Now that Gu Qing could see through the illness at a glance, he must have a way to treat it.
Qian Renxue was still dressed as a maid in a gray-brown skirt, quietly following half a step behind Gu Qing.
Yet her eyes were fixed on the purple-haired woman ahead as if she were guarding against a thief. The woman's hips swayed with exaggerated abandon.
Qian Renxue calculated that once they had dealt with Dugu Bo, she would have to make sure Gu Qing kept his distance from women like that.
Gu Qing strolled unhurriedly down the bluestone-paved street, barely sparing Dugu Yan a glance.
After turning a shadowy corner, they found themselves on a road with no shops in sight.
It was a secluded, narrow alley leading to the high ground west of Heaven Dou City.
Tall stone walls blocked the afternoon sunlight on either side, leaving the alley somewhat dim.
An almost imperceptible ripple in the air came from behind them, drawing Gu Qing's attention.
His steps never faltered, but the corner of his eye held the faintest trace of a smile.
Gu Qing had sensed a concealed presence following them ever since they left the marketplace.
That presence was steeped in murderous intent, like a beast ready to pounce on its prey.
Gu Qing had assumed the other party would strike somewhere crowded. He hadn't expected them to follow all the way here.
"Turn down two more streets, and we'll be at my grandfather's manor."
Dugu Yan stopped and turned to tell Gu Qing about the road ahead.
"There's no need to hurry."
Gu Qing stopped, leisurely clasping his hands behind his back as he looked toward the empty alley behind them.
"A friend has been following us all this way. It's about time they came out and showed themselves."
Gu Qing's words left Dugu Yan and Qian Renxue momentarily stunned.
They followed his gaze, but aside from a few windblown leaves, the alley was completely empty.
Just as Dugu Yan was about to ask him what he meant, a deafening, icy snort suddenly burst through the air.
"What keen senses. No wonder you injured the students of my Shrek Academy so badly!"
With that furious shout, a massive figure leaped down from a nearby rooftop.
His heavy body slammed into the bluestone pavement with a dull thud, making the entire ground tremble.
As the dust settled, a burly, middle-aged man as hulking as a black bear blocked their way back.
He wore coarse clothes washed nearly white, and his muscular, bronze-colored skin bulged with sinew.
His broad face was covered in flesh, and a ferocious aura radiated from him. He was none other than Zhao Wuji, vice dean of Shrek Academy.
Zhao Wuji fixed his bell-like eyes on Gu Qing, fury surging visibly in their depths.
Several days ago, Tang San and Xiao Wu had been gravely injured by Gu Qing in a one-sided match at the Great Soul Arena.
If Tang San hadn't been protected by Hidden Weapons, and Xiao Wu hadn't risked her life to save him, the two of them would have been corpses by now.
Even worse, the person Shrek Academy had mistaken for Oscar had turned out to be a powerless cripple with no Soul Power.
The real Oscar had already had the foundations of his cultivation as a Soul Master completely destroyed by Gu Qing at the Lantern Festival.
The string of blows had disgraced Shrek Academy and sent Zhao Wuji, its fiercely protective vice dean, into a full-blown rage.
Zhao Wuji had followed Gu Qing today to eliminate this enormous threat once and for all in this secluded spot.
"You're Gu Qing, the one who injured Tang San and the others, right?"
Zhao Wuji folded his arms across his chest, the veins bulging on his thick arms. He looked as if Gu Qing were already at his mercy.
"You're so young, yet your methods are vicious. Today, I'll teach you a lesson on behalf of your elders!"
Qian Renxue frowned almost imperceptibly at the brute who had suddenly sprung out at them.
Although she was currently posing as a maid, her innate pride made her despise such a coarse person.
Dugu Yan, meanwhile, let out a snort of laughter, her voice brimming with undisguised mockery.
"So it's you. The Immovable Bright King, Zhao Wuji of Shrek Academy."
With one hand on her hip, Dugu Yan's emerald eyes sized Zhao Wuji up and down as if she were looking at a buffoon.
"You're only a level seventy-six Soul Saint. You think you can kill him?"
Zhao Wuji's face darkened at her words. He glared at Dugu Yan, menace flashing in his eyes.
"Little girl, this has nothing to do with you. If you know what's good for you, get out of here. Otherwise, I'll deal with you too!"
Dugu Yan wasn't the least bit frightened by Zhao Wuji's threat. Instead, her smile grew even brighter.
"Zhao Wuji, you really are a frog in a well. You have no idea what kind of being you're facing."
Dugu Yan pointed a slender finger at Gu Qing, who stood nearby with an impassive expression.
"Your precious students only have themselves to blame for getting crippled. They should've known better than to provoke him."
"You probably don't know this, but that Titan Giant Ape in the Star Dou Great Forest died at his hands."
The moment she said those words, the air in the alley seemed to freeze.
Qian Renxue glanced at Gu Qing in surprise. She had no idea he had achieved something so astonishing.
Zhao Wuji simply stood there, stunned, then burst into thunderous laughter.
"Hahaha! That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!"
Zhao Wuji laughed until tears welled in his eyes, pointing at Gu Qing with a trembling finger.
"You're telling me this kid hasn't even grown hair on his chin, yet he single-handedly killed a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, the Titan Giant Ape?"
"Little girl, if you're going to boast, at least come up with something believable!"
Zhao Wuji didn't believe Dugu Yan for a second. He assumed she had made up the story to scare him off.
The Titan Giant Ape was a terrifying creature. Even Titled Douluo had to steer clear of it.
How could a young man who looked barely twenty have the strength to kill a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast?
Zhao Wuji stopped laughing. His eyes turned vicious in an instant, and he gave Dugu Yan no chance to speak again.
"I don't care what you say. That brat surnamed Gu is going to die today!"
With a roar that shook the heart, the phantom of a huge Vajra Bear rose behind Zhao Wuji.
Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black.
Seven dazzling Soul Rings rose in succession from beneath his feet, and a powerful wave of Soul Power swept through the entire alley.
Under the force of that violent pressure, the surrounding stone walls began to crack with a teeth-grating screech.
Zhao Wuji held nothing back. He entered his strongest state from the very start.
The seventh, black Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring on his body blazed brightly, and Zhao Wuji's body began to change dramatically.
His already massive frame swelled another size, and brown-yellow fur burst through his skin.
In the blink of an eye, Zhao Wuji had transformed into a terrifying giant bear more than five meters tall.
Martial Soul Avatar: Vajra Bear!
The giant bear threw its head back with a deafening roar and drove its thick legs into the ground.
Its immense body bore down on Gu Qing like a small mountain, sending a suffocating gale rushing ahead of it.
Its enormous paw tore through the air with a shrill explosive crack, aiming straight for Gu Qing's head.
Faced with a blow that came crashing down like Mount Tai, Qian Renxue instinctively tried to summon her Soul Power to defend herself.
But a warm hand gently pressed down on her shoulder.
"Stay right there."
Gu Qing's voice remained calm, as if he were asking her to do something utterly insignificant.
Qian Renxue turned to look at him. His handsome profile showed not the slightest hint of emotion.
He had no intention of releasing his Martial Soul. He merely watched the giant bear charging toward him.
Gu Qing sighed, feeling that this pointless entanglement was a waste of time.
He didn't even want to waste another word on someone as stubborn as Zhao Wuji.
When the enormous bear paw was less than half a foot from the top of Gu Qing's head, he finally moved.
There was no dazzling flash of Soul Rings, no earth-shaking clash of Soul Power.
Gu Qing simply raised his right hand, palm facing upward, and pressed it against the paw—larger than his own body.
Time seemed to stop in that instant.
The ferocious grin on Zhao Wuji's enormous, brown-furred face froze solid.
It felt as if his paw had struck an unshakable, towering divine mountain.
The terrifying force, powerful enough to split mountains and shatter stone, vanished without a trace the instant it touched Gu Qing's palm, like a clod of mud sinking into the sea.
Then, a domineering force beyond words erupted from Gu Qing's palm and rebounded against him.
Crack—!
The bone-snapping sound echoed clearly through the quiet alley, raising goosebumps.
The thick, powerful right arm of the bear twisted into a grotesque angle under the impact.
A shrill scream burst from the giant bear's mouth, and Zhao Wuji's enormous body flew backward against his will.
He hurtled more than ten meters before slamming into a thick stone wall at the end of the alley.
Dust billowed into the sky, and shards of stone flew everywhere.
Dugu Yan's eyes widened. She sucked in a sharp breath.
She had known Gu Qing was strong, but watching him take on the Martial Soul Avatar of a level seventy-six Soul Saint with his bare hands was an astonishing sight.
Zhao Wuji struggled to his feet amid the rubble, his Martial Soul Avatar forcibly dispelled.
Back in human form, Zhao Wuji dropped to one knee. His right hand hung limp at his side, blood dripping steadily from his fingertips.
The arrogance had vanished from his eyes as he stared at Gu Qing. In its place was deep fear.
In that brief exchange, Zhao Wuji hadn't even seen what Gu Qing had done.
It had been pure strength crushing strength—a dimensional blow from someone on an entirely different level.
Gu Qing gave Zhao Wuji no chance to catch his breath.
He lightly tapped the ground with his toes, and his figure instantly blurred into a shadow.
Zhao Wuji's vision flashed. Gu Qing was already standing in front of him.
The look from above was like that of someone gazing down at an ant struggling in its death throes.
"Y-you... what kind of monster are you...?"
Zhao Wuji's throat rasped with labored breaths, and his body trembled uncontrollably.
A vast, invisible hand of terror clamped around his heart.
"In your next life, don't provoke someone you can't afford to offend."
Gu Qing's tone was indifferent. He pressed the index and middle fingers of his left hand together, a concentrated glimmer of blue-green light coiling around their tips.
Without the slightest hesitation, his fingers became an unstoppable blade and shot straight toward Zhao Wuji's brow.
Pfft—
With a soft sound, the blue-green light pierced Zhao Wuji's hard skull without resistance.
Pure life energy became the deadliest weapon of slaughter in that instant, destroying the vitality in Zhao Wuji's brain.
Zhao Wuji's massive body stiffened. His eyes immediately lost focus.
Even in his final moment of consciousness, his face still held an expression of utter shock and profound regret.
At last, he understood that Dugu Yan hadn't been boasting.
Provoking such an unfathomable god of slaughter was the stupidest mistake he had ever made—and his last.
With a dull thud, the "Immovable Bright King," whose name had inspired fear throughout the Soul Master World, became a lifeless corpse.
Gu Qing withdrew his fingers, casually took out a pristine handkerchief, and wiped at the blood that hadn't even touched his fingertips.
He tossed the handkerchief onto Zhao Wuji's corpse, turned around, and looked at Dugu Yan, who was still staring blankly.
"Let's go. We shouldn't keep Senior Dugu waiting too long."
Gu Qing's voice remained gentle, as if he had merely swatted an annoying fly.
Dugu Yan swallowed with difficulty. As she looked at Gu Qing, her eyes held not only admiration but also a hint of reverence.
Qian Renxue stepped forward and silently followed behind Gu Qing, showing no pity as she looked at Zhao Wuji's corpse.
In this world of the survival of the fittest, those without strength who still insisted on throwing their weight around had only one destination: death.
The group continued onward and soon emerged from the shadowy alley.
A sprawling, majestic manor appeared before them.
Its tall vermilion gates were closed. Three grand characters—"Dugu Manor"—were written across the plaque above.
There wasn't even a guard at the entrance, giving the place a rather deserted look.
But in Heaven Dou City, this was perfectly normal.
Everyone knew that the manor belonged to the eccentric Poison Douluo. No one dared cause trouble there.
Dugu Yan hurried forward, pushed open the heavy gates, and gestured for them to enter.
"Gu Qing, my grandfather usually studies poison in the poison formation in the rear courtyard. I'll take you there now."
Gu Qing nodded slightly and stepped through the gates of Dugu Manor.
The manor's grounds were simply laid out, with few extravagant decorations. Instead, they were filled with all kinds of plants that gave off strange scents.
The farther they went, the stronger the faint, sweetly acrid smell in the air became.
They passed through several corridors and came upon a spacious courtyard shrouded in dense green poison mist.
At the edge of the poisonous fog stood a tall, thin old man with long, dark-green hair hanging over his shoulders, his back to them.
He clasped his hands behind his back, and a chilling, sinister aura radiated from him.
He was none other than Dugu Bo, the Titled Douluo renowned across the continent.
He seemed to sense someone approaching and slowly turned around.
His poisonous snake-like, deep green eyes swept over Gu Qing and Qian Renxue, bringing with them an intense pressure.
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