The Old Tradition of Murder and Robbery

Just as Dugu Bo was preparing to leave with Dugu Yan, a terrifying wave of Soul Power came crashing in alongside the cries of Soul Beasts.

Countless Soul Masters fled in terror, unwilling to remain for even a moment, afraid of being caught in that dreadful Soul Power.

"Who is it? Who dares attack the barrier?"

Dugu Bo's heart tightened as he sensed the barrier he had set up being violently destroyed.

"Yan'er, hurry, we need to leave. Whoever's coming means trouble," Dugu Bo said anxiously.

He had a faintly bad feeling. Ever since leaving the Auction Pavilion, it had felt as though a pair of eyes had been watching him from the shadows.

And now, another powerful enemy had found this place.

No one came without a reason. This person had followed them all the way here, and clearly had no good intentions.

"Want to leave? It's already too late."

A long staff around two meters in length and as thick as a wrist shot toward the two of them with a sharp howl through the air.

Demon Subduing Douluo, cloaked in a cape, broke through the barrier and declared domineeringly, "Leave behind all the Spirit Medicine."

"My grandfather painstakingly cultivated all this Spirit Medicine. Why should we leave it behind?" Dugu Yan, who had been pampered since childhood, protested indignantly.

"Yan'er, hide behind me and stay farther away." Dugu Bo wore a grave expression as he warned her, then looked toward the figure. "How did you find this place?"

This medicinal garden was already extremely well-hidden, located within a valley surrounded by jagged mountain peaks. With the barrier he had personally set up, even a Titled Douluo would have had difficulty finding it without his guidance.

"I don't mind telling you. I have a Spirit Skill Secret Technique specialized in tracking and locking onto targets. Back at the Auction Pavilion, I already placed a mark on you."

"A mark?" Dugu Bo's brows furrowed tightly. Someone had tampered with him in secret, yet he had not noticed.

Then he remembered that someone had bumped into him when he left.

"You left the mark at that time?"

"That's right."

"Hahaha, if you want to live, leave the Spirit Medicine behind." Demon Subduing Douluo looked at the pits of varying sizes scattered across the ground, the soil beside them still fresh.

He immediately knew that these medicinal herbs had only recently been dug up.

"You think I, Dugu Bo, was raised on threats?" Poison Douluo roared. "If you have the ability, come take them. If not, get lost."

"You refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit. Looks like you've lived long enough."

Suddenly, Demon Subduing Douluo swung the Coiling Dragon Staff in his hand, making it spin like a windmill. The golden dragon coiled around the staff seemed to come alive as well, letting out bursts of dragon roars.

The next moment, Demon Subduing Douluo soared into the air and brought the Coiling Dragon Staff down on Dugu Bo's head without any flourish.

Dugu Bo pushed off with his right foot and darted to the left, barely avoiding the Coiling Dragon Staff.

With a flash, he retreated several steps in succession. Dugu Bo's expression turned even uglier. Although the cloaked figure had not used any Martial Soul Skills, the power contained in that strike alone suggested he was likely a Titled Douluo.

An equally piercing howl came from Dugu Bo's mouth as jade-green light burst forth from his body. His body expanded against the wind, and his first seven soul rings lit up simultaneously. Immediately afterward, Dugu Bo's tall, thin body continued to swell within that emerald radiance, rising into the air.

The emerald-green scales were diamond-shaped, like pieces of jade embedded one after another. His human body vanished, and Dugu Bo transformed into an enormous jade-green serpent, thirty meters long and as thick as a water vat.

This was Dugu Bo's Martial Soul Avatar, the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor.

A pair of enormous, gloomy green snake eyes stared coldly at the cloaked Demon Subduing Douluo.

"It's just a little snake, yet you dare strut around here?" Demon Subduing Douluo scoffed.

Though he had always been at the bottom of the Worship Hall, he was still a genuine Level 96 Titled Douluo.

Dugu Bo was merely a Level 92 Titled Douluo.

One had to know that above Level 95, the difference between Titled Douluos was like heaven and earth.

Demon Subduing Dragon Hammer—

Demon Subduing Douluo shouted, and his soul rings, which rose and fell in rhythm, began to emit dazzling light.

To kill a snake, strike its vital spot.

Facing a Jade Phosphorous Serpent several times his own size, he showed no fear. Wielding the Coiling Dragon Staff, he leaped forward with terrifying power.

Dugu Bo moved as well. His massive snake body twisted, and that seemingly cumbersome form suddenly sprang up from the ground as he opened his enormous maw.

Demon Subduing Douluo, suspended in midair, watched the flickering snake tongue without dodging. Just as the enormous snake mouth was about to swallow him whole, he directly planted the Coiling Dragon Staff upright in his hand.

Weapon Spirit Avatar—

At that moment, Demon Subduing Douluo also activated his Martial Soul Avatar. The Coiling Dragon Staff in his hand began to resonate, producing a harsh, ringing hum.

The originally two-meter-long Coiling Dragon Staff rapidly expanded, radiating dazzling golden light.

It forcibly pried open the Jade Phosphorous Serpent's huge mouth.

"Roar—"

A pained hiss rang out. The Jade Phosphorous Serpent failed to swallow Demon Subduing Douluo, and instead had its upper and lower jaws wedged apart by the Coiling Dragon Staff, unable to close them.

Its body began twisting rapidly, trying to use the force of its rolling to fling Demon Subduing Douluo and the Coiling Dragon Staff away.

Dragon Awakening—

But how could Demon Subduing Douluo give him that chance? As a dragon's roar sounded out, a golden dragon phantom emerged from the Coiling Dragon Staff.

Demon Subduing Douluo mocked, "Although snakes are one branch of the dragon race, and your Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor is even close to a true dragon, that does not change the facts."

"In the end, it is merely a somewhat larger snake."

"The reason my Coiling Dragon Staff is called the Coiling Dragon Staff is because it seals a Heavenly Awakened Sacred Golden Dragon."

The enormous Sacred Golden Dragon that emerged from the Coiling Dragon Staff swung its claws, raking across the Jade Phosphorous Serpent's body and sending up a shower of sparks.

Fresh red blood flowed continuously from his body. The intense pain throughout his body made Dugu Bo roar in fury.

But how could Demon Subduing Douluo let him off?

The golden Sacred Dragon collided with the snake body once again. Intense halos scattered in every direction, and the Jade Phosphorous Serpent transformed from Dugu Bo was sent flying by the violent energy shockwave, its body twisting sharply.

The powerful impact dispersed Dugu Bo's Martial Soul Avatar. He reverted to human form, clutching his chest as the armor on his body lay in tatters.

"Grandfather, are you alright?" Dugu Yan ran over anxiously and supported the repeatedly retreating Dugu Bo from behind.

"Why are you still here? Didn't I tell you to run?"

"Heh, don't worry. On the road to the underworld, I'll make sure your grandfather and granddaughter won't be lonely." Demon Subduing Douluo stepped toward them one step at a time, giving off the feeling of a grim reaper.

"Are you Demon Subduing Douluo or Thousand Jun Douluo?"

"Heh, I didn't expect you to have some discernment." Demon Subduing Douluo stopped pretending, lifting off his cape as he said casually, "I am Demon Subduing Douluo. You're nothing but a dead man. What difference does knowing make?"

"I didn't expect you to still be alive." Having received confirmation, Dugu Bo recalled the records in the ancient texts. There had been a pair of twin brothers a hundred years ago...

"Thanks for the blessing. I'll live well, but you're about to die."

"You people from Spirit Hall actually do such things as murder and robbery."

"I didn't want to either, but who told you to have so many bargaining chips?"

"Die!"

Just as Demon Subduing Douluo gripped the Coiling Dragon Staff and prepared to end the grandfather and granddaughter's lives before searching their Soul Tools.

A pillar of light suddenly appeared beside them.