Soul Land—Chapter 25: The Younger One is Beaten, and the Older One Comes
Zhu Zhuqing frowned, looked at the door angrily, stood up resolutely, and opened it aggressively.
Outside stood a beautiful but somewhat angry woman—Dugu Yan, who had fought with them before.
"What do you want?!" Zhu Zhuqing said coldly.
"I—" Dugu Yan was momentarily choked by Zhu Zhuqing's icy tone, stunned for a moment before she regained her voice. "Where is Ling Qianyao? I have something to discuss with him."
Zhu Zhuqing glanced at her, her tone still cold. She was unhappy that something good had been interrupted before it even started. "Come in."
She stepped aside, and Dugu Yan walked into the room, her eyes glancing uncontrollably at Zhu Zhuqing.
"I'm not envious; not at all! Damn, I am envious."
Ling Qianyao and Zhu Zhuqing leaned against each other, sitting across the table from Dugu Yan.
Ling Qianyao smiled and said, "We just fought not long ago. You're coming to me now to challenge us again, right? My martial soul is naturally resistant to your poison, so it's better not to embarrass yourself."
Dugu Yan raised her eyebrows and snorted coldly. "Who wants to fight you again? I came here this time to talk about something serious. Don't think I'm so boring."
Ling Qianyao's smile didn't diminish; instead, it became a bit more playful. "Oh? What is it?"
Dugu Yan slapped her hands on the table, eyes blazing. "How did you get your thousand-year-second soul ring?"
Zhu Zhuqing rolled her eyes at Dugu Yan. "Are you stupid? Not only are we, not classmates, but even if we were, could we casually ask someone about something like this?
Besides, you barged in like this, and with a tone that sounds like you're interrogating us—why should we tell you?"
Dugu Yan choked on Zhu Zhuqing's words, falling momentarily silent. Her face changed slightly, but she quickly adjusted her mood, took a deep breath, and spoke in a calmer voice. "Sorry, Zhu Zhuqing, don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to interrogate you, and I know that this kind of thing can't be asked casually.
But I'm genuinely curious. You're so young, yet you have a thousand-year-second soul ring. No one has ever done this before. I just want to know how to increase the age of a soul ring.
Don't worry; I've stopped anyone else from asking about your thousand-year soul ring, including Yu Tianheng."
At the end of her words, she gritted her teeth and cursed in her heart, "I'm not even healed yet, and here I am talking to the person who kicked me off the soul-fighting arena. It makes me so angry."
Ling Qianyao shook his head. "The answer to that question is… let's say, believe me, you will know soon. The imperial family will come."
Dugu Yan was startled. "You want to tell the Heaven Dou Imperial family first?"
Ling Qianyao smiled and shook his head. "The method is very simple; what's lacking are the resources. No matter who knows about this first, it will break the balance.
I don't want to cause a series of unnecessary troubles and disputes. Miss Dugu Yan, you can go back, and you will get the answer within a month."
Ling Qianyao already had plans and didn't intend to hide the whale glue.
His martial soul's soul ring could be disguised with the help of the Star Hiding skill, but Zhu Zhuqing's could not. Instead of letting people keep speculating about the secret of their soul ring's age, it was better to reveal it in exchange for cultivation resources and status.
Additionally, he needed to "inform" the Star Luo Empire, Heaven Dou Empire, and Spirit Hall at the same time to achieve a balance.
Except for Zhu Zhuyun, her elder sister—who was allowed to organize her new forces under Ling Qianyao's guidance and had some first-mover advantage in collecting whale glue in advance—most other forces knew nothing and had no significant impact.
Besides, what's the big deal about knowing the effect of whale glue? The raw materials still need time to be collected. Unlike Ling Qianyao, who had secretly purchased dozens of thousand-year whale glue in the past few years, he even spent tens of thousands of gold soul coins to acquire a rare ten-thousand-year whale glue with the help of Zhu Zhuyun.
By then, even if the major forces learned the news, Ling Qianyao would already have the ready-made materials in hand and could use them at the right time.
Dugu Yan was somewhat confused by what he said and nodded subconsciously. "Okay."
"Oh, right!" She slapped her forehead. "There's one more thing. How old are you this year? You're so strong, but I feel like you're very young."
Ling Qianyao pondered for a moment. "There's nothing to hide. Zhu Qing and I are the same age—just a few months away from turning ten."
"Ten?!" Dugu Yan gaped. Eight years younger than her? Eight years—and their soul power levels differ by only nine levels?
Dugu Yan suddenly understood the mentality of those Tianwei-level soul masters in the academy. The gap between people can sometimes be so unreasonable.
"Two freaks..." Dugu Yan's tone was very depressed.
Just then, a strange laugh came from outside the house. "Who made my Yanyan angry?"
As soon as the voice fell, a thin old man suddenly appeared in the hall, wearing a gray robe, dark green from head to toe, with a stiff face and sunken cheeks, looking like he was close to death.
"Grandpa?"
Dugu Yan was momentarily stunned when she saw the person who arrived, and then she smiled at Dugu Bo. "Why are you here?"
Dugu Bo laughed, showing a smile that looked more like a grimace. "I came to see my Yanyan."
His gaze shifted to Ling Qianyao and the others. "I heard that two geniuses came to Heaven Dou Imperial Academy today and kicked my precious granddaughter off the soul-fighting arena. Humph! Boy, do you know whose granddaughter she is?"
Dugu Bo's expression changed, and his tone became somewhat threatening. "Dare to hit my Yanyan? Are you prepared to be taught a lesson by me?"
As he spoke, the whole space trembled, and a massive pressure radiated from Dugu Bo, directly pressing down on Ling Qianyao and Zhu Zhuqing.
Zhu Zhuqing was better off; Ling Qianyao felt as if the ground beneath him bore a thousand pounds of weight, causing him to create two shallow cracks with his feet.
With a firm gaze, he met Dugu Bo's threatening glare without fear, gritting his teeth as he said, "On the soul-fighting arena, we compete fairly. It's too disrespectful for a senior to use their power to suppress others."
"Hmph!"
Dugu Bo snorted coldly. "I, Dugu Bo, have only ever done things based on my preferences. What identity and face do I need to worry about?"
"Grandpa!" Dugu Yan, witnessing the scene, turned away and frowned as she shouted, "Stop this now, or Yanyan will ignore you."
"I'm all right, stop." Dugu Bo's expression changed instantly as he returned to his smiling demeanor, lifting the pressure he had imposed on Ling Qianyao and Zhu Zhuqing. "Yanyan, don't be angry; Grandpa is letting you vent your anger."
Even Ling Qianyao couldn't help but be amazed; the speed of Dugu Bo's expression change was simply astounding.
Dugu Yan snorted. "Grandpa, you're such a fool. Losing is losing. There's no point in getting angry. If you keep this up, how can I hold my head high in the academy in the future?"
Upon hearing this, Dugu Bo lovingly touched Dugu Yan's head and smiled. "Okay, okay, Grandpa was thinking wrong. My Yanyan is the most generous; how could she get angry over such a small matter? I promise I won't attack others casually in the future, okay?"
Dugu Yan nodded with satisfaction, turned to look at Ling Qianyao and Zhu Zhuqing, and said a bit awkwardly, "Ling Qianyao, Zhu Zhuqing, I'm sorry; my grandpa is like this. He looks a little strange and has an odd temper. Please don't take it to heart."
Dugu Bo's mouth twitched when he heard this.
"Hey, you there—Ling Qianyao—are you the one who purified my Yanyan's poison?"
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(End of this chapter)