Getting a Shield, Part 2

Ye Wen shook his head in disappointment. Dugu Bo was clearly a victim of relying too heavily on experience.

Seeing Ye Wen reject his method, Dugu Bo felt a surge of suppressed anger. His family was one of the foremost authorities on poisons and antidotes on the continent, yet they were being looked down upon like this. Holding back the fire in his heart, Dugu Bo asked,

"What insight do you have, then?"

"I wouldn't call it insight. Let me first explain the basics of snake venom. Generally speaking, snake venom falls into three categories. One is hemotoxin, which causes blood to clot and leads to death. Another is neurotoxin, which can paralyze and necrotize the body. The last is the most troublesome: mixed venom. It possesses the traits of both previous toxins, making it more vicious and harder to cure."

As Ye Wen began speaking at length, Dugu Bo's face showed agreement. This was basic knowledge about snake venom, but now he was interested in hearing what Ye Wen had to say next.

"The Jade Phosphor Serpent Martial Soul inherited by your family should, in terms of Soul Beasts, essentially be a form of mixed venom.

"And after you continually hunted different venomous Soul Beasts, this mixed venom became even more vicious. Normal medical methods have no way of removing it. Only Soul Masters can use Soul Power to resist it—the detoxification method Senior Dugu mentioned before.

"But that detoxification method itself contains a causal relationship. What does snake venom use to affect the human body? Without question, wounds.

"If snake venom merely splashes onto someone's body, simply wiping it away will do, because the venom has no medium through which to react.

"So, there is no problem if the person sucking out the venom has no cuts in their mouth. But if there happens to be a tiny wound in their mouth, and the venom they suck out is particularly potent, it will go straight to the head and kill them instantly. Am I right, Senior Dugu?"

Having finished, Ye Wen looked at Dugu Bo with a smile.

Dugu Bo's pale face twisted. He had clearly realized the possible consequences of sucking venom out with one's mouth. Normally, venomous snakes bit people on the ankle or, at most, the arm.

After all, a snake's mouth was only so large. To accurately bite someone and poison them, it had to choose where to strike.

Bites in those two places at least allowed some time for treatment. But if it bit directly into the neck and the venom reached the brain, abnormal blood supply to the brain could directly cause brain death or even paralysis.

Having never noticed such details before, Dugu Bo seemed to understand something after Ye Wen's reminder.

Dugu Bo spoke with a dry mouth, his voice strained.

"You mean our family was poisoned because, whenever we released Soul Skills, tiny wounds on our bodies allowed the venom to enter us. Is that right?"

Ye Wen nodded.

"That's right. Although your Martial Soul is the Jade Scale Snake, when you are not in Martial Soul Possession, you are essentially just ordinary people. You may retain antibodies against snake venom in your bodies, but because you have hunted all sorts of Soul Rings, the original venom has deteriorated. As this toxin accumulates day after day, it will eventually drag down the bodies of your entire family."

Dugu Bo's expression turned bleak. Ever since he was young, his father had taught him to cultivate Soul Power diligently to resist the erosion of snake venom, because this was an inherent flaw of the Jade Scale Snake Martial Soul.

But after Ye Wen's explanation today, he realized that the problem had not been with his family's Martial Soul. The problem was that his ancestors had cultivated in the wrong direction.

That was right. Contact between a wound and snake venom would cause poisoning too. Such a simple truth—how had no one in his family's centuries of inheritance paid attention to it?

When Dugu Xin was born, his wife had died tragically from uterine bleeding and poisoning. Every few years, servants in the household would die from poisoning as well. So many living examples had stood before him, yet he had instinctively overlooked them because of a Soul Master's arrogance.

"Hahaha—!!!"

Dugu Bo clutched his head and wept bitterly, yet he also seemed to be laughing at himself. Grief and joy mixed together, making him appear somewhat crazed.

Ye Wen was not too surprised by this. In his Previous Life, people who suffered devastating upheavals would generally react this way.

Dugu Xin, however, was frightened by his father's appearance and instinctively hid behind Ye Wen. In his impression, his father had always been refined and courteous, a nobleman who remained calm in the face of anything. Seeing him become like this left the young boy completely at a loss.

After venting the emotions in his heart for a while, Dugu Bo calmed down somewhat. He gave Ye Wen a deep bow and said,

"Dean, your talent is extraordinary. I never expected you to unravel the curse our family has inherited for hundreds of years from only a few words.

"This old man asks for nothing for himself. My life is already like this, but my son Dugu Xin is still young. I hope Dean will lend him a hand."

Ye Wen stepped forward to help Dugu Bo up, saying with a smile,

"Senior Dugu, there is no need for such a great courtesy. I said before that as long as you become our academy's Honorary Dean and protect its development, and your son becomes my disciple, I will certainly teach you everything I know about detoxification."

Gratitude flickered in Dugu Bo's eyes. He pulled Dugu Xin over and said to him,

"Son, become his disciple. Although the Dean's cultivation is not high, his knowledge is the deepest I have seen since becoming a Soul Master. Under his guidance, you will surely restore the honor of our Dugu Family."

Dugu Xin did not hesitate. Though he had yet to understand many of the technical terms Ye Wen had used, seeing his old father approve of him so strongly made it clear that the person before him was no fraud. He hurriedly bowed and said,

"Greetings, Master."

"Good. From today onward, you will be my, Ye Wen's, eighth personal disciple."

Although on Douluo Continent a Soul Master could only acknowledge one teacher in their lifetime, the customs surrounding apprenticeship were truly rudimentary.

Moreover, although Buddha Tang in the original story said, "A teacher for a day, a father for life," he never called Yu Xiaogang "Master," only "Teacher." Who knew whether Third Young Master had overlooked it or what? For Tang San, who came from a martial arts world, this should have been basic common knowledge.

But once the apprenticeship was formed, it meant the Dugu Family was completely bound to Ye Wen. They would share honor and disgrace alike. Should either side betray the other, they would be scorned by Soul Masters across the continent.

That was why, despite having many Titled Douluo, the Clear Sky Sect in the original story had always been looked down upon. They had directly abandoned their affiliated families.

Those affiliated families followed them because they wanted their protection, yet they simply threw them away. How could such a power serve as the big brother?

Thus, by the time of Douluo Two, although the Clear Sky Sect still endured, its reputation had rotted in secret, and it could only live in seclusion.

The reason Ye Wen wanted to bring the Dugu Family under his wing was Dugu Bo's formidable rank 75 Soul Saint cultivation. Only Soul Master powerhouses at this level were qualified to establish an advanced Soul Master Academy and take charge on their own.

Ye Wen's research in every field had now reached a bottleneck. What he lacked were rare resources, and those resources were controlled by major powers.

Only by establishing an advanced Soul Master Academy could Ye Wen obtain more resources inaccessible to ordinary Soul Masters. And only by obtaining those resources could Ye Wen better plan for the future.

As for why he did not simply reveal his cultivation and apply to the Heaven Dou Imperial Family—

Wouldn't all those years spent concealing his cultivation have been wasted?

Besides, Ye Wen had not forgotten why his father had died.

Once he sided with one major power, he would inevitably face attacks from its enemies. It was better to choose covert neutrality from the start.