Dugu Bo came over to Ji Hongchen.
He was rather curious why Ji Hongchen had insisted on killing this perfectly ordinary two-thousand-year soul beast.
Ji Hongchen said nothing.
He stepped forward and felt around the Man Faced Demon Spider's body.
A moment later, a pair of spider legs emitting an eerie glow came into view.
Dugu Bo stepped forward for a look.
His voice grew grave and alarmed.
"Is that... a soul bone?"
"That's right. And it's the most precious kind-an external soul bone."
An external soul bone!
Even an ordinary hundred-year soul bone was worth a fortune, while a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone was a priceless treasure. External soul bones were rarer still, scarcely seen anywhere in the world, their rarity far surpassing even Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bones.
After all, they possessed an extraordinarily powerful trait.
The ability to grow.
In other words, once absorbed, an external soul bone could grow alongside its soul master. And once it had fully fused with them, no one could take it away.
Dugu Bo clicked his tongue. "Well, now. Who would've thought casually killing a thousand-year soul beast would yield something like this? You really struck it lucky, kid."
But that was all he meant by it.
Although this external soul bone was poison-attributed and suited him quite well, he would not ask for it.
As a Titled Douluo,
even if he was known as the Poison Douluo, he still had his own principles.
Ji Hongchen put it away for the time being.
If he found no suitable external soul bone later, he would absorb it. If he did find one, he would give this one to Dugu Yan, which would also make the Dugu Family more loyal to him.
Just then,
the aura of a Soul Douluo swept toward them. After sensing a trace of a Titled Douluo's aura, the Snake Lord had rushed without pause to find the Snake Granny and the others.
And he had run straight into Dugu Bo.
Looking flustered, the Snake Lord hurriedly bowed. "I am the Snake Lord, head of the Meng Family. This is the Snake Granny, and this is our granddaughter, Meng Yiran. We pay our respects to Your Eminence, Poison Douluo."
Dugu Bo nodded slightly.
"I came here to help a junior hunt for a soul ring. Since you still have business to attend to, I won't disturb you."
With that, Dugu Bo left with Ji Hongchen and the others.
Watching Dugu Bo's retreating figure,
the Snake Lord breathed a sigh of relief before turning his gaze to the Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent nearby.
"Tianxiang, what happened?"
With her pillar of support here, the Snake Granny sighed in relief and pointed at Zhao Wuji. "These people stole Yiran's soul beast, and now they refuse to hand it over."
"Hmph! You dare steal my granddaughter's soul beast? Do you think this old man is easy to bully?"
The Snake Lord snorted coldly.
Zhao Wuji felt an immense pressure bear down on him. He had lost an arm, and his cultivation was only at level seventy-two. He was no match for the Snake Lord.
"Please calm your anger, Senior. We'll leave right away."
Zhao Wuji spoke hurriedly.
Beside him, Oscar was unwilling to accept this and was about to say something, only for Zhao Wuji to glare at him. Zhao Wuji then hurriedly led everyone away.
Only after they had gone a long way
did Zhao Wuji breathe a sigh of relief.
"Damn it! It's all that guy's fault for suddenly showing up. Otherwise, the Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent would definitely have been ours!"
Oscar spoke indignantly.
Zhao Wuji snorted. "There's nothing we can do. He has a Titled Douluo backing him. Besides, he's the very person who dealt Shrek Academy such a devastating blow last time!"
Everyone's expressions changed.
"What? That was him!"
Oscar shrank back, standing to one side with lingering fear.
Ma Hongjun, meanwhile, looked utterly lifeless. He had lost his manhood, yet discovered that his evil fire remained. Every day lately, he had endured its torment, suffering beyond words.
Sometimes, he felt he would be better off dying and ending it all.
Tang San frowned and said gravely, "Actually, I know him too. His name is Ji Hongchen. He used to be my classmate at Nuoding Academy."
"What? He was your classmate?"
"Tang San, why is he so strong, then? And how does he even have a thousand-year second soul ring?"
Tang San sighed softly.
"My teacher studied that question too. His conclusion was that Ji Hongchen is a genius with twin martial souls."
"But he willingly went astray. For the sake of saving face, he chose to cultivate both martial souls together, which is how his second soul ring reached the thousand-year mark."
Understanding dawned on everyone.
So that was how it was.
Tang San continued, "Besides, he won't live much longer. My teacher said that until you understand the secret of twin martial souls, you can only cultivate one martial soul. If you force yourself to cultivate both, your body will inevitably burst, killing you!"
"What!"
After a brief moment of shock, everyone was overcome with delight.
"Doesn't that mean that brat is doomed?"
"Exactly. So there's no need for us to hold a grudge against someone who's already on death's doorstep."
Following behind them, Zhu Zhuqing felt something was off when she heard this. After all, if Ji Hongchen really was about to die, why would he attract a Titled Douluo's attention?
Something clearly did not add up.
But she did not dwell on it. It had nothing to do with her, after all. Right now, she only wanted Dai Mubai to change his mind and compete for the position of crown prince of the Star Luo Empire. She wanted to become empress!
Everyone nodded.
"All right, let's hurry up and get our soul rings."
Half a month later,
Tang San and the others had all obtained soul rings, though the ones they acquired this time were unremarkable. Oscar's third soul skill was the Explosively Spicy Mushroom Sausage, which increased attack power and speed by 30%, but subjected whoever ate it to extreme spiciness.
Tang San's third soul skill was Blue Silver Bind, much like in the original story. This time, however, it came from an eleven-hundred-year Cave Demon Spider, and there was no external soul bone.
After returning to Shrek Academy,
everyone discovered that Flender's face had healed considerably. They also had a new middle-aged teacher with a buzz cut-Yu Xiaogang.
In the dean's office,
Flender, who had only one arm left, pushed up the glasses on his nose, his voice full of anxiety and helplessness. "Xiaogang, hurry and think of something. If this keeps up, my student really will be burned to death by his evil fire!"
Ever since Ma Hongjun's Evil Root had been severed,
his evil fire erupted every day, tormenting him so badly that he wished he were dead. As his teacher, Flender naturally felt heartbroken.
After all, Ma Hongjun was his proudest disciple.
He wanted Ma Hongjun to have a chance at becoming a Titled Douluo. Then Shrek Academy would truly deserve its reputation as an academy that had produced a Titled Douluo.
Yu Xiaogang also looked helpless.
In truth, he had barely read any books. Otherwise, he would not have been ignorant even of the spiritual shock caused by Ten Thousand Year Soul Rings.
Naturally, however, he would never admit that.
Instead, after a moment's thought, he said calmly, "I do have a way to resolve the evil fire's backlash. It just depends on whether Ma Hongjun can accept it."
Hearing that there was a solution, Ma Hongjun, who stood nearby,
immediately shouted, "I accept! Whatever it is, as long as it frees me from the evil fire, I'll do anything!"
He was suffering too much.
Every moment of the past few days had been spent in torment. Without his Evil Root to release it, the sensation was truly unbearable.
With a calm gaze, Yu Xiaogang patted Ma Hongjun's shoulder and consoled him. "Since the evil fire needs an outlet no matter what,
"Ma Hongjun could originally deal with it by finding women. Now that his Evil Root is gone, doesn't he still have that part of his body? It can solve the problem just the same."
That part?
Looking at the spot Yu Xiaogang meant, Ma Hongjun's face instantly darkened.
How could that possibly work?
He was a grown man, and he was supposed to let someone stick it in him!
That was far too humiliating.
Yu Xiaogang snorted coldly. He had no intention of indulging Ma Hongjun and said bluntly, "If you want to die, suit yourself. But if you listen to me, there might still be hope."
Before you continue