The promised Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Spirit had turned into a thirty-year soul beast. Chu Qing felt like he had been played.
It wasn't the first time. The Will of the Plane immediately proved it with action, controlling the thirty-year Iridescent Shield-Tailed Snake, which possessed little intelligence, and making it slither out of the bushes and crawl up to Chu Qing.
The snake was exceptionally dazzling, its scales reflecting iridescent light in seven colors.
It was a beautiful snake, with a particularly prominent shield-shaped layer of keratin on its tail.
This layer of keratin formed in the same way as a rattlesnake's rattle.
Chu Qing's hand wrote on its own:
"Just focus on receiving the Soul Spirit Ceremony. I have a way to raise its age."
"I'm still the Will of the Plane, at least. Would I really trick you?"
Chu Qing looked at the Iridescent Shield-Tailed Snake before him, whose presence was weak, his eyes full of doubt. But when the energy in the air began to surge and slowly form an array, he still calmed himself.
In a daze, he entered a strange state, a collision between one soul and another.
How should he put it?
The feeling was as if the one on the other side was... mentally disabled?
That was right! Exactly like that.
The Iridescent Shield-Tailed Snake on the other side felt silly to him. Its eyes were perfectly clear, as though it didn't have much of a brain.
With the Will of the Plane personally handling the Soul Spirit Ceremony, it went smoothly.
The Iridescent Shield-Tailed Snake appeared in Chu Qing's Sea of Spirit, poking its head about as it curiously examined everything around it.
It really was a thirty-year Soul Spirit. Chu Qing was just about to curse when its presence began to climb, rising higher and higher.
Sure enough, its age really did begin to rise, growing steadily from a hundred years to a thousand...
Chu Qing was delighted, but the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm in Huo Yuhao's spiritual world jolted awake. His origin energy was being stripped away from him, and he couldn't stop it.
"Brother Sky Dream, why are you awake?"
"Didn't you say you were going to sleep?"
As Huo Yuhao spoke, he noticed an angry expression appear on the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's chubby face.
"I'm too angry to sleep!"
Huo Yuhao also noticed that one of the ten platinum-colored masses of origin energy sealed by the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had inexplicably disappeared. He asked curiously:
"Brother Sky Dream, are you so angry because one is missing? What happened?"
Huo Yuhao had to bring up the one thing best left unmentioned, looking like a curious child.
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was in no mood to explain. Furious, he bared his fangs and claws and lunged at Huo Yuhao.
"I want to kill someone!"
"Brother Sky Dream, what are you doing?"
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was beside himself with rage, while the corners of Chu Qing's mouth had already curved upward.
The Iridescent Shield-Tailed Snake had successfully risen to become a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Spirit. Although it still didn't look very intelligent, he was quite satisfied with the Hundred Thousand Year Soul Skill it had granted him.
The Will of the Plane controlled his hand and wrote:
"Well?"
"Kid, I've treated you pretty well, haven't I?"
"Don't cause trouble for me, and stop setting your sights on Huo Yuhao. Just behave yourself and become a god alongside Tang Wutong."
Chu Qing readily agreed to everything, but he had other plans in mind.
Becoming a god was naturally a good thing, but Tang San was not easy to get along with. He had to find himself a way out.
He turned to look at the still-unconscious Huo Yuhao, walked over, and crouched down to wake him, only to hear rapidly approaching footsteps.
"What did you do to Huo Yuhao?"
A sharp, feminine shout rang out.
Tang Ya and Bei Bei arrived to find Huo Yuhao lying unconscious on the ground, further confirming their earlier fears.
"Let Huo Yuhao go, or you'll be sorry!"
Bei Bei stepped in front of Tang Ya. He knew Chu Qing was no ordinary opponent.
Chu Qing stood up.
Earlier, Bei Bei had tried to blast water over him, and he hadn't held it against him. Now Bei Bei was throwing harsh words at him without asking any further questions.
He knew they meant well and that this was a misunderstanding.
But he couldn't be bothered to explain, and decided to teach them a lesson.
He raised both hands and activated the Man Faced Spider Emperor External Finger Bones.
Spider silk formed from the fusion of Soul Power and spiritual power emerged from the tips of his ten fingers. It converged in midair, weaving into a dark-gold Man Faced Demon Spider Emperor that pounced at the two of them.
The two hurriedly dodged and steadied themselves. When Bei Bei saw that six Soul Rings-one azure, two purple, two black, and one red-were floating around the Man Faced Demon Spider Emperor, his scalp instantly went numb.
He immediately used Martial Soul Possession and Dragon Transformation. His sleeve burst apart as his right arm transformed into a dragon claw covered in blue-purple scales, with three Soul Rings, two yellow and one purple, circling it.
"Xiao Ya, run!"
He knew at once that he was no match for his opponent.
"But what about Huo Yuhao?"
Tang Ya was somewhat hesitant.
Bei Bei knew that if this dragged on, neither of them might be able to get away. He gritted his teeth and shouted:
"I am the great-great-grandson of the Dragon God Douluo. Let Huo Yuhao go, and we can leave each other in peace."
Tang Ya was somewhat shocked to hear this.
Chu Qing chuckled.
"Don't be nervous. I never said I was going to kill you."
The Azure Soul Ring on the Man Faced Demon Spider Emperor lit up.
True Form of the Azure Dragon.
With a resounding dragon roar, the grotesque human face beneath the Man Faced Demon Spider Emperor's abdomen became a dragon's head. It burst out from its lower abdomen as though breaking free of its body, transforming into an Azure Divine Dragon thirty feet long. All six Soul Rings on its body also turned azure.
Feeling it, Chu Qing's spirits lifted.
He excitedly controlled the Azure Divine Dragon, making it open its mouth and gather lightning into a Lightning Burst Ball aimed at Bei Bei. He intended to defeat Thunderbolt Bei Bei, who possessed the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, with lightning.
Bei Bei frowned and glanced at Chu Qing. There seemed to be no killing intent in the other man's eyes.
For an instant, he thought they might have jumped to conclusions. He said:
"Xiao Ya, I'll fight him one-on-one. Check on Huo Yuhao."
Their opponent was pressing his advantage without mercy. Bei Bei didn't want Tang Ya joining him against Chu Qing and escalating things further.
Tang Ya released her Blue Silver Grass and pulled Huo Yuhao over.
Seeing that Chu Qing didn't stop her, she forced a smile and said to him:
"Is there a bit of a misunderstanding between us?"
"Sorry. We saw that Huo Yuhao had collapsed and got a little too worried."
She apologized to Chu Qing.
But Chu Qing paid her no attention. Under his control, the Azure Divine Dragon spat out the Lightning Burst Ball it had gathered in its mouth, blasting it toward Bei Bei.
Bei Bei sensed that the lightning within the Lightning Burst Ball wasn't very powerful. He charged to meet it and tore it apart with a dragon claw.
He was also somewhat angry. His eyes turned purple, and he used Purple Demon Eye as he charged toward the Azure Divine Dragon.
Chu Qing controlled the Azure Divine Dragon, making it whip its tail at him.
But Bei Bei's figure suddenly blurred, leaving afterimages. The tail swept through empty air, and Bei Bei instead leaped onto the dragon's body.
"Oh! Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track?"
Chu Qing had a rough idea of what it was. It was rather interesting. The third Azure Soul Ring on the Azure Divine Dragon instantly lit up.
Slow Domain.
The moment the domain unfolded, Bei Bei's speed abruptly dropped. The Azure Divine Dragon opened its mouth and sent a Lightning Burst Ball into him, blasting him away.
Tang Ya watched anxiously from the side, patting Huo Yuhao and calling for him to wake up.
Xue Zhan appeared in the distance. Seeing that Chu Qing was safe and sound, his heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally settled.
Because he was confident in Chu Qing's strength, he hadn't kept an eye on him at all times.
But just now, he had sensed that it was as though some incomparably terrifying expert had isolated this area from the presence of heaven and earth. He had lost track of Chu Qing and searched for him in a panic.
Now that he knew Chu Qing hadn't been abducted by someone else, he was relieved. But on closer inspection, he noticed that something seemed different about Chu Qing's Man Faced Demon Puppet. It appeared to have evolved.
What exactly had happened just now?
His curiosity was piqued. Something had actually managed to blind the senses of an expert like him.
Chu Qing controlled the Azure Divine Dragon as it fought Bei Bei. Once the Slow Domain was active, Bei Bei was no match for it.
It was practically like whipping a spinning top. Chu Qing found it boring and turned the domain off.
Bei Bei felt the domain disappear, but he was still shaken. He hadn't expected his opponent to possess a domain. If the man had really wanted to kill them while that domain was active, neither he nor Tang Ya could have escaped.
Tang Ya had also managed to wake Huo Yuhao by patting him. Huo Yuhao had only just awakened and was pretending to be confused.
"Big Brother, how did you end up fighting Brother Bei Bei?"
Hearing his tone, Tang Ya finally understood that it had all been a misunderstanding. She said:
"Yuhao, hurry and talk them out of it."
"Is there some misunderstanding?" Huo Yuhao did look somewhat anxious as he said worriedly, "Can you stop fighting?"