"Oh, so your soul power broke through. No wonder you are in such high spirits."
Looking at Dugu Bo, whose chin was practically pointing up at the sky, An Jing folded his arms with a half-smile.
"Old Poison, since you reckon you don't even place the sect master of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan in your eyes, why don't... you and I seize the mood and exchange a few pointers to practice?"
"..."
The wild laughter on Dugu Bo's face abruptly choked off, a heavy weight seemingly jammed in his throat as his voice cut off mid-stride.
The entire courtyard sank into an eerie, dead silence.
"Ahem... ahem!"
Dugu Bo dry-coughed with supreme unnaturalness, smoothing his newly grown dark green beard in an attempt at a cover, and waved his hands righteously:
"That won't be necessary at all!
This old man is a senior who has made his name for himself long ago; how could I ever commit acts of pulling rank and bullying the junior?
Besides, you brat resolved the ancestral, lingering ailments of myself and Yanyan, making you a great benefactor to my Dugu Family.
If this old man were to draw a sword against his benefactor, wouldn't I have my spine snapped by all the soul masters under heaven if word got out?
We can't fight, absolutely cannot fight!"
He spoke with righteous indignation on the surface, but inwardly he could not help muttering nonstop.
Though his martial soul had morphed into the True Dragon Bloodline and his soul power had even surged to level 93, facing the brat An Jing before him left Dugu Bo with not even half a percent of winning odds.
Not to mention An Jing's bizarre, unfathomable silver-white armor and domain that completely immunized him against his severe poison, relying solely on the other's brutal past record of annihilating Yu Yuanzhen head-on, if this old bone of his went up to court misfortune, it would purely be asking for trouble.
Refusing to fight was a matter of knowing current trends; he definitely wasn't scared!
Seeing this Old Poison take the conversational exit ramp so smoothly, An Jing couldn't help but laugh despite himself, dropping his banter as his expression turned solemn:
"All right, enough idle chatter.
I intend to strike out on my own and establish a faction belonging to myself.
The foundation of the dojo shall be set within a hundred-li radius around the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well in the Sunset Forest.
That region is nominally designated under the jurisdiction of the Heaven Dou Empire's imperial family. Old Poison, you're familiar with this aspect-why don't you personally make a trip into the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace and secure the land deed and permanent jurisdiction of that territory for me?"
"You're going to found a sect?!" Dugu Bo was startled upon hearing this, his green eyes widening slightly.
Yet upon second thought, he felt relieved.
Possessing the strength to slay a Titled Douluo in reverse, coupled with countless unfathomable trump cards in his possession, settling for less than ordinary factions would simply be wasting heavenly treasures.
Using the earth-shaking and historically unprecedented record of "slaying Yu Yuanzhen with the body of a Soul Saint" as his foundation, the moment An Jing raised his arms in a call, countless rogue soul masters across the continent who had been squeezed by the Upper Three Sects and Spirit Hall would inevitably flock to him like crucian carp crossing a river.
"This errand is on this old man."
Dugu Bo clapped his hands in agreement, a brilliant light flashing in his eyes:
"That old fellow Emperor Xue Ye has always been eager for talent; if he learns that you intend to take root within Heaven Dou territory, he'll be overjoyed!
Your independent founding means you won't lean toward Spirit Hall or the Star Luo Empire, invisibly becoming the most impregnable barrier in the northern border of the Heaven Dou Empire.
This old man need only draft a single letter explaining the pros and cons, and Xue Ye will have no reason to refuse."
Pausing, Dugu Bo furrowed his brows slightly and reminded him:
"However, brat An, founding a sect cannot be accomplished simply by fighting and killing through sheer might.
If we speak of slaughter and warfare, this old man can still charge into the fray for you, but when it comes to moving mountains and filling valleys in these deep mountains and old forests, building palaces and pavilions, setting up defensive machinery...
This old man is truly utterly clueless about such miscellaneous engineering."
"The construction and defense blueprints of the sect are already finalized in my mind."
An Jing smiled indifferently. "As for the hands to do the work, there happens to be a ready-made batch of top-tier artisans on this continent."
The ready-made hands he spoke of were naturally none other than the Defense Clan, one of the Four Single-Attribute Clans who had been mercilessly abandoned by the Clear Sky Sect back then and left to eke out a meager existence in the cracks!
This group of rough men whose martial souls were the Plate-Armored Giant Rhinoceros possessed not only astonishing defensive power of their own, but had also studied the arts of architecture and construction for generations. The fortress palaces they built were as solid as gold, with none to rival them across the continent.
More crucially, these people had been suppressed by Spirit Hall and discarded by the Clear Sky Sect, rendering them impoverished today.
In An Jing's view, the vast majority of backbone and stubbornness in this world could be shattered with heavy Gold Soul Coins.
If they couldn't be shattered, it simply meant the stakes offered weren't yet high enough!
"Since you've already planned ahead, this old man won't worry further."
Dugu Bo grinned, rubbing his hands together. "But let's get the ugly words out first: the day your sect is completed, the position of First Elder in the Offering Hall must be reserved for this old man!"
"Your benefits won't be lacking." An Jing glanced at him.
"Good! How crisp! This old man will enter the palace to see the sovereign right now, and you just wait in the estate for good news!"
Dugu Bo laughed heartily several times, his azure robes swirling as a series of fresh breezes rose around his body, and he strode unhurriedly straight toward the Heaven Dou Imperial City.
After Dugu Bo departed, An Jing did not delay much.
Having now advanced to the Soul Saint realm, his current Two-Word Battle Armor was strong, but facing the various peerless powerhouses soon to descend in the future,
developing a "Three-Word Battle Armor" capable of a true qualitative change, and even able to stand firm against Super Douluo or peerless powerhouses, had already become the top-priority matter that could brook no delay!
Forging Three-Word Battle Armor required not only extremely massive and harshly qualitative rare metals, but also a top-tier casting environment capable of withstanding extreme high temperatures and energy pulses.
The strategic trajectory in An Jing's mind was exceptionally clear:
Step one, assimilate the Defense Clan, and with the aid of their continent-leading construction techniques, forge the most rigorous sect foundation, advanced laboratory, and quenching workshop on the outskirts of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well;
Step two, head straight for Gengxin City, the continent's metal capital, and recruit Lou Gao, the contemporary divine artisan known as the president of the Blacksmith Association, under his command!
Among the three nominal divine artisans currently on the continent:
Tang Hao had already become a cripple with deep-seated, irreconcilable hatreds.
Tai Tan of the Strength Clan had long since ingrained the servant mentality toward the Clear Sky Sect deep into his bones, rendering recruitment utterly meaningless; not killing this bunch of fellows was already An Jing's kindheartedness.
Only Lou Gao, who was infatuated with the art of forging and possessed a pure yet stubborn personality, was the most flawless assistant.
Having sorted his thoughts, An Jing purchased a detailed topographical map within Heaven Dou City and locked onto his target location.
Longxing City, a major garrison town on the border of the Star Luo Empire!
The territories of Heaven Dou and Star Luo were vast, and ordinary soul masters would consume several weeks of time even at a gallop.
Yet before the epoch-making mobility of battle armor, this distance of a thousand miles was merely a matter of a footstep!
"Clang-!"
Accompanied by a crisp, cold sound of mechanical interlocking, the streamlined Two-Word Battle Armor instantly covered his entire body.
The metal wings behind An Jing's shoulders abruptly sprang open and stretched, the Soul-Conducting Propulsion Array flashing with a dazzling blue-and-white stream of light,
and his entire person became like a meteor tearing the firmament, dragging a sharp sonic boom wave across the void and vanishing at the edge of the sky in a split second.
Within the territory of the Star Luo Empire, Longxing City.
Though situated in a remote zone at the border of the two nations and vastly inferior in scale to the imperial capitals of the two great empires, this place still qualified as bustling and exceedingly noisy due to the gathering of traveling merchants and soul-hunting squads.
Before the most expansive courtyard estate in the city hung a heavy, archaic Black Iron Plaque, upon which was iron-pointedly and silver-hooked cast a single large character-"Defense"!
In front of the estate's main gate, two robust, tower-like guardsmen of the Defense Clan were leaning against the stone lions, idling and chatting in utter boredom.
Boom-!
Without the slightest warning, the previously cloudless, azure-blue clear sky abruptly and violently darkened!
An icy-cold, bone-chilling, and mighty intent to kill like the pressure of Mount Tai poured down torrentially from the boundless heights, instantly and thoroughly enshrouding the entire Defense Clan estate!
The hard bluestone-paved road emitted unbearable cracking noises under the invisible pressure, the biting cold causing even the surrounding air to freeze into tiny ice crystals.
"Ene... Enemy attack! The whole clan, be on guard!!!"
The two burly guards in front of the gate were scared out of their wits, their hairs standing on end as they tumbled and crashed back into the courtyard, screaming heartrendingly to sound the alarm.
Inside the martial arts arena of the estate's backyard, this terrifying pressure instantly alerted the elder sitting in command.
"Such terrifying martial intent! This kind of vast pressure... Could it be that some unworldly Titled Douluo has personally descended upon Longxing City?!"
An extremely robust short-haired elder with steel-needle-like hard stubble beneath his jaw rose abruptly, his copper-bell eyes staring fixedly at the firmament-none other than the patriarch of the Defense Clan, Niu Gao!
"Eight or nine out of ten, it's a big figure at the titled level who has descended."
Beside Niu Gao, a thin, slender elder with a haggard face yet lightning-like eyes likewise pressed his waist with a similarly solemn expression, asking in a deep voice:
"Old Rhino, did you recently go and provoke some elder of Spirit Hall somewhere?
Otherwise, how could such a heaven-reaching figure inexplicably lock onto the territory of your Defense Clan?!"
This person was precisely the patriarch of the Speed Clan, Bai He, who happened to be passing by and dropping in for a visit today.
"Go shit in your mother's yard, Old White Bird!"
Niu Gao cursed fiercely, though his expression was extremely vigilant.
"I avoid those scumbags of Spirit Hall like the plague, keeping to myself and behaving in Longxing City-where would I go to provoke such a living ancestor?!"
Bai He frowned deeply, guessing with suspicion: "Then who could it be? Could it be... that the mountain gates of the Clear Sky Sect have opened, and they've sent people to look for us?"
"The Clear Sky Sect?! Ha!"
Hearing this name, Niu Gao's facial muscles twitched fiercely, thick malice and mockery flashing in his eyes:
"Don't daydream, Old White Bird! That coward sect that pushed our four great clans out to be scapegoats back then is probably hiding like a turtle with its head in some earth fissure right now, trembling! Do they have the guts to come out of the mountains?"
Just as the two of them were still guessing.
Above the howling firmament, the roaring sonic boom abruptly ceased.
The figure that had cast the entire estate into shadow broke through the air, descending and slowly hovering in the void dozens of meters directly above the martial arts arena.
The metal wings trembled slightly, the silver-white armor reflecting a bone-chillingly cold and austere radiance under the sunlight piercing through the clouds, swirling with visible materialized baleful aura over the body, and a head of short snow-white hair dancing wildly in the gale.
Overlooking from above, he was just like a cold human emperor looking down upon the mortal world!
The instant they saw that iconic, exquisitely beautiful silver armor and fierce white hair in the sky, the bodies of Niu Gao and Bai He violently shook in unison, their pupils contracting into needle-point sizes as their hearts nearly skipped half a beat!
"It's him?!"
"He... How could he appear in Longxing City within Star Luo territory?!"
The two exchanged glances, both of them harboring thinly concealed terror and awe in each other's eyes.
In the rumors that had recently shocked the soul-master world across the entire continent, the invincible baleful star who had slashed down the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's sect master and trampled Heaven Dou bore precisely this shocking and awe-inspiring appearance.
Many soul masters had even bestowed upon him a resounding nickname.
God of Slaughter, An Jing.
Before you continue