Huangfu Ruiyao

Dugu Bo and the others stared at each other in shock, while he observed to see whether anyone else was around. But when they suddenly discovered a hostile Titled Douluo, they were terrified out of their wits.

"Greetings, Senior. We are deeply sorry. We entered this place by accident and did not know this was your dwelling. We just arrived and have not touched anything. Please forgive us." Huangfu Ruiyao could only try to explain herself.

In truth, she had sensed the powerful life aura inside the iron box Zhuang Xingyu had left behind and had become greedy, intending to take it back to treat her mother's illness. She had searched for quite some time without finding it before Dugu Bo returned.

Her heart was a tangled mess. Had the outside world become this powerful already?

"Oh, right, this is compensation: six hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins. Please accept it. If it is not enough, we will immediately notify our family and have more Gold Soul Coins delivered. Our family has several Titled Douluo and is very wealthy!" Huangfu Ruiyao hurriedly took out all the Gold Soul Coins on her, expressing her apology while hinting that her family was no simple force in an attempt to intimidate Dugu Bo.

Dugu Bo did not stop attacking because of her words. He was a consecrated elder of the Heaven Dou Empire and had learned quite a bit through its channels, such as information on the current prodigies of the major factions. These people were clearly not among them. Of course, Dugu Bo's knowledge was not comprehensive, and the Heaven Dou Empire withheld much information from him.

As for her claim that her family had several Titled Douluo, it was surely fabricated to save her life. Hmph, how many Titled Douluo are there on the continent? Would I not know? I have never even heard of your family, Dugu Bo thought.

Dugu Bo could indeed tell that these people had some background, but since they were not from the Two Great Empires, Spirit Hall, or the Upper Three Sects, he believed he could afford to offend them.

Besides, as long as none of them were left alive, no one would know what had happened here.

Seeing that Dugu Bo still intended to attack, Huangfu Ruiyao immediately flung out an energy sphere. It actually contained the sealed Ninth Soul Skill of a level ninety-one Titled Douluo!

The energy sphere exploded in midair, forming the phantom of a Qilin that lunged at Dugu Bo.

One had to know that the Qilin, a divine beast, was the leader of all terrestrial beasts. It was an existence capable of contending with the Dragon Tribe, leader of scaled creatures, and the Phoenix Tribe, leader of flying birds.

Even though the Huangfu Family's inherited martial soul possessed only the tiniest trace of Qilin bloodline, it was still far more powerful than the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor.

Faced with the sudden attack, Dugu Bo immediately unleashed his Ninth Soul Skill, Jade Phosphorous Divine Light, while activating the soul skill attached to his ten-thousand-year Medusa skull bone, Medusa's Gaze. Only then did he manage to block the attack.

Fortunately, that soul skill had merely been stored in the energy sphere and was not being controlled by a real person. It lacked follow-up power and could not lock onto a target, so Dugu Bo did not suffer any fundamental injury. Still, he would need several months of rest to fully recover.

Huangfu Ruiyao did not dare linger and immediately fled with her people. She had only one energy sphere capable of storing an attack from a Titled Douluo. Such spheres were the highest-grade treasures in her family, as they were difficult to make and required precious materials. At most, they could store the attack of a level ninety-one Titled Douluo, and the entire family had only a little over twenty. The one she had just used had been secretly given to her by her father, the clan head, for self-defense.

Huangfu Ruiyao immediately began climbing the several-hundred-meter-high mountain pass. Though her martial soul was a Qilin, her climbing speed was no slower than that of an agility-type Soul Master of the same rank. It seemed she had used some Spirit Bone skill.

The remaining five people climbed much more slowly. After more than forty breaths, Dugu Bo recovered enough to unleash his Fifth Soul Skill, Serpent Heavenly Shield, slaughtering the four people who had not yet climbed out.

Only Huangfu Ruiyao and another female subordinate, Huangfu He, escaped. Poison mist filled the surroundings, but it posed little threat to them because their Five Elements Qilin martial souls possessed a light attribute that naturally countered most poisonous mists. They could stay briefly within Dugu Bo's poison array for the time it took to burn an incense stick, which was enough for their escape.

Huangfu He said, "Young Miss, quickly give me your clothes. I will distract the enemy while you run first."

"No, Xiao He. If we run, we run together."

"Young Miss, if we run together, neither of us will survive. Actually, I have a request. After you return to the family, I hope you can look after my younger sister, Huangfu Que." Huangfu He could only say this. She understood the young miss's temperament, and this was the only way to make her agree.

Hearing this, Huangfu Ruiyao no longer hesitated and took off her white outer robe, giving it to Huangfu He.

Then she left in tears. "Xiao He, don't worry. From now on, your sister will be my sister."

At that moment, Dugu Bo emerged as well. Huangfu He immediately launched an attack at him to draw his attention, then ran in the opposite direction from Huangfu Ruiyao.

Dugu Bo did not hesitate and chased after Huangfu He. He had already noticed that the girl in white was the leader of the group, so capturing her first would be more valuable.

"Damn it, I was fooled." Only after catching up to Huangfu He did Dugu Bo realize he had been tricked. He killed Huangfu He with a single palm strike.

He turned and pursued Huangfu Ruiyao, but by then she had already put a considerable distance between them.

When Huangfu Ruiyao saw Dugu Bo chasing after her, she knew Huangfu He had sacrificed herself. She had no time to grieve and continued running desperately.

Even with the boost of a speed-type Spirit Bone, how could a Soul Ancestor possibly outrun a Titled Douluo? Unless she were a cheat like Zhuang Xingyu.

As the distance between them narrowed, Dugu Bo immediately unleashed his Sixth Soul Skill, Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor Break, at Huangfu Ruiyao's back.

With a puff, Huangfu Ruiyao spat out more than a liter of blood, and seven or eight of her ribs broke. Then she fell downward, only to find a bottomless abyss before her!

Dugu Bo stood at the edge of the cliff, not daring to descend. He knew there was a great terror beneath that abyss. He had once tried to explore it, but before he had climbed two hundred meters down, he became lost in an illusion.

Fortunately, at the last moment, he remembered his son who had died young and his pitiful granddaughter. Only then did he awaken and escape alive.

Later, unwilling to accept it, he had lowered a living sixty-five-thousand-year soul beast down on ropes. He had poisoned it slightly so he could sense whether it was alive or dead.

Yet after only half an hour, the soul beast lost its life, without even reaching the bottom.

A sixty-five-thousand-year soul beast was at the level of a Soul Douluo. Even Dugu Bo would have needed to put in some effort to subdue one.

From then on, Dugu Bo never dared enter that abyss again.

"That little thief is only a Soul Ancestor. After taking my Sixth Soul Skill and falling into this terrifying abyss, she is surely dead!" Dugu Bo immediately returned. He did not dare remain near that cliff for even a moment, and he still needed to tend to his injuries.

However, he could not understand no matter how hard he thought about it: how had that hot spring disappeared?

It turned out that Huangfu Ruiyao was a member of the Hidden Clan known as the Huangfu Family, and her martial soul was the Five Elements Qilin!

The family currently had one level ninety-five Titled Douluo, one level ninety-two Titled Douluo, and one level ninety-one Titled Douluo, for a total of three Titled Douluo. Huangfu Ruiyao was the daughter of the clan head, that level ninety-five Titled Douluo.

Her family lived within a forbidden land. A barrier sealed off the surrounding area, and they had no control over it. Every ten years, the barrier opened a gap and randomly transported people outside. Those below Soul King could be sent out, while those below Soul Emperor could enter.

With no more than ten people, they could remain outside for only ten days. Once the time was up, they would be forcibly returned.

It had to be said that the barrier was remarkably considerate. Taking into account that those sent out might improve their Soul Power, it raised the entry limit to below Soul Emperor.

In order to find a treasure capable of unsealing the barrier, the Huangfu Family had continuously sent people outside to search for treasures. But an accident had occurred ten years ago.

At the time, ten people had gone out to gather information, only to encounter four Titled Douluo engaged in a chaotic battle. One wielded a hammer, while another had wings. They recognized the winged one as possessing the Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul, a powerful force even before their family entered seclusion.

As for the hammer-wielder, he was from the Clear Sky Sect. They had heard it was not weak either, though they did not know much about it. It seemed to be a new force that had emerged after their family entered seclusion.

Tang Hao struck those ten people with a single hammer blow. Nine died on the spot, while only one escaped back, grievously injured. That person passed away just a few days later.

Thus, another rule was added to the Huangfu Family's clan laws: if they had the chance and the strength in the future, they must seek revenge against the Clear Sky Sect! If not, the matter was to remain strictly confidential and be forgotten.

Even ten years later, the clansmen still did not dare investigate the outside world too much. Fearing severe losses, the family did not dare send too many people. They had originally planned to send only five this time, but she had volunteered to leave in order to search for Precious Medicine to treat her mother's internal injuries.

She had thought their previous misfortune was merely bad luck, yet this time they had encountered another Titled Douluo. Were Titled Douluo everywhere in the outside world now? Then wasn't her father's dream of making their family the strongest on the continent doomed before it could even begin? Huangfu Ruiyao was extremely depressed.

Huangfu Ruiyao and her group truly were members of a Hidden Clan guarded by three Titled Douluo. They controlled many secret arts and treasures. It was not that these techniques were particularly profound, but that outsiders had never seen them before and were caught off guard, not knowing how to respond for a time.

Not long after leaving Dugu Bo's dwelling, Zhuang Xingyu sensed the disturbance and headed in that direction as well. An aura there was drawing him in, and his intuition told him that a great opportunity awaited.