A Ten-Thousandfold Return for Taking Disciples: Starting from Battle Through the Heavens

Now that the Twin-Winged Scarlet Qilin King had made its move, and its opponents were two Dou Emperors, it had clearly realized that these two were after its disciple.

As for Hai Bo Dong's aura, Qin Hao had not sensed it. If nothing unexpected had happened, Hai Bo Dong should have stayed behind to protect Xiao Yan and the others.

Without hesitation, Qin Hao violently flapped his Dou Qi wings. His speed instantly increased severalfold as he shot toward the Twin-Winged Scarlet Qilin King.

With his full power unleashed, Qin Hao reached the battlefield in no time.

Ahead, two figures were fleeing frantically in a pitiful state, while the Twin-Winged Scarlet Qilin King pursued them relentlessly from behind.

Qin Hao sensed the auras of the two figures ahead. Both were Dou Emperors—one a five-star Dou Emperor, the other a six-star Dou Emperor.

Under normal circumstances, opponents of this level would clearly be no match for the Twin-Winged Scarlet Qilin King.

However, these two Dou Emperors were obviously allies, and they worked together with great coordination. That was the only reason they had managed to hold out until now.

Still, they had clearly reached their limits. If this continued, they would definitely lose within a minute.

"Is that... the Eight-Winged Black Serpent Emperor?"

Qin Hao's gaze settled on one of the two figures ahead.

It was a massive serpent nearly thirty zhang long. Its entire body was pitch-black, and four pairs of wings grew from its back. When fully spread, those wings had the texture of black metal.

At its head was a vague crown-shaped pattern formed by colorful markings. Qin Hao recognized it almost instantly—it was indeed the Eight-Winged Black Serpent Emperor.

The moment he identified it, Qin Hao understood their origins. If nothing unexpected had happened, they were both from the Heavenly Serpent Palace. The woman in green must have been Green Barbarian, who had appeared in the original story.

Since they had appeared here and were being hunted by the Twin-Winged Scarlet Qilin King, how could Qin Hao fail to guess their earlier intentions?

He had never expected that, even after taking Qinglin away two or three years early and leaving Stone Desert City, he would still encounter people from the Heavenly Serpent Palace here in Desert City.

He did not know whether it was a coincidence or the inertia of fate...

"No matter the reason, since you dared set your sights on Qinglin, I cannot spare you!"

A cold glint flashed in Qin Hao's eyes. Although the other side had a considerable background, he had no fear of them.

The next moment, Qin Hao appeared directly on the battlefield.

When both sides saw Qin Hao appear, their eyes lit up. White Fang and Green Barbarian revealed excited expressions, as though they had seized a lifeline in the depths of despair.

As for the Twin-Winged Scarlet Qilin King, amusement flickered in its eyes as it looked at them like they were already dead.

"Young master, please lend us a hand. We are members of the Heavenly Serpent Palace. As long as you help us, the Heavenly Serpent Palace will certainly reward you generously!"

Green Barbarian's voice rang out at once, carrying a seductive undertone.

At the same time, the two of them shot rapidly toward Qin Hao.

Seeing the movements of the Heavenly Serpent Palace pair, Qin Hao sneered. Then the Dou Qi within him began to surge violently.

"Crimson Flame Profound Heaven Finger!"

The mid-tier Earth-class Dou Technique activated instantly. This was the Dou Technique returned from the Crimson Flame Finger, and its power was more than a hundred times greater than the original.

A terrifying gigantic finger of flame materialized from thin air in the sky, carrying an overwhelming aura that seemed capable of crushing everything as it descended upon Green Barbarian and White Fang.

Under the pressure of that terrifying flaming finger, even the space around it began to twist violently, as though the entire area were about to be torn apart.

"What!? How dare you?"

"We're from the Heavenly Serpent Palace! You actually dare attack us!?"

Green Barbarian and White Fang's faces instantly turned deathly pale, their eyes filled with disbelief.

They had clearly never expected Qin Hao not only to refuse to help them, but to attack them without hesitation.

The Twin-Winged Scarlet Qilin King alone had already forced them into such a miserable state. With another terrifying existence like Qin Hao added to the mix, their predicament was obvious.

"Idiots. You actually asked my master to help you deal with me? Were your brains kicked by a donkey?"

The Twin-Winged Scarlet Qilin King grinned smugly, its tone full of mockery.

"What!? Master?"

"Damn it, you're actually on the same side!"

Upon hearing the Twin-Winged Scarlet Qilin King's words, their expressions became even uglier.

The Twin-Winged Scarlet Qilin King was already so terrifying. One could only imagine how horrifying Qin Hao, its master, must be.

"Damn it, let's risk it all!"

The next moment, madness flashed in their eyes, and their auras instantly became incomparably violent. They had clearly used some forbidden technique to temporarily raise their strength.

Two terrifying Dou Techniques met Qin Hao's attack head-on.

"Trying to stop a chariot with a mantis arm! You overestimate yourselves!"

Qin Hao's expression grew even more disdainful.

Qin Hao was now a six-star Dou Emperor. He cultivated the Chaotic Heaven-Devouring Art, which far surpassed Heaven-class, and his physique had transformed into the Pure Yang Sacred Body. Combined with this Earth-class Dou Technique...

At this moment, even ordinary Dou Ancestors would not dare take Qin Hao's attack lightly, let alone two Dou Emperors.

"Boom! Boom! Boom..."

In an instant, amid a series of terrifying explosions, the massive flaming finger slammed into the pair's Dou Techniques. Yet in only a moment, their techniques were crushed to pieces by that single finger.

The terrifying giant finger continued without losing momentum, descending directly upon them.

"Bang! Bang!"

With two dull impacts, Green Barbarian and White Fang were instantly sent flying like kites with snapped strings.

Their bodies smashed violently into the ground, leaving behind two enormous craters.

Green Barbarian, dressed in green, twitched twice on the ground before falling still. Her aura quickly faded away. She was clearly beyond saving.

As for the Eight-Winged Black Serpent Emperor beside her, its original body was a sixth-tier magical beast, so its physical strength was far greater than Green Barbarian's.

Thus, it had not died immediately.

However, although the Eight-Winged Black Serpent Emperor had survived, it was in an incomparably miserable state. Its nearly thirty-zhang-long body was covered in mangled flesh, with patches of stark white bone exposed everywhere.

Its four pairs of wings had exploded completely. Its massive body kept twitching, and its aura had become extremely weak.

With just a casual strike, two mid-stage Dou Emperors had been left with one dead and one severely injured.

Moreover, the reason the Eight-Winged Black Serpent Emperor had survived was not only because of its powerful magical beast body. More importantly, Qin Hao had held back.

Of course, Qin Hao had not held back because he intended to let it go. He simply did not want to kill it so easily.

The Eight-Winged Black Serpent Emperor was a serpent-type magical beast, while his disciple Qinglin possessed the Green Serpent Three-Flower Eyes. Qin Hao intended to have the Eight-Winged Black Serpent Emperor keep the Twin-Headed Fire Spirit Serpent company. Once the time was right, he would hand them all over to Qinglin's control.

Qin Hao then casually sealed the Dou Qi within the Eight-Winged Black Serpent Emperor. With a thought, he suppressed it into a corner of the World Ring, where it temporarily joined the Twin-Headed Fire Spirit Serpent.

Seeing this, the Twin-Winged Scarlet Qilin King also revealed a deeply shocked expression. It had clearly been stunned by the terrifying strength Qin Hao had just displayed.

When it had first met Qin Hao, Qin Hao had only been at the Dou King level. He had only managed to subdue it by relying on favorable timing, location, and circumstances.

Yet in less than two months, Qin Hao's strength had risen to such a terrifying level. How could it not be shocked?

If it had taken that attack in their place, its outcome probably would not have been much better.

"Greetings, Master!"

The Twin-Winged Scarlet Qilin King quickly suppressed the shock in its heart and hurried over to Qin Hao.

To it, the stronger Qin Hao was, the greater the benefits it would receive.

"Mm. What happened earlier? How did you end up clashing with them?"

Although Qin Hao already had some guesses, he still asked.

"They came looking for us themselves. Their target was Young Mistress Qinglin. They seemed to have some special sense for Young Mistress Qinglin's Green Serpent Three-Flower Eyes bloodline.

"They broke into Young Mistress Qinglin's room and tried to forcibly take her away, saying they wanted to bring her to the Heavenly Serpent Palace to cultivate. The Ice Emperor and I stopped them. After they sensed my strength, they began to flee.

"To prevent them from luring us away from the mountain, I came after the two of them, while the Ice Emperor remained with the young masters and young mistresses!"

The Twin-Winged Scarlet Qilin King briefly explained what had happened.

"So that's how it is... Heavenly Serpent Palace... Hmph! You truly haunt me like ghosts. You dared set your sights on my disciple. I'll remember this debt, and one day I'll make you pay the price!"

Qin Hao spoke in an icy voice.

The Heavenly Serpent Palace had not appeared much in the original story, but its strength was clearly not weak—in fact, it was very powerful. It was highly possible that the Heavenly Serpent Palace contained an existence at the Dou Venerate level.

Leaving Desert City! An Uninvited Guest!

A force like that was absolutely overlord-class in a place like the Northwestern Region. Although Qin Hao's strength had now greatly increased and he did not think much of Dou Ancestor experts...

He did not have much confidence when facing a Dou Venerate.

In the Dou Qi Continent, the Dou Ancestor realm was a dividing line. Before reaching Dou Ancestor, the gap between major realms was not too absurd. For some gifted cultivators, challenging opponents above their level was not rare.

But once one entered the Dou Ancestor realm, everything changed. After becoming a Dou Ancestor, one began to grasp the use of spatial power, gaining abilities such as walking through the air, distorting space, and sealing space.

Those in the Dou Ancestor realm possessed absolute suppression over anyone below Dou Ancestor. Only because Qin Hao had cheats could he cross an entire major realm and fight a Dou Ancestor.

Even Xiao Yan from the original story, at the same realm, would still be far from Qin Hao's combat power even if he used his ultimate Buddha's Fury Lotus.

As for Dou Venerates... if Dou Ancestors merely began to manipulate spatial power, then Dou Venerates truly controlled it.

Dou Venerate experts could tear through space, travel through space, use spatial strangulation, set spatial locks and spatial prisons, establish spatial wormholes, and withstand spatial storms—among other high-level techniques.

Compared to Dou Ancestors, this was another enormous transformation.

Therefore, after reaching the Dou Ancestor realm, the gap between every level far exceeded anything before it. The farther one advanced, the more terrifying the difference between two realms became.

At present, Qin Hao truly had little confidence in defeating a Dou Venerate, let alone killing one.

Thus, Qin Hao merely put the Heavenly Serpent Palace on his list for now. Once his strength was sufficient, he would seek an explanation from them.

After removing Green Barbarian's storage ring, Qin Hao released crimson-gold flames that instantly enveloped her corpse. Before long, she was reduced to ashes.

"Not bad at all!"

After checking Green Barbarian's storage ring, Qin Hao revealed a satisfied expression. As a Dou Emperor expert of the Heavenly Serpent Palace, Green Barbarian naturally had some wealth.

Among its contents, Qin Hao found quite a few secret cultivation methods and Dou Techniques of the Heavenly Serpent Palace.

Although those cultivation methods and Dou Techniques were not particularly useful to Qin Hao, they would be quite suitable to give Qinglin in the future.