Seven Treasures City truly was the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's stronghold.
Although the city was nowhere near as enormous as Shrek City, it was still magnificent by the standards of the Douluo Continent.
People streamed through the city gates without pause. Merchants, Soul Masters, and ordinary folk came and went, making the place bustling with activity.
Gu An gazed at the city, his eyes glittering.
At last, they had arrived.
The plan could officially begin.
He took a deep breath, then turned to Leng Yaozhu and spoke crisply.
"Sister Yaozhu."
"Release your Martial Soul."
Leng Yaozhu nodded at Gu An's words.
She didn't like bullying the weak.
With her strength as a Limit Douluo, putting pressure on a sect that didn't even have a Titled Douluo was hardly something to be proud of.
But for Gu An, she could make an exception.
She stepped forward.
The next moment—
"Wreee!"
A Sky Phoenix's cry rang out across Seven Treasures City.
Immediately afterward, the aura of a Limit Douluo swept out without the slightest restraint.
The pressure of a ninety-ninth-level Soul Master enveloped the entire city.
Every person in Seven Treasures City felt that overwhelming, higher-order presence pressing down on them from the depths of their souls.
Within the city.
The vendors looked utterly bewildered.
"W-what's going on?"
The young shop assistant beside one of them was trembling so badly that he dropped onto his backside.
"I-I don't know! My legs have gone weak!"
Ordinary people couldn't tell how powerful someone was.
But the Soul Masters in the taverns could.
Their faces turned deathly pale in an instant.
"A Titled Douluo!"
"What?"
"That's the aura of a Titled Douluo! There's no mistake! I felt it once in Shrek City!"
"And it's no ordinary Titled Douluo! That pressure... it's too powerful!"
Across Seven Treasures City, people ran and shouted, and chaos reigned.
Just as everyone was at a loss about what to do, a cool, clear voice rang in every person's ears.
"The head of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, come and meet me."
Naturally, the people inside the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect heard it too.
Ning Tian's mother, Ning Qingyun, was the sect's leader.
At level seventy-nine, she felt her breathing catch under the pressure of the Titled Douluo's aura.
But an old man seated below her abruptly sprang to his feet, his beard and hair bristling, his face full of shock.
Wu Feng's grandfather, Wu Yunshan.
"A Titled Douluo!"
Ning Qingyun gripped the armrests of her chair tightly, her expression turning ghastly.
Wu Yunshan turned to her and said in a low voice,
"Sect Master, I'm afraid... the visitor means us no good."
Ning Qingyun pushed down the tumult in her heart and forced herself to stay calm.
Of course she knew the visitor meant them no good.
A Titled Douluo had arrived uninvited, stood at her doorstep, released his pressure, and then called for her by name.
How was that friendly?
If Ning Qingyun couldn't see that, she had no business being sect leader.
Once the pressure subsided, she stood and gave her orders at top speed.
"Elder Wu, go notify Shrek Academy at once and ask them to send people to help us."
Wu Yunshan nodded solemnly. "Rest assured, Sect Master. I'll go right away."
He turned and left.
Ning Qingyun watched him go and let out a long sigh.
Troubled times indeed.
She hoped Shrek Academy would send someone.
That was what she told herself, but a bitter smile tugged at her lips.
She knew perfectly well that the chances of anyone coming were slim.
The scraps of goodwill left from ten thousand years ago had been worn away over generation after generation.
All that remained between the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and Shrek Academy was polite lip service.
Otherwise, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect wouldn't have been left without even a single Titled Douluo.
Ning Qingyun closed her eyes, and a name surfaced in her mind.
Ning Rongrong.
Ancestor...
Why had the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect declined more and more after you became a god?
She didn't understand.
Or rather, deep down, she had an inkling—but she didn't dare let herself think in that direction.
Ning Qingyun opened her eyes, pushed aside her scattered thoughts, and straightened her clothes.
Then, guided by the direction of the Soul Power fluctuation, she set off alone.
Bring people?
Who would she bring?
Facing a Titled Douluo, bringing any number of people would only send them to their deaths.
It was better to go alone. At least she could show some sincerity.
After following the Soul Power's guidance for a while,
Ning Qingyun finally saw the source of the voice.
Three people stood before her.
Two women and a child.
Both women looked far too young, and both were stunningly beautiful.
Ning Qingyun's gaze swept quickly across them, and her pupils contracted slightly.
She didn't recognize them.
As the current leader of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, she had met nearly every Titled Douluo of any renown on the continent.
Even if she hadn't met them in person, she had seen their portraits and knew what they looked like.
But she had never seen the red-haired woman before.
Surely that little one, who looked younger than her daughter, couldn't be a Titled Douluo.
Ning Qingyun cast the absurd thought from her mind, composed herself, and bowed respectfully.
"Your Excellency, I am Ning Qingyun, leader of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect."
"May I ask what you require of me?"
She kept her posture very low.
There was no harm in being humble when facing a Titled Douluo.
What surprised her was that neither of the two adults spoke next.
It was the child.
Gu An sized her up a few times. This woman was really beautiful.
So why did Ning Tian look so strange?
Her cross-dressing was truly bizarre—she looked even worse than Nanmen Yun'er in the animated series.
Still, he had better deal with the matter at hand first.
He spoke coolly. "You're Sect Master Ning, right?"
"I'm not going to beat around the bush. I'll tell you directly why we came."
"Join my faction."
Ning Qingyun nearly lost control of her expression at his words.
She blurted out,
"What do you mean?"
She even forgot to maintain a sect leader's composure, her voice rising several pitches.
Join his faction?
A child who didn't even look ten?
Leng Yaozhu parted her red lips, her voice calm and cool.
"Of course, it means your Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect would become a vassal."
She paused and tilted her head slightly.
"Or, you could call it a partnership."
"We're going to establish a new academy."
A web of creases appeared at the corners of Ning Qingyun's elegant face.
A vassal?
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had never been anyone's vassal—not in the ten thousand years since its founding.
Their ancestor, Ning Rongrong, had raised the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect to the position of the greatest auxiliary sect in the world.
Now a Titled Douluo from who-knew-where had shown up with a child and demanded that the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect become their vassal.
Did the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect have no pride?
Leng Yaozhu seemed to know what Ning Qingyun was thinking.
The corners of her lips curved slightly as she took a step forward.
Her crisp footfall rang out, jolting Ning Qingyun from her thoughts.
Then she saw a sight she would never forget for the rest of her life.
Soul Rings rose slowly around Leng Yaozhu, one after another.
Her very first Soul Ring was black!
Ning Qingyun's pupils contracted sharply.
Her lips moved as if she wanted to speak, but not a single word came out.
And that wasn't all.
The next six Soul Rings were all black, Ten Thousand Year Soul Rings!
Ning Qingyun swallowed, her mouth dry.
A bitter thought crept into her mind. There won't be more, will there...
When the seventh Soul Ring lit up, a scarlet glare stabbed at Ning Qingyun's eyes.
She was completely dumbfounded.
Six black and three red.
Nine Soul Rings floated around Leng Yaozhu, rising and falling.
The glow of the Soul Rings cast a scarlet sheen across Ning Qingyun's beautiful face.
"Six black and three red!!!!"
What kind of monstrous Soul Ring configuration was this?!