The Dragons Appear

The beams swept over the four of them. Dark Crow and the other two were struck outright, while only the beam that hit Qin Zhen was bounced away again.

After that strike, Dugu Bo had no time to check the results. First, he removed the Wishful Hundred Treasure Pouch and quietly tossed it into a distant patch of grass.

Only after doing all this did he feel reassured. He no longer hoped to emerge unscathed himself; he only hoped Ah Yin would not be discovered.

Had his Human-Snake True Form not greatly extended the duration of his eighth Soul Skill, he really could not have done so much, but even now, he was approaching his limit.

Maintaining his Human-Snake True Form already consumed a vast amount of Soul Power, and now he also had to maintain the effects of his eighth Soul Skill, Time Freeze.

Dugu Bo looked toward Qin Zhen, brought his hands together before him, and stretched his entire body into a straight line, spinning, then spinning again...

Then Dugu Bo hurtled toward Qin Zhen like a drill.

At the same time, he canceled the effects of his eighth Soul Skill, Time Freeze.

Qin Zhen recovered from his immobilized state. As a look of astonishment crossed his face, a drill over forty meters long and five or six meters thick slammed into him. Caught off guard, he could only raise three arms to block it.

It hurts... That was Qin Zhen's first reaction.

It had been a long time since he had felt anything like this. Ever since awakening his Body Martial Soul and adapting to its power, he had absorbed and deflected practically every attack.

When was the last time I felt this?

He remembered. It was when he had first met Pope Bibi Dong.

Back then, he had refused Spirit Hall's offer of recruitment, beaten countless people into the ground, and even declared, "Does Spirit Hall have no one worthy?"

Until Bibi Dong arrived. He had never seen anyone so powerful! This was how all his defenses had been broken: Bibi Dong's Spider Spears had pierced straight through the defenses he had laid over his body.

Then Bibi Dong had told him, "Your ability is quite good. Take this Soul Bone. Whether you come with me is up to you."

Qin Zhen had stood up and followed Bibi Dong, and that Soul Bone was the very one now in his left arm.

So he refused to fall before anyone else!

Most of Dugu Bo's Human-Snake True Form had already disintegrated.

Seeing this, Qin Zhen softened his left hand as well and seized the still-spinning Dugu Bo. Like a rubber band caught on a drill, his left hand wound around him, loop after loop. Then, with a forceful swing, he finally brought Dugu Bo's attack to a halt.

Dugu Bo steadied himself in midair, looked at the bloody hole he had drilled into Qin Zhen's right shoulder, and laughed.

"Ha! Where's that breezy composure of yours? Why has it disappeared?"

Qin Zhen first looked at his right shoulder. There was a bloody hole there, with several emerald-green streaks of blood spreading outward from the wound. Only then did he glance at Dark Crow and the others lying nearby.

Every one of them was breathing rapidly. Emerald-green poison markings kept moving across their skin and through their veins, their Soul Power dissipating as they howled in agony.

"Can you detoxify us?" Qin Zhen asked, looking at Dugu Bo in his grasp.

"Then can you let me go?" Dugu Bo countered.

"No." Qin Zhen shook his head.

"Heh." Dugu Bo said nothing more.

Qin Zhen murmured, "Then getting back will be a little troublesome. Traveling with Soul Douluos will be a bit slow." Then he looked at Dugu Bo again. "Looks like I still have to capture you first!"

"Fifth Soul Skill: Bind!"

His left arm lengthened, his five fingers spreading as his hand shot toward Dugu Bo like a cannonball. After Dugu Bo dodged aside, it seized a tree trunk behind him, pulling Qin Zhen rapidly closer.

Reaching the tree trunk, Qin Zhen tensed the muscles in both legs. With a boom, he crushed the tree beneath his feet and continued charging toward Dugu Bo amid a sonic boom.

"Sixth Soul Skill: Crush!"

Maintaining the venomous claws on both hands, Dugu Bo slashed viciously down at the oncoming Qin Zhen.

An unbroken series of clangs rang out.

Sparks flashed as his venomous claws scraped against Qin Zhen's Soul Bone armor.

But the longer Dugu Bo fought, the more alarmed he became. His venomous claws began to soften, lashing out like whips.

Then, little by little, his fingers, palms, and arms all grew soft.

Even the simple act of raising his hand took Dugu Bo more effort than before.

Naturally, Qin Zhen would not let such a moment slip by. "First Soul Skill: Tremor!"

A wave of vibration swept through Dugu Bo's entire body, starting at the tips of his claws.

After this strike, Dugu Bo's Human-Snake True Form disintegrated completely. Returned to his original body, Dugu Bo felt a wave of weakness. The side effects of burning his blood essence had arrived.

Light was already spreading across the horizon, but who knew when the flame of his hope would be lit...

He no longer had the strength to lift his hands, nor could he keep himself suspended in midair. With a turn of his hand, Qin Zhen, who stood over two meters tall, caught him in his grasp.

Under the transformation wrought by Qin Zhen's Martial Soul, Dugu Bo's entire body had now become rubber, able to be folded at will.

Only after tossing Dugu Bo onto the ground did Qin Zhen have time to examine his own wound properly. The emerald green had spread farther. He then sealed his meridians with Soul Power, ignoring his colleagues' howls.

He stood up and walked toward Dugu Bo.

But just then, another sensation of Space-Time Stagnation descended. This time, the entire Sunset Forest came to a standstill. Even the passing wind stopped in midair.

Then an aura of extreme cold and another of extreme heat rose from the bottom of the spring. Both erupted at once, accompanied by an immense pressure that instantly crossed the entire forest and descended from the sky.

In that instant, Demon Subduing Douluo sensed something he had never seen or felt in his life.

If Pope Bibi Dong embodied power, these two auras were ancient, primordial, carrying a pressure from the depths of bloodline and species.

Qin Zhen's feet were nailed to the spot, his knees weakening as his shoulders and back bent uncontrollably. In that moment, even his rank-ninety-seven Soul Power seemed so feeble.

Dark Crow and the other two, already gravely injured and howling, instantly became barely able to breathe. Their Martial Souls manifested on their own, prostrating themselves on the ground and kowtowing toward the source of the pressure. This pressure was actually even stronger against Soul Masters with Beast Martial Souls.

Even the Soul Douluos and Soul Saints who had come with them instantly fainted.

Demon Subduing Douluo forced his head up against the pressure, the veins at his temples bulging slightly. For the first time, his voice carried a tremor of shock. "What... is this!"

After speaking, his eyes rolled back as well, and he collapsed unconscious.

No one answered. Only deep underground, two rays of light slowly withdrew, and the twin eyes of ice and fire began flowing again.

The ones responsible for all this were none other than the Ice Dragon King and the Fire Dragon King.

When Dugu Bo had tossed Ah Yin aside, the mouth of the Wishful Hundred Treasure Pouch had loosened, allowing her to connect with the outside world. It was then that she had reached out to the consciousnesses of the Ice Dragon King and the Fire Dragon King.

But she had not expected it to result in this scene, with both sides badly wounded.

Just as she was controlling the Blue Silver Grass, preparing to bring Dugu Bo back to recuperate, the voices of the two Dragon Kings reached her consciousness.

"This much isn't enough!"