Dugu Bo: The Sensation of Hand-to-Hand Combat Is So Fiery
"Senior Dugu, you remind me of someone."
Dugu Bo, who was feasting heartily amidst piles of bones, paused his actions for a moment upon hearing this and asked curiously,
"You're reminded of someone by this old man?"
"Who is this person? Is he a peerless powerhouse, or someone as uniquely independent as myself?"
Dugu Bo's expression carried a hint of arrogance.
He prided himself on having a solitary temperament throughout his life, never following the crowd, and he was also a powerhouse at the Titled Douluo level.
What the brat Lin Xiao spoke of must certainly be an "otherworldly expert" like him.
"No, it's an old woman who looks very kind."
Dugu Bo's expression stiffened, and he cast an unfriendly gaze over.
"You brat, are you looking for a beating?"
How was this any different from mocking him, Dugu Bo, for resembling a mere woman?
Lin Xiao said quietly,
"Because, just like you, she doubted my cooking skills."
"In the end, you both surrendered to the truth."
Dugu Bo chuckled sheepishly.
He looked at the bones scattered all over the ground and gave a light cough.
"This old man simply dislikes wasting food."
"Actually, the taste..."
Hesitating for a long time, Dugu Bo ultimately failed to go against his conscience and utter the word "average."
"The taste is indeed good."
Ye Qingxian praised, then fell into deep thought.
"Who would have thought that the combination of herbal spices could be so seamless? I really don't know what goes on inside your head; ordinary soul masters never have the time to study these things."
Lin Xiao smiled without a word.
Truth be told, he genuinely enjoyed preparing delicacies.
Whenever he saw someone gasp in amazement or find satisfaction in his culinary creations, a sense of pride welled up in his heart. It wasn't smugness regarding himself, but rather the joy of seeing Huaxia's culinary culture receive recognition.
"Food is the paramount necessity of the people."
"Simply eating well is the purest form of happiness."
"Senior Dugu, Aunt Ye, did you know? I grew up eating meals provided by a hundred families. Although the neighbors who looked after me weren't soul masters, they lived their own lives with plenty of contentment."
"In my view, whether one is happy or not doesn't depend on acquisition, but on contentment."
Contentment brings eternal happiness, after all!
However, Dugu Bo simply laughed out loud.
"Yet a soul master's desire to forge ahead stems precisely from discontent!"
Ye Qingxian also chimed in,
"The continuous nirvana of a phoenix, when all is said and done, isn't that also discontent? Never being content with the status quo, always forging ahead with sharp determination—you yourself are discontent, yet you lecture us on the principles of contentment!"
Lin Xiao gave a thumbs-up.
"You two truly live up to your names as seniors; your words make complete sense!"
Those who are content know how to cherish, while those who are discontent know how to strive forward. One must simply master the proper balance between the two!
Early the next morning.
The three of them set off once more.
The spirit beast Ye Qingxian required was a kind called the "Snow Hoof Unicorn Horse," with an age requirement of around fifty thousand years. After a period of searching, they finally found it right at noon in the core area of the Sunset Forest.
The Snow Hoof Unicorn Horse was a rather rare healing-system spirit beast. Its entire body was as white as snow, and even its hooves possessed a pure white texture resembling white jade.
Although it was a healing-system spirit beast, having grown to fifty thousand years, it naturally possessed its own offensive methods. Its single horn could emit a blazing white light capable of piercing and melting metal and iron; its physical strength was robust with explosive power, and it excelled at charging enemies with its horn.
Ye Qingxian said with pleasant surprise,
"The age of this spirit beast is close to sixty thousand years? Normally I would definitely have to give up, but after consuming the immortal grass, my physique has already been strengthened, and it isn't an excessively violent spirit beast either. I can absorb it."
"Senior Poison Douluo, let's go with this one."
Dugu Bo nodded slightly, preparing to release his poison.
Yet he suddenly stopped.
Lin Xiao and Ye Qingxian looked in astonishment as Dugu Bo rolled up his sleeves.
Dugu Bo coughed twice and explained,
"I've always relied on poison to fight the enemy. But if I encounter someone like Lin Xiao who is immune to my poison, or someone with massive resistance to toxins, I'll fall into a disadvantage."
Just like Pufferfish Douluo from Spirit Hall, who also harbored deadly venom yet possessed strong close-combat abilities, and would definitely gain the upper hand against Dugu Bo.
As well as Dugu Bo's old rival Chrysanthemum Yue Guan, whose great immunity to toxins could basically restrain Dugu Bo to death.
Of course, that was the old Dugu Bo.
Now that Dugu Bo's Martial Soul had evolved and transformed into a dragon, not only was his poison vastly superior to before, but even his physical body's strength had increased by a wide margin.
This time, he was precisely planning to test out his close-combat capabilities.
Ye Qingxian wore a strange expression, yet she could understand.
Lin Xiao bowed his head in thought.
The Jade Phosphorous Serpent Martial Soul takes poison all the way to the extreme; whether it's Dugu Bo or Dugu Yan, unexpectedly all their soul skills are poison-releasing. While this naturally makes their toxicity stronger, it also makes them very easily countered.
As for Sister Yanyan, I should have a good talk with her when we get back. At the very least, she ought to have one or two presentable close-combat soul skills, and that way her safety would increase greatly.
This was the greatest weakness of the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Martial Soul.
In the original work, Tang San merely sprinkled some realgar wine and then burned it with fire, and Dugu Yan's Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison was neutralized.
There were too many absurdity points to know where to start.
Clearly, medical books recorded:
Realgar had no detoxification effect at all, and merely served to repel snakes because its pungent smell was disliked by serpents. Moreover, certain highly venomous snakes were not affected at all.
Yet Dugu Yan, a dignified Soul Ancestor-tier expert, was plain and simple turned into a useless person by the so-called "realgar wine." It was hard to explain, so let's just assume it was a hidden weakness of the Jade Phosphorous Serpent.
After evolving into the Golden Horned Jade Dragon, however, it would definitely never be neutralized by such child's play again.
Dugu Bo's nine soul rings were already fixed and could not be remedied.
Still, taking the path of poison to the extreme might not fail to be a broad and smooth highway. The fact that his Jade Phosphorous Serpent Martial Soul could evolve into the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor was perhaps related to this!
"Hahaha! What a thrill!"
At this moment.
Dugu Bo was locked in a fierce battle with a Snow Hoof Unicorn Horse. He deliberately refrained from using any poison, and relying on formidable physical strength, he straddled the back of the Snow Hoof Unicorn Horse and battered it wildly with a flurry of Turtle Fist punches.
The sight was too beautiful; one scarcely dared to look.
Ye Qingxian could not help giggling as she said,
"Senior Poison Douluo really is full of youthful vigor, only this fighting entirely by physical strength and without any methodology can work on spirit beasts, but against an enemy of the same realm's tier it's a bit far-fetched."
"Looking back, learning some self-chosen soul skills should be just about right."
Self-created soul skill?
A flash of inspiration struck the depths of Lin Xiao's mind.
That's right, since there were corpse burst techniques, ice burst techniques, flame burst techniques...
Then why couldn't there be a poison burst technique?
The principles were all the same anyway!
Once this thought surfaced, Lin Xiao's heart instantly grew blazing hot. Looking at Dugu Bo, who was currently throwing a flurry of random Turtle Fist punches, he felt nothing less than exasperation at his failure to live up to expectations!
You're muddle-headed!
Your poison is so awesome, how could you not know to develop some skills?
In the arena, the Snow Hoof Unicorn Horse had been beaten into a fiery rage by Dugu Bo's barrage of random blows, but unable to butt Dugu Bo, blazing white light flashed upon its single horn, and it rapidly expanded into a huge ball of light—it was actually preparing an on-the-spot explosive skill.
All prosper together, all suffer together!
Crush this bipedal beast on its back to death!
Before you continue