"Really?" Pain Douluo still looked hesitant.
"Yes." Snake Lance Douluo nodded firmly.
"Then there's no time to lose. Let's go!"
Qian Renxue looked excited. After several days of aimless searching through the core of Sunset Forest, they finally had a lead.
"Wait."
Lu Yuan suddenly called Qian Renxue to a stop, leaving her puzzled.
"What is it, Lu Yuan?"
"Well, Young Master, you've already faked your death publicly and concealed your identity. According to my ancestors' records, before my distant relative rediscovered that treasure land of Immortal Herbs, there were originally no jade phosphorus seven-absolute flowers there."
"But now a Poison Mist Formation of jade phosphorus seven-absolute flowers has been laid there. I'm afraid someone discovered the place first and claimed it. Aren't you worried about exposing your identity?"
"Well..."
Hearing Lu Yuan's words, Qian Renxue came to her senses and felt he had a point. Lu Yuan continued.
"Besides, I'll also be operating in Heaven Dou City in the future. Her Holiness has already ordered that all traces of my presence in Spirit City be concealed, and told everyone who's seen me to keep their mouths shut."
"But if someone has occupied that treasure basin, happens to be there, and then happens to escape, it wouldn't matter much if I were implicated. The real problem would be exposing your identity, Young Master."
Qian Renxue looked thoughtful. Could there really be such a coincidence?
Anyone who could escape after encountering the two Titled Douluos at my side would have to be a Titled Douluo themselves. But how could it be such a coincidence? Has Lu Yuan started thinking Titled Douluos grow like cabbages just because he's met five of them in the past six months?
"Young Master, I think Lu Yuan has a point. How about this? Use your Angel Head Soul Bone to disguise your appearance, then come with me to inspect that treasure land of Immortal Herbs."
"Mm... Uncle Ci Xue, we can't do that." Qian Renxue shook her head.
"Leaving aside the fact that some Immortal Herbs are poisonous and others can't be taken together, none of us can identify them without Lu Yuan."
"Besides, I promised Lu Yuan that if he helped us find a place that could be called the greatest opportunity on the continent, he would naturally be allowed to enter and have first pick of the Immortal Herbs."
"Well..." Pain Douluo was momentarily stunned. He hadn't expected Qian Renxue to value Lu Yuan so highly that she would yield to him and give him first pick of the Immortal Herbs.
"As for whoever has occupied the treasure land seeing Lu Yuan's disguise, there's no need to worry. My Angel Soul Bone can briefly conceal and alter other people's appearances. That way, Lu Yuan can come with us to meet outsiders," Qian Renxue continued explaining.
Then she began releasing Soul Power over herself and Lu Yuan. Before long, both their clothes and appearances had changed, though he remained handsome and she remained beautiful.
"Let's go. We need to move quickly. The Angel Soul Bone can't maintain the change to Lu Yuan's appearance for long."
"Yes."
At Qian Renxue's call, Lu Yuan and the other two nodded in unison, surrounding her as they headed toward the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
"What an enormous expanse of poisonous mist."
When they reached the poisonous formation of jade phosphorus seven-absolute flowers laid by Dugu Bo, even Qian Renxue had to marvel at its scale.
"This... this is enough to poison an entire city's population to death."
Porcupinefish Douluo looked at the patches of jade phosphorus seven-absolute flowers concealed beneath the poisonous mist, their bodies emerald green and their blossoms dazzling. With his extensive experience in poisons, he could naturally tell that this was undoubtedly someone's handiwork.
Protected by Porcupinefish Douluo's Soul Power, the group began making their way deeper into the poisonous mist.
"Who's out there? You dare approach my Medicine Garden? Have you grown tired of living?"
An aged voice came from within the poisonous mist. Qian Renxue, Snake Lance Douluo, and Porcupinefish Douluo froze when they heard it.
Why did it sound so familiar?
Just then, the poisonous mist rippled continuously, and a thin figure gradually emerged from among the jade phosphorus seven-absolute flowers.
Sure enough, Poison Douluo Dugu Bo is guarding this place. Good thing Qian Renxue helped disguise me.
Lu Yuan inwardly rejoiced at his good fortune. He had asked Qian Renxue to disguise him precisely because he feared they would run straight into Dugu Bo, who had already discovered the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, upon entering it.
As for Dugu Bo having already discovered the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, Lu Yuan wasn't surprised. After all, there were fewer than seven years left before Tang San and Dugu Bo met in the original timeline.
"Hmm, you're... She Long and Ci Xue! No, you really have broken through to Titled Douluo, and you even managed to find this place."
Dugu Bo was naturally very surprised to see She Long and Ci Xue, especially the latter, who also worked with poisons.
She Long and Ci Xue had previously been veteran Soul Douluos of Spirit Hall, and had long possessed the potential to advance to Titled Douluo.
Yet in recent years, the two had inexplicably disappeared. Of course, Lu Yuan, Qian Renxue, and their companions knew that the two Titled Douluos had followed the Spirit Hall Young Master into the Heaven Dou Empire on an undercover mission. The outside world, however, knew nothing about them.
In fact, the outside world had no clear idea of how many Titled Douluos Spirit Hall possessed, or how strong it truly was.
Had the Super Douluos of the Worship Hall not appeared late in the original timeline to serve as stepping stones for Tang San's side, the masses of the Douluo Continent would still have generally believed those old men were dead.
In fact, according to the original timeline's depiction of Spirit Hall, it had at least twenty-odd Titled Douluos, nearly half of all the Titled Douluos on the continent.
For a single faction to account for such a terrifying proportion of top-level combat power, it was virtually the pinnacle of the Douluo Continent's forces.
Such a situation would have been unthinkable in the eras of Douluo II and Douluo Dalu III: The Legend of the Dragon King, when there were easily three or four hundred Titled Douluos.
Of course, this was also connected to Bibi Dong's ambition to conceal Spirit Hall's true high-level combat strength, establish the Spirit Hall Empire, and rule the Douluo Continent.
There were rumors on the continent that She Long and Ci Xue had failed to advance to Titled Douluo and retired, died on a mission assigned by Spirit Hall, or concealed their identities and perhaps even become Titled Douluos. It seems the last guess was the right one.
But what are these two Titled Douluos doing with a Soul King and a Soul Elder? Could they be these two youngsters' guardians? Are these young people important core figures of Spirit Hall, or descendants of She Long and Ci Xue?
Dugu Bo looked at the unfamiliar handsome boy and goddess-like beauty, a trace of confusion appearing in his eyes.
Qian Renxue was also startled at first when she saw Dugu Bo.
I actually forgot about this fellow.
How could Qian Renxue not recognize Dugu Bo's voice? He was the only Titled Douluo serving as an honored protector of the weak Heaven Dou Empire, one of the Douluo Continent's two great empires.
A few years ago, after Dugu Bo became a Titled Douluo and went to Spirit City to have his title certified, that woman...
Qian Renxue recalled what had happened to Dugu Bo. After his title of Poison Douluo was confirmed, Bibi Dong had demanded that he join Spirit Hall.
Dugu Bo refused, and Bibi Dong even sent Chrysanthemum Douluo to hunt him down. In the end, Dugu Bo successfully escaped and was rescued by Prince Xue Xing of the Heaven Dou Empire, who stood opposed to Qian Renxue. He became an honored protector of the Heaven Dou Imperial Family, all but openly siding against Spirit Hall.
At that moment, Snake Lance, Porcupinefish Douluo, and Dugu Bo faced off. Vast Soul Power suddenly erupted, their oppressive auras stirring the nearby branches, fallen leaves, and dust.
The wind whipped up Qian Renxue's and Lu Yuan's clothes and hair. Under the crushing pressure of three Titled Douluos, neither dared make a rash move, and both gasped for breath.
Huge phantom images of a Two-Headed Snake, a porcupinefish, and a Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor manifested behind the three Titled Douluos. Nine Soul Rings-yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black, black-also appeared beneath each of their feet. Three immense vortices of Soul Power churned through Sunset Forest, like the wondrous sight of three suns hanging in the sky.
"She Long, Martial Soul: Snake Lance, level 92 Power Attack System Titled Douluo!"
"Ci Xue, Martial Soul: Pufferfish, level 92 Control System Titled Douluo!"
"Dugu Bo, Martial Soul: Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor, level 91 Control System Titled Douluo!"