Heaven Dou City, Star Soul Guidance Shop.
Inside the studio, Chu Men watched Liu Erlong and Xiao Wu clinging tightly to each other, whether bound by sisterly affection or mother-daughter love, and felt a wave of revulsion.
In the livestream chat, a crowd of female fans were moved to tears. Chu Men could only grit his teeth and watch this clichéd emotional drama unfold before him.
"My parents... they're all gone~~"
Xiao Wu's expression turned visibly sorrowful, and her soft sobs melted Liu Erlong's heart.
Liu Erlong set the petite Xiao Wu on her lap and lovingly stroked her trembling shoulders, silently comforting her.
Her fingers curled in without her noticing. Her eyes lowered, and a hint of sadness flickered in their depths.
Meanwhile, Chu Men, standing off to the side without a care in the world, quietly rolled his eyes.
"One's a mother tyrannosaur, the other's a hooligan rabbit, and now they're getting all warm and fuzzy.
"And the way you're crying makes it seem like I, the kidnapper, am some heinous villain!"
Feeling the increasingly bone-chilling glances Liu Erlong kept shooting his way, Chu Men thought that even the frost of June couldn't be any colder.
"Poor child. Don't cry anymore. You're Xiao Wu, right? From now on, you'll stay with your big sister. I'll teach you myself, and I won't let bad people bully you again!"
As she spoke, Liu Erlong shot Chu Men a pointed glare.
This man is bad news!
Let's stay away from him!
"Oh, really?"
Chu Men wasn't about to take that lying down.
So after all that, he'd been working for nothing.
He'd traveled thousands of miles and taken a huge risk, and the kidnapper label had been firmly slapped on him in front of everyone in the livestream.
And in the end, he'd snatched a disciple for someone else?
He hadn't just lost his shirt—he'd lost his underwear too!
And now she was calling her "big sister, big sister"—
Brr~, Chu Men got goosebumps just listening to it!
"No way!"
Chu Men rolled his shoulders and spoke with ringing conviction.
Sure, he'd been flying all night and was a little tired, but he couldn't let the Star Soul Tool Shop lose face!
You want to take her? Not a chance!
Seeing how unwilling Chu Men looked, Liu Erlong knew this brat was asking for a beating again.
She gently settled Xiao Wu into a seat, softly patted her back, then took out a handkerchief woven from black brocade and carefully wiped away her tears. She placed it in Xiao Wu's hand.
"Big sister will get even with him for you!"
Liu Erlong glanced at Chu Men, then turned her back on him with a flourish.
Follow me!
Chu Men understood at once. They were perfectly in sync as he followed right behind Liu Erlong, striding proudly all the way into the courtyard.
He'd already seen Tang Hao in action. Was he supposed to be scared of this mother tyrannosaur?
The two stopped in the courtyard.
The morning breeze stirred, and a green leaf drifted between them.
For the two of them, there wasn't an argument that a fight couldn't settle.
[Are they about to fight?]
[A Soul Ancestor against a Soul Saint? Are you kidding?]
[Wishing the streamer a sound beating! (And tipping a Wish Fulfillment Talisman!)]
The livestream's popularity began to surge.
"Same rules?" Chu Men asked.
"Same rules!" Liu Erlong replied.
Their eyes met. Chu Men activated Martial Soul Possession!
Two yellow and two purple Soul Rings rose into the air.
Four streams of light flew from the Soul Rings into the Inversion Pen in Chu Men's hand, and he promptly poked it against his chest.
Powerful Damage Reversal!
The more you hit me, the stronger I get!
Time to apply the buff!
This was standard procedure for a sparring match. Liu Erlong didn't rush to attack, but waited calmly for Chu Men to finish preparing.
Over the past few months, Chu Men and Liu Erlong had fought no fewer than eighty times.
They knew each other's Martial Soul abilities and fighting styles inside and out. Even the course of their fights and their results had become utterly familiar.
Rather than a duel, this was more like a training session—and one with a foregone conclusion.
Chu Men gave a low shout, pushed off the ground with his calf, and flashed forward. His straight punch, forming the shape of the character "日," tore through the air as it slammed toward Liu Erlong's face.
Perhaps because his Soul Power had increased, Chu Men was even faster than usual.
Liu Erlong didn't even activate her Martial Soul. Her fair palm caught Chu Men's punch without budging an inch.
That was absolute strength crushing all opposition!
[They're fighting! They're fighting!!]
[Sister Erlong, teach this guy a lesson! Make sure he never bullies Xiao Wu again!]
[Sister Erlong is mighty and domineering!] ×999
[May your reign last a thousand autumns, and may you unite the martial world!] ×99
[Holy crap, are you guys the same hype squad that supported Sister Xiao Wu earlier?!]
"Hah! Strength Reversal!"
Chu Men's Martial Soul became a phantom and landed squarely against Liu Erlong's palm.
The effect was immediate!
Liu Erlong's body began to tremble slightly. The strength in her hand weakened by more than a third, but she still held Chu Men's fist fast.
After just a few breaths, Liu Erlong's strength began to recover, and the teasing look on her face grew even more pronounced.
"Your Soul Power still isn't enough!"
Chu Men sighed inwardly. His gaze steadied, and the phantom of the Inversion Pen began darting around Liu Erlong like a ghost.
He didn't expect his Martial Soul to break through her defenses head-on, but it was still quite handy for pulling tricks and disrupting her.
"This damned little thing again!"
Liu Erlong had a love-hate relationship with Chu Men's Martial Soul.
She remembered their first fight. Chu Men had come up with the bizarre idea of reversing the light-blocking effect of Liu Erlong's clothes. After that... she'd spent three days in bed and gained two levels of Soul Power.
Later, when Liu Erlong trained Chu Men, it was partly to vent her anger and partly to improve the agility of her Fire Dragon Martial Soul.
Chu Men held nothing back. The Inversion Pen darted up and down through the air, all kinds of strange reversal effects brewing in its glow of Soul Power.
He waited for Liu Erlong to let her guard down!
Meanwhile, Chu Men faced her head-on, blocking and parrying as best he could, struggling to keep up with her rhythm and withstand the tremendous force of her punches and kicks!
Liu Erlong wasn't using her Soul Power and even had to split her attention to deal with the elusive Inversion Pen. Even so, Chu Men was gradually falling behind in their exchanges.
"Gravity Reversal!" Chu Men shouted, throwing out a feint!
Just as expected, Liu Erlong pulled her fist back and crouched slightly to steady herself.
Now!
The phantom of the Inversion Pen weaving between them joined Chu Men's feint from the front and swept past the tips of Liu Erlong's hair.
A tricky angle, one clean strike, then gone!
The reversal effect activated—
It successfully gave the recording Soul Tool Chu Men had placed in the courtyard a treasured image of "Liu Erlong with an explosive hairstyle."
The fight in the courtyard came to a bizarre halt for several seconds!
The livestream audience burst out laughing.
Even Lin Xiaoyu, who was usually so reserved, covered her lips and giggled.
The amusement in her eyes was impossible to hide!
[That explosive hairstyle is incredible!]
[Hahaha, Sister Erlong must be furious right now!]
[No wonder Liu Erlong said the streamer had all kinds of tricks. He really does!]
Liu Erlong raised a hand and touched her evenly spiked, sea-urchin-shaped hair. Her fingertips suddenly flared with heat, and a dark-red hairline crack split across the flagstones beneath her feet.
Steam hissed from the stone.
Her brows drew together. She activated Martial Soul Possession!
Two yellow, two purple, and three black Soul Rings rose into the air, and behind her appeared the phantom of a crimson Fire Dragon!
[Holy crap, it's Sister Erlong's Fire Dragon Martial Soul!]
[Is the streamer's Martial Soul way too broken? Can it reverse anything?]
[A top-tier Martial Soul has entered the fray. Just waiting for the streamer to get beaten into a pig's head.]
When Chu Men saw Liu Erlong activate her Martial Soul, he immediately felt a crushing pressure.
"Dean, calm down, calm down... Damn it! Temperature Reversal!"
The Inversion Pen struck the fist wrapped in Lie Yan with incredible precision, but the blow consumed nearly half his Soul Power!
It still couldn't stop the fist from smashing heavily into Chu Men's abdomen!
The Fire Dragon's Lie Yan quickly turned into frigid icicles, weakening the force of the blow.
But the bone-piercing cold still pierced through Chu Men's Soul Power barrier, with no loss in its might!
Chu Men hurriedly dodged to the side, but the cold still seeped into him.
Ice rapidly crystallized over Chu Men's torso. In just a few seconds, it had formed a transparent Turtle Shell.
Even the breath Chu Men exhaled carried shards of ice.
"Reverse! Reverse!"
As his resistance to cold increased, Chu Men had less than twenty percent of his Soul Power left!
The cost of fighting a Soul Saint across a major rank was simply too high!
Liu Erlong looked at Chu Men, who seemed to be encased in a crystal tortoise shell shimmering in the sunlight.
For some reason, the soles of her feet began to itch a little...
Before you continue