Douluo: Starting from the Nine-Curved Vine Dragon

Chapter 56 Invitation
Three days later, Tiandou City.

"invitation?"

As soon as Lin Rong returned to the Duke's Mansion, a servant came with a red card in his hands. On it were two big words written in gold powder - Tang Sect.

"Tang Sect? What kind of drama is Tang San planning to put on?"

The gold-stamped invitation flew out of the servant's hand and unfolded in front of Lin Rong.

The post only reads:

Presented to: Duke Lin Rong himself.

Seven days from now will be the ninth birthday of our sect leader Tang San.

A birthday celebration will be held at our headquarters, and there will also be an exhibition of our unique hidden weapons.

You are cordially invited to come. Elder Bai He of the Tang Clan cordially invites you.

"white crane!"

After Lin Rong finished reading the invitation, there was no expression on his face. The invitation floating in front of him flew into the hands of the old butler behind him.

Then, Lin Rong walked towards the mansion and asked the attendant:

“When will this post be delivered?”

The attendant followed, behind Lin Rong and the old butler, and answered respectfully:
"Your Excellency, this note was delivered four days ago."

After hearing this, Lin Rong thought:
"Four days ago? There are still three days until the banquet."

"The Tang Sect has four great elders: Tai Tan, Lou Gao, Niu Gao, and Bai He. This is Tian Dou City, so it stands to reason that Tai Tan should be the last name signed on the invitation."

"Could it be that old Bai He learned from Tang San how precious the Crystal Blood Dragon Ginseng is and became dissatisfied with the previous transaction?"

"So, Bai He signed his name on the invitation this time, hoping to use the power of the Tang Sect to force me to return the Crystal Blood Dragon Ginseng to him?"

"Hmph! Wishful thinking!"

Lin Rong admitted that Bai He had a good plan, but he chose the wrong timing.

If Bai He had come to ask for the Crystal Blood Dragon Ginseng a few months earlier, with the two Soul Douluos Titan and Niu Gao standing up for him, and with the old butler still in seclusion, Lin Rong would really have had to return the Crystal Blood Dragon Ginseng to him.

But unfortunately, Bai He has missed the best opportunity.

After the old butler came out of seclusion, his soul power broke through the ninety-level mark. Although he has not yet obtained the ninth soul ring, he is not afraid of Titan and Niu Gao just by suppressing his soul power.

Not to mention that after the trip to the Frozen Forest, the old butler not only possessed a hundred thousand year spirit ring and spirit bone, but his own spirit power also broke through from level ninety to level ninety-six.

Among the four elders of Tang Clan, Bai He has no combat power of his own; Lou Gao has combat power of his own but it can be ignored.

Two of the four were killed, leaving only Titan and Niu Gao, two Soul Douluos whose soul power is not even level 85. They are not to be feared at all in front of the old butler.

"Who did the Tang Sect invite to the banquet this time?"

In the courtyard, Lin Rong walked into the pavilion and asked the servant behind him.

Lin Rong did not need to give any instructions for such matters. After the Tang Clan's invitation was delivered to the Duke's Mansion, there were naturally secret guards to investigate these matters.

Since the attendant presented the invitation to Lin Rong, he was naturally informed of the results of the investigation by the secret guards.

So, the attendant waited for Lin Rong to finish asking questions, then stood outside the pavilion, bowed, and reported the results of the secret guards' investigation:

"My Lord, all the prominent forces in Tiandou City have been invited to the birthday celebration of the Tang Sect leader."

"Among these invited forces, the only ones we need to pay attention to are the Royal Family and the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect."

"After the royal family accepted the invitation, Emperor Xue Ye asked Crown Prince Xue Qinghe and Fourth Prince Xue Beng to attend the banquet on behalf of the royal family."

"As for the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect, the news spread that Sect Master Ning was attending the banquet in person."

In the pavilion, Lin Rong sat on a stone bench. After listening to the attendant's report, he muttered:

"Ning Fengzhi is attending the banquet in person? This really gives Tang San enough face."

"It seems that the Tang Sect's hidden weapons are still as attractive to the Seven Treasures Glazed Sect as ever!"

"And the royal guests attending the banquet are Xue Qinghe and Xue Beng. Xue Ye is playing the Emperor's mind game again."

"After three days, we can go to the Tang Sect to see how much Tang San has grown. How long will it take for him to be able to compete with Qian Renxue?"

"If that old fellow Bai He really doesn't know what's good for him and wants to use the power of the Tang Sect to suppress others and take this opportunity to take back the Sui Crystal Blood Dragon Ginseng, then don't blame me for being rude."

"At that time, if Tang San is willing to protect Bai He, then we can extort some good things from Tang San; if Tang San is unwilling to protect Bai He, then we can only blame Bai He for his bad luck."

Because the Min clan had taken root in Tiandou City and had established a scout force in the city, in order to prevent the Min clan from discovering the domesticated sharp-tailed swifts.

Every time the Spine-tailed Swift delivered intelligence, it had to stop at the outskirts of Tiandou City and let the secret guards who took turns guarding there take away the intelligence it was carrying.

Not only did it waste a lot of time, but it also reduced the efficiency of the intelligence network.

Lin Rong was worried that he had no excuse to attack the Min clan, but Bai He gave him the reason himself. What a good man!
As for whether the Tang Sect would suffer any serious damage, he was not the Sect Master, so this was not something he should consider.

Besides, Lin Rong only needs Tang San to be strong enough to deal with Qian Renxue.

A clan like the Min clan, which has not improved its hard power but has made great improvements in soft power, is redundant in Lin Rong's eyes.

Tang San only needs hard power to deal with Qian Renxue. Soft power like scouts will be of no use at all when the top masters of both sides are fighting.

Since the existence of the Min clan does not affect Tang San's handling of Qian Renxue, it also hinders the intelligence network in his hands.

Lin Rong naturally would not allow Tang San to control this power.

Even if Bai He didn't come up with an excuse himself, he would find other suitable excuses to deal with the Min clan.

……

Day two.

Deep in the manor, in the center of the banyan forest.

Xu Pan was standing under a banyan tree, reporting something.

"Sir, Ma Hongjun has been practicing diligently for the past eight months. A few days ago, his soul power has broken through to level 29."

"In the past eight months, I have become familiar with all kinds of military disciplines, but I still need to study the art of war."

After finishing the report, Lin Rong, who was doing two things at once, practiced the Washing Marrow Sutra while saying:

"Normal. After all, the art of war needs to be experienced in actual combat to understand its essence."

"Without actually participating in a battle, no matter how well you learn the art of war, it is just theory on paper."

"It's not your fault. Just gain more experience on the battlefield."

"I understand." Xu Pan replied and was about to bow and leave.

"Wait, take this." Lin Rong called out to Xu Pan, and a stream of green light streaked across the air and appeared in front of Xu Pan.

Xu Pan took a closer look and found that the thing in the green light was actually a soul bone.

"My Lord, this is too precious. I..."

After recognizing that the thing in front of him was a soul bone, Xu Pan spoke incoherently.

Seeing this, Lin Rong said:
"No need to refuse. You are the most suitable person in the mansion to absorb this soul bone."

"This soul bone is called Bloodthirsty Madness Hurricane Right Leg. It is over 20,000 years old and is not one of the three soul bones inherited by my family."

"Its soul bone skill is frenzy, and the effect is to increase the three attributes of attack, defense, and speed by 100%."

"Therefore, this soul bone is suitable for a soul master with a beast martial soul."

"Bo Yu and I both have weapon spirits. We don't rely on our physical strength in combat, so our compatibility with this spirit bone is extremely low."

"In addition, among all the guards and secret guards, you are the one with the highest seniority, the greatest contributions, and the one whose martial spirit is most compatible with yours."

"The mission on your shoulders is very important. You can't be too weak. This soul bone can help you."

After hearing these words, Xu Pan took the floating soul bone with both hands and replied:

"Yes, thank you, sir. I will take my leave."

After saying this, Xu Pan backed away towards Lin Rong until he could no longer see Lin Rong, then he turned around and walked out of the banyan tree forest.

Banyan Tree Center.

Lin Rong was practicing the Xisui Sutra while thinking about something in his mind.

Ma Hongjun, who is two months away from turning nine, has already broken through to level twenty-nine in terms of soul power.

In a few months, after Ma Hongjun breaks through level 30 and obtains the third soul ring, it will be time to take him to meet Marshal Gelong.

Back then, when Ge Long was young, he owed the Lin family a big favor, and now it was time to repay it.

(End of this chapter)