Chapter 16

An unknown powerhouse, although he does not fear the opponent, but he is now accompanied by Yu Tianyun; the aftershocks of a Title Douluo's battle are not something a quasi-Soul Elder can withstand, even though Yu Tianyun is not an ordinary quasi-Soul Elder.

He needed to determine whether they were friend or foe, so he followed the aura and descended to their location.

Just as they landed, the grandfather and grandson saw the owner of the aura.

He was a tall, thin old man, like a spear, and strangely, this old man's beard and hair were all dark green, his eyes like emeralds, shining brightly.

His complexion was stiff, his cheeks sunken, and amidst his disheveled green hair, he looked as if poisoned, as though his life were about to end.

Beside the green-haired old man stood a girl of about fourteen or fifteen, with a slender figure and delicate features; she had a head of deep purple short hair, looking full of heroic spirit, and her green eyes were exactly the same as the old man's, exuding an exotic charm.

Upon seeing these two's obvious appearance traits, Yu Tianyun immediately knew their identities.

The well-known figure on the Douluo Continent, who almost always plays the role of the wealth-bringing child in fanfiction—the good old man Dugubo, and his lovely granddaughter Duguyan.

Yu Tianyun never expected that, just after coveting the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Hot Pot, he would now encounter Dugubo and his granddaughter.

Yu Yuanzhen's eyes narrowed as he also recognized the opponent: Poison Title Douluo Dugubo, martial soul: Azure Phosphor Snake Emperor; although he is the weakest among Title Douluo, to those below Title Douluo he is the most provoking.

His poison skills are best suited for group battles and bullying novices; even the Spirit Hall dare not overly oppress or provoke him.

After all, he cannot defeat the Spirit Hall's Title Douluo, but the only Spirit Hall members he can fight are the Title Douluo.

Thus, Yu Yuanzhen couldn't help but maintain a degree of wariness toward him, and he spoke up:

"It turns out to be Lord Dugubo, Tianyun; this is Poison Title Douluo Dugubo, just like my grandfather, a Title Douluo-level existence—hurry and pay your respects!"

Upon hearing this, Yu Tianyun's expression turned respectful; he hastily clasped his hands and bowed, saying, 'Junior Yu Tianyun, I greet Senior Dugubo!' He then slightly lowered his gaze, showing humility.

Dugubo gave a slight nod, accepting Yu Tianyun's salute. His deep eyes gazed at Yu Tianyun, memorizing his peerlessly handsome face, so that he would not make things difficult for him in future encounters.

Yu Tianyun then turned his gaze to Duguyan, wearing a polite smile, and gently said, 'I presume this is Miss Duguyan?'

Duguyan lifted her head, met Yu Tianyun's bright and fervent gaze, then hastily looked away.

She did not recognize the handsome youth before her, but immediately thought of her teammate Yu Tianheng, who had mentioned he had a younger brother.

Duguyan lightly bit her lovely red lips, striving to calm herself, and said, 'Could you be Yu Tianheng's younger brother?'

After speaking, her hands unconsciously twisted the hem of her clothes, her cheeks flushed crimson, revealing her inner nervousness and shyness.

'That's right, Yu Tianheng is my elder brother; I often hear him mention Miss Duguyan.' Yu Tianyun immediately replied, trying to appear more sincere.

Upon hearing this, Duguyan's flush deepened, and she softly asked, 'He… he, what did he tell you?'

Yu Tianyun smiled slightly, his gaze tender as he looked at Duguyan, and said, 'My brother often praises Miss Duguyan for her outstanding talent, extraordinary strength, and beautiful charm; seeing her today, it is indeed true.'

Duguyan lowered her head further, her voice barely a whisper: 'You… you shouldn't say that; I… I am not as good as you say.'

Yu Tianyun stepped forward, his tone earnest: 'Miss Duguyan, you are being too modest; what I said are facts.'

Duguyan's heart trembled; she lifted her head, her eyes full of surprise and shyness, saying, 'You… you…' for a moment she did not know how to respond.

"Cough! Cough!"

At this moment, Dugubo could not bear to see his granddaughter behave this way, and he couldn't help but give a light cough.

Then he looked at Yu Yuanzhen, putting on a smile—though it didn't look very good on his somewhat grim face—but it also showed he meant no hostility: 'Thunder Title Douluo, long time no see, hope you've been well, Yan Yan, come over and pay your respects to the Thunder Crown!'

Duguyan also knew that Yu Yuanzhen was a Title Douluo even more formidable than her grandfather, so she dared not be the slightest bit negligent; she hastily clasped her hands and bowed, her expression tense yet reverent, saying, 'Duguyan greets the Thunder Crown.'

Yu Yuanzhen's stiff face struggled to squeeze out a smile, trying to appear more amiable as he replied, 'No need for excessive courtesy; I suppose you two are also here to obtain a soul ring?'

After exchanging a few pleasantries, they tacitly stated their purposes; since the encounter was coincidental and held no ill will, they parted ways and went about their own business.

At this moment, Yu Tianyun's mind was filled with the immortal herbs of the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Hot Pot; he involuntarily turned his head to glance at Dugubo's silhouette, and coincidentally Duguyan also looked back, seeing Yu Tianyun's handsome face, her pretty cheeks blushed slightly as she gave a shy smile, deeply etching his appearance into her heart.

Soon the two sides separated by a sufficient distance, yet both Yu Yuanzhen and Dugubo constantly sensed each other's aura.

After all, the two had little prior acquaintance, merely a nodding acquaintance when they met.

After all, having cultivated to their age, they had experienced all manner of deceit and intrigue in the Soul Master World and would not easily trust others. Along the way they spoke nothing, and the grandfather and grandson began to venture deep into the Sunset Forest.

Yu Yuanzhen unleashed the powerful mental strength of a Title Douluo to begin searching for suitable soul beasts; half a day passed quietly, but along the way, aside from other soul beasts, he did not even see a single lightning-attributed soul beast.

Regarding this, Yu Yuanzhen comforted, 'Don't rush; hunting for a soul ring is inherently a time-consuming and laborious task.'

Common soul masters, lacking elder assistance, sometimes spend a year and a half without finding a suitable one.

In the end, most, to avoid wasting cultivation time, have to settle for second best, choosing soul beasts with lower years or those less suitable.

Moreover, lightning-attributed soul beasts are inherently rare, but there's no need to fear not finding one.

After all, grandfather is at least a Title Douluo, so his search efficiency cannot be compared to that of low-level soul masters.

"Hmm."

Yu Tianyun gave a casual reply; in fact he wasn't feeling particularly impatient, he just went along to keep his tool-like grandfather from being embarrassed.

The two continued searching around the inner edge of the Sunset Forest for an hour; when they reached a small pond, Yu Yuanzhen stopped, looking puzzled, and said, 'Over there two soul beasts are fighting; one's soul power fluctuation is about five to six thousand years, but the one it's fighting is a hundred-year soul beast!'

"What? How can a hundred-year soul beast be so strong as to fight a soul beast with five to six thousand years of cultivation? Grandfather, shall we go take a look?" Yu Tianyun asked curiously.

Yu Yuanzhen nodded in agreement, and leading Yu Tianyun toward the source of the battle's fluctuations, they passed through a dense thicket of trees, and a clearing appeared before their eyes.

At that moment, the two giant beasts engaged in combat halted their fight due to the arrival of the grandfather and grandson, warily observing these two outsiders.

Yu Tianyun was somewhat excited at this point; his third soul ring had finally found a target.

Because he recognized the two beasts in combat, one of them was precisely one of his several targets for this outing—the Violet Lightning Mad Rhinoceros.

It is a top-tier soul beast possessing both strength and defense; its most notable feature is the massive horn on its nose entwined with purple lightning, measuring three meters long and over a meter thick at the base, indicating it also has considerable attack power; the other soul beast is a giant bear with dark gold fur, now standing upright on its hind legs, bearing a pair of extraordinarily thick upper arms reaching past the knees, its paws bearing exceptionally long claws extending over two feet. It is indeed the Darkgold Terrorclaw Bear famed as the 'Earth Shredder,' no wonder it can match the five- to six-thousand-year cultivation of the Violet Lightning Mad Rhinoceros.

Yu Yuanzhen evidently also recognized the two beasts, and at once unleashed two Thunder Dragon Claws, striking them on the heads; the two soul beasts struck by the Title Douluo's attack immediately foamed at the mouth and fainted.

Yu Tianyun approached the Violet Lightning Mad Rhinoceros, summoned his martial soul, pressed his right hand together as a sword finger, and spat out a two-foot blade of light, stabbing it into the beast's eye; shortly thereafter, a ring of deep purple soul energy slowly floated above the corpse.

But he did not immediately absorb the soul ring; instead, he turned his gaze to the fallen Darkgold Terrorclaw Bear, hesitated slightly, then thrust his Startling Thunder Sword again, and looked at Yu Yuanzhen to explain:

"I have seen in the sect's records that this kind of soul beast, the Darkgold Terrorclaw Bear, may give birth to an External Attached Soul Bone on its right palm bone."

There is an unwritten rule in the Soul Master World: if not necessary, try not to hunt soul beasts you do not need.

If one indiscriminately slaughters soul beasts, there may be no immediate effect, but what about in a few hundred years? Or a few thousand years?

By then, soul beasts will have vanished, and the profession of soul master will disappear along with them.

As his words fell, Yu Tianyun reached out and touched the Darkgold Terrorclaw Bear's body; after a moment, a hint of excitement appeared on his face, and he again pressed his sword finger together to cut open the bear's right paw, revealing a strange bone.

This bone fragment showed a dark gold color, emitting a rich soul power fluctuation; it was clearly the right palm bone of the Darkgold Fearclaw Bear. Yu Tianyun never expected his casual action to yield such a great harvest! At that moment, Yu Yuanzhen also hurried over, his eyes widening in shock. This was merely a hundred-year soul beast, yet it actually dropped a soul bone! When did the drop rate for soul bones become so high? And it's even an external attached soul bone!

Yu Yuanzhen couldn't help swallowing, his throat feeling a bit dry. None of the nine soul rings on his body had ever dropped a soul bone, yet Yu Tianyun, upon casually encountering a hundred-year soul beast, had obtained one—and it was an external attached soul bone, second only to a hundred-thousand-year soul bone! He let out a long breath, and Yu Yuanzhen calmed himself.

Although he was greatly shocked, he was, after all, a ninety-sixth-ranked Title Douluo and had lived nearly a hundred years, so he quickly composed himself.

"Tianyun, first absorb the soul ring; the soul bone can be absorbed anytime, but if the soul ring isn't absorbed soon, it will dissipate!"

Yu Yuanzhen's eyes glowed with fervor, yet he felt no greed; the soul bone offered little further improvement for him, whereas Yu Tianyun was the one who could unleash its maximum value.

Yu Tianyun nodded at Yu Yuanzhen, sat cross-legged, maintaining his martial soul avatar state, and under crackling lightning, he initiated a pull on the soul ring of the Violet Lightning Berserk Rhino.

The violet soul ring, upon sensing Yu Tianyun's pull, found an outlet and surged toward him, coiling around his head; instantly a large amount of energy flowed into his body, and Yu Tianyun remained unfazed, this pressure having little effect on him.

Time flowed slowly; about an hour later, Yu Tianyun completed the absorption of his third soul ring.

"Hah!"

He exhaled, then immediately took out the dark gold fearclaw bear's right palm bone and began absorbing it (end of chapter).