The attendant brought out the black leather pouch containing the Soul Bone, along with a stalk of Ginger Softness Grass for each family's young prodigy. Taken while absorbing a Soul Bone, it could temper the Soul Bone's overbearing power.
The black leather pouch sealed away the Soul Bone's presence, letting none of it leak out.
Still, Chu Qing figured that since it had originally been reserved for Yang Tian, it probably couldn't be all that good.
Without giving it another look, he pushed it over to Xu Sanshi beside him and said with a smile,
"I won it back for you. Your gold-medal stand-in did pretty well, didn't he?"
Unlike Soul Rings, Soul Bones could be kept for a longer time.
He was in no hurry to absorb too many Ten Thousand Year Soul Bones. For now, the Shield Armor Spirit Rhinoceros Left Arm Bone was enough. He planned to hunt for the rest after becoming a Titled Douluo, preferably Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bones.
Compared with this Ten Thousand Year Soul Bone, calling it a way to befriend the future Black Tortoise Douluo was thinking too far ahead.
What he wanted was for Xu Sanshi's father to look after him a little more right now.
In the end, he still didn't feel secure enough, and someone he had a connection with was more reliable.
The attendant looked somewhat stunned at this.
Xu Sanshi hadn't expected it either. Once he had sent Chu Qing up in his place, he had given up on the Soul Bone. After all, he knew he was no match for his opponent one-on-one.
He smiled and pushed it back.
"Take it. With your strength, you deserve it."
He refused it. However thick-skinned he was, he couldn't bring himself to take it.
Chu Qing firmly gave his reason:
"Think of it as compensation. Otherwise, you won't have another chance in the future, but I'm different."
Xu Sanshi paused, then understood. Relations had grown even more strained.
Watching them, Xu Sanshi's father nodded happily.
Leaving aside the ties between their families as brothers-in-law, Chu Qing's terrifying talent alone made him more than happy to see his child befriend him.
That would bring unexpected benefits to the standing of both him and his son Xu Sanshi within the Mysterious Nether Sect.
"Sanshi, there's no need for formalities between our families. Take it."
There was not the slightest reluctance on the faces of Xue Lingxun and her husband either.
Though a Ten Thousand Year Soul Bone was extremely precious to them as well, Chu Qing was destined to obtain a complete set of Soul Bones in the future, even if he had to rely on himself alone.
So they weren't worried that missing out on this Soul Bone meant Chu Qing would never get another.
On the contrary, they were gratified by their son's generosity.
Now that his father had spoken, Xu Sanshi happily accepted it, though he said with some displeasure:
"When I become a Titled Douluo, let's see if they still dare treat me like this!"
Then he patted his chest and solemnly promised Chu Qing:
"Don't worry. Once I become a Titled Douluo, I'll definitely give you a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone in return."
Chu Qing didn't refuse. He smiled and said:
"I want one from a Ten Great Ferocious Beasts."
"Come on, that's a lion opening its jaws wide! Do I look like a Ferocious Beast to you?"
Hearing this, Xu Sanshi's father declined Xue Lingxun's voice transmission suggesting he return to the sect and find a Soul Bone to give Chu Qing in return.
"Let the two youngsters sort it out themselves."
"The sect wouldn't be willing to part with anything good, and I'd be a little embarrassed to offer an ordinary Ten Thousand Year Soul Bone. It wouldn't be worthy of Chu Qing."
After all, in his eyes, Chu Qing was a future Peerless Douluo.
He was quite talented himself, so he understood Chu Qing's value very well. Chu Qing was destined to become a figure whose smile or anger alone could make the winds and clouds over the continent change.
The atmosphere at the banquet gradually relaxed.
Later that night, after the Dou Ling Emperor left, Xu Sanshi's family rose and departed as well. After all, they weren't welcome here.
Chu Qing said goodbye to them. His own family couldn't leave yet.
Whatever else one might say, becoming familiar faces and adopting a humble attitude could prevent many potential disputes.
Xue Lingyi brought Chu Qing and his father forward to greet Heavenly Sun Douluo:
"Your Majesty Heavenly Sun, Princess Lingxun had urgent business. Before she left, she asked me to convey her family's regards."
Though she was angry on her elder sister's behalf, she hoped to avoid further trouble.
Heavenly Sun Douluo still looked displeased, but he gave him some face and nodded.
After the family walked away, he stared at Chu Qing's retreating figure, once again reluctant to see him go.
Yang Tian noticed this and felt somewhat jealous. He asked:
"Grandpa, is Chu Qing really that formidable?"
Heavenly Sun Douluo nodded with certainty.
"Never mind you. Even if I were of his generation, I wouldn't be confident of defeating him."
Chu Qing's talent, the incomparably majestic imperial presence his Martial Soul gave off, and that Azure Soul Ring of his surpassed even the monstrous talents of Heavenly Sun Douluo's own generation.
He even kept wondering how such a powerful Martial Soul could have appeared in a human. By rights, it shouldn't have.
While moving about freely, Chu Qing noticed a group of young nobles gathered around a table playing a game. He went over to take a curious look and found they were playing cards.
It wasn't poker, but a Soul Beast battle game similar to one called Yu-Gi-Oh! from his previous life.
His interest was immediately piqued.
When he arrived, quite a few people looked over curiously. But because Chu Qing was so strong, and most of them had ordinary aptitude, no one spoke to him; they merely watched.
Xue Shiqi, who was playing, saw him and immediately made room, welcoming him:
"Are you interested, Young Master Chu?"
"Come, sit down. I'll teach you."
Chu Qing didn't stand on ceremony. This would make it easier to fit in with them.
After briefly explaining the rules, Xue Shiqi started a game to show him how it worked.
Each side had a main deck of twenty cards, consisting mostly of Soul Beast cards, and an extra deck of ten cards, consisting mostly of Soul Ring cards. Whoever ran out of cards in their main deck first lost.
At the start of the match, both sides drew five cards from their main decks.
A Soul Beast card could either be awakened as a Martial Soul or discarded as a Soul Beast to obtain a Soul Ring card from the extra deck.
There were five grades: white, yellow, purple, black, and red.
Cards of purple grade or lower could be awakened directly. Black-grade cards required one sacrifice, and red-grade cards required two.
Each turn, one card could be selected for Martial Soul Awakening.
Chu Qing couldn't help freezing when he saw the five red cards in his hand.
1* 890,000-year Golden-Eyed Black Dragon King
2* 700,000-year Heavenly Snow Woman
3* 790,000-year Evil Eye Tyrant Ruler
4* 310,000-year Three-Headed Scarlet Demon Mastiff
5* 470,000-year Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear
They were all Ten Great Ferocious Beasts. Chu Qing looked suspiciously at Xue Shiqi. Though he had been terrible at cards in his previous life, this kid seemed to be a soul player.
Xue Shiqi rubbed his nose and smiled awkwardly:
"It's fine. We'll turn it around in the next wave."
Li Zhongyuan, seated opposite them, clearly smiled. He knew what Xue Shiqi had stuffed into his deck. He laid down a purple card.
"Martial Soul Awakening, 9,000-year White Armored Earth Dragon."
"Attack!"
Since Chu Qing couldn't awaken anything, the attack from the thousand-year Soul Beast cost him one card from his main deck, leaving him with only fourteen.
The card discarded from the top was turned over, revealing another Golden-Eyed Black Dragon King.
The sight made the corners of Chu Qing's mouth curl up.
The two sides began the next turn, each drawing a card.
Chu Qing drew a gold card.
The gold cards in the game were magic and trap cards. Twin Martial Souls allowed two purple-grade or lower Martial Souls to be awakened at the same time.
When Chu Qing saw the gold card, Twin Martial Souls, in his hand, he froze. He strongly suspected that Xue Shiqi had stuffed the deck with Ten Great Ferocious Beasts and Twin Martial Souls.
But even with it in his hand, Chu Qing couldn't use it right now.
Seeing this, Xue Shiqi's face flushed slightly.
He had originally wanted to lead Chu Qing on a rampage through the competition, but it looked as though they were about to lose.
Meanwhile, on the other side, the new turn allowed another Soul Beast under ten thousand years old to undergo Martial Soul Awakening.
A 9,000-year Firestorm Dragon was awakened.
Another 9,000-year one. Chu Qing began to wonder if they had printed their own fake cards.
Sensing Xue Shiqi's embarrassment, Chu Qing patted him and said with a smile:
"Things aren't looking too good for us!"
"We can only hope for a godly draw in a few turns to turn things around."
Xue Shiqi said:
"Trust me, we'll win."
Li Zhongyuan laughed.
"This is my battlefield. Just wait and admit defeat."
"Watch me. Absorb a Soul Ring."
He discarded a purple-grade Soul Beast card from his hand.
A Martial Soul couldn't absorb a Soul Ring on the turn it was awakened. Starting the following turn, it could absorb one Soul Ring per turn of the same grade as the discarded card.
Li Zhongyuan turned over his extra deck and placed a purple Soul Ring behind the White Armored Earth Dragon he had summoned first.
In the card game, there were no age limits on the Soul Rings one could absorb, nor were there any limits on the number of Martial Souls, perfectly matching the youngsters' fantasies.
"Activate Soul Skill, Dragon's Roar. Destroy one card from the opponent's main deck."
Chu Qing had to discard another card from the top of his main deck.
The moment he saw that it was a 9,000-year Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear, Xue Shiqi's eyelid twitched.
Then Li Zhongyuan attacked. Because he had two Martial Souls, Chu Qing discarded another two cards from the top of the deck.
After two 9,000-year Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bears were discarded, Chu Qing was about to draw again for the next turn, but Xue Shiqi sighed and said:
"Our luck's not very good this round. Let's play another."
Chu Qing was still a little puzzled.
Li Zhongyuan smiled and said:
"The only cards in his deck that can be awakened normally are those three Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bears."
Chu Qing understood at once and said with a smile:
"With our luck, if we'd just held on a little longer, we would have had a chance to turn things around. What a pity."
Xue Shiqi said with a serious expression:
"Trust me, this was definitely an accident."
"Let's play another round."