The IQ of the Soul Master world is worrying

Dugu Bo flew ahead like a rabbit running for its life, pushing his speed to the limit and pouring out his soul power as if it were worthless.

He was truly anxious, his heart burning with urgency. His granddaughter was still in Suotuo City, and Tang Hao might be there too—how could he remain calm?

Zi Ji followed alongside with Xuan Qing, maintaining a pace that was neither fast nor slow. Watching Dugu Bo's frantic display, Zi Ji couldn't help but shake her head.

Xuan Qing couldn't bear to watch any longer either.

"Old Poison, don't fly so fast. If you keep this up, your soul power will be bottomed out before you even reach Suotuo City."

Dugu Bo didn't even look back, roaring directly, "Don't just stand there and talk without feeling the pain! If it were your wife, you'd be even more anxious than I am!"

Zi Ji's face flushed red upon hearing this, and she turned her head away, not daring to look at Xuan Qing at all.

Xuan Qing, however, didn't notice Zi Ji's unusual reaction.

"Let me give you a piece of information: Tang Hao's son, Tang San, is at the Shrek Academy in Suotuo City."

Dugu Bo slowed his pace.

"Shrek? What kind of place is that?"

Seeing him slow down, Xuan Qing began to explain.

"It's an academy founded by the Flight Corner of the Golden Iron Triangle, Flender, but they aren't even officially registered."

"To be frank, it's just an academy built by a bunch of unemployed vagrants and street thugs. Their teaching staff is quite... touching."

Dugu Bo's eyes widened, his expression one of having seen a ghost.

"What the hell? An academy built by street thugs? Can you explain that clearly?"

Xuan Qing didn't hide anything from him.

"It's exactly as it sounds. You should know the Immovable Bright King, Zhao Wuji, right? That wanted criminal from Martial Soul Hall—never mind how he ended up on the wanted list, but he is indeed a wanted criminal, and he is the vice-dean of Shrek Academy."

Dugu Bo was even more bewildered.

"Did Tang Hao get water in his brain? Why would he send his own son to a place like that?"

Xuan Qing shrugged.

"Birds of a feather, I suppose. Tang San's kowtowed master is that fame-seeking Wisdom Corner, Yu Xiaogang—the son of that old dragon Yu Yuanzhen who was expelled from the clan."

Dugu Bo frowned.

"I know all of this. Can you tell me something I don't know?"

Xuan Qing thought for a moment.

"Simply put, Tang Hao is just a brute who only knows how to swing a hammer. The Clear Sky Sect has trained their muscles into their brains."

"To put it another way, their heads are full of holes; besides swinging their arms and wielding hammers, they know nothing else."

Dugu Bo's old face twitched violently. These words were... incredibly biting, yet they seemed to hold a grain of truth.

Xuan Qing continued his analysis: "Add to that Tang Hao's desire to destroy Martial Soul Hall. His son taking Yu Xiaogang as a master makes him the grand-disciple of Yu Yuanzhen."

"Even if Yu Yuanzhen expelled this son from the clan, he can't possibly deny the connection. This layer of relationship can be leveraged."

"So, as long as they haven't clashed yet, everything is manageable. Besides, Shrek only participates in soul fighting at night; we still have two hours."

Xuan Qing looked at the sky: "Two hours—no matter what, we will arrive by then. Don't be anxious; it won't help."

Dugu Bo took a few deep breaths, forcing himself to calm down. He slowed his speed further, as his soul power consumption had indeed been too high.

Yet, his heart remained uneasy, and he asked again, "Is the Clear Sky Sect really that brainless? That's impossible, right? How brilliant and talented was Tang Chen back in the day?"

"He reached the level of a Peerless Douluo in his fifties and even created peerless techniques like Ring Detonation and the Great Sumeru Hammer. Can that be considered brainless?"

Xuan Qing shook his head.

"You only see the surface. I told you about the Clear Sky Twin Stars hunting soul beasts for soul bones, right? Then guess whether Tang Chen hunted Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts on a massive scale?"

"Even with the best talent and no bottlenecks, soul power accumulation takes time, doesn't it? You know very well how long it takes for a Title Douluo to level up."

Dugu Bo froze. As a Title Douluo, he naturally knew exactly how long it took to advance each level.

Even with his current Soul Core, he had barely broken through to level 93, and the total amount of soul power required for each level of a Title Douluo was an astronomical figure.

Seeing him stunned, Xuan Qing didn't stop.

"At Tang Chen's age, if he wasn't supported by a full set of soul bones over eighty thousand years old, he would have had to be a Fallen One. Otherwise, it defies the common sense of cultivation. Which one do you think Tang Chen was?"

Dugu Bo fell completely silent. Upon careful reflection, he felt that what Xuan Qing said... made perfect sense!

"As for Ring Detonation and the Great Sumeru Hammer? Those are just techniques. Their effects are actually similar to attribute-boosting soul skills."

"You also know that after an attribute boost, the increase in all stats is real, but the pressure on the body is not small. Otherwise, why would they hunt soul beasts so aggressively for soul bones?"

"They even stipulated that unless one is the sect leader's successor, they are forbidden from learning Ring Detonation."

"Isn't it because they are worried that once everyone learns it, high-quality soul beasts will be wiped out? Even if they don't become the public enemy of the entire soul master world, how many generations do you think they could pass it down?"

"Soul beast growth is calculated in units of thousands or ten-thousands of years, while soul masters grow in centuries. They can reach four, five, or even six generations in that time. No matter how fast soul beasts grow, they can't keep up with the growth rate of soul masters."

Dugu Bo was completely convinced. He had never thought about it from this perspective before, but now, with this point, everything became clear.

The look he cast toward Xuan Qing was complex.

"How do you know so much?"

Xuan Qing looked at him as if he were an idiot and said nothing, but that gaze clearly conveyed: Does that even need asking?

Dugu Bo grew somewhat annoyed at being looked at this way.

"What kind of look is that? Let me tell you, if you don't explain yourself clearly to this old man, even if I can't beat your senior, I'll still risk my life to fight you!"

This time, Xuan Qing let out a long, truly helpless sigh.

"The intelligence of the entire soul master world is worrying these days. Let me give you two examples, and you'll understand why I say that."

"First, when you fight against Clear Sky Hammer soul masters, do you all just charge straight into the hammer?"

Dugu Bo thought for a moment: "Isn't that right? If you don't attack the weapon, are you supposed to attack the person?"

Xuan Qing was completely speechless.

"And that is why I say the intelligence of the soul master world is worrying! Can't you just bypass the hammer head and strike the person? Do you have to take your head and smash it against the hammer, just to see if your skull is harder than his weapon?"

Dugu Bo's old face flushed red, because every recorded battle against the Clear Sky Hammer had basically been fought that way, including when he was young.

"Second, we will likely run into Ning Fengzhi on this trip."

Dugu Bo's body swayed, and he nearly fell from the sky.

"What was that? Ning Fengzhi? What would he be doing there?"

His brain was truly buzzing now; his CPU was running at full capacity. How did all these things connect?

"Ning Fengzhi's daughter, Ning Rongrong, is also at that academy. The little princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect is attending Shrek."

"Do you think our trip to the Heaven Dou Royal Academy can be kept from him?"

Dugu Bo failed to fly steadily this time and plummeted from the sky before frantically catching himself and flying back up.

He widened his eyes, his face clearly asking: Are you trying to bluff me?

"Setting aside the fact that Tang Hao has no brains, isn't Ning Fengzhi supposed to be exceptionally shrewd as the Sect Master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect?"

Xuan Qing shook his head.

"Remember, Old Poison, being calculating doesn't necessarily mean having a brain. You know Qian Daoliu and Qian Xunji, right? Why do you think they lost to Tang Chen and Tang Hao?"

Dugu Bo shook his head; he truly did not know.

"Regardless of their character, when it came to combat, they were absolute idiots. They didn't even understand the principle of using one's strengths to attack the opponent's weaknesses."

"The Six-Winged Angel has light, fire, and holy attributes, and they even use swords. Instead of using those wings to fly far away and wear the enemy down, they insisted on taking that broken sword and hacking it directly against the hammer."

"Go ask a blacksmith; do you think a master smith would take a hammer and smash it against your head?"

Dugu Bo imagined the scene, and it was indeed true. What sane person would take a forged blade and hack it against a hammer? Wouldn't that be stupid?

The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. Although this kid was young and had a sharp tongue, he saw things with true clarity.

The sun set, painting the horizon in shades of orange-red. The three of them finally arrived over Suotuo City.

Dugu Bo was about to dive down when Xuan Qing grabbed him. "Don't be rash. The enemy is in the shadows, and we are in the light. Just ensure your granddaughter is safe."

"We should follow in secret and observe the situation first. Appearing prematurely might alert the enemy."

Although Dugu Bo was anxious, he knew Xuan Qing was right. He suppressed his impulse and nodded: "I'll listen to you."