Chapter 25

"Yan'er, thank you..."

Dugu Yan shook her head. "It's all right, Grandpa. I know you meant well."

Dugu Yan's understanding and obedience nearly brought Dugu Bo to tears again.

"All right, all right, everyone's happy now. Come, let's see what your new martial soul can do."

"Okay." The grandfather and granddaughter finally drew apart.

Dugu Yan summoned her martial soul again. The Life Dragon Snake coiled around her, and two yellow soul rings shone. There was even a hint of purple in those two soul rings!

Once again, Dugu Bo was stunned by the strength of Lan Changsheng's life divine power. Before this, they had thought increasing a soul ring's age was only a legend.

Dugu Yan held out her hand. The Life Dragon Snake's feathered wings drooped gently as it spat a blast of reddish-white dragon breath at the nearby stone wall, but nothing happened.

"What... what's going on?" Dugu Bo was a little puzzled.

"Don't rush, Grandpa." The rock began to melt slowly!

Dugu Bo watched the scene in shock.

"Hehe, Lan... Senior was right. My efforts and my past haven't disappeared!" She seemed very reluctant to call Lan Changsheng Grandpa.

Dugu Yan said happily, "My first soul skill has changed. Anything I identify as an enemy will be corroded and dissolved by the poison. I just wasn't very practiced at identifying a rock as an enemy. As for those I mark as teammates..."

Dugu Yan suddenly commanded the Life Dragon Snake to spit another blast of dragon breath at Dugu Bo.

Dugu Bo could certainly have dodged it, but when he saw Dugu Yan's smiling expression, he rooted himself to the spot.

When the reddish-white dragon breath touched Dugu Bo's body, it merged into him, becoming a mass of warm energy that traveled throughout his body. Although this energy was relatively weak for Dugu Bo, it meant that Dugu Yan's martial soul was more than just (something).

"And my second martial skill is called Silver Wing Cutting. When I use it, the Life Dragon Snake's wings slice through the target. A layer of silver energy clings to the wounds, continuously disrupting the gathering of soul power there. Until the wounds heal, the opponent can't channel soul power normally in those areas."

After hearing how powerful these two soul skills were, Dugu Bo was truly happy. His granddaughter had not become a pure support because of the life divine power and lost the ability to protect herself.

He looked at Lan Changsheng gratefully, only to find that Lan Changsheng's expression was very... angry.

"Brother Lan, what's wrong?"

Spirit Hall! Bibi Dong! Lan Changsheng roared inwardly. He knew that Bibi Dong's order was only meant to force him to show himself.

I was still too impulsive. As a soul beast, the way he had behaved for a million years apparently did not suit human society very well.

He was not afraid of Spirit Hall, but... Xiao San still needed to grow, and Xiao San was human. He needed contact with humans. Otherwise, he would end up like Lan Changsheng this time, causing trouble himself only to implicate his own kind.

First, he sent him a reply through the Blue Silver Ring: "I received the message. Stay safe."

Seeing Lan Changsheng like this, Dugu Bo told Dugu Yan to go aside and familiarize herself with her martial soul, then went over to Lan Changsheng.

"Brother, what happened?" Dugu Bo looked concerned.

Lan Changsheng looked at the man before him. Although they had not known each other long, they got along very well, and he felt he could not drag him into his conflict with Spirit Hall.

So he merely shook his head and said, "Something happened back home. It's nothing."

"Brother, don't lie to me. You're a soul beast. You aren't as good as humans at hiding these things." Dugu Bo said solemnly, "If you need me for anything, just say the word. For the immense kindness you've shown my granddaughter and me, I wouldn't hesitate even if I had to repay you with my life."

Lan Changsheng thought it over. Perhaps he really did need a human to help him think of a solution.

"Here's what happened. Spirit Hall..." Lan Changsheng explained the course of events to Dugu Bo.

Unexpectedly, after hearing him out, Dugu Bo clapped his hands in delight. "Good! Good riddance! I've wanted to kill that effeminate Chrysanthemum Guan for ages. Back then, my son and daughter-in-law were murdered by Chrysanthemum Guan because Spirit Hall failed to recruit me!" Intense killing intent erupted from Dugu Bo.

"Unfortunately, my level was lower than his before, so I couldn't kill him. I'd planned to go after him this time once the hidden danger in Yan'er's martial soul was resolved, but you've already killed him, brother! Haha! This is wonderful!" Watching Dugu Bo cry one moment and laugh the next, Lan Changsheng thought, Is this what humans are like? So complicated...

"Brother, what should I do now?"

"Fight! Take a few of their cities first, then see if they still dare!" Dugu Bo shouted.

But Dugu Yan stopped him from the side. "Grandpa! What kind of rotten idea is that? I heard your entire conversation. Senior Lan, I never imagined you were so powerful!"

Even without Dugu Yan saying anything, Lan Changsheng would not have agreed to that idea.

"If you really did that, Spirit Hall wouldn't be our only enemy. All Spirit Hall would have to do is fan the winds of opinion a little, and we'd be enemies of the entire continent," Dugu Yan added.

"Yes, brother, that definitely won't work." Lan Changsheng felt that Dugu Bo was less reliable than Dugu Yan.

Dugu Bo said dejectedly, "Yan'er is right. What should we do, then..."

Dugu Yan thought for a long time before speaking. "Since they can use public opinion to pressure us, we can do the same." Her eyes grew brighter and brighter as she spoke.

"Right." Dugu Bo froze for a moment, then immediately caught on and continued, "This order itself is impossible to carry out. It exhausts the people and drains their wealth. There are actually plenty of people opposed to it.

"Brother Lan, you can first secretly shelter those soul masters who have awakened the Blue Silver Grass martial soul. These soul masters could be said to make up the largest proportion of commoners, but they have little ability to resist on their own. That's when you need to appear.

"Tell them how cruel and inhumane Spirit Hall is, how it issued unreasonable regulations to oppress them. Then have them persuade those who oppose this policy. When the time comes, even if we face Spirit Hall again, we won't be fighting alone, and we'll have legitimate and righteous grounds."

Lan Changsheng realized that Dugu Bo's earlier impulsiveness had only come from his eagerness for revenge.

"Grandpa, that's right. Spirit Hall only dares to do this because it thinks it can keep those soul masters who awakened the Blue Silver Grass martial soul under its thumb. If Senior Lan steps forward to stand against Spirit Hall as an equal, Spirit Hall won't hold the advantage in terms of legitimacy."

"But..." Thinking of Lan Changsheng's true identity, Dugu Bo was still a little worried.

But Lan Changsheng shook his head slightly, reassuring Dugu Bo. He had already considered this issue just now. Spirit Hall would certainly make an issue of his identity, but if the soul masters under his protection learned that even a soul beast would step forward to shelter them, Spirit Hall's reputation should fall even faster.

Besides, more and more soul beasts were now choosing to take human form and integrate into human society. If his actions this time could help bring some humans and soul beasts together, that would be good too.