Just then...
Dugu Bo suddenly glanced sideways toward a certain spot.
Seeing Dugu Bo's hand pause over the chessboard, Shui Tianyi grew puzzled and followed his gaze.
Snake Lance Douluo was gradually approaching.
"Someone from Spirit Hall. This one doesn't seem to belong to that old Chrysanthemum geezer's faction..."
Shui Tianyi nodded thoughtfully.
He briefly probed Snake Lance Douluo's aura.
It was much weaker than Dugu Bo's.
"Kill him or cripple him?"
Shui Tianyi spoke without even thinking.
Dugu Bo greeted that suggestion with a hefty knuckle rap on his head.
"Has playing chess made you stupid? Have you forgotten what the Young Master said?"
Only then did Shui Tianyi catch on, and he gave an awkward chuckle.
Lin Xiao had told them before.
They would be cooperating with various forces.
As for which forces, he would select them himself.
At the time, Shui Tianyi had felt that it would involve more than mere cooperation.
After all, there was that mysterious His Excellency Taotie, the Poison Douluo who had advanced even further, and Young Master Lin Xiao's two wives.
Add the Shui Family, the Ye Family, and that genius Zhang Lexuan to the mix.
No one except Spirit Hall could stand against them.
Recalling the terrifying auras of the Snow Empress and Xuan Zi...
Shui Tianyi even felt that Spirit Hall might...
Besides, Young Master Lin Xiao wasn't a scheming merchant like Ning Fox.
So his instincts told him...
This continent might very well end up bearing the name Lin.
Just then, a figure appeared before Dugu Bo.
Once he saw who it was, he bowed slightly and greeted her respectfully.
"Secretary-General."
Zhang Lexuan inclined her head.
"No need for such courtesy, Poison Enforcement."
To make management easier, Lin Xiao had established two posts: Elders to handle administration and affairs, and Enforcement officers to maintain order.
The two complemented each other while also providing mutual oversight.
At this early stage of their founding...
The character of the Ye Family, the Shui Family, and Dugu Bo was inherently trustworthy.
Besides, they owed him a debt of gratitude.
But once their numbers grew and fish and dragons mingled together, they would need people to deal with things.
Besides, he was lazy.
Creating two positions would make management easier.
As for the Secretary, it was much like the role back on Blue Star in his previous life: someone he could assign tasks to.
Since it was Zhang Lexuan, Lin Xiao simply dumped everything on her.
He could play at being an emperor who did absolutely nothing.
After all, Zhang Lexuan had been summoned by the system and was absolutely loyal, so she could naturally wield the same authority as him.
Once he ascended to the Divine Realm, he would provisionally appoint the next Pagoda Master.
Then he would firmly instruct that successor to be a beast of burden and subject him to a little psychological manipulation.
After that, he would simply redefine the Secretary's position and its authority.
If he could unify the Divine Realm, he could usher in an interstellar age.
The Douluo Plane could connect with the Divine Realm.
Then he could take over again and keep dumping all the work on Zhang Lexuan.
When there was no work, he could still do her-cough, cough.
By then, Snake Lance had reached the three of them.
He looked at Zhang Lexuan, who had suddenly appeared, then at Dugu Bo, whose aura was completely different.
He recalled that the Young Master had tasked him with establishing friendly relations and learning as much as possible to gather intelligence.
He was also genuinely curious about the drastic change in Dugu Bo's strength.
So he started with Dugu Bo, taking the initiative to joke with him.
"Old Poison, what happened to you? How did you get so much stronger?"
"And who might this be?"
Dugu Bo frowned, immediately seeing through Snake Lance's nonsense.
"Join the Spirit Pagoda, and I'll tell you."
Snake Lance pursed his lips, deeply envious of Dugu Bo.
Once someone reached the Titled Douluo realm, every further step was incredibly difficult.
What was more, his fifth soul ring was only a thousand-year one.
Unless he encountered some new opportunity, he would struggle to advance any further in his lifetime.
He knew perfectly well that, although others saw him as an esteemed Titled Douluo...
In reality, even encountering a genius-level Soul Douluo would mean a bitter fight for him.
If he went soul hunting in the Star Dou Great Forest and encountered a soul beast over ninety thousand years old, or one over fifty thousand years old with a stronger attribute, he would have to fight for ages.
Never mind a Titled Douluo of the same level.
Dugu Bo had always been called the weakest before.
But wasn't that simply because his martial soul wasn't suited to one-on-one combat?
An optimal soul ring configuration plus a soul bone.
If Dugu Bo had likewise possessed a tool martial soul, Snake Lance felt he might not actually have been able to beat him.
Now that Dugu Bo had grown stronger, didn't that make him the weakest Titled Douluo?
At that thought, Snake Lance even felt an urge to join the Spirit Pagoda.
After all, Dugu Bo had even suffered from a physical defect.
Despite that, after joining this organization, not only had his strength increased, but his physical defect had vanished too.
Why couldn't he, Snake Lance, do the same?
But when he thought of Qian Renxue and the Worship Hall behind her...
He still gritted his teeth and shook his head.
Just then, Zhang Lexuan spoke from beside them.
"I'm Zhang Lexuan. Snake Lance Douluo, the Young Master requests your presence."
Only then did Snake Lance come to his senses.
Then, just as Dugu Bo had initially done, he looked at her with utter disbelief.
Does she even look twenty-five? Over level eighty?
Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me?!
Is this woman human?
What did she grow up eating?
Three questions flashed through Snake Lance's mind in an instant.
He forcibly suppressed his shock, ignoring the amusement in Dugu Bo's eyes beside him.
He nodded slightly.
"Sorry for the trouble."
As they entered that dilapidated village...
Snake Lance's mind was once again flooded with WTF.
He rubbed his eyes in disbelief.
Where did that shabby little village go? Why is this place full of towering buildings?
Does this era even have things like these?
Hey, did we switch channels or something?!
Zhang Lexuan chuckled.
"No need to be shocked, Snake Lance Douluo. It's merely a little trick."
Only then did Snake Lance remember that he was a Titled Douluo.
He clasped his hands behind his back and put on an "I understand" air.
The Spirit Pagoda was vast, and this was Snake Lance's first visit.
Thus, the two entered on foot.
They walked for several minutes.
Only then did they reach the center.
There stood a circular building over a hundred meters tall.
Its glass gleamed.
The whole structure exuded a cyberpunk atmosphere.
"The Young Master is inside. Please."
Zhang Lexuan gestured for him to proceed, then silently stood behind him.
Inwardly, she observed a second of silence for Snake Lance.
Snake Lance was somewhat bewildered, but he still walked inside.
It was a spacious hall.
The Ice Empress stood at the very front.
A savage, domineering aura erupted in an instant.
The powerful ice-attribute aura forced Snake Lance to bend slightly at the waist, and he had to muster all his strength just to withstand it.
A Super Douluo, and an ice-attribute one at that!
That was his first thought.
The Ice Empress withdrew her pressure at just the right moment.
Snake Lance looked ahead and, based on the intelligence he had received, deduced that one of the figures was the Taotie Douluo mentioned previously.
As for the other woman, he had no idea who she was.
The two stood quietly beside Lin Xiao.
Lin Xiao sat on a little folding stool, which had been placed atop the reception counter.
Anyone who didn't know better might have thought he was cosplaying some emperor.
Snake Lance didn't stare. He knew that was Lin Xiao; many people knew the name and could roughly guess his identity.
Now he had merely confirmed it.
But...
Without question, the two standing beside Lin Xiao could only be stronger.
Peerless Douluos!
The Spirit Pagoda actually had two Peerless Douluos!
Add Dugu Bo and that other ice-attribute woman, a Super Douluo.
And among the younger generation, there were Zhang Lexuan and those members of the Ye Family and Shui Family.
Some outrageously disloyal thoughts suddenly surfaced in Snake Lance's mind.
But his loyalty still made him forcibly suppress them.
He began changing the subject in his head, turning to complaints.
Which bastard reported this intelligence?
Qian Renxue: ?
The intelligence had only said that the other party possessed a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring and was a Titled Douluo.
He had assumed that, at most, the man was only on Tang Hao's level. Even if he was stronger, he might not match His Holiness the Pope.
Even if the other party harbored an inherent hostility toward him, he would still have a chance to escape if he fought for his life.
Now, it seemed he needed to do everything possible to establish friendly relations with them.
Not only for the Young Master, but also for himself.
If I fail this mission, I'll either have to join the Spirit Pagoda or get stuck in the ground as a flowerpot!
If I'd known, back when I thought this was just an ordinary mission and a chance to relax and take a stroll...
I should have held back and let Pufferfish elbow his way past me to snatch this mission!
Before you continue