Gratitude

A terrifying aura like a mountain descended from the sky. The void distorted, and the earth trembled violently. It was as if the world could not withstand this pressure and was about to collapse.

"A Titled Douluo!"

Fang Xuan and Qian Renxue trembled, and their expressions changed.

In their current state, even a Spirit Saint could take care of them, let alone a Titled Douluo. Fang Xuan's spiritual power was damaged, and his entire body was severely injured. It was difficult for him even to move, let alone fight.

As for Qian Renxue, she was still a Spirit Grandmaster. There was nothing she could do.

This Titled Douluo, suddenly appearing, made Fang Xuan and Qian Renxue sink into a bottomless abyss.

He had long, dark green hair, cold, deep eyes, and an ancient robe fluttering without wind. His expression was complex, and his face was dry. He gave off a sinister and cold feeling.

"Old monster! So it's you. You frightened me."

Fang Xuan was stunned. When he saw who it was, he heaved a sigh of relief. A smile appeared on his face. The Titled Douluo who had arrived was none other than Dugu Bo.

Dugu Bo, the Sword Douluo, Bone Douluo had helped him deal with the Spirit Hall in Spirit City. He had always remembered this favor.

Dugu Bo stood with his hands behind his back. He did not say a word. He only looked quietly at Fang Xuan.

When he noticed those cold and emotionless eyes, Fang Xuan was stunned. He narrowed his eyes and realized that something was wrong.

He said in a low voice, "Are you here to kill me?!"

"Sigh …"

Dugu Bo nodded his head heavily and let out a helpless sigh.

Fang Xuan's face was as cold as ice. At this point, there was no longer any doubt. The black-clothed assassins from last night and Dugu Bo, who had just arrived, were all sent by the Heaven Dou Empire.

He had won glory for the Heaven Dou Empire, but the Heaven Dou Empire had sent people to kill him.

Thinking of this, Fang Xuan's heart burned with endless anger. His face was somewhat ferocious as he gritted his teeth and asked,

"Who is it? Prince Xue Xing or Emperor Xue Ye?"

Prince Xue Xing had always been a loyal supporter of the Xue Beng and was filled with hostility towards Fang Xuan. Furthermore, he had once saved Dugu Bo from the Chrysanthemum Douluo and was indebted to him. Hence, he might have been the mastermind behind this assassination attempt.

Furthermore, Dugu Bo was a guest elder of the Heaven Dou Empire. As the Emperor, Xue Ye also had the authority to mobilize Dugu Bo. Of course, the price of dispatching a Titled Douluo was extremely high.

Fang Xuan couldn't think of a third person in the Heaven Dou Empire who could order Dugu Bo apart from those two.

Dugu Bo looked regretfully at Fang Xuan and sighed.

"Both of them."

"Why?" Fang Xuan asked as he clenched his fists tightly.

"His Majesty once made a mistake, and to make up for this mistake, he must eliminate the source of trouble!" Dugu Bo said.

"Mistake? What mistake?!" Fang Xuan needed help understanding.

Dugu Bo remained silent and didn't answer.

Dugu Bo didn't say anything, so Fang Xuan didn't pursue the matter. He was already in despair after encountering a Titled Douluo in such a severely injured state.

"Do it. Dying at the hands of a Titled Douluo is better than dying at the hands of a bunch of nameless scoundrels!"

Fang Xuan laughed bitterly and stubbornly stood up from the ground. He looked fearlessly at Dugu Bo and faced death calmly.

"Don't worry. Since we've known each other for a while, I'll give you a quick death."

Dugu Bo's green eyes shone with a faint green light. Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black, black. Nine Spirit rings rose into the air, and a terrifying aura that belonged to a Titled Douluo erupted.

"Don't even think about it!"

Qian Renxue's phoenix eyes were cold. Seeing that Dugu Bo was about to kill Fang Xuan, she rushed over to stop him, but she was sent flying by the Titled Douluo's aura.

She had just recovered to rank 30 and couldn't fight against a Titled Douluo. She couldn't even withstand a wisp of Dugu Bo's murderous aura.

"Do you have any last words?" Dugu Bo looked at Fang Xuan.

"Don't kill her!" Fang Xuan said quietly.

"Okay, I promise you."

"That's good. Do it!"

Fang Xuan smiled. He looked at the murderous Dugu Bo in front of him and waited quietly for death.

"Then … go to hell!"

Two green lightning bolts shot out from Dugu Bo's eyes in the next moment. A vicious look appeared on his old face. Boundless Spirit power surged around him as he suddenly waved his right palm!

However, Dugu Bo's palm didn't hit Fang Xuan. Instead, it hit his own abdomen.

"Bang!"

There was a loud sound, like a thunderbolt had struck from the clear sky.

Dugu Bo's complexion was deathly pale as he suddenly spat out a large mouthful of blood. His originally extremely powerful aura rapidly weakened, withering to the freezing point. His head of dark green hair had turned entirely white. His appearance had instantly aged by dozens of years, and his entire body emitted a decaying aura of death.

His nine Spirit rings exploded at the same time. A boundless storm of Spirit power swept out in all directions.

Even the terrifying Green-scaled Serpent Emperor let out a miserable cry. Its huge serpent body rapidly shrank until it completely disappeared.

Fang Xuan was stunned when he saw this shocking change. His pupils shrank as he looked at Dugu Bo in shock.

"You shattered your own Jade-Scaled Snake Emperor's inner core and crippled your spirit power. Why?!"

It was extremely difficult to become a Titled Douluo without decades of hard work and exceptional talent.

Now, Dugu Bo had crippled his Spirit power. This shocked Fang Xuan. He also needed clarification. He needed to understand why Dugu Bo would do this.

"From now on, I don't owe the Heaven Dou Empire any favors. I don't owe you any favors either."

Dugu Bo had lost his strength, but his smile was very relaxed. He felt as if a heavy burden had been lifted off his shoulders. He had been saved by Prince Xue Xing before and had also been saved by Fang Xuan. He owed both of them his life.

Now that he had no choice but to chase after Fang Xuan, he felt very conflicted. He didn't want to kill Fang Xuan but didn't like to owe others favors either.

In the end, Dugu Bo chose to cripple his Spirit power so that he wouldn't kill Fang Xuan. He also wanted to return the favor to Xue Ye and Prince Xue Xing. He destroyed his abilities as a titled douluo and became mortal. He didn't want to interfere with the feud between the two parties.

He only looked at Fang Xuan quietly. Without saying a word, he drifted away.

"Old monster …"

Fang Xuan was in a daze. He looked at the old man's back as he walked further away. He was very conflicted, but more than that, he was touched. He was silent for a while. Finally, he sighed slowly.

This debt of gratitude was a little heavy.

After being melancholic for a long time, Fang Xuan suddenly thought of something. He turned around and stared at Qian Renxue.

He said coldly, "Do you … know the real reason why the Heaven Dou Empire wants to kill me?!"