Ambition

Tang San forced himself to calm down and began to analyze; he had to figure out exactly who this Xuan Qing was.

Azure Dragon Martial Soul, a ten-thousand-year third soul ring, and two Title Douluo by his side.

With this kind of strength, it was impossible for an ordinary faction to have cultivated him. So, who was he? Where did he come from? Why was he targeting him?

Tang San could not figure it out.

Could it be... because he possessed Twin Martial Souls, and the other was jealous of him?

Thinking of this possibility, Tang San felt slightly better.

Right!

It must be jealousy—jealousy of his superior talent, jealousy that he possessed Twin Martial Souls.

That was why Xuan Qing had struck so ruthlessly, wanting to destroy him so that Xuan Qing could prove he was the true genius.

Tang San smiled, a smile that looked somewhat twisted.

"Xuan Qing, what use is your jealousy? I, Tang San, will not fall. You ruined my face today, and tomorrow, I will take your life."

He gave no thought to Yu Xiaogang trying to trick Xuan Qing into becoming his disciple, nor did he consider that he had been the one to strike first.

In his heart, others were always wrong; he himself could never be wrong.

If Xuan Qing knew his thoughts, he would surely reply with one sentence.

"Go eat shit! I have two auspicious beast martial souls; why would I envy a blade of grass and a broken hammer?"

Xuan Qing slept until the sun was high in the sky.

After getting up, he went to the living room, where Dugu Bo was drinking tea. Seeing him come out, he chuckled.

"Heh, you slept well, kid. The entire Heaven Dou City was quite lively last night; it was complete chaos."

Xuan Qing sat down opposite him, picked up a cup of tea, and downed it in one gulp.

"What do you mean?"

Dugu Bo replied with a smile.

"It must be that Xue Qinghe reported your affairs. That emperor, Xue Ye, is currently cleaning house. He's purging officials and investigating corruption, starting from the royal family to the nobles and then the officials—he isn't sparing a single one."

Xuan Qing looked bewildered.

"I didn't tell them to do any of that. They're the ones making a fuss; what does that have to do with me?"

Dugu Bo shook his head.

"That doesn't mean they won't think that way. The things you've done over the past two years have already made your stance clear. They are afraid—afraid that you might actually take action. Rather than waiting for you to do it yourself, they'd rather clean up their own act; at least that way, they can save some face."

Xuan Qing curled his lip.

"I suppose that's a good thing, at least. The common people can live a little better and suffer less oppression."

Dugu Bo nodded.

"That is true. Although this old man doesn't care about such things, seeing a scene of prosperity makes me feel a bit better."

"However, you should be careful of those nobles. You've moved their cheese, so they certainly won't let it go. They might not dare to come at you openly, but their underhanded tactics will definitely be numerous."

Hearing this, Xuan Qing once again wore an expression of looking at an idiot.

Dugu Bo was immediately displeased.

"Why are you making that face again, kid? Did I say something wrong?"

Xuan Qing sighed.

"Except for that old dragon Yu Yuanzhen, you are the only Title Douluo in the Heaven Dou Empire. Don't think I look down on you two, but even if you both attacked together, Zi Ji would just have an extra spinning top to play with."

"Uh..."

Dugu Bo was speechless.

Although these words were unpleasant, they were indeed the truth.

A level 93 and a level 95 going to challenge a level 97? Stop joking.

The gap in strength was too great to be made up by numbers.

It was like eighty and one hundred; even added together, they couldn't beat a single, unified one hundred and fifty.

Not to mention that Zi Ji's bloodline suppressed them; if they really fought, it would be a total crushing.

Dugu Bo waved his hand.

"Fine, fine, fine. As long as you know what you're doing. In any case, this old man can't beat that senior, so you handle it yourself."

Meanwhile, within the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, things were not calm either.

One of the guards protecting Yu Tianheng had already reported the first-hand information from the Suotuo City Great Soul Arena to the clan in detail.

This included Xuan Qing defeating seven people, his ten-thousand-year third soul ring, and his Azure Dragon Martial Soul.

Yu Yuanzhen sat in the main seat with a grave expression. He looked at the information in his hand, his brows locked tightly.

"An Azure Dragon that even made Tianheng kneel? A ten-thousand-year third soul ring? Are you sure you didn't see wrong?"

The guard knelt on the ground, speaking in a grave tone.

"I could not have been mistaken. I saw it with my own eyes; Young Master Tianheng knelt on the spot, suppressed by bloodline pressure. According to the intelligence we gathered from the Great Soul Arena, this person is named Xuan Qing, and he personally stated that he went to Suotuo City with Dugu Bo."

Yu Yuanzhen set down the documents and looked at his younger brother, the second-in-command of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, Yu Luomian.

"Big Brother, the grade of this Azure Dragon Martial Soul is definitely far superior to our Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon. We must recruit him into the clan!"

His eyes were terrifyingly bright as he spoke.

"I know, but have you ever heard of an Azure Dragon Martial Soul? There has never been any record of it throughout the history of the entire continent."

"That only proves that the grade of the Azure Dragon Martial Soul is at least on par with the Golden Dragon, or perhaps even a legendary Dragon King level Martial Soul."

Yu Luomian became even more agitated.

"Then we must recruit him all the more! Such a genius, and with a dragon-type Martial Soul at that—it is practically tailor-made for our Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan!"

Yu Yuanzhen let out a cold sneer.

"You think it's that simple, but what about his background? If he had no backing, would that old poison-monger Dugu Bo stand up for him?"

Yu Luomian was stunned.

He had only been thinking about recruitment and hadn't considered that. Now, awakened by his brother's words, he realized the situation was not so simple.

"Then... what should we do? Just let it go?"

Yu Yuanzhen was silent for a moment, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.

"Investigate first. If he has no backing, then deal with Dugu Bo and snatch him and Dugu Yan back together."

"Dugu Yan now possesses the Jade Phosphorous Poison Dragon Martial Soul; although it is not a True Dragon, it is still a top-tier sub-dragon. Taking her as well would not be a loss."

Yu Luomian nodded: "And if he does have backing?"

Yu Yuanzhen's smile grew colder.

"If he does... then we weigh whether it is worth it. If it is, we snatch him even if it means offending others. If not, we destroy him."

"A genius like this cannot be allowed to serve others if he cannot be used by me; otherwise, once he grows up, he will be a great threat."

Yu Luomian deeply agreed: "Big Brother is right. I think we can start with Dugu Yan. If we capture her first, we need not fear them acting recklessly."

"There only needs to be one True Dragon, and that is my Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon. All other dragons must either submit or die."

Yu Yuanzhen nodded.

"Good! You are to take men to the Heaven Dou Royal Academy immediately and bring Dugu Yan back. Remember, she must be alive; she is a bargaining chip and cannot die."

Yu Luomian stood up.

"Understood! Rest assured, Big Brother, I am leaving now."

Just as the two reached an agreement, two hisses suddenly erupted from within Xuan Qing's body inside Dugu Manor.

One was majestic and grand, the other majestic and benevolent, yet both were filled with warning.

Xuan Qing's expression changed, and he stood up abruptly.

Dugu Bo was startled.

"What is it? Why the sudden outburst?"

"Old poison-monger, go to Yanzi immediately! She may be in danger! Go quickly!"

Dugu Bo realized something was wrong as well. Without another word, he shot into the sky and flew toward the Heaven Dou Royal Academy.

This time, he was truly moving at full speed.

Xuan Qing stood where he was, his eyes icy.

As auspicious beasts, the Azure Dragon and Qilin were born with the ability to commune with spirits, ward off evil, and sense malice.

Those two hisses just now were a warning.

Nine times out of ten, someone was targeting him or those around him.

Moreover, the malice was intense; if it were only a trivial amount, those two would never have bothered to react.

Although Zi Ji was by his side, not many people knew of her.

Dugu Bo? As a Title Douluo, who would dare harbor malice toward him now?

That left only him and Dugu Yan. Since that was the case, he would bring them both to the same place.