine friends.

"Instead of worrying about secrecy, you should find your grandfather and make sure he doesn't misunderstand."

"I’d like to, but he said he was going into seclusion, and I don't know where he is. If he were around, those guys at the academy wouldn't dare pester me so much." At this, Dugu Yan felt a swell of grievance. When she was under her grandfather’s protection, she had been desperate to leave to prove herself. But once she was truly on her own, the situations she encountered were often beyond her ability to resolve.