Dugu Bo laughed, though it was laughter born of sheer exasperation.
"Fine, fine. So this is how you're going to play it, huh?"
As he spoke, Dugu Bo pulled a Bone Whip straight out of his Storage Soul Tool, ready to teach Yu Tianshuo another lesson. This one was called "Respect Your Teacher."
Yu Tianshuo was no fool. The moment Dugu Bo turned to fetch something, he had already started running.
Watching Yu Tianshuo get farther and farther away, Dugu Bo let out a cold laugh and gave chase, Bone Whip in hand.
Far away, Dugu Yuan was still running for dear life.
He'd already carried his father's corpse a long way. Who could've guessed his father would suddenly come back to life—and then immediately rush off to support his junior brother?
What else could he do but turn around and head back?
Unfortunately, he wasn't having much luck on the way. He hadn't been watching where he was going, and after stepping on something soft, a dragon started chasing him.
He'd been baffled and glanced back, only to see the dragon lying on its back in the dirt, asleep.
Seriously, man?
Who taught you to sleep like that out in the wild?
It wasn't until the dragon let out that mournful roar that he realized what the soft thing had been.
What else could he do? Keep running, of course. His poison arts had no effect on the dragon at all, so all he could do was flee and call for help.
"Dad!"
"Where are you?!"
"Help!!!"
Just then, that familiar voice sounded behind him again.
It was getting closer—and more and more familiar!
It was his junior brother!
Just as Dugu Yuan turned around, tears streaming down his face, he heard what Yu Tianshuo was shouting.
"Ahhhhh! Master, spare me!"
"How can you use time stop to travel? That's cheating!"
"Help!!!"
The voice came closer and closer, and the commotion grew louder.
All Dugu Yuan could see was Yu Tianshuo charging straight through everything in his path, crashing into trees and smashing into rocks.
At last, after knocking aside the Hundred-Thousand-Year Dragon-type Soul Beast that had been chasing him, Yu Tianshuo brushed right past Dugu Yuan.
A flickering old man followed behind his junior brother.
Oh! So that old man was my dad. Then we're good.
After watching the whole thing, Dugu Yuan glanced at the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast in the distance, which looked either dazed from the impact or terrified by the Dragon Might, and sighed.
"Ah, forget it. I'm used to this."
With that, he stayed right where he was and began catching his breath.
Why didn't he sit down?
Heh. He didn't want to end up as dragon dung a little later.
Half an hour later, Yu Tianshuo finally appeared before Dugu Yuan, looking thoroughly bedraggled.
Though "bedraggled" only meant his clothes were torn to shreds, with branches and leaves all over his head and clothes.
Yu Tianshuo grinned and scratched his head, gave his senior brother a big smile, then flashed a thumbs-up.
"Senior Brother, I tried out the devilish special training for you. It was awesome. You should give it a go sometime!"
Hearing that, Dugu Yuan, who had been feeling quite relaxed, suddenly felt like the sky was falling.
"No—!"
At that moment, it was as if a song drifted into Dugu Yuan's ears.
"Snowflakes drift, the north wind howls."
"Heaven and earth stretch vast and bleak."
It wasn't just as if a song had started playing. That rascal Yu Tianshuo was actually singing right beside Dugu Yuan.
"Ahhhhh—!"
While Dugu Yuan was still lamenting how he was going to survive the days ahead, Dugu Bo's voice rang out from the trees.
"Stop embarrassing yourself. Finish this quickly, then let's go home."
As he spoke, Dugu Bo walked toward the Soul Beast still lying on the ground, apparently preparing to obtain his ninth Soul Ring.
But Yu Tianshuo interrupted his master before he could act.
"Master, please wait. Leave this to your disciple."
With that, Yu Tianshuo flashed over to the head of the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast.
He started muttering something to the Soul Beast.
When it didn't seem willing to cooperate, Yu Tianshuo immediately revealed his three Soul Rings.
"Yellow, purple-gold, and golden-brown."
Of the three Soul Rings, only the first was even remotely normal. The other two were completely bizarre. Even the Second Soul Ring had changed from red and blue into purple-gold.
Just then, the golden-brown Soul Ring blazed with dazzling light.
In an instant, dragon scales appeared across Yu Tianshuo's body, and this time, golden-brown patterns had appeared as well.
In an instant, sand and rocks all around them transformed into chains under Yu Tianshuo's control, binding the Soul Beast's body and limbs tight.
The way he tied it up, though, was hard to look at. If there had been anyone from Blue Star around, they would have recognized it as the Kinbaku seen so often in movies from a certain island nation.
After Yu Tianshuo slapped the Soul Beast twice, it finally settled down. The two of them exchanged a few words, and then Yu Tianshuo released the chains and went over to his master.
"All done, Master. It says it's willing to sacrifice itself for you."
Looking at his disciple's smile, Dugu Bo was truly at a loss for words. But curiosity got the better of him, and he asked Yu Tianshuo what he had said to the Soul Beast.
"Oh, that? I just told it about the benefits of behaving. Then it started saying things like its clan leader wouldn't let me get away with this."
"When I showed it my Soul Rings, it quieted right down. It was bawling and snot-nosed, saying it hadn't recognized a great man when it saw one."
"Yeah, that was about it. It's willing to do this, really. I absolutely didn't threaten it or anything."
Dugu Bo burst out laughing. When he'd laughed his fill, he patted Yu Tianshuo on the shoulder and headed toward the Hundred-Thousand-Year Dragon-type Soul Beast.
Yu Tianshuo seemed to suddenly remember something and shouted after his master.
"Master! Remember to tell it which part you want for the Soul Bone ahead of time. We talked it over! You can choose that too!"
Dugu Bo merely waved to show he'd heard, then started talking with the Soul Beast.
While Yu Tianshuo watched his master with a smile, Dugu Yuan sidled up to him with a shifty look and leaned close to his ear.
"Junior Brother, you think your senior brother's been pretty good to you, right?"
Seeing his senior brother act like that gave Yu Tianshuo goosebumps. He rubbed his shoulders and said to Dugu Yuan,
"Senior Brother, you and I are close. If you need something, just say so. Don't act like that. It's kind of gross."
Dugu Yuan laughed to cover up his embarrassment. After all, he really had looked a little sleazy just then.
He coughed twice, then made his request in a serious tone.
"Junior Brother, your senior brother's counting on you for his eighth and ninth Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Rings."
Hearing that, Yu Tianshuo let out a sigh of relief. He'd thought it was something serious. This was a small matter at most. According to the information they'd obtained, there were three Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts in this space alone.
Since he wasn't going to take them, there'd be enough for the others to share.
As for himself? He'd definitely still absorb them the Dragon King way.
The danger was still considerable, but the rewards were enormous.
Before you continue