"Eighth Rank?"
Ye Qingyan was startled when she heard Ye Ling's words, her tone rising a notch: "Are you kidding me?"
After all, Ye Qingyan had cultivated for hundreds of years in her spiritual body form with no progress. Now, someone was telling her she could break through to the Eighth Rank immediately. To say Ye Qingyan wasn't excited would be a lie.
Ye Ling urged, "Before those people discover you, go in quickly."
"This egg has been separated from its mother for some time. If you delay any longer, you might end up possessing a corpse. Even if it hatches, you won't truly reincarnate; you'll just become a corpse dragon."
"Can I trust you?" Ye Qingyan asked Ye Ling for confirmation.
"You hired me for eight billion US dollars. You are of great use to me, and I have no reason to lie to you about such a trivial matter."
If Ye Ling didn't genuinely want Ye Qingyan to be well, he wouldn't have returned to Tianhui Three Institute specifically for this. He could have easily found a piglet in a pigsty in the countryside to help Ye Qingyan successfully reincarnate.
This giant snake's egg was the most spiritual thing Ye Ling had encountered since returning to Earth. The dragon it hatched into would be much stronger than a human body, which wouldn't tarnish the reputation of the Azure Leaf Sword Venerable.
After reincarnation, Ye Qingyan would be no worse off than before.
Hearing Ye Ling's words, Ye Qingyan pursed her lips before gritting her teeth and saying, "I believe you!"
With that, Ye Qingyan flew out of Ye Ling's body and into the egg, possessing the small dragon within.
Boom!
The moment Ye Qingyan entered the snake egg, the surrounding spiritual energy surged towards it like a mad beast. The entire underground base began to shake.
The ruins that the military had painstakingly stabilized started to collapse again!
"What, what is going on?"
The underground base was suddenly thrown into chaos. Numerous researchers panicked. The giant rocks that had fallen from above smashed into large chunks of the snake.
Ye Ling hadn't expected Ye Qingyan's possession of the snake egg to cause such a commotion. Realizing that staying here any longer would cause the entire Tianhui Three Institute to collapse, he no longer concealed his presence. Demonic energy surged, enveloping the snake egg.
Before anyone could get a clear look at Ye Ling's appearance, he and the snake egg vanished from their spot.
Wang Liren, unable to see Ye Ling's face and not even knowing what he had taken, quickly fumbled for his walkie-talkie and roared, "Damn it! There's an intruder in the base, possibly a teleporter! Requesting backup!"
Soldiers who had been blocking the perimeter rushed into the underground base, organizing the evacuation of researchers while searching for the intruder.
The vast Tianhui Three Institute descended into extreme chaos once more. When the Dragon Department and the Azure Flame Army discovered that someone had stolen the giant snake's egg, they were furious. Within a very short time, they dispatched a large number of powerful individuals to search Jiangcheng and the surrounding areas!
Meanwhile, the culprit behind all this chaos, Ye Ling, teleported with the snake egg to the wild forests of Shennongjia. He returned to the cave where Ye Qingyan had meditated and placed her on the stone platform, personally guarding her!
Currently, Ye Qingyan was Ye Ling's only lead in tracking down the Red Dust Pavilion, so Ye Ling naturally had to protect her like a treasure.
Otherwise, in the Eastern Xuan Continent, countless celestial maidens would have given anything for such an opportunity, let alone Ye Ling's protection; they wouldn't even have a chance to catch a glimpse of him!
When Ye Qingyan was possessing the snake egg, she inadvertently triggered a large amount of the giant snake's essence blood condensed within the egg. Furthermore, the researchers at Tianhui Pharmaceuticals had been feeding the giant snake various strange substances, causing the egg to accumulate a large amount of spiritual energy.
Ye Qingyan's possession caused a massive fusion of essence blood with the dragon embryo within the egg, leading to a mutation in the entire egg. It showed signs of directly transforming into a dragon!
This was, in itself, a good thing. However, the spiritual energy required for a dragon's transformation was not a small amount. With the current scarcity of spiritual energy in the world, the surrounding spiritual energy was insufficient for Ye Qingyan to transform into a true dragon within the egg.
If Ye Ling had ignored Ye Qingyan, she would most likely have mutated into a stunted monster, and whether she could retain her sentience was uncertain.
"This way, you owe me even more."
Ye Ling sat cross-legged before the now crystal-clear egg and murmured.
A large amount of spiritual energy emanated from Ye Ling's body, enveloping the egg on the stone platform.
The giant egg greedily absorbed Ye Ling's spiritual energy. The eggshell became transparent, and Ye Ling could see Ye Qingyan, naked, curled up inside. Two small horns had grown on her forehead, and her hands and feet were covered in pale pink scales.
Perhaps due to the absorption of immense spiritual energy, Ye Qingyan's skin had become as fair and smooth as a baby's, and her appearance had undergone a tremendous change.
If Ye Qingyan was considered a beauty before, then now... "overwhelmingly beautiful," "captivating the fish and sinking the geese," might only crudely describe her beauty.
"To witness such a beauty, this effort is not in vain."
Ye Ling's gaze did not shy away from Ye Qingyan's delicate form. He quietly admired her as if appreciating a work of art.
Ye Qingyan's evolution took three days and three nights.
During this time, Ye Ling continuously provided his spiritual energy to Ye Qingyan, enabling her to successfully evolve from a dragon embryo into a dragon.
It was likely that Ye Qingyan was now the only true dragon in the world.
Crack!
Suddenly, a light cracking sound came from the eggshell. Ye Ling's eyes slightly opened, and he saw a slender jade hand extending from within the shell.
That hand alone seemed like a masterpiece of nature, the most perfect work of art.
As one hand emerged, Ye Qingyan quickly stood up from the eggshell. Her long hair cascaded like a waterfall, her eyes shone like stars, her skin was like white jade, her chest was proud, and her fair, long legs were enough to ignite the fantasies of countless men.
Ye Qingyan leaped from the stone platform, her toes barely touching the ground, landing as lightly as a feather. She walked towards Ye Ling.
Ye Ling admired Ye Qingyan again before taking out a thin veil from his spatial ring and draping it over her.
"Thank you."
Ye Qingyan didn't mind being seen naked by Ye Ling. She looked at her hand, clenching it slightly, and could feel the immense power contained within!
Even if she hadn't reached the Ninth Rank Red Dust Immortal realm, she should be at the peak of the Eighth Rank!
She stood proudly in the world!
The more Ye Qingyan felt her strength grow, the more she felt Ye Ling's terrifying power!
After all, everything she possessed now had been created by Ye Ling.
"How do you feel?" Ye Ling stood up and asked Ye Qingyan.
"Stronger than ever before..." Ye Qingyan waved her hand casually, and dozens of flying swords condensed from spiritual energy materialized behind her. The vast cave was instantly crisscrossed with countless sword marks!
"Very good."
Ye Ling took a step forward and embraced Ye Qingyan. The flying swords behind Ye Qingyan all dissipated!
"You!"
Ye Qingyan felt the scorching heat from Ye Ling's chest, startled, her heart suddenly pounding faster!
A blush crept onto her usually icy-cold face.
Seeing Ye Qingyan like this, Ye Ling's smile deepened. He said, "You've received so many benefits from me, shouldn't you repay me in some way?"
Ye Qingyan's mind exploded with a buzzing sound, her brain instantly going blank.
Repay?
A man and a woman alone in a room, and she was only wearing a thin veil...
What kind of repayment could there be?