Douluo Continent: My Martial Soul is the Ten Ferocious Heavenly Horned Ant

"Dou Zun? Isn't this the cave of a powerful being from a novel? It seems we can't just destroy him so easily; we have to extract some benefits from him."

Xiao Yan pondered for a long time. He felt that this old phantom was of great value, and because it had absorbed his Dou Qi for three years, it had always been quite amiable to him.

If you rashly use the system to eliminate him, you will certainly relieve the hatred in your heart, but you will also lose the cultivation method mentioned by the system and the opportunity to take advantage of him.

Think about this.

"Old man, you absorbed my Dou Qi for three years and even made me fall from the Dou Zhe realm. You should at least compensate me a little," Xiao Yan asked.

Hearing Xiao Yan's question, and knowing that he hadn't been annihilated, the power that had made his soul tremble gradually disappeared from his body, and Yao Chen secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

It seems.

As one of the eight ancient clans, the Xiao family still has a strong foundation, but why that foundation is in this young man is something I cannot know.

All he knew was that...

All eight ancient clans have the bloodline of a Dou Di (Battle Emperor) flowing through their veins, and their ancestors all had Dou Di members.

The eight clans are: Xiao, Gu, Hun, Yao, Yan, Lei, Shi, and Ji.

The Xiao Clan is one of the eight ancient clans, and was once the leader of the eight ancient clans. It is the strongest ancient race on the Dou Qi Continent, and the only one among the eight clans that can overpower the Soul Clan.

Each of the eight ancient clans has its own strengths, and the Medicine Clan, to which I belong, ranks fourth, after Xiao, Gu, and Hun. They are born with powerful souls and their members are skilled in alchemy.

As for why the Xiao clan has fallen to such a state, from one of the eight ancient clans to the current Xiao family, Yao Chen doesn't know much. He basically only knows bits and pieces of information that have been passed down through generations.

Several thousand years ago.

The Xiao clan, the most powerful of the eight ancient clans, suffered a severe depletion of its Dou Di bloodline, leading to a significant decline in the clan's strength. Meanwhile, the Soul Clan, the Xiao clan's enemy, became even more unscrupulous in its attacks on the Xiao clan.

Rumor has it that in order to revitalize the Dou Di bloodline of the Xiao clan and give it a new lease on life, patriarch Xiao Xuan gathered the Dou Di bloodline of the entire clan, attempting to break through to Dou Di in one fell swoop and reignite the Dou Di bloodline of the Xiao clan members.

pity.

Because the Dou Qi Continent had run out of Origin Qi, Xiao Xuan's attempt to break through to Dou Di ultimately failed.

When Xiao Xuan failed to break through and was injured, the Soul Clan Chief, Soul Emperor, gathered the Soul Clan's experts to besiege Xiao Xuan. He killed Xiao Xuan at the cost of his own serious injuries, and the Soul Clan also suffered heavy losses in the siege of the Xiao Clan.

Some of the surviving members of the Xiao clan migrated to remote areas of the continent under the protection of the ancient clan. After thousands of years, the Xiao clan, whose bloodline of Dou Di was completely destroyed, declined and became a small family in the Jia Ma Empire, namely the Xiao family.

It was for this reason that he was betrayed by his disciple and his body was never found. He carefully escaped the pursuit and interception of his disciple and the Soul Clan, and hid in the now-declining Xiao family, hoping that the Xiao family would protect him.

Even a dead camel is bigger than a horse. Yao Chen didn't believe that the Xiao Clan, as one of the eight ancient clans, had left no foundation. Moreover, the Xiao Clan had always maintained a good relationship with the ancient clans, and even the Soul Clan wouldn't dare to attack the Xiao Clan casually.

To Yao Chen's disappointment, the Xiao family, after its decline, seemed to have nothing left. He waited for a long time but found no possibility of recovery from the Xiao family. Finally, his soul was exhausted and he fell into a deep sleep.

During the period when his soul was asleep, the ring that housed his soul, an heirloom of Xiao Yan's mother, began to uncontrollably absorb the fighting spirit within Xiao Yan's body to recover from the fatigue of his own soul. This absorption lasted for three years.

Three years later.

As soon as Yao Chen woke up, he was not only discovered, but also scolded, and the scolding was very harsh. He really wanted to teach Xiao Yan a lesson.

But the dangerous feeling emanating from the other party that made his soul tremble from time to time made him realize that the Xiao family was not without its own hidden strength.

...........

“Young friend, speak properly and don’t swear. That would be much better. By the way, what kind of compensation do you want?” Yao Chen asked.

"As for compensation, give me a few Heaven-rank cultivation techniques and Heaven-rank fighting skills, and that'll be the end of it," Xiao Yan said arrogantly.

"What? Heaven-rank cultivation techniques and Heaven-rank combat skills? Do you know what you're saying? Do you think these are as common as cabbages? No, there isn't a single Heaven-rank cultivation technique or Heaven-rank combat skill."

Yao Chen was so angry that he glared and puffed out his beard. He gritted his teeth and could still produce some Earth-rank techniques and fighting skills. Even if he sold them all, he couldn't collect a single Heaven-rank technique or fighting skill.

"There must be some Earth-rank items, right?" Xiao Yan thought for a moment and asked.

He knew that Yao Chen definitely couldn't produce any Heaven-rank cultivation techniques or Heaven-rank fighting skills. The other party was only a Dou Zun, not a Dou Sheng or Dou Di, so how could he possibly possess Heaven-rank cultivation techniques and Heaven-rank fighting skills?

The reason for saying this is simply the concession effect. As a time traveler, he was also a college student in his previous life. The concession effect is a common psychological effect in social psychology.

The concession effect is easy to understand.

When someone makes a big request and is decisively rejected, they may try to make a small request of the same nature. This small request is more likely to be accepted easily. This phenomenon is called the "concession effect".

“Earth Rank… You’re really cunning. I’ve only absorbed your three years’ worth of battle energy, and you think you can extort Earth Rank cultivation techniques and Earth Rank battle skills from me?”

Seeing Xiao Yan frown, the sense of threat that his soul was about to be obliterated resurfaced.

Yao Chen quickly changed the subject, saying, "It's definitely impossible for Earth-rank cultivation techniques and Earth-rank combat skills. However, I have a high-level Profound-rank close-combat combat skill, which is known for its powerful attack. If you master it, the attack contains eight layers of energy. With these eight layers combined, its power is comparable to a low-level Earth-rank combat skill."

The words fell.

The sense of threat that Yao Chen sensed in his soul.

They gradually disappeared under Xiao Yan's smile.

This made him even more certain that Xiao Yan possessed the foundation of the ancient Xiao clan, one of the eight great clans, and was definitely not as simple and harmless as he appeared on the surface.

That's true. How could a normal person possess such a powerful physical body? In terms of physical strength alone, it's more than ten times stronger than a monster.

"A high-level Xuan-rank combat skill?" Xiao Yan asked, feigning calmness.

Yao Chen was unaware of this, but he knew very well that the best fighting technique the Xiao family possessed was only at the mid-level of the Xuan rank. Now, he had obtained a high-level Xuan rank fighting technique simply by talking.

This old geezer has a lot of good stuff on him!

"The Xuan-rank high-level combat skill, Eight Extremes Collapse, requires a very strong physical body, which is very suitable for you, kid. If you learn it, you can definitely unleash eight times the power of one part of your strength." Yao Chen nodded.

He didn't trick Xiao Yan. This fighting technique is most suitable for Xiao Yan's current situation. His physical body is strong, but his fighting spirit is weak. Learning the Eight Extremes Collapse will greatly improve Xiao Yan's strength.

..............

Dong Qing had a complete view of Xiao Yan's situation and everything that had happened through the system.

However, he was not in the mood to pay attention to Xiao Yan right now; there were more important things waiting for him to do.

There was a snake that wouldn't listen to advice and insisted on absorbing a strange fire to evolve, gambling on a chance that meant certain death.

That's his fault too.

Why did you have to say anything? You let this stupid snake find the Azure Lotus Earth Core Flame ahead of time. After making some preparations, it began to absorb the strange flame and evolve its own bloodline.

And today.

This is the day this clumsy snake will absorb the strange fire of the Azure Lotus Earth Core to evolve its own bloodline. Whether it will succeed or not is still unknown, but this clumsy snake is determined to evolve.

Even if there's a high probability she'll be burned to ashes by the strange fire, she's determined to gamble on this opportunity for evolution.

Thanks to the friendship built up over the years, and because he, as a guest elder of the Xiao family, had his mercenary group, which included Xiao Yan's eldest brother Xiao Ding and second brother Xiao Li, open up trade routes for the Snake People, improving their lives somewhat, otherwise this stupid snake would never have let an outsider like him know such a secret.

However, even if she insisted on hiding it, she basically couldn't hide it from Dong Qing.

......

The Gama Empire, the Tagor Desert, the Snake People Tribe.

The Queen's bedroom, deep within the underground palace.

"Dongqing, even if you are our snake-people's most precious friend, you are not allowed to approach the Queen today." A silver-haired snake woman blocked Dongqing's path.

The so-called snake woman has a human upper body and a snake lower body. She looks terrifying, but she is not. The slight swaying of her snake waist when she walks is enough to make men lose their minds.

This silver-haired snake woman is no ordinary snake woman; she is a Battle King named Yue Mei, a confidante of Queen Medusa of the Snake-People Clan, and an old acquaintance of Dong Qing.

"She's courting death. You wouldn't let me help her and even stopped me. Are you just waiting for her to be burned to ashes by the strange fire?" Dong Qing shoved Yue Mei aside and walked straight into the depths of the underground palace.

"Dongqing, the Queen instructed me to stop you."

Yue Mei quickly caught up, twisting her serpentine waist as her lower body coiled tightly around Dong Qing's waist, attempting to hinder his advance.

"Fine, fine, you stop her then, just wait for her to be burned to death."

Dong Qing shrugged, looking indifferent, which made Yue Mei, the snake woman, hesitate. She didn't know whether she should believe Dong Qing's words.

But thinking about how Dongqing had arranged and opened the trade routes over the years, which had greatly improved the lives of many lower-ranking snake people, she couldn't help but lean towards Dongqing's opinion.

"Dongqing, the Queen is very stubborn. Even though you told her the exact location of the strange fire, she doesn't trust humans by nature. You can't say that I let you in."

After much deliberation, Yue Mei released the snake that was coiling around Dong Qing. After whispering something in his ear, she swayed her alluring waist and left the underground palace.

Actually...

Today, she was just symbolically stopping Dong Qing to see if he really cared about Queen Medusa, since everyone knew about his wolfish ambitions.

They're sending her strange fire, helping her open trade routes, and even feeding her elixirs like they're feeding a pet—it's all about trying to subdue her.

Submitting to the strong is not shameful, at least Yue Mei doesn't think so. It's just that Queen Medusa has a different idea and doesn't want the snake people to become her vassals for the time being.

Why is it only temporary?

Because she didn't understand Dongqing enough, in her eyes, humans were evil, despicable, and shameless, and she only wanted to use snake people as slaves of humans.

Suddenly a kind person appeared, willing to take care of the snake people. She felt that things were not so simple. Could it really be that he was only after her?

.........

After walking for about ten minutes, Dongqing's view of the depths of the underground palace suddenly opened up.

A clear lake came into view, with an island in the center of the lake, surrounded by rippling water, and no bridges or paths leading to it.

In the center of the island is a circular open area. The surrounding bamboo, weeds and flowers have been cleared away. Small, smooth pebbles are scattered in the open area, forming a small pool.

The small pool was filled with crystal-clear water, and white mist swirled around its surface. Even from a distance, one could still feel the extreme cold temperature contained within the water. This was the Ice Spirit Cold Spring that Queen Medusa used to suppress the strange fire.

Ice Spirit Cold Spring is an extremely rare natural treasure, specially used to suppress the temperature of strange fire and protect the body from being burned to nothingness in an instant. Normally, one bottle is already rare, but this spendthrift woman prepared a whole pool of Ice Spirit Cold Spring.

obviously.

She wasn't really courting death; she had prepared in advance.

Chapter 828, You've Arrived

"They're quite well-prepared; they don't seem like they're courting death." Dong Qing stroked his chin.

I followed his gaze.

In the center of the small pool, above the Ice Spirit Cold Spring, there is a blue lotus seat.

On the lotus throne, a ball of blue flame was slowly rising and falling.

The blue flames possess a high degree of spirituality.

As it tumbled on the lotus throne, it sometimes condensed into the shape of a lotus flower, and sometimes into a small, thin, blue flame snake, floating and coiling in mid-air above the lotus throne, its gentle appearance extremely cute.

Looking at the ball of blue flame, Dongqing's eyes remained calm and undisturbed.