Dugu Yan: Sorry, I Really Understand Grandpa's Actions Now!

But Lu Xuan did not want to rest just yet.

He had only just obtained his soul rings, and his excitement had not worn off!

A man had to fight!

Leng Yaozhu noticed the change in Lu Xuan.

Her lips curved into a smile as she teased him softly:

"What's this? Just got a new soul skill, and already itching for a fight?"

"Yes!" Lu Xuan nodded vigorously, his eyes brimming with excitement.

Looking at the six-year-old boy before her, so full of fighting spirit and youthful vigor.

Leng Yaozhu fell into a momentary daze.

It was as though she saw her younger self through Lu Xuan.

Back then, after obtaining her first soul spirit, she too had been so excited that she could not sit still.

She had immediately run off, grabbed her younger sister Leng Yulai, and fought her.

The same love of battle.

The same extraordinary talent.

The same boundless hopes for the future.

So alike...

Leng Yaozhu sighed inwardly.

Her gaze grew even gentler as she looked at Lu Xuan.

Her red lips moved slightly as she transmitted her voice through soul power.

"Old Green Hair, bring your granddaughter over."

The cool, commanding voice exploded beside Dugu Bo's ear.

Dugu Bo shuddered at first, then his old eyes suddenly lit up, his face overflowing with delight!

Dugu Bo immediately went to find Dugu Yan.

"Yanyan, quick, come with Grandpa!"

He grabbed Dugu Yan, who had been absentmindedly tugging at the blue silver grass.

"Grandpa, I don't want to go!"

Dugu Yan forcefully shook off Dugu Bo's hand.

Her little lips jutted out in a deep pout, her eyes still holding traces of hurt and bewilderment.

"They bullied us so badly yesterday and even stole our place! Why are we still letting them stay here?"

In Dugu Yan's seven-year-old understanding of the world.

Her grandpa was the invincible Poison Douluo.

Yet over the past two days, that invincible grandpa had obeyed the red-haired woman's every command.

He did not even dare breathe too loudly, dealing a heavy blow to the little girl's proud self-esteem.

"Oh, my little ancestor, stop saying things like that!"

Terrified, Dugu Bo hurriedly covered his granddaughter's mouth and lowered his voice, earnestly trying to persuade her.

"Grandpa's doing all this for your sake! Listen to Grandpa. You'll definitely thank me in the future!"

"...All right."

Seeing her grandpa's anxious, serious expression.

Dugu Yan could only nod, looking thoroughly aggrieved.

Dugu Bo scooped up his granddaughter and reached Leng Yaozhu in a few bounds, bowing respectfully. "My lady, your orders?"

"Mm." Leng Yaozhu folded her arms, raised her chin slightly, and gestured toward Lu Xuan nearby.

"Little Xuan has just finished hunting for soul rings, and he's full of energy and itching for a fight. Have your granddaughter fight him as his sparring partner."

At her words, Dugu Bo's heart practically burst into bloom.

Being a sparring partner was wonderful!

Children playing and tussling together.

That was the perfect opportunity to nurture a childhood-sweetheart bond!

He hurriedly set Dugu Yan down and nudged her little shoulder. "Yanyan, go have a spar with that younger boy!"

"All right!"

Dugu Yan gritted her teeth and nodded firmly.

The little girl had a bellyful of pent-up anger.

She dared defy whoever Grandpa dared not defy!

She dared fight whoever Grandpa dared not fight!

She would win back Grandpa's dignity for him!

Dugu Yan marched up to Lu Xuan on her little legs, puffing with anger.

But when she truly saw what Lu Xuan looked like, all that fury could not help faltering.

In the faint morning light, the boy before her was only six years old.

Yet his abundant vitality gave him a tall, straight bearing.

Though his features were still childish, she could already tell that he would surely grow into a graceful young gentleman.

His skin was fair as jade, and his eyes in particular seemed to hold brilliant stars and a blazing sun.

He... he's so good-looking...

That was the first thought that popped into Dugu Yan's head.

But the next second, she shook her head fiercely.

She raised her two fair little hands and smacked her own cheeks twice.

No! Dugu Yan, how could you let the enemy's beauty bewitch you? Pull yourself together!

The little girl drew a deep breath, assumed an opening stance she thought looked fierce, and cried out:

"Dugu Yan, martial soul: Jade Phosphorous Serpent, level twelve control system battle soul master. Please instruct me!"

Lu Xuan: "..."

Looking at the little girl before him, trying to be fierce yet looking utterly adorable.

Lu Xuan's lips twitched, and embarrassment washed over him.

This Douluo Continent custom of introducing yourself before a fight was so embarrassingly theatrical.

But when in Rome, do as the Romans do. He still straightened up and spoke calmly:

"Lu Xuan, martial soul: Three-legged golden crow, level thirty power attack system Soul Grandmaster. Please instruct me."

Since he had not yet absorbed his third soul ring, his current title was still Soul Grandmaster.

"F-fight someone at level thirty? Me?!"

Upon hearing that number.

The fighting spirit Dugu Yan had just mustered collapsed in an instant, and she froze as though struck by lightning.

Her eyes widened like bronze bells.

She seemed to understand her grandpa's actions a little now.

Lu Xuan's strength, far beyond the norm, gave her young mind an enormous shock.

Looking at Dugu Yan, who stood as dumbstruck as a wooden chicken, Lu Xuan sighed helplessly to himself:

We're the same age. I really hadn't meant to crush her from a whole different dimension...

But he did not stop. With a thought, he activated his martial soul!

"Kree—!"

Accompanied by a clear cry that pierced the clouds.

A sacred, majestic three-legged golden crow phantom erupted into being behind Lu Xuan.

An aura of extreme heat instantly swept across the entire area.

Then two deep purple soul rings slowly rose from beneath his feet, pulsing up and down.

"P-purple soul rings?! Two of them?!"

Dugu Yan was completely stunned, her little mouth opening wide enough to fit an egg.

This was nothing like what her academy teacher had taught her!

Wasn't the ideal age for a first soul ring supposed to be a hundred years?

Was this guy named Lu Xuan even human?!

But the pride in her bones kept her from backing down.

"I don't believe it! I'm a genius too, after all! And my teacher said the control system naturally counters the power attack system!"

Seeing Lu Xuan already charging toward her.

Dugu Yan gritted her teeth, and her sole yellow hundred-year soul ring suddenly lit up.

"First soul skill, Jade Phosphorous Red Poison!"

She opened her little mouth.

A thick, pungent cloud of poison mist, reeking of sickly sweetness, gushed out.

It formed a poisonous net and descended over Lu Xuan's head!

"The Jade Phosphorous Serpent's poison is indeed powerful, but my fire is the pinnacle of strength and yang. It fears no poison in this world!"

Facing the deadly poison rushing toward him.

Lu Xuan did not falter a single step.

"Oh no!"

Watching from afar, Dugu Bo's expression changed drastically.

He knew all too well how domineering his family's jade phosphorous serpent poison was.

It was something that struck terror throughout the Soul Master World; a single touch was enough to bring someone down.

He hurriedly pulled out an antidote, ready to rush forward and save Lu Xuan at any moment.

But what happened next made the Poison Douluo's jaw drop.

Lu Xuan did not even use a soul skill.

He merely waved his hand, igniting a wisp of pure golden flame in his palm.

"Hiss, hiss, hiss—"

The jade phosphorous poison mist, which could corrode even rock, touched the golden flame.

Like ice and snow meeting the blazing sun, it let out a piercing hiss as it melted away, instantly burned clean!

Not only could the poison mist advance no farther.

It even rolled frantically backward, retreating under the flames' oppressive might!

"He... he burned through my poison?! How is that possible?!" Dugu Yan cried out in shock.

Dugu Bo sucked in a sharp breath, his eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets.

Jade phosphorous serpent poison had actually been forcibly broken by a six-year-old child's flames?!

In the instant Dugu Yan stood dazed.

Lu Xuan had already pierced through the remaining poison mist, closed in, and driven a punch straight toward her.

Dugu Yan paled with fright.

She instinctively crossed her arms over her chest, trying to block the blow head-on.

Lu Xuan's lips curved slightly, and the golden flames around his fist surged.

"Ah! It's so hot!"

Before the punch had fully landed.

The terrifying heat had already scalded Dugu Yan's arms bright red.

She cried out in pain, and her guarding arms instinctively fell apart.

Seeing this, Lu Xuan immediately dispersed the flames around his fist.

He also forcibly pulled back a portion of his strength.

His fist struck Dugu Yan's chest.

"Bam!"

Even so, Dugu Yan's petite body was instantly knocked backward.

She landed bottom-first on the grass.