"This old woman is named Chao Tianxiang. Please show me some consideration!"
The old woman leaned on her cane, dressed in a gray gown, her tone growing weaker.
Seeing that the other side seemed to be backing down,
Oscar grew bolder too. "Chao Tianxiang? Well, I'm Oscar! Why don't you show me some consideration?!"
"You!" Meng Yiran flew into a rage beside her, her eyes fixed on Oscar.
Her right hand slowly reached for the Soul-Breaking Blade in the leather pouch at her waist.
"Yiran!"
Noticing Meng Yiran's dangerous intentions, Chao Tianxiang hurriedly stopped her.
"Hmph, in that case, let our strength do the talking!"
Chao Tianxiang tightened her grip on the Serpent Cane. Six Soul Rings slowly rose beneath her feet-yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black-and crushing pressure instantly swept toward Oscar.
"What kind of ability is bullying a junior?!"
Zhao Wuji stepped in front of Oscar, seven Soul Rings rising into view.
He had the same Soul Ring configuration as Snake Granny, except with one additional Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring.
His burly frame slowly grew larger, and the innate pressure of his Beast Martial Soul, the Great Strength Vajra Bear, spread outward.
"A Seven-Ring Soul Sage. May I ask who you are?"
Chao Tianxiang froze briefly at the sight of Zhao Wuji's Soul Rings. She thought that a Seven-Ring Soul Sage ranked among the continent's finest; perhaps he belonged to some aristocratic school or family.
The moment he learned that she was Chao Tianxiang, Zhao Wuji immediately thought of the Peerless Dragon Snake.
Snake Granny alone posed little danger for now, but Dragon Duke might be nearby too.
Zhao Wuji spoke in a relatively mild tone. "This junior is Zhao Wuji. I brought Shrek's students here to hunt for Soul Rings!"
Hearing this name, Chao Tianxiang pondered for a moment, then looked him over and asked tentatively,
"Zhao Wuji? Could you be the Immovable Wisdom King?!"
Zhao Wuji nodded.
Receiving his confirmation, Chao Tianxiang suddenly found herself in a difficult position.
She thought it over and said,
"How about this? To avoid damaging our relations, let the juniors compete for this Soul Beast!"
Zhao Wuji turned to look at everyone present, seemingly considering whether this would work.
"Damn it!"
"Which ill-mannered old hag is yelling her head off?!"
At these words, everyone turned astonished gazes in the same direction.
"Xiao An!"
"Stop moving around! Your hands!!"
Xiao Wu hurriedly covered Chen An's mouth, a faint blush appearing on her face.
Suddenly,
Chen An pried away Xiao Wu's cool little hand and slowly opened his eyes.
"Xiao Wu?"
The first thing he saw was that familiar, pretty face.
"You... what are those looks on your faces?"
Noticing that everyone's eyes were on him, Chen An felt utterly bewildered.
"Hmph!"
"Were you the brat who insulted this old woman?!"
Chao Tianxiang zeroed in on Chen An, who was lying in Xiao Wu's arms.
He shook his head. "No. Everyone knows I'm a child who respects the elderly and cherishes the young!"
Chen An struggled to his feet.
He blinked. "Xiao Wu, Dai Mubai, Oscar... what are those looks for? I really didn't say anything!"
"Enough!"
"You brat, you truly have no manners!"
"Immovable Wisdom King, we choose this brat to compete against Yiran. If we win, we want not only the Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent, but also a kowtow and an apology!"
Chao Tianxiang burned with rage, her voice rising noticeably.
Zhao Wuji sighed.
He thought he had to agree whether he wanted to or not. After all, they now had right on their side.
"Fine!"
"And what if we win?"
Chen An's mind cleared completely, and he finally understood what was happening before him.
"Don't you understand human speech? If you win, the Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent is yours!" Meng Yiran's gaze brimmed with killing intent as she looked at Chen An.
The corners of Chen An's mouth lifted slightly.
"No!"
"That's obviously unfair!"
"If we win, you also have to agree to do one thing for me!"
Hearing this, Meng Yiran was thoroughly enraged. In all her life, she had never seen anyone so brazenly shameless!
She gripped her Martial Soul, the Serpent Cane, and two yellow Soul Rings slowly rose beneath her feet.
"Fine!"
"I agree, but there's no way you can win!"
Hearing these words,
Chen An relaxed completely.
Lone bamboo slowly materialized in his right hand, and three Soul Rings rose beneath his feet as well.
"What?"
"Xiao An, when did you get your third Soul Ring?"
"A white ten-year ring? White again? Brother Chen, you're awesome!"
Xiao Wu, Oscar, and the others were utterly shocked.
They thought to themselves.
Chen An really wanted to be an oddity on the Douluo Continent, the legendary Titled Douluo with nine ten-year rings!
If Chen An knew what they were thinking, he would probably shake his head and say no.
Too conservative.
Why not a Titled Douluo with twin Martial Souls and two sets of nine ten-year rings!
Of course, Chen An felt that since his Bamboo Flute Martial Soul could not bind to the system, he could also try nine red hundred-thousand-year Soul Rings.
One red, one white, roaming unhindered across the Douluo Continent!
"Ten-Year Soul Rings? You're not the one with the lowest Soul Power Level among them, are you?" Meng Yiran was surprised too. Never in her dreams had she imagined someone would have three white Ten-Year Soul Rings.
"Take a guess?"
"First Soul Skill, Piercing!"
Chen An attacked immediately, giving his opponent no chance to react.
"Second Soul Skill, Serpent Body!" Meng Yiran moved as smoothly and fluidly as a snake, easily dodging the attack.
Seizing an opening, she instantly activated her first Soul Skill, Snake Blade. A sharp, slender snake blade suddenly sprang from the Serpent Cane in her hand.
Faced with the sudden attack,
Chen An did not dodge.
He simply raised his bamboo sword and swung it casually.
Sword Qi formed from Ultimate Ice shot straight toward Meng Yiran like an azure dragon.
"Not good!"
Snake Granny Chao Tianxiang frowned. She could clearly sense the extraordinary power of this sword Qi.
"Yiran, dodge!"
She stamped her Serpent Cane against the ground, and all six Soul Rings on her body lit up.
"Huh?"
"My... my body... why can't I move?"
In an instant, Meng Yiran felt profound death and fear in her heart.
Seeing this, Chen An froze.
His brows rose, and he said, "Oh no, I forgot to hold back!"
Seeing that Meng Yiran's life was about to be in danger,
Chen An threw caution to the wind.
He hurriedly activated his third ring's Teleportation, his body sprouting from the ground like bamboo.
Appearing before Meng Yiran, he lightly swung his bamboo sword again.
"Flame Slash!"
The sword Qi imbued with Ultimate Ice met Ultimate Fire and immediately turned into a cloud of steaming mist.
Paying close attention to detail, Chen An used Ultimate Ice to insulate them from the heat.
But the powerful shock wave still blasted the two of them more than three meters away!
"Hiss!"
"That hurts... huh?"
Seeing that he was lying on top of Meng Yiran, Chen An was just about to get up.
Thud, thud, thud...
Tremors rumbled through the ground nearby, and the Soul Beasts hiding in the shadows scattered in flight.
"What happened?"
"Why does the ground keep shaking?!"
Sensing that something was wrong, Zhao Wuji hurriedly looked toward Tang San.
After using Purple Demon Eye, the latter shouted, "It looks like a giant ape. It's really, really huge!"
"A giant ape?"
With only this bit of information, Zhao Wuji had no idea what Soul Beast it actually was.
Not until a massive figure appeared before them, covered in thick fur, over ten meters tall, its bulging muscles like slabs of rock.
"How could it be this one?"
"The overlord of the Star Dou Great Forest, the Titan Giant Ape?!"