Chapter 38: The Earth Demon Bull
Du Qianjue's aura gradually subsided, and he gazed playfully in the direction of the Star Dou Forest, a strange smile forming on his lips.
"What are you smiling about?" Xue Linglong asked as she approached him, curious.
"Oh, nothing much. Just thought of something amusing," Du Qianjue replied, his face still displaying that odd smile.
Xue Linglong's fists clenched as unpleasant memories surfaced in her mind.
Noticing her unusual reaction, Du Qianjue became puzzled. "What's wrong? Did I say something offensive?"
"It's nothing!" Xue Linglong took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. She almost couldn't resist unleashing her ultimate move on Du Qianjue's infuriating face.
Du Qianjue was confused, unable to understand the situation.
At this moment, the Sky Dream Iceworm timely projected the conversation between Du Bushi and Xue Linglong during Du Qianjue's fusion with the Ice Empress' soul ring:
["What are you smiling about?"]
["Oh, nothing much. Just thought of something amusing."]
["You've been smiling the whole time! You didn't stop!"]
["I am an Ultimate Douluo; I do not smile! Even if I do, I will suppress it!"]
["Great Chill Without Snow!!!"]
"Pfft...!" Du Qianjue nearly choked on his own saliva, clutching his stomach in laughter.
"What are you laughing at?!"
Suddenly, a chilling aura from Xue Linglong hit Du Qianjue, making him shiver. Turning around, he saw Xue Linglong, now the Ice Empress, staring at him with a frosty expression.
"Oops, I forgot the mental link with my wife is still active!" Du Qianjue cursed inwardly, his face paling. Watching his wife's embarrassing moment and getting caught in the act meant he couldn't escape the impending punishment.
"Wham! Boom!"
"You dare laugh!" Xue Linglong's angry voice was accompanied by the sound of her fists hitting Du Qianjue, creating a symphony of impacts.
Du Bushi, covering his mouth to stifle his laughter, hid at a distance, peeking at the spectacle.
"Oh my, Master was right; women are fiercer than mountain tigers, even more dangerous than my own poison. Poor Qianjue..."
After a while, the twitching Du Qianjue was headfirst in the sand, while Xue Linglong, next to him, rubbed her delicate fists.
"Alright, stop pretending. I didn't hit you that hard," Xue Linglong said, pulling Du Qianjue out and smoothing his wrinkled clothes. "With your body's toughness, I couldn't possibly hurt you."
Du Qianjue chuckled, scratching his head. He knew Xue Linglong hadn't used her full strength, only venting a bit. As the former Empress of the Snow, having such an embarrassing scene witnessed was mortifying, especially since both occurrences involved Du Qianjue and Du Bushi. It was understandable that she wanted to vent her feelings.
"Alright, don't be mad anymore," Du Qianjue said, kissing Xue Linglong on the cheek.
This joke might be harmless among those who understand it, but for those unaware, it could be quite bewildering. Getting upset was normal, after all!
Xue Linglong snorted softly, holding onto Du Qianjue's arm again. "How's the soul ring?"
"Pretty good! The Earth Demon Bull's earth attribute is top-notch!" Du Qianjue said, clenching his fist with satisfaction.
"Of course, in my turf, my earth attribute is second to none!" boasted a gruff voice in Du Qianjue's mental sea.
It was the Earth Demon Bull that had sacrificed itself for Du Qianjue. With a cultivation of 160,000 years, it had surrendered at the first sight of Du Qianjue and his companions, as the Ice Empress hadn't concealed her 800,000-year beast god aura, making it feel helpless.
Though it hadn't reached beast king status, its strength was formidable, relying on its pure earth attribute for both offense and defense. Apart from its lack of speed, the Earth Demon Bull had no rivals in its area, even defeating a beast king-level earth-attribute giant lizard.
No wonder it felt proud. Yet in Du Qianjue's mental sea, it was just another minor character.
"Are you trying to be brave?" a sinister voice asked.
"Of course, I'm..." The Earth Demon Bull started to boast but stopped abruptly, sensing danger.
Turning around, it saw the Ice Empress, Xiao Bai, the Ice Feather Frost Eagle, and the Thunder Hell Prison Vine surrounding it.
Ignoring the mental sea antics, Du Qianjue and Xue Linglong exchanged amused glances. "Looks like we've found the lowest-ranking member!" they thought.
The hierarchy was clear: Ice Empress > Sky Dream > Xiao Bai > Ice Feather = Thunder Hell Prison Vine > Earth Demon Bull.
The brave bull wept silently.
Disregarding the comedy in his mental sea, Du Qianjue and his companions set off again. Unsurprisingly, after acquiring the fifth soul ring, Du Qianjue reached the bottleneck at level 60 and needed his sixth soul ring.
The target was already determined: the ruler of the western volcano, a fire-attribute dragon-type soul beast, the Red Dragon!
Red Dragons had appeared in the original story as martial souls, such as Wu Feng, who had a romantic relationship with Ning Tian, and the Titled Douluo Bow Elder in Shrek Academy's battle arena. Both had Red Dragon martial souls.
The Red Dragon's bloodline was quite prestigious among dragons, able to cultivate to 200,000 years and attain beast king status. Its fire attribute, though not extreme, was close.
The Earth Demon Bull, ever the turncoat, provided Du Qianjue with the Red Dragon's location.
After absorbing the Earth Demon Bull's soul ring, Du Qianjue and his companions boldly flew towards the Red Dragon's territory.
(End of Chapter)
Bosses, if you like my content you can subscribe to my patreon it would help me a lot, thank you for your collaboration