Hunting the Sixty-Thousand-Year Medusa Queen!

"Wait..."

"Ziyi, Ye Ziyi?"

"Ye Renxin's daughter, Ye Lingling's mother? Why is she so young? That shouldn't be possible, right?"

"Ye Lingling and Dugu Yan are from the same generation!"

"How could Dugu Xin and Feng Yansha be so much older than Ye Ziyi?"

How could Xia Mu have known that the Dugu Clan had few descendants and a dwindling bloodline? They bore children late, and inheriting their martial souls was exceptionally difficult—it was nowhere near as simple as he had imagined.

Of course, that was the plot from the original work!

The Dugu Family's Jade Phosphor Serpent Poison was extremely domineering. It harmed others before harming its user, making it difficult for them to produce healthy descendants.

In the original work, after Dugu Bo broke through to become a Titled Douluo, he returned to find that his only son had already died from a poison outbreak. Only his granddaughter, Dugu Yan, remained to depend on each other with him.

Dugu Yan's mother had died while giving birth to her long ago, several years earlier.

Judging by the timeline, Feng Yansha had only given birth to Dugu Yan when Dugu Bo was roughly a high-level Soul Douluo.

Now, Dugu Bo had only just advanced to Soul Sage, while Ye Ziyi was merely a young girl. It actually made sense.

"Mmph, mmph~"

"Alright, Father, let's go!"

Ye Ziyi swallowed the pastry in her mouth with difficulty. Only after catching her breath did she speak to Ye Renxin.

"My daughter is mischievous!"

"She has made a fool of herself before everyone."

Ye Renxin's face darkened. His daughter had been spoiled by him, leaving her with a carefree and lively temperament.

"Wow!"

"What a handsome big brother!"

Ye Ziyi leaned forward and stared fixedly at Xia Mu, pink hearts practically appearing in her eyes.

"Let's get acquainted!"

"Ye Ziyi, thirteen years old, a level twenty-four Auxiliary System Grand Soul Master. My martial soul is the Nine-Heart Begonia!"

Ye Ziyi stepped forward and proactively held out her hand.

"Xia Mu!"

"A level thirty-three Assault System Battle Soul Elder. My martial soul is the mutated Light-Hiding Sword!"

Xia Mu responded, but did not reveal his age.

Because he had absorbed three soul rings beyond his limits, Xia Mu did not look like a nine-year-old child at all!

Xia Mu had originally been a transmigrator. Since he had a steady personality, no one in his daily life treated him like a child either.

"A level thirty-three Assault System Battle Soul Elder?"

Everyone was stunned upon hearing that.

"Ahem..."

"His martial soul underwent a beneficial mutation, so his cultivation speed is just a tiny bit faster!"

Liu Yuer hurriedly came to her son's rescue, even revealing some secrets in the process.

"Mutated martial souls truly are blessed by heaven!"

Dugu Bo nodded. After Dugu Xin's martial soul mutated, his cultivation speed had also become much faster than before.

That could be considered a hidden benefit.

"You're so strong!"

"Father said that Auxiliary System Soul Masters should ideally find an Assault System Soul Master as a partner. Would you be willing to become my partner and participate in spirit battles with me?"

With starry eyes, Ye Ziyi asked Xia Mu.

"I never go to the Great Spirit Arena!"

"A sword is a ceremonial weapon, but it is also a weapon of slaughter. Once my sword leaves its sheath, it will not return without tasting blood!"

"Great terror lies between life and death, but great opportunities are hidden there as well. The true combat I believe in is a fight to the death!"

Xia Mu's Light-Hiding Sword had drunk deeply of wolf bandit blood. He had no interest in competitions at the spirit arena.

To him, spirit battles were like children playing house!

"He dared to take up a sword and hunt wolf bandits years ago. The Great Spirit Arena truly isn't suitable for him."

"His sword is too vicious. It isn't suited for competition."

Dugu Bo also admired this boy. He acted decisively and without affectation. He was indeed promising material.

"Hunting wolf bandits?"

After hearing this, Ye Ziyi instantly turned into a fangirl. She was practically about to circle around Xia Mu and bombard him with questions.

"Ah, my head hurts!"

"Wasn't Ye Lingling supposed to be an icy beauty?"

"Why does Ye Ziyi have this kind of personality?"

People's joys and sorrows were never shared. Xia Mu only found Ye Ziyi unbearably noisy.

"You brat!"

"Don't wear that sour face all day!"

"A more lively personality would make you look better."

Xia Feng teased him from the side. It had been a long time since he had seen Xia Mu at a loss, and it felt quite good.

"Ye Ziyi!"

Ye Renxin looked at his daughter. This girl was getting out of hand. She needed to remember that men and women should keep their distance!

Running up to him so eagerly was far too undignified! You're a lady—you need to show some restraint!

"Brother Xia Mu!"

"I'm going home first!"

"Come play at my house when you have time!"

Even as she left, Ye Ziyi did not forget to flirt with Xia Mu. Clearly, she had taken a liking to him!

"Young, handsome, powerful, with a clean background, and born a commoner!"

"Isn't this a match made by heaven?"

Ye Ziyi was very satisfied with Xia Mu. More importantly, he was decisive and ruthless, capable of giving her a strong sense of security.

Because the Nine-Heart Begonia's effects were too heaven-defying, only two Nine-Heart Begonia Soul Masters were allowed to exist in the world!

Ye Renxin had been raised by his grandparents!

Before Ye Renxin was born, his father had willingly embraced death, allowing him to be born.

Overwhelmed by grief, Ye Renxin's mother had also willingly followed her husband in death not long after Ye Renxin was born.

When Ye Ziyi was born, Ye Renxin's grandfather died. This was the fate borne by the Nine-Heart Begonia.

When one person was born, another had to die!

Yet Ye Ziyi knew nothing of any of this.

Ye Renxin looked at his daughter and let out a long sigh. A tear could not help but fall from the corner of his eye.

"Sigh!"

"If she can live carefree for the rest of her life, perhaps that would be a blessing for her."

"Once she marries and has children, Father and Mother should come to take me away as well. Then our family can be reunited."

Ye Renxin looked toward the sky. Like Dugu Bo, he was a man fated for suffering. This was heaven's curse!

Like the red spider lily: when flowers bloom, leaves cannot be seen; when leaves grow, flowers cannot be seen. The two would never meet through life after life.

Heaven Dou City, Xia Family!

"The complete Immortal Herb Catalogue!"

"With this, I can gradually plan for the peerless immortal herbs within the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well!"

"But before that, I need to deal with an obstacle. Otherwise, there will definitely be serious trouble!"

The obstacle Xia Mu spoke of was the Medusa Queen lurking around the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well.

It was a sixty-thousand-year soul beast, with strength comparable to a high-level Soul Sage. It possessed the innate killing technique—Medusa's Gaze—and terrifying petrification abilities.

Even Soul Sages and Soul Douluos could perish on the spot if they were careless. This thing would not be easy to fool.

"A frontal assault? That probably won't work!"

"Even with high-yield Heaven-Shaking Thunder in hand, I'm afraid I still couldn't blow this Medusa to death!"

"If you fail to kill a snake, endless trouble will follow."

"With our current strength, if we went to the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well and pulled something like this, the result would absolutely be death without survival. This is the core region of Sunset Forest. If it triggers a massive beast tide, the consequences would be unimaginable."

"Before a massive beast tide, all lives are equal!"

"Forget Soul Ancestors and Soul Kings—even Soul Sages and Soul Douluos could easily suffer a crushing defeat."

"Build a road openly, then sneak across by another route?"

"That probably won't work either!"

"Our mobility is severely lacking, and such a move would undoubtedly be suicide."

"The Medusa Queen has keen senses. Snakes generally possess infrared detection. Sneaking in would be less realistic than washing up and going to bed early!"

No matter how he considered it, he seemed to have entered a dead end. Xia Mu was frustrated—none of the methods appeared workable!

"It all comes down to lacking strength!"

"If I had the strength of an Ultimate Douluo, forget the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well—even the Demon Whale Sea would be worth a visit. A big fist is the only hard truth!"

Never before had Xia Mu craved strength so desperately.