After Dugu Bo landed below, the angry rebuke he had been about to unleash caught in his throat.
Dugu Bo had never imagined that the intruders in his Poison Array wouldn't be a few lucky Soul Masters, but the Pope of Spirit Hall herself, accompanied by Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo.
Damn it, why had Spirit Hall come here? These weren't petty thieves at all.
They were mighty dragons crossing the river.
And the very kind he least wanted to encounter.
Dugu Bo's expression turned grim.
He looked at Bibi Dong, then at Yue Guan and Gui Mei, already regretting the grand entrance he had made.
If he had known those three were waiting below, he would never have descended step by step like that.
Yue Guan, however, wasn't about to let this opportunity pass.
Looking at Dugu Bo, he said with a beaming smile, "Well, Old Poison Freak, those nine Soul Rings of yours are pretty impressive."
Dugu Bo's mouth twitched.
Yue Guan continued, "Since you've already shown them, let me show you mine."
As soon as he finished speaking, Soul Rings rose beneath Yue Guan's feet.
Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black, black.
Nine Soul Rings circled him, and the aura of the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum spread around them.
Gui Mei said nothing, but his nine Soul Rings appeared the next moment as well.
Both were Titled Douluo, and both had nine Soul Rings.
Two powerful auras bore down from either side, making Dugu Bo's expression even stiffer.
If it had only been Yue Guan, Dugu Bo might not have been so afraid that he couldn't fight.
Even if Yue Guan was stronger than him, Dugu Bo still had his Poison Array to rely on. He wouldn't be entirely helpless.
But Yue Guan and Gui Mei together made for a completely different situation.
The two of them working together were far more than the sum of their parts.
And on top of that, Bibi Dong was standing right there.
Just as the pressure in Dugu Bo's heart continued to mount, Bibi Dong gave a cold snort.
The next moment, nine Soul Rings appeared beneath her feet as well.
The first eight were already enough to shock Dugu Bo, but when he saw Bibi Dong's final Soul Ring, his pupils still contracted sharply.
Red.
A Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring.
The instant that red Soul Ring appeared, the entire mountain valley seemed to fall silent.
Dugu Bo's mouth twitched uncontrollably.
He suddenly felt that his step-by-step descent from above had been like jumping down just to entertain someone.
Three Titled Douluo.
One of them was the Pope of Spirit Hall, with a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring.
With a lineup like this, forget taking his Herb Garden—they could even keep him here if they wanted, and he might not be able to escape.
Dugu Bo forced down his unease and said, "Even if you're from Spirit Hall, forcibly taking someone else's Herb Garden isn't exactly right, is it?"
Even he could hear how weak his words sounded.
But he couldn't just say nothing and hand the place over.
At his words, Yue Guan's smile deepened.
Gui Mei spoke coldly. "If you die here, then no one will know, will they?"
His voice was calm.
That calmness only made it more chilling.
Dugu Bo felt a chill creep down his back.
He knew perfectly well that Gui Mei wasn't merely trying to scare him.
Given Spirit Hall's methods, if they really found him in their way, killing him here and taking over the Herb Garden was certainly something they might do.
Besides, the place was hidden away.
His Poison Array surrounded the valley, and ordinary people couldn't get in at all.
If he died here, no one would find out anytime soon.
Cold sweat had already appeared on Dugu Bo's forehead.
He wasn't afraid of a fight, but this wasn't a question of whether he could fight. He had no chance of winning.
With Yue Guan, Gui Mei, and Bibi Dong working together, he might not even get a chance to run.
Dugu Bo made his decision quickly.
He looked at Bibi Dong and said in a low voice, "If you want my Herb Garden, then take it."
He paused, as though afraid she wouldn't believe him, then added, "I can swear on my Martial Soul that I won't tell anyone what happened today."
Yue Guan raised an eyebrow.
Gui Mei said nothing.
Bibi Dong didn't answer Dugu Bo right away. Instead, she looked at Lu Chen.
"Xiao Chen."
Lu Chen looked up at her.
Bibi Dong said, "This is the place of opportunity you sensed. What do you think we should do?"
At that, Dugu Bo couldn't help looking at Lu Chen too.
Ever since he had appeared, Dugu Bo's attention had been focused almost entirely on Bibi Dong, Yue Guan, and Gui Mei.
After all, none of the three was easy to deal with, and he hadn't had the mind to pay attention to the child standing beside them.
Only now, when Bibi Dong asked Lu Chen for his opinion, did Dugu Bo really look at him.
At first glance, Dugu Bo was startled.
The child looked about seven or eight years old—his physique had grown somewhat after absorbing a Soul Ring—but that wasn't what shocked Dugu Bo. It was the fluctuations of his Soul Power.
Twenty-sixth level.
A child who looked only seven or eight years old already had level twenty-six Soul Power.
What kind of monster was this?
Dugu Bo's eyes shifted.
No wonder Bibi Dong had asked for his opinion.
A genius like this couldn't possibly be an ordinary disciple, even in Spirit Hall.
Lu Chen didn't answer right away. He was also considering how to deal with Dugu Bo.
If he looked at it from the present moment alone, Dugu Bo was willing to hand over the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well and swear on his Martial Soul not to tell anyone. That seemed like enough.
But Lu Chen knew it wasn't that simple.
In the future, during the battle at Jialing Pass, Dugu Bo would use his poison arts to slaughter hundreds of thousands of Spirit Hall's people. That would be an enormous loss for Spirit Hall.
It was something that would happen in the future, but Lu Chen couldn't simply pretend he knew nothing about it.
And there was no denying that Dugu Bo's abilities against large groups were truly terrifying.
In a one-on-one fight, Dugu Bo wasn't particularly strong among the Titled Douluo. But on a large battlefield, his poison arts could be far more effective than those of an ordinary Titled Douluo.
More importantly, he would also become one of Tang San's greatest allies in the future.
Now that Lu Chen had already gotten to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well ahead of time, he couldn't just let Dugu Bo go.
If he let him leave, the future might well return to its original course.
But killing him outright wasn't the best choice either.
Dugu Bo was extremely valuable.
If they could bring him over to their side, he would be a tremendous asset to Spirit Hall.
Lu Chen understood perfectly well that bringing Dugu Bo over was both difficult and simple.
The key wasn't Dugu Bo himself, but the poison afflicting him and his granddaughter, Dugu Yan.
Dugu Bo cultivated the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor's poison, and it had long since seeped deep into his body.
His poison had given him the strength of a Titled Douluo, but the toxins accumulating within him were constantly tormenting him as well.
Dugu Yan was still young, yet she had inherited the same problem from her Jade Phosphorous Serpent Martial Soul.
If the danger posed by the poison wasn't dealt with, she would sooner or later follow the same path.
And the Immortal Herbs in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well might be able to change all of that.
Before you continue