The New Pope ascended the throne, and all of Spirit City celebrated for seven days. Yet at the height of the festivities, Huo Yuhao said goodbye to Qian Daoliu and left Spirit Hall and Spirit City behind to seek his own path to strength.
He took no one with him. He simply needed to be alone, to grow on his own.
He did, however, carry an Angel Feather-a Divine Gift Qian Daoliu had received. As long as he crushed it, Qian Daoliu would immediately appear at his side to protect him.
That was Qian Daoliu's condition for allowing Huo Yuhao to venture out into the Douluo Continent alone, without a single soldier accompanying him.
After all, the Douluo Continent was vast and boundless. The areas explored by humans and soul beasts together amounted to less than a third of it.
This continent held far too many unknowns, as well as countless fallen gods. Even someone as powerful as him dared not claim he could safely explore the entire Douluo Continent, so his concern for Qian Renhan was entirely warranted.
After accepting Qian Daoliu's token, Huo Yuhao said goodbye to his younger sister and departed.
He did not know whether he was imagining it, but he kept feeling that his younger sister was terribly worried about him, yet her eyes seemed to reveal a strong desire for him to leave.
It must be my imagination!
Huo Yuhao unfurled his six wings and flew toward Sunset Forest.
After absorbing the hundred-thousand-year Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Bone, his soul power had surged by several more levels.
The higher the soul power of the Angel Martial Soul, the faster it could fly. With the added boost from Huo Yuhao's hundred-thousand-year right leg bone, his speed was no slower than that of an ordinary Soul Douluo.
He raced along like the wind and lightning, arriving at the foot of Sunset Forest in less than half a day.
After entering Sunset Forest, Huo Yuhao withdrew his martial soul and began making his way on foot.
Although Sunset Forest could not compare to Star Dou Great Forest, a mere three-ring Soul Elder like him had no right to act recklessly here.
Besides, Sunset Forest was not very large. Walking through it would not take long, so there was no need to fly and provoke a mass attack from flying soul beasts.
Because of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, Sunset Forest was both nourished and deprived of nourishment.
The original story had mentioned that the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well was a treasure land formed after the fall of the two Dragon Kings of ice and fire. Their bodies had created this treasure basin, nourishing all things and giving rise to countless varieties of immortal herbs.
At the same time, the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well also nourished the whole of Sunset Forest in return, allowing it to flourish.
However, because the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well lay at the heart of Sunset Forest, the area it could nourish was limited. It also needed to absorb vast amounts of spiritual energy from heaven and earth to sustain the immortal herbs.
Thus, the overall distribution of soul beasts in Sunset Forest left its outermost and middle regions relatively weak, with mostly hundred-year and thousand-year soul beasts. Only the core region housed truly powerful soul beasts.
As such, Huo Yuhao's journey was very safe. He did not even need to bother with hundred-year soul beasts, and whenever he encountered a thousand-year soul beast, he could simply use his Angel Wings to flee.
Soon, he reached the core region and stopped outside a vast encirclement.
There was no trace of any soul beast within several li, so he could conclude that he had entered the area covered by Dugu Bo's Poison Formation. Feeling the dense spiritual energy radiating from its center, Huo Yuhao was certain that what lay before him was the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, one of the three great treasure basins.
"Boy, are you here to see me?"
Just as Huo Yuhao was about to speak, an exceedingly cold, sinister voice rang out from within the Poison Formation. Its chill pierced him to the bone, and he had to circulate his Sunfire just to barely withstand it.
Although he normally lived among powerhouses at the pinnacle, neither Qian Daoliu nor Golden Crocodile Douluo had ever unleashed such an aura upon him.
Thus, his assessment of Dugu Bo was that he truly deserved his reputation as the weakest Titled Douluo, as universally acknowledged by the Douluo Continent's entire soul master world. He could not even control his own aura, let alone release and withdraw it at will.
Or perhaps Dugu Bo's aura was simply very unstable at the moment.
That made sense. According to the original story, Dugu Bo's body was riddled with ailments. Moreover, Dugu Yan should only have been around three or four years old now, which meant Dugu Bo's son and daughter-in-law had not been dead for very long.
It was only natural for his emotions to be volatile now!
"That's right, Senior Dugu Bo. I've come to make a deal with you. Would you prefer that I negotiate using my status, or using my own ability?"
"Oh?"
Hearing Huo Yuhao's words, an old man inside a small wooden cabin at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, holding a little girl with green hair, revealed an amused expression.
He had never expected such an interesting person to come to his territory one day, much less a mere nine-year-old child.
The boy carried himself well, though his strength was a little lacking.
Still, reaching this level of cultivation at his age certainly qualified him as a heaven-blessed talent.
Dugu Bo did not disbelieve Huo Yuhao's words. For someone to possess such bearing at this age, the force behind him might truly have the standing to negotiate with a Titled Douluo like himself.
But Dugu Bo was the Titled Douluo with the most guts of them all.
He feared no force, so relying on backing to negotiate would not work with him.
"Spare me your backing. Negotiate with your own ability. If you can make this old man willingly open the door for you, then we'll have something to discuss."
As soon as Huo Yuhao heard Dugu Bo's words, delight rose in his heart. As long as there was room to talk, he could persuade Dugu Bo. He had that much confidence.
After all, he had been planning this for a long time.
"Senior, I've come to give your granddaughter a soul bone-a thousand-year Right Arm Bone. I wonder whether a soul bone is enough to persuade you to open the door?"
As Huo Yuhao finished speaking, his Storage Soul Tool flickered faintly, and a Right Arm Bone emitting a green glow appeared in his hand.
"Although this soul bone is only a thousand years old, it came from a Jade Snake. It isn't a Jade-Scaled Snake, but it's close enough. It will certainly be an excellent match for your granddaughter."
Spirit Hall's treasury held several ten-thousand-year soul bones, let alone mere thousand-year ones.
He had left the Angel Set to Qian Renxue and asked his grandfather for a thousand-year soul bone as the starting capital for the deal he had come here to make.
He thought it was a very worthwhile exchange!
"A soul bone?"
Upon hearing those two words and sensing the aura of the soul bone in Huo Yuhao's hand, Dugu Bo swept his hand, opening a gap in the Poison Formation.
Then a powerful suction surged out, drawing both Huo Yuhao and his soul bone inside, into the small wooden cabin.
A ripple passed through the Poison Formation outside before it returned to its original state, as though nothing had happened.
Inside the cabin, Huo Yuhao and Dugu Bo stared at each other, each sizing the other up.
Huo Yuhao: What a weak Titled Douluo.
Dugu Bo: It really is a soul bone. There really are fools who give soul bones away.
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