At that moment, the pride they had been raised on for years was crushed to pieces.
For the first time, the two of them questioned their own talent. They also wondered whether Luo Chen before them was even human, and which faction had nurtured such a monstrous prodigy.
"Now, do you think I'm qualified?"
Faced with their shock, Luo Chen smiled faintly, bringing them back to their senses.
Yu Tianheng's expression grew thoroughly complicated. He looked up at Luo Chen, his heart a jumble of emotions.
But soon, he took a deep breath. Under Luo Chen's gaze, he released his Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul, and two yellow Soul Rings appeared beneath his feet.
"Then you'd better be ready!"
As the words fell, the First Soul Ring beneath his feet suddenly lit up.
"First Soul Skill, Thunder Dragon Claw!"
As his voice rang out, Yu Tianheng, in Martial Soul Possession, transformed his right arm in an instant into a gigantic dragon claw. Wrapped in the might of Thunderous Might, it struck toward Luo Chen.
Just as Luo Chen had said, he had come today to see for himself just how powerful the world's strongest Beast Martial Soul really was.
So, facing the claw coming straight at him, Luo Chen used no Soul Skill or attack to clash with it.
Instead, he stood firmly in place, several spider legs raised before him in a defensive stance.
He didn't even use his Eight Spider Lances. He simply relied on his Martial Soul and his own body to withstand the attack.
BOOM!!
The crash rang out, and the powerful shock wave from the collision sent dust billowing in every direction.
When the dust settled and everything fell quiet, Yu Tianheng was dumbfounded by what he saw.
"How can you..."
His claw had indeed struck Luo Chen, landing solidly on the spider legs Luo Chen had raised to defend himself.
But that was all.
Yu Tianheng hadn't inflicted even the slightest injury on Luo Chen. Luo Chen had stood stock-still and taken his fully empowered Thunder Dragon Claw head-on.
This was his strongest single-target skill right now!
"What kind of Martial Soul is that?!"
Yu Tianheng asked in shock. He remembered that during sparring at the academy, even Soul Elders and Soul Ancestors would get hurt if they didn't use defensive Soul Skills.
But Luo Chen was completely unharmed?!
What Yu Tianheng didn't know was that although Luo Chen appeared to be only a mere Soul Elder, with all kinds of enhancements and cheats supporting him, ordinary Soul Kings were already no match for him.
If Yu Tianheng had actually managed to hurt him, that would have been the truly astonishing part.
Still, this exchange had earned Yu Tianheng's respect.
The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul was indeed powerful, and the lightning accompanying its attacks was truly domineering.
If they were at the same level, Luo Chen might not dare to take a single-target, power-focused Soul Skill like that with his bare body.
"Death Spider Emperor."
Luo Chen gave Yu Tianheng his answer. As far as he could tell, Yu Tianheng's strength had earned him a response.
At that, Yu Tianheng shook his head firmly, committing the name of the Martial Soul to memory. Then he looked at Luo Chen and continued:
"What's your name?"
"Luo Chen."
Luo Chen answered without the slightest hesitation. There was no need to hide that, either.
So what if his identity was exposed?
Standing behind him now were Qian Daoliu and the entire Worship Hall. Who would dare touch him?
Even if the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan had a hundred times the nerve, they wouldn't dare defy Spirit Hall, let alone face Qian Daoliu.
Yu Tianheng, standing nearby, had already committed the name Luo Chen to memory.
He swore that one day, he would defeat Luo Chen!
After a brief silence, Dugu Yan was the first to come to her senses.
"So, can we...?"
Her words brought Yu Tianheng's thoughts back to the present.
He blinked, glanced at Guang Ling Douluo, who still hadn't moved, then turned his gaze to Luo Chen.
"Senior, and Luo Chen, can we leave now?"
"And our elder?"
Yu Tianheng finally looked at the elder from his clan, who had been kneeling on one knee from beginning to end.
Luo Chen gave Guang Ling Douluo a look, and the pressure bearing down on the Soul Saint elder vanished at once.
Thud!
The moment the pressure disappeared, the exhausted elder collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath.
He looked up at the people before him, his eyes full of bitterness.
Wouldn't it have been better to explain things like this from the start? What could a mere Soul Saint like him possibly do or say in front of Titled Douluo like you?
He grumbled inwardly, but on the surface he put on a fawning expression. He got to his feet, walked over to Guang Ling Douluo, and raised a hand in salute.
"Senior, may we leave now?"
Guang Ling Douluo didn't answer. Instead, he looked at Luo Chen.
Luo Chen furrowed his brows and didn't respond immediately.
That made the three of them tense up all over again.
"Grandpa Guang Ling, do you remember what I wrote in my letter? That the treasured place is surrounded by a vast sea of poisonous miasma?"
Guang Ling Douluo was taken aback, then nodded. He seemed to understand what Luo Chen was planning.
"Dugu Bo—I remember Grandpa telling me about the major factions on the continent. He must be the famous Poison Douluo, right?"
"Then this girl, as Dugu Bo's descendant, must know a great deal about poison, right?"
Luo Chen continued.
Guang Ling Douluo nodded repeatedly beside him.
He now understood completely what Luo Chen intended to do.
After all, he didn't know much about poison. But with his strength, he could ignore ninety percent of the poisons in the world. Chen'er must want to bring the girl along in case anything went wrong.
Although Guang Ling Douluo still wasn't convinced that the treasured place was real, if it was, then, as Luo Chen had said, bringing along an expert who understood poison would indeed help prevent accidents.
After all, if everything was true, Guang Ling Douluo was certain that the poisonous miasma couldn't be some ordinary toxin. Otherwise, even those old monsters among them would have heard of it.
Nearby, Yu Tianheng and the other two didn't quite understand what was going on, but they seemed to have figured out that Guang Ling Douluo and Luo Chen meant to take Dugu Yan with them.
"Senior..."
Before they could say anything else, Guang Ling Douluo took Luo Chen and Dugu Yan with him, and they vanished from the spot at a glance from Luo Chen.
Only a stunned Yu Tianheng, the elder, and one sentence from Luo Chen remained behind.
"I swear on my Martial Soul that I'll bring this elder sister back to Heaven Dou Academy once our journey is over!"
He offered not another word.
Luo Chen didn't want to waste time yakking any longer. Right now, all he wanted was to get his hands on those Immortal Herbs.
By now, Guang Ling Douluo had taken Dugu Yan to another place.
After Luo Chen stuffed the letter into her hands and she finished reading it, she was dumbfounded too.
Th-this... Why did what it described sound so much like her home—her grandfather's herb garden???
Before you continue