Preparation Before Entering

"Soul Douluo!" Someone saw the eight soul rings and cried out in shock, only to be crushed heavily to the ground, unable to move.

How could this be?

The Soul Masters who had provoked them earlier were now too frightened to even twitch, staring tremblingly toward the entrance.

That was a Soul Douluo! In this day and age, there were fewer than ten Titled Douluo. Without a doubt, Soul Douluo stood at the top of the food chain.

"There really are a few blind fools here! They do need cleaning up!" the elderly-looking Soul Douluo said with a nod.

"My lord! My lord! I was wrong! Spare our lives!" The two Soul Masters no longer had any of their previous arrogance. Kneeling on the ground, they pleaded as they trembled.

The old Soul Douluo did not even glance at them. With a casual wave of his hand, the two of them flew away like kites with snapped strings.

The Soul Masters who had been their companions, but had not offended the girl, shrank like quails. The old man could not even be bothered to spare them another glance. Waving his hand as though shooing flies, he said, "Get lost!"

"Thank you, Lord Soul Douluo! Thank you, my lord!" The few Soul Masters kowtowed several times in gratitude before scrambling out in terror.

"Hm?" The old man let out a surprised sound. Under the pressure of a Soul Douluo's aura, Madara was the only one who could still sit there calmly.

Aura was something invisible and intangible, yet it acted upon the heart. Fearing the strong was the instinct of all living creatures.

But if one's will was strong enough, aura could be treated as nothing, just like Madara before him.

He was still far inferior to Tang Hao!

Madara remained calm beneath the old man's aura, which also stirred the old man's competitive spirit. He secretly increased the pressure.

Madara met the old man's gaze without showing any weakness. To the old man, it seemed like a provocation. No one had ever dared to disrespect a Soul Douluo like this.

The two silently competed, making the surrounding air seem to freeze. Yet no matter how much pressure the old man exerted, Madara treated it as though it were nothing.

"Grandpa! Grandma! Come over quickly!" The girl who had been sitting there said happily, breaking the deadlock.

"Go over already, old man!" The elderly woman beside him nudged the old man standing in place with her elbow.

"Fine, then!" the old man said with a nod.

"Little brother! Thank you for earlier! Remember this, my name is Meng Yiran!" The girl waved at Madara and said, "If there's anything you can't settle, come find me!"

"They were the ones who provoked me! What does it have to do with you?" Madara slammed his cup heavily onto the table and snorted coldly.

Madara's actions made everyone in the establishment change expression. Ignoring a Soul Douluo's granddaughter to her face was no different from tugging a tiger's whiskers.

"Kid! Care to come have a drink at my table?" The old man swept his sharp gaze over Madara before speaking slowly.

Madara did not hesitate in the slightest. He walked straight over and sat down, looking incredibly arrogant.

"Are you not afraid of me?" the old man asked with interest as he watched Madara eat on his own.

Madara seemed to treat the old man's words as though they had never reached his ears. He gave a scornful laugh. "Afraid you'll kill me? I don't think the famed Dragon Duke and Snake Grandma would stoop so low!"

The Peerless Dragon Snake: Dragon Duke Meng Shu and Snake Grandma Chao Tianxiang. Their Martial Souls were the Dragon Staff and Serpent Cane respectively, and they possessed a Martial Soul Fusion Skill. Below the rank of Titled Douluo, they could practically do as they pleased. Madara had already paid attention to intelligence on all sorts of powerful figures when preparing to venture out.

"You actually know us?" Chao Tianxiang was somewhat surprised. She had not expected a child like Madara to know the names of the two of them.

"You truly have courage!" Both of them nodded. The displeasure in Dragon Duke's eyes toward this junior had clearly faded considerably.

"Little brother! What are you doing in the Star Dou Great Forest alone?" Meng Yiran clearly treated Madara as a child. Leaning forward slightly, she asked with great interest.

"Hunting a soul ring!" Madara replied simply, without hiding anything.

In truth, seventy percent of the Soul Masters who came to the Star Dou Great Forest were here to hunt soul rings. Another twenty percent came to help, while the remaining ten percent had ill intentions.

"It's still rather dangerous for someone at level ten to come here! Where are the adults from your family?" Meng Yiran continued asking relentlessly, making Madara's brows furrow deeply.

"I'm already level twenty!" Madara revealed his soul ring, leaving the three grandparents and granddaughter greatly shocked.

"What a genius!" Snake Grandma Chao Tianxiang exclaimed. Her eyes burned as she looked at Madara, making him feel quite uncomfortable.

Was reaching level twenty at seven or eight years old really something worth showing off?

"I have business to attend to, so I'll be leaving first!" Madara raised his wine cup and drained it in one gulp. He slung his sickle and War Fan over his back, then left the establishment without looking back.

"Kid, what's your name?" Chao Tianxiang called out from behind him, her eyes gleaming.

"Madara!!"

After leaving the restaurant, the first thing Madara did was head to the Blacksmith Shop to replenish his depleted ninja tools.

"I can make them, but it will take time!" The Blacksmith Shop owner set down his hammer and wiped the sweat from his face with the towel around his neck as he spoke to Madara.

"What's the shortest time it would take?" Madara asked, taking out samples of the ninja tools in his hand.

"Three days!" The blacksmith picked up a Shuriken and ran his thumb along its blade. "If you can't wait, I can sharpen your old ones again first!"

"Then sharpen them again!" Madara decided after weighing it for a moment.

In the end, Madara still chose to commission a batch of ninja tools and planned to retrieve them after finishing his soul hunt.

When Madara left the Blacksmith Shop, the sky was already growing late, so he casually found an inn to rest in.

Madara sat cross-legged on the bed, silently refining Chakra and Soul Power. That was right, just like his younger brother Tang San, he used cultivation in place of sleep.

Becoming strong was not as easy as one might imagine. One had to pave the road ahead with unimaginable sweat and blood.

Recently, Madara had been studying the fusion of Chakra and Soul Power. When he defeated Iron Claw last time, he had added some Chakra while releasing a soul skill, and unexpectedly produced a strange reaction. Its power had far exceeded Madara's expectations.

Madara slowly controlled the Chakra and gradually fused it with Soul Power. It was like water being poured into hot oil, immediately boiling violently.

Madara felt the intense pain in his body. The sensation was no different from pouring scalding hot oil into his meridians.

Madara did everything he could to control the violently boiling Chakra. He had underestimated the danger of doing this.

I won't fall here so easily!

Madara's will of steel came into play once again. Forcibly separating the two energies, as though every meridian in his body had been cut apart, he finally escaped the danger.

Madara weakly opened his eyes and lowered his head to look at his trembling palms, trying hard to stop his body from convulsing.

Was it still too forced? It always feels like I'm just one step short!

Madara quietly pondered, enduring and ignoring the lingering agony in his body.

Unable to find the reason, Madara could only give up. He silently adjusted his breathing and circulated Chakra and Soul Power once more, spending the long night cultivating.