Icefire Wonder Valley, Poison Douluo Appears

Icefire Wonder Valley, Poison Douluo Appears

With Ghost Leopard Douluo, a mighty figure, leading the way, the rest of the journey went much more smoothly. Ordinary thousand-year soul beasts fled far away the moment they sensed Ghost Leopard's aura, not daring to come close. Ling Feng seized every moment, circulating his Soul Power to recover from his injuries while familiarizing himself with his surging strength and the use of the Spear of Judgment.

He continuously activated Fate's Watcher's talent, which was like a radar with an unreliable signal. Amid violent headaches and interfering static, it painstakingly guided him onward. The map of the Ice and Fire Immortal Grass in his mind grew clearer and clearer, constantly matching the surrounding terrain.

The deeper they went, the stranger the forest became. Ancient trees towered into the sky, blotting out the sun. A faint miasma, sweet and fishy in scent, permeated the air. The ground beneath their feet had turned soft and muddy, while bizarre vines coiled around ancient trees like giant pythons. All sorts of brightly colored snakes, insects, rats, and ants that looked highly venomous crawled through the shadows.

"Be careful, kid. This is one of Star Dou Forest's notorious miasma-infested regions, crawling with poisonous creatures." Ghost Leopard Douluo rarely offered a warning. With a casual flick of his finger, he sent out a gust that detonated a jade-green venomous snake into a mist of blood as it silently dropped from the canopy, ready to ambush them.

Ling Feng nodded and became even more vigilant. The Judgment Angel Martial Soul possessed a natural resistance that purified evil and poison, but he did not dare let his guard down.

After traveling for another half day and skirting around a black swamp that reeked of decay, Ling Feng suddenly perked up. The image fed back by Gaze of Destiny abruptly became crystal clear for an instant. Ahead! Beyond a twisted grove of dead trees resembling ghostly claws, at the edge of his perception, lay the entrance to a valley cradled between two strange peaks—one crimson, the other icy blue! Within the valley, red and blue mist intertwined and rose, dreamlike and surreal!

The Ice and Fire Immortal Grass! He had found it!

"Elder, that valley ahead seems rather unusual." Ling Feng pointed beyond the dead forest, suppressing his excitement as he spoke.

Ghost Leopard Douluo looked in that direction. His cloudy old eyes narrowed slightly before a trace of gravity appeared on his face. "Tsk... What a strange energy field. Extreme cold and extreme heat intertwining... Kid, you've got quite a nose! You could even 'smell' a treasure ground like this? But..." His tone shifted, carrying a warning. "A strange place formed by heaven and earth like this will surely be guarded by powerful soul beasts, or... people! Don't celebrate too soon!"

"I understand." Ling Feng nodded. Of course he knew who guarded the place! Poison Douluo, Dugu Bo! A Titled Douluo with an eccentric temperament, neither wholly righteous nor wholly wicked, whose mastery of poison was unmatched beneath the heavens!

The two men and the panther cautiously passed through the dead forest. The closer they came to the valley entrance, the more obvious that bizarre alternating sensation of extreme cold and scorching heat became. On one side was bone-piercing frost, as though it could freeze one's soul; on the other was a searing heat wave that made their skin burn. The two extreme energies formed an invisible barrier at the valley entrance, warping the light.

Just as they were about to step into the valley!

"Hmph! What little brats dare trespass into this old man's herb garden? Tired of living?!" A cold, hoarse voice, like a venomous snake hissing, suddenly came from within the valley without warning! It was not loud, yet it carried a sinister poisonous aura that made their scalps tingle, clearly boring into both men's ears!

Immediately afterward, a vast, gloomy, terrifying pressure filled with the stench of rot and death swept out from the valley like an invisible tide! It instantly engulfed the entrance!

Ling Feng felt his breathing hitch. Even the circulation of Soul Power within him became sluggish, as though invisible poisonous mist had coiled around him! A faint prickling pain spread across his skin! What terrifying poison-attributed pressure! It was more than a hundred times stronger than the Nether Alpha Wolf's!

Ghost Leopard Douluo's expression changed slightly as well! The pitch-black giant panther beneath him had its fur standing on end as it let out a threatening growl!

A dark green flash flickered! A figure appeared like a ghost atop a protruding crimson rock at the valley entrance.

The newcomer was tall and thin, clad in a dark green robe. His long dark green hair hung loose behind his shoulders, fluttering faintly in the wind. His face was gaunt, his cheekbones prominent, and his eyes were strangely dark green vertical pupils, like those of a venomous snake. Cold and sinister, they swept over the two men and panther at the valley entrance without the slightest hint of emotion. Most eye-catching of all was the dark green poisonous mist swirling around him, nearly solid in form. Even the rock beneath his feet sizzled as it was corroded!

It was Poison Douluo, Dugu Bo!

"So it was Spirit Hall's Ghost Leopard who dared intrude upon this old man's territory." Dugu Bo's vertical pupils locked onto Ghost Leopard Douluo as he spoke coldly. "What? Has Spirit Hall's hand now reached even this old man's remote corner of the world?"

"Dugu Bo?" Ghost Leopard Douluo had clearly recognized him. A trace of wariness showed on his sinister face, though his words lost none of their edge. "This old man was accompanying a junior to hunt a soul ring. We happened to pass through this place, sensed some unusual energy fluctuations, and came to take a look. You, on the other hand, have claimed this natural treasure ground for yourself. What great fortune!"

"Hunting a soul ring? Passing through?" Dugu Bo's vertical pupils swept across Ling Feng. When he saw the purple glow of the soul ring that had not yet fully faded from Ling Feng's body, his gaze paused briefly before he gave a disdainful snort. "Ghost Leopard, do you take this old man for a three-year-old child? You brought a little brat who has only just obtained his first soul ring and somehow 'passed through' to the depths of this old man's poison array? Speak. What is Spirit Hall plotting?"

The atmosphere instantly became taut as drawn bows! The auras of the two Titled Douluo faintly collided in midair! Even the extreme cold and heat at the valley entrance seemed to be stirred into greater frenzy!

Ling Feng's heart rose into his throat! He knew the crucial moment had arrived! Whether he could enter the Ice and Fire Immortal Grass depended on his performance now! He had to produce something that could move Dugu Bo—or rather, something that could interest him!

Taking a deep breath, he ignored the discomfort caused by that terrifying poison-attributed pressure and stepped forward. He bowed to Dugu Bo, his voice clear and carrying the frankness unique to a young man—or so he pretended. "Junior Ling Feng greets Senior Poison Douluo. Elder Ghost Leopard speaks the truth. Junior has indeed only just obtained his first soul ring. As for why I was able to find Senior's treasure ground..." He raised his head and looked directly into Dugu Bo's unsettling dark green vertical pupils, speaking each word with deliberate clarity. "It is because Junior has been afflicted by a strange poison and does not have long to live! Only a place where the world's extreme cold and extreme heat converge can offer a sliver of hope! Junior has no other choice but to risk his life and come here, begging Senior... to save my life!"

"Poisoned?" Dugu Bo's vertical pupils suddenly contracted! Like a venomous snake discovering a new toy, his gaze instantly locked onto Ling Feng!