Dugu Bo's Frustration

The girl was just waking up and was still a little confused, seemingly unaware of her current situation.

But she sensed a familiar presence, turned her head, and blurted out, "Grandpa..."

The sound promptly brought the newcomer to his senses, causing Poison Douluo's fierce momentum to falter and his forward charge to slow down.

As Zhou You had predicted, he was indeed hesitant to act rashly. In order to prevent his beloved granddaughter from getting hurt, Dugu Bo could only stop two zhang ahead, his eyes fixed on Zhou You as if they were spitting fire.

"Boy, let her go!"

"I won't let go." Zhou You resolutely refused, almost reigniting the anger that Poison Douluo had managed to suppress.

"Despicable! Using a woman as a hostage, what kind of man is that?"

"If I hadn't done this, I'd probably be dead by now. How could you possibly be here listening to me, senior?"

If Zhou You hadn't had Dugu Yan, he might have already been reduced to ashes by Poison Douluo.

At this moment, Dugu Yan, who had finally sorted out her thoughts, realized that she had been taken hostage and began to struggle.

"Don't move." Zhou You pointed a finger at Dugu Yan's smooth nape, and with a [Ghost Gate Needle], temporarily cut off the transmission of nerve signals.

As a result, Dugu Yan almost completely lost sensation below her neck, as if she were paralyzed from head to toe.

Fear flashed in her eyes, and she instinctively cried out to her family, "Grandpa, I... I can't move..."

Upon seeing this, Poison Douluo was absolutely furious. His chest heaved rapidly, and he breathed heavily through his nostrils, wishing he could tear the despicable brat in front of him to pieces right now!

But with Dugu Yan in his hands, Poison Douluo could only restrain himself even more, forcibly suppressing his anger.

He gritted his teeth and said, "Boy, what do you think you're doing? Don't mess around, or even if you run to the ends of the earth, I'll grind you to dust!"

Zhou You knew how hated he was, but there was nothing he could do. Before he could fully understand the truth, he couldn't lose his only bargaining chip that could restrain Poison Douluo.

The opponent's poison skills were already troublesome, but what's even more troublesome is their personality.

Poison Douluo is a character who is both righteous and evil, or to put it another way, he is a very self-centered person who often acts solely based on his personal preferences, never caring whether innocent people are harmed.

If it were someone else, Zhou You could simply return the person in his hands and explain the situation to clear up the misunderstanding. But this time, the person on the other end is Poison Douluo, who, even if he knows the truth, might not reason with you.

Therefore, Zhou You would rather offend him than entrust his life to the other party's character, especially since he was a person with an "unquestionable reputation" in this regard.

"Who... who exactly are you..." Dugu Yan's voice trembled. Now, apart from her head, only a few fingers could move; the rest of her body was numb.

She was, after all, just a little girl of thirteen or fourteen. Faced with the current situation, the fact that she didn't burst into tears, even with her eyes reddening, was already quite impressive.

When Zhou You met her gaze, he saw her stubborn yet fearful expression. His expression remained unchanged, but he still felt a little embarrassed.

Therefore, her voice softened slightly. "I'm sorry to have startled you, but please rest assured, once the misunderstanding between us is cleared up, I will give you your freedom..."

"Well, as long as your grandfather doesn't keep trying to harm me." Zhou You said this while glancing towards Poison Douluo.

"Sir, you are a Titled Douluo, isn't it beneath your dignity to use such a tactic as secretly poisoning a junior like me?"

Although he couldn't smell it, he still sensed the toxins approaching.

Poison Douluo's pupils contracted slightly, and a turbulent feeling stirred within him.

"You..." How could you possibly have noticed? Dugu Bo didn't say these words aloud, but he was indeed very shocked.

His Martial Soul was originally the Jade Phosphorous Serpent, which was extremely skilled in poison. As a result, he loved to study poison techniques. He not only enjoyed collecting, making, and using toxins, but also combined poison with the cultivation of his own Martial Soul, creating a unique set of Poison Arts of his own.

Ordinary Soul Masters can only deal attribute damage when activating Soul Skills. Normally, their Soul Power can only be enhanced with other buffs by relying on the "Enchanting" characteristic of their Martial Soul. However, Poison Douluo is different. Due to his unique Poison Arts, his Soul Power naturally carries toxins.

In recent years, especially, inspired by a Thesis that circulated from the Spirit Hall, his Poison Arts have become increasingly unfathomable. He can use his Soul Power to secretly release pre-prepared synthetic poison into the air, killing people invisibly.

This was the first time he had used this technique. He had originally thought that this method would only be used against enemies of the same level, but he never expected to use it on a Soul Ancestor.

But what upset him the most was that this first attempt at using it failed miserably!

"I am but a humble Pharmacist."

Even so, how did you cure my poison? Dugu Bo was completely puzzled.

However, after this experience, he realized that Zhou You had some evil qualities and was different from ordinary Soul Ancestor, so he forced himself to calm down completely.

"Kid, what do you want?"

Finally calmed down, Zhou You secretly breathed a sigh of relief. After all, there was a gap of several major realms between him and his opponent, so it was best to avoid fighting if possible.

Pharmacists and poison masters differ by only one character in their names, and their research overlaps somewhat. The former focuses on the orthodox, while the latter takes the unorthodox approach. But how could a skilled Pharmacist be ignorant of the toxicity of herbs?

In the Marketplace that time, if he hadn't wanted to confirm that the other party really had the Jade Phosphorus Seven-Absolute Flower Pollen, there would have been no need for him to take that sip.

Dugu Bo's poison skills were more advanced than Zhou You had imagined, but still somewhat inferior to those of the Tang Sect in his previous life.

The Tang Sect possesses superb poison skills, even capable of refining poisons within the body using internal energy, requiring no raw materials. Furthermore, they can use the Poison Qi to generate a protective energy barrier, making them a formidable force in both offense and defense.

In comparison, Dugu Bo's method of using poison, although colorless, odorless, and silent, is relatively easy to guard against.

It was because Dugu Bo was concerned about his granddaughter's safety that he did not observe carefully. Otherwise, he should have noticed that Zhou You's body was always covered by a transparent, round Qi shield, like jelly enveloping him and Dugu Yan.

This is [Escape Light], the progenitor of all shield-type spells in the world of "One Person". It is not as versatile as [Golden Light Mantra], but its strength and anti-penetration ability are no less than those of the Golden Light Mantra.

The advantage of this basic Escape Light Technique is its robustness. Although its structure is simple, its defensive capabilities are stronger than most Soul Masters ' Soul Power Protection.

No matter how simple it is, it is still an Otherworldly Arts, more sophisticated and robust than the crude Soul Power protective structure.

However, the strength of the [Escape Light] is linked to the user's life; the stronger the life of the Otherworldly Being, the stronger the [Escape Light] they create.

In later generations, there was an Otherworldly Being named Ding Shian, whose "Escape Light" was even comparable to the "Golden Light Mantra" used by a high-ranking official of the Celestial Master Mansion, demonstrating the potential of this Otherworldly Arts.

Zhou You rarely uses this technique because the Heaven- and Earth-Harmonizing Umbrella is sufficient to deal with ordinary attacks. However, Poison Douluo is no ordinary person, and Soul Master techniques are insufficient to deal with him.

If a fight is unavoidable, Zhou You can currently only rely on the methods of the Otherworldly Being.

If Zhou You only felt troubled, then Dugu Bo could only feel frustrated at this moment.