Qian Renyue raised her eyes. Amid the crowds streaming down the bustling street, one conspicuous figure stood out from all the ordinary colors, green enough to make her eyes hurt.
"Senior Dugu?"
She called out instinctively.
"Oh! Little lass!" Dugu Bo answered, beaming. It was easy to see that he was in an especially good mood today. "I heard from Yanyan that you'll be fighting team matches in a few days. Perfect timing-I have some good news for you!"
"What is it?"
"I found the soul beast you were looking for in the Sunset Forest!" Speaking of the fifty-thousand-year Netherworld Flower Emperor filled Dugu Bo with exasperation. "Honestly, little lass, why did you have to go looking for that thing? It has an invisibility skill! It gave me such a hard time finding it that I didn't sleep for days and nights!"
As he spoke, he felt like an absolute sucker.
After hearing him out, Qian Renyue thought for a moment. "Thank you for your hard work, Senior. But doesn't the Netherworld Flower Emperor move around? You found where it was this time, but will it still be there next time?"
"..."
Good question.
Dugu Bo really had not considered that at the time.
Realizing that all his searching might have been for nothing, Dugu Bo immediately wanted to give up. "Little Yue, just what do you want with that fifty-thousand-year soul beast?"
He frowned as he asked, feeling as though his own granddaughter had invented chores just to keep him busy.
"Hmm..."
Qian Renyue fell silent for a moment and pressed her lips together, considering how to hoodwink Dugu Bo. "Senior Dugu, do you want to hear the truth?"
She asked.
"Of course!"
Dugu Bo said.
"All right, then!" Qian Renyue nodded emphatically. With an utterly serious expression, she said solemnly, "Actually, this fifty-thousand-year soul beast is a training assignment my master gave me. I have to complete it before I can return to his side. That's why I asked Sister Yanzi to get your help!"
Her master?
What kind of master would assign a level-thirty disciple to kill a fifty-thousand-year soul beast?
Dugu Bo frowned slightly, unable to help wondering whether someone had deceived Qian Renyue.
"Who is your master? Why would he do something like this?"
He asked.
"My master is Sword Douluo, Chen Xin."
Qian Renyue answered without blushing or missing a heartbeat, as though Chen Xin really had given her this rather inhumane assignment.
Sword Douluo?
Chen Xin?!
Dugu Bo's expression stiffened, every feature freezing in place. He remained stunned for quite some time, only slowly coming back to his senses when Qian Renyue called to him again.
His first reaction upon recovering, however, was not to criticize Chen Xin. Instead, he asked Qian Renyue earnestly, "Little lass, are you absolutely sure your master is Sword Dao Chen Xin, and not some impostor?"
"Of course!" Qian Renyue confirmed. "My master is Sword Dao Chen Xin. I even have a token he gave me!"
As she spoke, Qian Renyue took the token out of her pocket, where it had barely had time to grow warm.
Master, I can only apologize to you.
She thought silently.
Dugu Bo took the token from Qian Renyue and carefully weighed it in his hand. Unless he was mistaken, this was indeed Sword Dao Chen Xin's personal token. After all, he was the only person on the entire Douluo Continent who possessed such a thing.
Returning the token to Qian Renyue, Dugu Bo wore a somewhat complicated expression. So this girl's master, the one with a hole in his head, was actually Sword Dao Chen Xin?
"Tsk, tsk, tsk." He felt rather rueful, but refrained from bad-mouthing Chen Xin in front of Qian Renyue. "Little lass, you're saying he won't let you return unless you complete the assignment, right?"
"Yes, exactly!" Qian Renyue nodded. She was certain Dugu Bo would not seek out Chen Xin to verify her story. Besides, with Chen Xin backing her, the old poison master would naturally take more of an interest in her. There was no downside for her, except...
Ah, I'll just have to sacrifice my bargain master!
Although Dugu Bo could not fathom why Chen Xin would issue such an assignment, Qian Renyue clearly had an extraordinary background. Dugu Yan stood to gain quite a bit from becoming good friends with her. He had spent his entire life working with poison, had few friends, and had earned himself a rather unpleasant reputation. If Dugu Yan could have someone like Qian Renyue to rely on, that was no bad thing for him either. He always had a feeling that his Yanyan needed someone to protect her, and that person might not necessarily be him.
After a moment of silence, Dugu Bo said, "How about this? I'll help you with this favor. Consider it fulfilling a wish of Yanyan's, and making a friend as well. What do you think?"
Making a friend?
Making a friend sounds great!
Once we're friends, I can openly go to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well and harvest its immortal herbs!
Qian Renyue was more than willing. "Of course, Senior! As long as you're willing, I certainly am!"
"Good, then, little Yue. Since I've said I'll help you, I'll see it through to the end. Decide when you want to come to the Sunset Forest with me, and I'll beat that fellow for you!"
"..."
Dugu Bo was a little too enthusiastic, leaving Qian Renyue speechless. Her God of Kindness's First Trial required her to complete the task alone. If Dugu Bo stuck his oar in, it would be a miracle if she did not fail her first trial outright.
To keep Dugu Bo out of the matter, Qian Renyue had no choice but to drag her bargain master out to take the blade again. "Senior Dugu, my master told me to complete it on my own, without anyone else's help. Otherwise, the assignment counts as a failure, and I still won't be allowed to return to his side."
"???"
Hold on.
Does that old man Chen Xin really have a hole in his head?
Dugu Bo said irritably, "You're just a little Soul Elder. Taking on a fifty-thousand-year soul beast alone would be like a lamb walking into a tiger's jaws! You'd be throwing your life away!"
In all his years, he had never heard of a Soul Elder who could kill a fifty-thousand-year soul beast alone.
A Soul Elder challenging a ten-thousand-year soul beast, no matter how many tens of thousands of years old it was, was practically suicide. What on earth was Chen Xin thinking?
Had his brain short-circuited?
Watching Dugu Bo's expression change, Qian Renyue suddenly felt a little sorry for her bargain master.
Still, she could explain all this later. The urgent matter was to hoodwink Dugu Bo first.
Qian Renyue blinked and said with innocent bewilderment, "That's not true, Senior Dugu. My master naturally has his reasons for saying that. Besides, I'm not an ordinary Soul Elder. I'm very strong."
"Very strong? How strong?" Dugu Bo folded his arms across his chest, suddenly finding the child rather amusing. Her master was setting such a nasty trap for her, yet she still spoke up for him. It seemed the bond between master and disciple ran deep!
With pedestrians coming and going along the street, Qian Renyue gestured for Dugu Bo to crouch down so she could tell him in secret.
Understanding her intention, Dugu Bo simply grabbed Qian Renyue and flew up onto a rooftop. "There, lass. Now you can speak without holding anything back."
"..."
Qian Renyue's mouth twisted. For a moment, she actually had no idea what to say.
Simple and brutal. Just what you'd expect from the old poison master.
"I have a trump card," she said, looking up.
"What trump card?" Dugu Bo asked.
"My third soul ring is a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring."
"Huh?"
Dugu Bo looked at Qian Renyue and raised an eyebrow, not believing her in the slightest. "Lass, do you know what you're saying? Your third soul ring is a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring? How is that possible? The limit for a third soul ring is only a thousand years. How could you possibly have absorbed a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring?"
"Ah, Senior Dugu, seeing is believing. Take a look, and you'll know."
Qian Renyue released her soul power, and her soul rings appeared.
Her black third ring pulsed before Dugu Bo. Gazing at it, he immediately sank into thought. So everything Dugu Yan had told him was true; he had simply mistaken the truth for a joke.
"But, lass, even with this, you're still unlikely to be able to kill a ten-thousand-year soul beast alone," Dugu Bo said frankly.
Qian Renyue nodded in agreement. "That's why I also have an external soul bone."
Before you continue