Strange Poison

Feidian was completely at home here; no trap could fool it.

Zhou You followed behind it, gradually venturing deeper into the Poison Formation. He watched as it nimbly darted among the flowers, occasionally catching a few poisonous snakes to fill its belly, a few poisonous insects as snacks, and sometimes biting a few poisonous flowers and plants to change its taste.

A balanced diet of meat and vegetables is important!

Unlike Soul Masters, Soul Beasts do not rely on Meditation Method to transform the Heaven and Earth Vital Energy under normal circumstances. Most of the time, Soul Beasts accumulate energy through the food chain, just like ordinary animals in nature.

After all, low-level Soul Beasts usually have lower intelligence and do not meet the requirements for cultivating Meditation Method, nor do they have the practical conditions to acquire Meditation Method.

From this perspective, the Soul Master group is uniquely privileged. Although their physique is far inferior to that of Soul Beasts of the same level, even a Soul Scholar can quickly accumulate Soul Power through Meditation Method, and their level-up speed far surpasses that of Soul Beasts.

Moreover, Soul Masters have diverse methods. If they can't beat someone of the same level, they can use their cultivation level to overwhelm them. If they can't beat someone in a one-on-one fight, they can use teamwork to Soul Hunting. That's how Soul Masters accumulate advantages little by little by using snowballing.

Low-level Soul Beasts can only pray that they are lucky enough to survive the brutal competition until they develop intelligence. Only after that do they have a chance to advance to a higher level.

After Soul Beast's intelligence is fully awakened, it can refer to the Five-Layer Body Theory described in Zhou You's Thesis. Because the [Mind Body] is opened, the [Astral Body] can connect with the [Etheric Body]. Soul Beasts can more clearly know how to absorb what they need by adjusting their diet.

Feidian is currently at this stage. The most suitable way for the Lightning Marten Sable to increase its cultivation is to continuously consume various poisons and extract the substances needed for advancement from these poisons. In fact, many Soul Beasts with poison attributes have similar advancement paths.

Over the years, thanks to Zhou You's continuous feeding of Poison Pills and other highly toxic substances, Feidian's cultivation level has increased much faster than when he was surviving alone in the wild and slowly refining the essence of his prey.

He now possesses considerable wisdom.

However, the Lightning Marten doesn't so much possess the poison attribute as it does the poison resistance attribute. Unlike other poison-attribute Soul Beasts, it doesn't produce poison on its own. Instead, it remixes the toxins it absorbs to synthesize new poisons.

Therefore, its ability to absorb toxins is limited. The toxicity of toxins is to it the same as the alcohol concentration of fine wine; consuming too much will cause it to become intoxicated and enter a state of tipsiness.

After Feidian led Zhou You around the outer Poison Formation, he was already stuffed. Although he was still leading the way, he was already shivering.

"It seems this is the end of it."

Feidian was clearly beyond saving in this state, so Zhou You stepped forward and hugged it.

Nestled in the familiar embrace, Feidian found a comfortable position, then lay down like a dead dog and began to process what he had gained.

Zhou You put the Feidian back into his Treasure Bag. Just then, he sensed something and his left hand, hidden in his wide sleeve, trembled slightly. A white shadow suddenly appeared in the void and burst into thunderous sound in the air.

--"laugh"!

Then came two sounds of objects falling. Zhou You turned around and saw the carcass of an arthropod lying on the ground, its body neatly cut in half.

It was a Man Faced Demon Spider, and judging from its appearance, it must have been over a thousand years old.

This Man Faced Demon Spider was unlucky. Given its age and abilities, it should have struggled for a while longer, but its sneak attack failed, and it was swiftly and decisively killed by Zhou You.

Zhou You shortened the Umbrella Sword again and hid it in his sleeve.

This is a little trick he's come up with over the past few years, called [The Azure Dragon in the Sleeve].

The dragon can be large or small, can rise or hide; when large, it stirs up clouds and mists, when small, it hides its form; when rising, it soars through the universe, when hiding, it lurks within the waves.

Zhou You's "[The Azure Dragon in the Sleeve]" is an adaptation of Cao Cao's famous quote from "Discussing Heroes Over Wine".

Although the Heaven- and Earth-Harmonizing Umbrella and the Umbrella Sword are one, they can be used separately and manifested separately.

When he prepares for battle, he hides his Umbrella Sword separately inside his wide sleeve; this is known as "concealing his form," or "a dragon lurking in the abyss."

When the attack is launched, it is as powerful as thunder, like a flying dragon in the sky. The Umbrella Sword will suddenly appear in the form of a [Rou Sword], with the tip of the sword breaking the sound speed. The person hit will immediately be split in two.

By the time the enemy heard the sound, the attack was already over.

This move is all about surprise and extreme speed! Unless the opponent is too tough to be damaged, or is far away from the "Azure Dragon's" attack range, there is no way to avoid it.

The Umbrella Sword, with its serrated edge, possesses a cutting power far exceeding that of ordinary swords at high speeds. The thousand-year-old Man Faced Demon Spider lost its life before it could even see what was attacking it.

However, this was only the beginning. Before long, more "tap-tap" footsteps could be heard in the miasma.

Zhou You's ears twitched as he spread out his mental perception. However, before his perception could go very far, a corrosive force began to try and erode his Mental Power.

"Huh?" Zhou You was somewhat surprised. This was... a poison targeting Mental Power? Could the Poison Douluo even create something like this?

Little did he know that this was a rare poison discovered by chance during Dugu Bo's experiments. This Poison Soul Master was like an alchemist in history, keen on mixing and processing all kinds of toxins to create even better mixed poisons.

Among these experiments, there were successes and failures, and this strange poison that can erode Mental Power was one of the unexpected results.

The poisonous miasma can obscure Soul Master's vision, but it is not very effective against Soul Masters with strong mental perception. Therefore, Dugu Bo mixed this strange poison into the miasma, so that it could infect Soul Masters through respiration, causing them to become mentally confused and unconscious.

This poison is effective not only against Soul Masters, but also against the poisonous creatures living in it.

Thousand-year-old Soul Beasts possess high intelligence and are not easily controlled. Even if Dugu Bo is Titled Douluo, those Soul Beasts would not be willing to guard his home based solely on this.

Therefore, he first used this strange poison to erode the spirits of the Poison Soul Beasts in the area, bewildering their minds. Then, he persistently fed these Poison Soul Beasts food made with his own poison techniques and infused with the venom of the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison, so that they would remember his presence.

Over time, Soul Masters possessing the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Martial Soul were able to freely enter and exit the canyon without being attacked by the Poison Soul Beasts in the area.

This unique poison allowed Dugu Bo to achieve several goals at once, which was also the source of his confidence in teaching Zhou You a lesson.

Even though Zhou You's Protective Qi Barrier could prevent the poisonous miasma from entering his body, he couldn't spread his mental perception, which was equivalent to his vision being rendered useless.

But the poisonous miasma contains more than just the Man Faced Demon Spider!

Zhou You brandished his Umbrella Sword, a white streak flashing through the air, slicing a Man Faced Demon Spider the size of a washbasin in two.

Because their minds were clouded, these Man Faced Demon Spiders had long lost their sense of awe. Even though the Zhou You beneath their feet was littered with spider corpses, these creatures still pressed forward relentlessly, fearless of death!

It seemed that Zhou You was indeed facing perilous situations, just as Dugu Yan had predicted.