Dragon Duke's First Encounter with Shrek

"Ah?"

Hearing this, Meng Yiran could not help but freeze. There was actually such a bizarre family?

Compared to Meng Yiran's shock, Snake Dowager Chao Tianxiang was clearly much calmer. After all, there were quite a few family factions on the continent with strange rules and regulations.

The most typical example was the Star Luo Imperial Family, where every generation slaughtered one another until only one remained.

Behind most of these strange rules lay safeguards put in place by the faction's ancestors to prevent certain bizarre incidents from happening.

As for why preventing bizarre incidents would affect reality and even lead to something so absurd, naturally, it was because those bizarre incidents had truly happened before!

Just as Meng Yiran was about to ask something else, Snake Dowager suddenly reminded her, "Yiran, if you don't hurry up and kill that Thousand-Year Phoenix Tail Chicken Crown Snake, it might wake up."

The moment she heard this, Meng Yiran no longer had the mind to worry about Qing Mu. She immediately strode to the Phoenix Tail Chicken Crown Snake, and a serpent blade extended from her Serpent Cane, stabbing directly into the crest atop the snake's head.

The next moment, purple specks of light floated out from the Phoenix Tail Chicken Crown Snake's body and condensed into a pale purple Soul Ring.

Without any hesitation, Meng Yiran immediately sat cross-legged and began refining the Phoenix Tail Chicken Crown Snake's Soul Ring.

As Meng Yiran began refining the Soul Ring, Snake Dowager Chao Tianxiang kept watch over their surroundings while curiously studying the Bulbasaur beside Qing Mu.

She had heard of similar martial souls before. Yu Xiaogang, one of the Golden Iron Triangle, possessed a purple Gong Pig that could leave his body. But this was still her first time observing one so closely in person.

At the same time, Qing Mu was somewhat stiff in the face of this unexpected situation.

Over the years, under his parents' guidance, Qing Mu had gained a fairly good understanding of Douluo Continent's basic landscape, which naturally included the long-famous Dragon Duke and Snake Dowager.

The Dragon Duke and Snake Dowager did not have a particularly good reputation on the continent. Though they had not reached the level of evil, they were still neutral and chaotic.

If people like them were angered or came into conflict with someone, there was a high chance they would kill.

Fortunately, Qing Mu had not clashed with them so far. He had even helped them out, though it was somewhat coincidental.

After a moment of silence, Snake Dowager Chao Tianxiang coughed and asked Qing Mu, "You said just now that you were going to report to Exotic Beast Academy?"

"Yes, Senior Snake Dowager."

Qing Mu nodded and replied, "My father was once a student of Exotic Beast Academy, so he gave me a letter of recommendation to attend the academy."

Qing Mu's answer made Snake Dowager Chao Tianxiang's eyes shift as she began making calculations in her heart.

"This boy is going to Exotic Beast Academy, so our relationship won't be easily severed in the future. Though it's unlikely that he can be persuaded to abandon the faction that raised him, it would still be good if we could bring him over to our side. Better to form a good connection first."

Although Exotic Beast Academy was not theirs, they were among its backers and had close ties with it.

Otherwise, they would not have sent Meng Yiran to Exotic Beast Academy. After all, ordinary academy teachers were only Soul Kings. How could they possibly teach better than the two of them?

Moreover, Qing Mu had reached Level 23 at ten years old, making him undoubtedly a rather talented genius. The faction behind him had likely invested considerable effort in him, so directly recruiting him into their sect was basically impossible.

Even if Qing Mu agreed, they would have to consider it carefully. Who could guarantee that someone willing to easily betray the faction that had raised him for a few benefits would not betray them again for some benefit in the future?

As for the possibility that there was no faction behind Qing Mu, Snake Dowager Chao Tianxiang never even considered it.

Leaving aside the fact that, due to the nature of martial souls, those capable of awakening powerful martial souls were generally children of various factions and nobles, and thus had factions behind them regardless of their size.

Even geniuses who mutated among commoners would be intercepted by Spirit Hall at the earliest opportunity. There was no way one could reach ten years old without joining any faction.

Then, Snake Dowager Chao Tianxiang took something from her storage Soul Tool and tossed it to Qing Mu.

"When you report to Exotic Beast Academy, show this to the teachers there. It will save you a lot of trouble. Consider it repayment for helping me stop that Thousand-Year Phoenix Tail Chicken Crown Snake just now."

Qing Mu looked at the item she had tossed him. It was an ornament resembling her martial soul, likely some kind of token.

Thus, Qing Mu cupped his hands again and bowed to Snake Dowager Chao Tianxiang. "Then thank you, Senior Snake Dowager."

Only then did Qing Mu finally let out a sigh of relief. Judging from the current situation, the other party had no intention of attacking him.

After all, if they truly fought, the chance of him losing was very high.

As a veteran Soul Emperor, Snake Dowager's combat power was no weaker than that of an ordinary Twenty-Thousand-Year Soul Beast. He could only fight her under the most ideal circumstances, and even then, he might not win.

But it was clearly difficult to meet those conditions now. That was why, the moment he heard Snake Dowager's voice, he had immediately stopped Bulbasaur from displaying its full combat power.

Because doing so would not only expose his strength, but might also break the existing balance and cause the risks to skyrocket.

After all, the way one dealt with an ordinary genius, an unparalleled genius, and even a genius capable of directly changing the world's balance was completely different.

Seeing this, Snake Dowager Chao Tianxiang nodded in satisfaction. This little fellow was quite polite, though he was a bit too young. Otherwise, she could have had Yiran try getting along with him.

At the same time, hundreds of miles away in the Star Dou Great Forest, a tall, thin old man in white robes was swiftly moving through the woods, seemingly pursuing something.

Soon, the white-robed elder seemed to sense something, and the corner of his mouth curled up.

"Finally found you!"

That was right. This old man was Meng Shu, the Dragon Duke of the Dragon Duke and Snake Dowager duo. What he was currently pursuing was one of the evil slaughterers among Soul Beasts—the Man Faced Demon Spider!

However, when he caught up, the sight before him made him frown.

Not far away, a burly middle-aged man stood with his arms folded, while a group of young boys and girls were besieging the Man Faced Demon Spider.

Seeing this, Dragon Duke Meng Shu immediately roared, "Stop! Such audacity! You dare steal this old man's Soul Beast!"

Dragon Duke Meng Shu's furious roar caused the young boys and girls attacking the Man Faced Demon Spider to freeze, their faces turning pale.

Even the burly middle-aged man beside them had a slight change in expression. Judging from that roar alone, the newcomer was even stronger than him!