Three Purple, Two Black-Ever Seen a Five-Ring Soul Ancestor?

Three months.

A full three months.

Dugu Bo felt that he had never been put through so much in his life.

A dignified Titled Douluo, yet over these three months, he had practically become a full-time driver.

He had taken Ye Qing all across the continent.

Sunset Forest, Star Dou Great Forest, Volcanic Zone, Far North Ice Plains... They had only missed checking in at Sea God Island.

"Did I owe you brat money in my past life?"

That was Dugu Bo's soul-searching question while they were in the Far North.

Ye Qing's answer at the time had been, "Senior, think bigger. This is called investing in your future grandson-in-law."

Dugu Bo had nearly performed his Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor Avatar for him on the spot.

But now, standing beside the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well and looking at the black-haired youth before him, Dugu Bo suddenly felt that the past three months of running around had not been such a loss after all.

Ye Qing stood beside the pool.

Soul Power naturally circulated around him as five Soul Rings rose from beneath his feet.

Purple, purple, purple, black, black!

Three months ago, he had been merely a level-ten Soul Scholar without a single Soul Ring.

Three months later, he was already a Soul Ancestor with five Soul Rings and Soul Power as high as level forty.

If news of such an advancement speed got out, the entire Soul Master world would explode.

What Golden Generation, what peerless geniuses—they would all have to step aside before Ye Qing.

"Yanzi, why are you still spacing out?"

Ye Qing withdrew his Soul Rings and turned to look at Dugu Yan.

Dugu Yan stood some distance away, her emerald-green eyes filled with a dazed look.

She had been like this all the way back from the Far North Ice Plains, as though her soul had wandered elsewhere.

Hearing Ye Qing call her, she snapped back to her senses, her expression incomparably complicated.

"I just..."

Her voice was slightly hoarse. "I'm not quite used to it."

"Not used to what?"

"Not used to... you already being stronger than me."

There was a trace of bitterness in Dugu Yan's tone, but even more than that was pride in Ye Qing's accomplishments.

"Three months ago, you weren't even a Soul Master. Now you're level forty, while I'm only level thirty-eight."

"Sigh, you've completely surpassed me."

"Well..." Ye Qing rubbed his nose. "Maybe that's the power of love?"

Dugu Yan: "..."

She decided to take back the pride she had just felt.

This guy was still the same punchable guy. No matter how high his level became, he could not change that rotten attitude.

"Calling you a freak would be more accurate."

"Then you're a freak's wife. Neither of us gets to look down on the other."

Dugu Yan shot him a fierce glare, but the tips of her ears quietly turned red.

Dugu Bo coughed from the side. "You two, do you really think I don't exist?"

"Every single day, you just never stop!"

The two of them were always getting all lovey-dovey, which was also why Dugu Bo had become so exhausted.

"How could we dare?"

Ye Qing immediately turned serious. "This junior will always remember Senior's hard work over the past three months."

"Cut the act."

Dugu Bo interrupted him irritably, though a trace of emotion flashed through his emerald-green eyes.

"Helping you hunt Soul Beasts was my own decision."

"But honestly, even I never expected your Martial Soul to be so picky."

Picky.

That word was absolutely accurate.

Over the past three months, Dugu Bo had taken Ye Qing everywhere to hunt Soul Beasts.

He had thought they only needed to find a few with suitable cultivation years.

But what happened?

The Chaos Green Lotus had extremely demanding requirements for Soul Ring attributes. It possessed the strange trait of determining for itself whether a Soul Ring was suitable.

Only Soul Rings that met its requirements could resonate with it and be absorbed.

As for Soul Rings with unsuitable attributes, the Chaos Green Lotus seemed not even interested in absorbing them.

In order to find suitable Soul Beasts, Dugu Bo had no choice but to take Ye Qing on long journeys.

The Frost Mysterious Turtle of the Far North Ice Plains, the Blazing Vermilion Toad of the Volcanic Zone...

Though it had been tiring, the gains were real enough.

"Five Soul Rings—three purple and two black."

Dugu Bo stood with his hands behind his back, a complicated light in his emerald-green eyes.

"Brat, do you know what that Soul Ring configuration of yours means?"

"It means I'm a little stronger than Soul Masters of the same level."

"A billion times stronger," Dugu Bo corrected.

Ye Qing grinned.

Of course he knew what it meant.

In the original story, Tang San's initial Soul Ring configuration had been yellow, yellow, purple, black, black.

His first two hundred-year Soul Rings were because his starting point had been low. It was only from his fourth ring onward that they were all over ten thousand years old.

But what about him?

His very first ring had been a thousand-year purple ring, and from his fourth ring onward, they had been ten-thousand-year black rings.

This configuration was even more extravagant than Tang San's at the same point in the original story.

Not to mention that he also had the talent of Double Soul Rings.

"You should still be able to obtain your sixth Soul Ring now, right?"

"Your fifth Soul Ring is forty thousand years old. If you get two sixty-thousand-year rings for your sixth and seventh Soul Rings, you might directly break through from level forty to level fifty, becoming a Soul King."

Ye Qing blinked at Dugu Bo. "So, Senior Dugu Bo wants to help me hunt a sixty-thousand-year sixth Soul Ring right now?"

"..."

Dugu Bo's eyelids twitched wildly. He gave an awkward laugh and said, "Ahem, we can put that matter aside for now."

"After all, Soul Beasts suitable for you and over sixty thousand years old aren't that easy to find, are they?"

Just thinking about it gave Dugu Bo a headache.

The Soul Rings his future grandson-in-law wanted were already over sixty thousand years old.

Once Ye Qing became a Soul King or Soul Emperor, would he not need eighty- or ninety-thousand-year Soul Rings?

These old bones of his could not endure being worked like this.

At that thought, Dugu Bo narrowed his eyes, and a dangerous curve slowly formed at the corner of his lips.

"Brat, don't forget what we agreed on earlier. Once we came back, I was going to properly test your strength."

"I've spent these three months helping you hunt Soul Beasts, watching your Soul Ring configuration become more and more outrageous. I've been itching to do this for ages."

Seeing the expression on Dugu Bo's face that practically said, I've finally got you now, Ye Qing's heart skipped a beat.

Oh no!

This old man would not really use this chance to settle a personal grudge, would he?

"Senior, a test is fine, but I trust you won't hit too hard, right?"

"Hehe. You can go all out, but whether I can hold back... that's hard to say."

"You're a Titled Douluo, and I'm only level forty!"

"What, are you scared?"

"..."

Great. The old man was even using provocation now.

It seemed he could not avoid this beating.

Ye Qing hurriedly shot Dugu Yan a look, asking for help.

Dugu Yan immediately understood and switched into protective-wife mode. "Grandpa, no settling personal grudges!"

"Yanyan, how is this settling a personal grudge? I'm helping him test his strength."

"You said the same thing last time when you tested Ye Qing's Hundred Poisons Immunity!"

Dugu Yan stood in front of Ye Qing with her arms spread wide, her emerald-green eyes filled with displeasure.

Dugu Bo's mouth twitched as he watched his granddaughter act like a maniac protecting her husband.

Well then, she had not even married him yet, and her elbow was already bent outward.

"Grandpa, if you bully Ye Qing again, I'll use the Eighteen Styles!" Dugu Yan's face instantly flushed bright red.

"???"

Dugu Bo immediately stopped smiling.

Eighteen Styles?

Thinking of the Eighteen Styles of Handling the Old Man, Dugu Bo's heart began to twitch violently.

Grandfather and granddaughter glared at each other, and the scene became incredibly awkward for a moment.

Standing behind Dugu Yan, Ye Qing raised a hand. "Senior, Yanzi, could you two stop arguing first—"

"Shut up!"

Both of them turned and shouted at him at the same time.

"!"

Ye Qing immediately covered his mouth.

Dugu Yan took a deep breath, turned back to face Dugu Bo, and softened her tone somewhat. "Grandpa, testing him is fine, but you can't hit too hard."

"Don't worry, I know my limits."

Seeing a way out, Dugu Bo hurriedly waved his hand and took it.

Then he beckoned to Ye Qing. "Brat, come with me."