A long while later,
At the end of the street, in a brightly lit alley off the bustling thoroughfare,
Lan He finally came scurrying into view.
He had practically rolled and crawled his way there. He was panting and drenched in sweat, looking as though he had just escaped the gates of hell.
Seeing this, Xiao Yan reached out his right hand.
As though it had found an outlet, the heat followed Xiao Yan's fingertips and was completely drawn away.
All the excess heat was absorbed!
"Woohoo, that feels good!"
"Thank you, brother!" Lan He cupped his hands gratefully at Xiao Yan.
Xiao Yan had changed so much that Lan He didn't recognize him.
Lan He felt as though he had just taken a sunlit sauna. Half the sweat pores on his body had opened, and he found it somewhat enjoyable.
But the next moment, his face went deathly pale.
He was clearly scared out of his wits.
"Old ancestor, you've got to come quickly! The young miss is about to get into a fight with someone." Lan He clung to Yu Tianming's trousers, looking aggrieved, with tears and snot streaming down his face.
Yu Tianming hurriedly asked, "With whom!? What old bastard dares to bully my granddaughter? And what about my friend in Spirit Hall? Didn't he step in!?"
Lan He looked up and said miserably, "Old Ancestor Cang Lin said it wouldn't be proper for him to intervene."
"That old bastard is so afraid of death!" Yu Tianming flew into a rage.
At the same time, he grew anxious.
His friend, Cang Lin,
Was now a deputy hall master of Spirit Hall in Heaven Dou Imperial City. He was at the peak of the Soul Douluo level, and with a little more luck, he had a chance of reaching Titled Douluo in his lifetime.
Even he couldn't easily step in?
Just how powerful was this enemy!?
"Are they strong? How many rings? How many people!?" Yu Tianming asked. Know yourself and know your enemy, and you could fight a hundred battles without danger.
Lan He scrambled to his feet and nodded seriously. "Extremely strong!"
"There aren't many people, actually, just one. As for how many rings, I don't know. She didn't even activate her Martial Soul."
"He couldn't even activate his Martial Soul before scaring that old fellow off!?"
Yu Tianming frowned.
Could it be...
Another fucking Titled Douluo!?
Before my cultivation recovered, I couldn't run into a single Titled Douluo.
Now that my strength is back, why do I feel even more useless?
Everywhere I go, Titled Douluos follow.
Aren't there only a tiny handful of Titled Douluos in this world!?
"Could it be that Dugu Bo fled back to Heaven Dou Imperial City!?" Xiao Yan asked tentatively.
At those words, Yu Tianming's expression grew even uglier.
"Who exactly is this person?" Yu Tianming asked.
Lan He thought seriously and said, "A little girl, about nine years old!"
"Nine!?"
Yu Tianming gave Xiao Yan a suspicious look, then cursed, "How strong can a fucking nine-year-old's Soul Power be? However bad my granddaughter might be, she's a Soul Elder now. Surely she can handle this!?"
"Or are you making things up to amuse your old ancestor, Lan He?" Yu Tianming snorted and glared.
Looking aggrieved, Lan He said in a low voice, "That little girl isn't ordinary. Her background is terrifying. Even Old Ancestor Cang Lin can only look on in awe at the people behind her."
"Then what are the two of them about to fight over?" Xiao Yan asked the most crucial question.
Lan He glanced at Xiao Yan and, taking him for a friend of Yu Tianming's, respectfully explained, "The young miss was originally coming to meet the old ancestor, but she happened to see a treasure on the way and wanted to buy it."
"She wanted to give it to the old ancestor as a gift."
Xiao Yan rubbed his brow. "Then another young miss took a fancy to the treasure too, and the two of them argued until they nearly came to blows!?"
Lan He nodded repeatedly. "Yes, exactly!"
"What kind of fucking melodramatic plot is this?"
The two girls clashed.
Each called for backup.
In the end, both sides faced off in a stalemate.
Yu Tianming frowned. "Which clan does the little girl she clashed with belong to?"
A clan that could disregard the standing of a deputy hall master like Cang Lin...
Even across the entire Douluo Continent, such clans were as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.
Lan He swallowed, looking worried, and stammered, "The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect..."
There were now seven great sects!
The Upper Three Sects were the strongest.
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was the most unusual. Its disciples were all of the support type, yet it had managed to rank among the Upper Three Sects.
That was thanks to its extraordinary wealth, enough to rival a nation.
It even had more than one Titled Douluo serving as a guest elder!
"Lead the way," Yu Tianming said, his face dark.
Now that he knew what had happened, he was less worried.
It was only a dispute between children. No matter what, it couldn't lead to anyone's death.
"After spending these past two days with you, narrowly escaping one danger after another, you've got me worrying every day that a Titled Douluo will suddenly pop up and bash me on the forehead." Yu Tianming looked at Xiao Yan with ill intent.
Xiao Yan chuckled. "At worst, I'll just give that girl from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect a stalk of lesser immortal herb."
A treasure!?
No matter how precious a treasure was, it would pale before a stalk of lesser immortal herb.
Xiao Yan might not have much else now, but he had plenty of heavenly treasures like immortal herbs and lesser immortal herbs.
Little nanny Lan He led the way.
The three of them set off together toward the place where the two girls were confronting each other.
Although he had now brought Old Ancestor Lan, the worry hanging over Lan He's heart hadn't eased at all.
After all, the other side was the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
His old ancestor was strong, but he still fell a little short.
After all, the old ancestor had left the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan and become a discarded pawn in the Yu Xiaogang affair. He had long since lost the ability to draw on the clan's power.
In less than half a quarter of an hour,
The three arrived on the second floor of a building in a busy market.
It was a standard artisan shop selling jewelry and ornaments.
Jewels glittered and jade surrounded them, with flashes of light and crystals everywhere.
It wasn't just girls who would be unable to tear themselves away. Even Xiao Yan was drawn to the dazzling array of strange and wonderful treasures before him.
The shop had already been cleared of people. Outside the pale yellow cypress-wood door, a tall, imposing old man waved.
"Old Yu, over here!" Cang Lin called.
Yu Tianming went over with a dark face, followed by Xiao Yan and Lan He.
"What happened? You couldn't even keep an eye on her properly, and now she's gotten into trouble with someone from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect!?" Yu Tianming snorted.
Dressed in a black robe, his figure standing straight, Cang Lin shook his head helplessly. "Go inside and see your granddaughter for yourself. Of all the people she could have picked a fight with, she had to pick that little girl."
"And you call yourself a deputy hall master of Spirit Hall in the imperial city. You couldn't even settle a matter like this." Yu Tianming strode inside.
Cang Lin narrowed his eyes and glanced at Xiao Yan, then followed Yu Tianming.
As they stepped over the threshold, Yao Lao and Xiao Huo spoke almost at the same time. "There's someone very strong inside."
"How strong!?"
"Stronger than every Titled Douluo we've met before!"
Xiao Yan drew a deep breath.
Damn it, this fake bargain wife Old Yu gave me really is a hot potato!
He strode forward.
Before he had even entered, a voice shouted from inside.
"Whatever I, Ning Rongrong, want, I must have, no matter who you are!"
(Brothers, happy New Year! Good fortune in the Year of the Tiger, and may you strike it rich! Now hand over your bookmarks, recommendation votes, and tips!!!)
(By the way, would you prefer more wish-fulfillment, with Xiao Yan crushing Tang San outright, then breaking out of the Divine Realm and returning to the Great Thousand World, followed by a war across the myriad worlds?)
(Or would you prefer the Douluo storyline to continue as it is now?)
(Because Douluo really is too weak, Battle Through the Heavens has to be nerfed again and again, or there's really no way to write the plot. Otherwise, Yao Lao alone, even in soul form, could slaughter his way through the entire Divine Realm...)
(Do you understand how helpless I feel?)
(Finally, special thanks to Qingfeng, Kuaile, and Youren.)
(Thank you, everyone.)
(End of chapter)