[It Gets Better Than This?]

"Kid, tell us."

"What herbs are we going to pick?"

His attention had been entirely on that pan of fried rice earlier, so he had not asked any more questions.

"I can tell you, but you have to agree to one thing first."

"All the herbs we bring back belong to me!"

Wei Fan laid down the terms before explaining.

Every single herb in there was an immortal-grade treasure. There was no way these two old fellows would not covet them once they saw them.

If he had not been completely unfamiliar with the properties of those immortal herbs, he would never have asked Yue Guan for help.

As for whether the two would go back on their word afterward, he had no need to worry.

Because neither of them dared!

"So mysterious. Fine, I agree!"

Yue Guan's strangely alluring voice rang out again. He wanted to hear just what sort of herbs could warrant a singular velvet sky chrysanthemum as payment.

"There's an herb garden in Sunset Forest, with lots of rare herbs growing inside."

"The garden belongs to Dugu Bo, so if we want to get those herbs, we'll have to deal with him."

"..."

"Dugu Bo?"

Yue Guan immediately perked up.

Beat up Dugu Bo?

It gets better than this?

I'd do that even without getting paid!

Back then, he and Old Ghost had chased Dugu Bo down and beaten him so badly they had nearly knocked the shit out of him. If that old bastard Prince Xue Xing had not happened to pass by and save him, the grass on Dugu Bo's grave would have been two meters tall by now.

Oh, wait!

That old fart Dugu Bo was poisonous from head to toe. Grass probably wouldn't grow on his grave!

"You know where Dugu Bo is?"

Gui Mei was just as interested. Had he known they were going to beat up Dugu Bo, he would have agreed even without any reward.

"I do!"

"I'll take you there tomorrow."

"Make sure you remember our agreement, Elders."

Wei Fan reminded them again.

"Don't worry!"

"Everything belongs to you. We're just beating up Dugu Bo!"

Yue Guan and Gui Mei readily agreed.

Early the next morning, in Sunset Forest.

"Wei Fan, are we there yet?"

"Where's Dugu Bo's lair?"

"We've been walking forever. Why aren't we there yet?"

Yue Guan and Gui Mei kept asking questions all along the way.

The thought of beating up that old bastard Dugu Bo had both of them itching with impatience.

"We're here!"

"Just up ahead."

Wei Fan pointed at the poison barrier less than five hundred meters ahead.

"Old Ghost, get him!"

They needed no further discussion. With a flash of light and shadow, both had entered the poison barrier.

"Dugu Bo, you old scoundrel!"

"So this is where you've been hiding! Today, I'm going to scatter your ashes!"

The instant they entered the poison barrier, Yue Guan and Gui Mei locked onto Dugu Bo's aura.

"Chrysanthemum?"

"Old Ghost?"

At the sight of the two men, Dugu Bi's expression changed drastically.

What the hell!

How did these two old bastards find this place?

Although quite a few people knew she lived in Sunset Forest, the exact location was an absolute secret. No one except her granddaughter knew it.

She could not beat either of these old bastards, and now both had her fucking surrounded.

No wonder her eyelid had been twitching all day. This was fucking bad!

"Old Poison, die!"

Golden light flashed as Yue Guan charged forward like a meteor chasing the moon. A singular velvet sky chrysanthemum bloomed in his palm, and nine rings appeared beneath his feet.

"Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor, possess me!"

Dugu Bo dared not hesitate. Facing these two old fellows, he could not even be sure he would escape today.

"Seventh Soul Skill, Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor Avatar!"

Jade-green light erupted from his body. His tall, lean frame unfurled into the wind, swelling continuously within the green glow and soaring upward...

Within a single breath, Dugu Bo's body vanished, replaced by an enormous jade-green serpent over thirty meters long.

"Sixth Soul Skill, Golden Stamen, Flowing Rosy Clouds!"

The singular velvet sky chrysanthemum in Yue Guan's hand instantly expanded to over five meters in diameter, then burst apart in midair. Driven by his soul power, the shower of petals filling the sky became golden blades.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

The petal blades rained down on Dugu Bo's enormous body like a meteor shower.

Just then, the muscles on the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor's enormous head bulged. His eyes turned white, and two deathly pale beams shot from them, streaking straight toward the golden meteor shower descending from above.

Boom, boom!

The two forces collided with a series of thunderous explosions.

Bathed in the white light, the golden blades gradually turned gray...

Their forward momentum stopped abruptly, and they finally became chunks of gray stone that fell to the ground.

"A soul bone!"

Yue Guan and Gui Mei spoke in unison.

Both were utterly astonished. This old fellow actually had a soul bone now?

They had nearly beaten the shit out of Dugu Bo before, yet he had never used a Soul Bone Skill. They were certain he had acquired it in the last few years.

At the sight of a Head Soul Bone, a wolfish gleam shone in Yue Guan's and Gui Mei's eyes.

This was a soul bone!

What a delectable prize!

"Old Ghost, stop fucking watching."

"I'll hold him down. You pry open that old fart's skull."

As his words fell, a purple light lit up beneath Yue Guan's feet.

"Third Soul Skill, Aura Barrier!"

Yue Guan flicked his wrist, sending the singular velvet sky chrysanthemum spinning into the air. Its petals fell away, forming an Aura Barrier.

Within that ring of golden light, Dugu Bo's speed visibly dropped.

"Fifth Soul Skill, Ghost Shadow Earth Abyss Hand!"

A vast expanse of shadow suddenly appeared. Then an enormous black hand burst from the ground and clamped tightly around the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor's thick tail.

"Hand over that soul bone!"

A ghostly shadow flickered, and Gui Mei appeared atop the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor's enormous head.

"Second Soul Skill, Soul Devouring Claw!"

Shrouded in black energy, Gui Mei's hands became sharp claws. As his fingers flexed, blades sprang out and stabbed toward the soul bone.

"Eighth Soul Skill, Time Freeze!"

"Ninth Soul Skill, Jade Phosphorous Divine Light!"

Dugu Bo panicked!

These two old fellows meant to kill him today.

At this point, he could no longer worry about destroying his patch of Sunset Forest.

Escaping alive came first!

As he unleashed his two most terrifying Soul Skills, a layer of jade-green light instantly engulfed everything within a thousand meters of him.

"Old Ghost, move!"

Yue Guan shouted a warning.

Dugu Bo might have been a little weak, but his Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor poison still deserved some respect.

It would not kill them, but neither of them wanted to get hurt.

"Third Soul Skill, Ghost-Slaying Transformation!"

Gui Mei's body instantly became a black shadow. His Soul Skill doubled his speed, and in the blink of an eye, he appeared beside Yue Guan.

"First Soul Skill, Velvet Chrysanthemum Protection!"

"Second Soul Skill, Velvet Chrysanthemum Light!"

Yue Guan unleashed the power of the singular velvet sky chrysanthemum. His two defensive skills became two layers of golden light that enveloped him and Gui Mei.

Except for the fifty-meter-wide area beneath Yue Guan's feet, all vegetation within the surrounding thousand meters instantly withered, gradually blackening and dissolving into a puddle of pus.