The Predecessor of the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Martial Soul

Dugu Bo's face darkened. He neither admitted nor denied it.

Yet his sinister gaze coiled tightly around Lin Hai like a venomous snake, and an invisible pressure spread through the air.

The corner of Lin Hai's lips lifted slightly, carrying the pride of a healer.

"Heh. I've immersed myself in the medical arts for... years and am well versed in pharmacology and toxicology. Judging solely by your eye color and hair color, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say..."

His gaze swept over Dugu Bo's face, dark enough to drip ink, his eyes fixed furiously on him, and the hand that seemed ready to rise at any moment.

Then his tone abruptly shifted, turning light to the point of mockery.

"Fine, actually, I just have a sharp nose. The smell on you... reeks like you've been pickled in poison."

Dugu Bo: "..."

Who does this brat think he's dealing with...?

Taking advantage of the other man's stalled aura, Lin Hai released the aura of a Soul Ancestor, stacking a credibility buff on himself before decisively pulling out the "essential knowledge" every Douluo transmigrator had to memorize.

"Whenever the weather turns cloudy or rainy, you feel numbness and itching around your ribs, and it gradually worsens..."

This boy looks barely over ten, yet his Soul Power has already reached level forty-three! What force could have raised such a Little Monster? Could he be from Spirit Hall?

Dugu Bo's pupils contracted slightly. After Lin Hai finished describing his symptoms, his voice sank.

"...You really do know."

Lin Hai remained perfectly composed, as though Zhong Da had possessed him.

"I recognized this trifling ailment before I was nine."

"A trifling ailment..."

Dugu Bo stared at him, his eyes heavy with hope and scrutiny.

"What a 'trifling ailment'! Since you recognize it, then can you... cure this poison?"

Lin Hai smiled disdainfully.

"If I can identify it, I can cure it. Hehehe..."

Dugu Bo looked at Lin Hai's youthful face and let out a dejected sigh, carrying the desolation of a hero at the end of his road.

"The poison in this old man's body has long seeped into my bones. No medicine can help, so there is no need to trouble yourself. So long as you can cure my granddaughter's poison..."

Heh, he's looking down on me... So what if I cure his granddaughter? Is he going to marry his poison-free granddaughter to me?

Lin Hai's inner monologue ran wild.

Dugu Bo paused before saying, "This old man can grant you three requests, so long as they... do not violate this old man's principles."

Lin Hai raised a brow, immediately seizing the key point.

"Oh? May I ask what your principles are, Senior?"

Dugu Bo's face twitched, though he forced himself to remain calm.

"Whatever this old man wishes to do naturally falls within my principles."

Good grief, so if you don't want to do it, you just won't! Other than Leopard Head, you're the only one who can freeload so elegantly and righteously...

The smile on Lin Hai's face did not change, but his gaze suddenly sharpened like needles. His words were gentle, yet every syllable cut like a blade.

"Poison in the marrow can still be treated with effort. But if the poison rises to the head and corrodes the face... then even a God would truly be unable to save you."

He paused meaningfully, his gaze scraping across Dugu Bo's stiffened face as though it were tangible. The implication was obvious.

I can treat you too. Think carefully before you speak.

Dugu Bo's Adam's apple bobbed. His expression shifted between light and dark, but in the end, he yielded, his compromise tinged with gritted teeth.

"...Fine! So long as it's... not too excessive!"

Lin Hai nodded in satisfaction and stopped while he was ahead, not pressing him on where exactly the line for "excessive" lay.

They were both respectable men. Asking further would only make him seem petty. Besides, everyone had their temper.

Lin Hai's gaze narrowed slightly as he began slowly.

"There are countless Poison attribute beast Martial Souls, and venomous snake types are far from rare. Other than a few exceptions, for the vast majority of beast Martial Souls, possession is a prerequisite for using soul skills."

"Why is it that only the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Martial Soul's poison backlashes against its wielder?"

His tone was certain. "The problem definitely does not lie with Poison attribute beast Martial Souls themselves."

"I suspect that your Martial Soul, or perhaps your ancestors' Martial Souls, must have undergone mutation."

"And not a malignant mutation, but lingering consequences from an incomplete beneficial mutation—or rather, an incomplete transformation."

A strange light flashed through Dugu Bo's eyes.

"You brat really have some skill..."

"That's right. My grandfather's Martial Soul was not the Jade Phosphorous Serpent, but the Mandala Snake. My grandmother's Martial Soul was the Jade Phosphorus Scorpion."

His voice deepened, thick with unwillingness.

"But my father's Martial Soul mutated into the Jade Phosphorous Serpent."

"From then on, the Martial Soul's venom became stronger, but this curse that poisoned both enemies and its wielder clung to our bones, affecting four whole generations..."

Just as I thought.

Lin Hai understood. He had long held this suspicion, and upon seeing Dugu Bo's condition, the theory had completely taken shape in his mind.

At its core, it was no different from Yu Xiaogang's Three-Eyed Blazing Demon or Ma Hongjun's Evil Fire Phoenix.

Even the shackles of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda likely stemmed from the same root...

Even if external aid solved the issue with this kind of mutation, it would only be temporary. It would inevitably resurface among future descendants.

For instance, Ning Rongrong from his previous life—even if she had descendants in the future, Lin Hai dared to assert—

The Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda would likely be difficult to pass down stably, and her descendants would be highly likely to revert to seven treasures.

Just like Ma Xiaotao...

Ma Hongjun had merely gone from an Evil Fire Chicken to an Evil Fire Phoenix, then to a Multi-headed Evil Fire Phoenix.

Though his own problem had been suppressed, the root of the evil fire in his bloodline had never truly been removed.

Furthermore, Lin Hai's speculation regarding the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda was based on two additional points.

First, the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda had indeed appeared in the history of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, but it had vanished like an ephemeral flower and failed to be inherited.

Second, it concerned the secret origins of Martial Souls.

It was said that the ancestor of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan had been a transformed Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Soul Beast.

By that logic, some Martial Souls that corresponded to Soul Beast forms might share the same origin.

Then what about tool-type Martial Souls such as the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, the Clear Sky Hammer, or even sickles and hoes?

Lin Hai believed there were only two possible sources.

The first was occupation.

What one encountered daily and held dearly in one's heart would, over time, leave its imprint within the bloodline.

Powerful tool Martial Souls like the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda and the Clear Sky Hammer could then be viewed as beneficial mutations that occurred within later bloodlines.

The second was... a gift from a God!

Would it not be perfectly natural for the God who established the Martial Soul cultivation system to grant farmers the forms of sickles and hoes, and blacksmiths the forms of hammers and chisels?

If the mood struck, creating a few Martial Souls with heaven-defying power yet inherent shackles would be no more than a casual act for such a God...

Lin Hai withdrew his thoughts and looked toward the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, unable to stop himself from marveling.

The deep blue and crimson red flowed endlessly like the yin and yang energies from the dawn of creation, naturally outlining an arcane Taiji scene.

The two ultimate forces of ice and fire not only failed to annihilate one another, but remained distinctly separated without infringing upon each other, as though they followed some profound law of heaven and earth.

Even more miraculous was that this "mandarin duck hotpot" did not even need a divider. It was formed wholly by nature—truly... professional!

He turned to Dugu Bo.

"Your Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well is a treasure trove. There are dozens of Immortal Herbs here. Refined into Elixir Pills, they can at the very least resolve the danger of Martial Soul backlash for both you and your granddaughter."

"If you're lucky, they might even help her Martial Soul Evolution."

Dugu Bo was out of the question. He had already reached the realm of a Titled Douluo, and his Martial Soul had already evolved into the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor.

His Martial Soul's origin was too powerful. Elixir Pills refined from Immortal Herbs simply could not make it evolve further—it was not a Bodhi Seed.

Then his tone shifted, turning solemn.

"But there is one point that must be made clear—"