Chapter 24: First Meeting with Dugu Bo
Qin Ming led Long Chen and several others into the Sunset Forest.
Their goal was to find a thousand-year soul beast with self-healing ability to help Ye Lingling obtain her third soul ring and further enhance her healing ability.
They went deep into the forest and gradually approached the area where those thousand-year soul beasts might appear.
Suddenly, a shadow demon leopard with a slender figure and covered with dark stripes rushed out of the woods.
Its eyes were like two cold stars in the abyss, flashing a ferocious light.
Qin Ming quickly reminded everyone:
"Everyone be careful, it's a thousand-year-old shadow demon leopard!"
Leopard soul beasts have good self-healing abilities. This shadow demon leopard had reached the thousand-year level of cultivation, which made it the ideal target they were looking for.
Seeing this, Long Chen released his Dark Night Demon Harp martial spirit without hesitation and protected Ye Lingling behind him.
Yu Tianheng also released the Blue Lightning Tyrant dragon martial spirit, and the power of thunder and lightning surrounded him, majestic and imposing.
Dugu Yan's Green Phosphorus Snake spirit also quietly possessed her body, ready to launch an attack at any time.
Shi Mo, Shi Mo, Yu Feng, and Oslo also released their own spirits.
Several people quickly surrounded the shadow demon leopard.
The shadow demon leopard was flexible, like a ghost in the dark. Its speed was extremely fast, and it was not easy to deal with.
It roared and pounced on Oslo, who was closest to it.
Oslo had the ghost leopard spirit and was also very fast. He dodged the attack by turning sideways.
At this time, the sound of the harp echoed in the forest.
With the release of Long Chen's second spirit skill, a huge nine-tailed fox appeared above the shadow demon leopard's head.
The speed of the shadow demon leopard suddenly slowed down, and its eyes became blurred.
Seeing this, Yu Tianheng immediately released his thunder and lightning power.
The blue-purple lightning crackled and exploded on the shadow demon leopard, paralyzing it completely.
The others seized the opportunity and launched a coordinated assault on the beast.
Under Long Chen's restriction and the team's siege, the shadow demon leopard gradually lost its strength and collapsed to the ground.
"Lingling, go and give it the final blow."
"Okay."
Ye Lingling stepped forward, swung the sharp blade in her hand, and struck the shadow demon leopard's throat.
The shadow demon leopard was finally dead.
After the battle, Qin Ming walked toward the group.
He had not taken action against the thousand-year-old soul beast to train the team's coordination and battle instincts.
"You all performed well and cooperated very effectively."
Several people smiled at each other with satisfaction.
Ye Lingling said,
"Is anyone hurt? I can heal you."
"We're fine. Lingling, adjust your state and get ready to absorb the soul ring."
A wisp of mist slowly rose from the body of the shadow demon leopard, gradually condensing into a thousand-year soul ring glowing with purple light in the air.
After Ye Lingling adjusted her state, she pulled the soul ring over and began to absorb it.
The others also took a short rest.
Long Chen quickly recovered to his peak condition.
He wanted to stay beside Ye Lingling to watch her wake up after the absorption.
But now, he had more important matters to attend to.
"Teacher, it will take a while for Lingling to absorb the soul ring. I want to pick some herbs nearby."
Qin Ming looked around.
This area didn't seem to have many high-aged soul beasts.
"Go, but don't go too far. Stay nearby."
"Okay."
Dugu Yan walked up to Long Chen and smiled:
"Teacher, I'll go with Xiaochen."
"I'll go too. It's safer with more people."
Yu Tianheng also came forward.
Qin Ming thought for a moment, then nodded and reminded them:
"Be careful. Mark your path and return immediately if you encounter danger."
"Understood!"
The three of them responded and left the team.
Long Chen took the lead, walking deeper into the forest.
He knew that if he could find the green phosphorus snake venom formation set by Dugu Bo, he might be able to draw his attention.
The three kept walking, getting farther away and closer to the forest's core.
Yu Tianheng suddenly said,
"Are we walking too far?"
"The herbs I need aren't found on the outskirts. Don't worry, I've left marks. We can return the same way."
"Alright, but let's not delay too long. The teachers will worry."
"Yeah, let's go back before Lingling finishes absorbing the soul ring."
The group continued forward.
Suddenly, a powerful soul force fluctuation approached.
Yu Tianheng's face changed, and an uneasy feeling surged in his heart.
"There's someone nearby."
"I feel it too."
Long Chen narrowed his eyes. A gloomy and terrifying aura was approaching.
Dugu Yan looked around, her expression becoming complicated.
Suddenly, a green figure appeared in front of them, emitting a chilling aura that dropped the surrounding temperature significantly.
Seeing that figure, Dugu Yan was first startled, then filled with joy.
"Grandpa!"
The person who appeared was Dugu Bo.
He wore a black robe, his face stern and serious, his eyes sharp with wisdom and vigilance.
Dugu Bo frowned when he saw Dugu Yan.
"Yanyan, why are you here?"
Dugu Yan quickly stepped forward and clung to his arm, acting spoiled.
"Grandpa, I should be asking you that. Why are you here?"
"I came to gather some herbs."
"What a coincidence! We're here to gather herbs too."
Dugu Yan then pointed at Yu Tianheng and Long Chen.
"Grandpa, these are my teammates. This is Yu Tianheng, from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Clan and the captain of our academy team. This is Long Chen—the one I told you about, the master who made the detoxification pill."
Upon hearing this, Dugu Bo gave Long Chen and Yu Tianheng a sharp glance, full of vigilance and curiosity.
"Yanyan, you're here for herbs? Just the three of you?"
"No, we're helping our teammate Ye Lingling get her third soul ring. The soul beast has already been dealt with. While she absorbs the ring, we're gathering herbs."
Dugu Bo nodded, but his eyes remained fixed on Long Chen, revealing a touch of surprise.
He was very aware of how difficult the green phosphorus snake venom was to deal with. For someone so young to create a pill with even slight effects—this boy was definitely not ordinary.
Dugu Yan had mentioned Long Chen before, but Dugu Bo, always prideful, had never taken it seriously.
Now that he saw Long Chen with his own eyes, he felt a strange and unfathomable aura surrounding him.
"You, boy. The pill you refined does have a small suppressive effect on the green phosphorus snake venom in Yanyan's body. Who did you learn it from?"
Dugu Bo's eyes were cold and oppressive.
Yet Long Chen remained calm and unshaken.
"I learned it from an ordinary clinic in Tiandou City. It's nothing remarkable.".
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(End of this chapter)