Defeating Dugu Yan

"All right, I'll go find the person in charge and arrange it for you." Hearing Dugu Yan's words, Dugu Bo thought it over and found them reasonable. Besides, he had not brought his granddaughter here simply to let her win. The purpose was for her to gain real combat experience through spirit battles and thereby improve her strength.

"Then I'll have to trouble Grandpa." Dugu Yan said with a smile.

There was one thing she had not told Dugu Bo.

Although she had never met Ye Zhou, she had heard about him from her classmate, Yu Tianheng.

Yu Tianheng had said that he had once fought Ye Zhou. Ye Zhou was very strong and even knew a Self-Created Soul Skill. Without even having a soul ring, he had managed to draw with Yu Tianheng while Yu Tianheng was using thirty percent of his Soul Power. He was looking forward to sparring with Ye Zhou again once Ye Zhou obtained a soul ring.

"He already has a soul ring, so let me spar with him in your place first." Dugu Yan licked her lips, a smile appearing on her pretty face.

"Please arrange another spirit battle for me. Keep betting the money I won before too—still bet on myself to win." Ye Zhou said to the staff member at the counter.

"Certainly. Please wait in the waiting area."

"Mm." Ye Zhou nodded.

After returning to the waiting area, about half an hour passed before the loudspeaker sounded again.

"Contestant Number 16, Xiong Ba, please enter the arena."

"Contestant Number 2, Jade Scale, please enter the arena."

Ye Zhou stood up and walked toward the arena.

As he stepped onto the arena, Ye Zhou surprisingly heard people in the stands cheering him on.

However, their words did not sound particularly pleasant.

"Xiong Ba, go! Don't get one-shotted!"

"Can you withstand poison? Be careful not to let her bite you!"

"Good luck, handsome little brother!"

Ye Zhou: "???"

Ye Zhou looked at the person stepping onto the arena opposite him.

She was a girl around ten years old, with purple hair and green eyes. She wore a very revealing miniskirt. Her looks were not breathtaking, but she carried a distinctly seductive aura.

"I didn't expect to meet you here. I've wanted to see you for a long time, junior." Dugu Yan took the initiative to greet Ye Zhou.

"Junior? Big Sister, you are?"

"Yu Tianheng is my deskmate. My name is Dugu Yan."

"Oh, hello, Senior." Ye Zhou now knew who she was and greeted her.

At the same time, he discreetly scanned the stands again. Dugu Yan was here, so was Dugu Bo here as well? He had not forgotten that Dugu Bo's herb garden contained a pile of Immortal Herbs.

"Heh, what a polite little brother. Tianheng said you're quite strong, a true genius. He has always been looking forward to fighting you again, but unfortunately, he isn't here today. So let your senior take his place and spar with you." As she spoke, Dugu Yan narrowed her seductive eyes and assumed a fighting stance.

"Senior Tianheng flatters me too much. Senior, please go easy on me." Having understood why people in the stands had warned him to be careful of getting bitten, Ye Zhou clasped his hands toward Dugu Yan.

"Don't worry. This big sister won't go easy on you." Dugu Yan said.

Ye Zhou: "..."

Did you add an extra word there?

"The spirit battle begins. Both sides have one minute to activate your Martial Souls." At that moment, the referee flying in the air shouted loudly.

Hearing this, the two stopped talking. Their expressions turned serious as they immediately activated their Martial Souls at the same time.

"Jade Scale Snake Possession!" A snake phantom, entirely jade-green with blood-red eyes and a flickering tongue, appeared behind Dugu Yan. A hundred-year soul ring flashed beneath her feet.

Ye Zhou gripped the Sun Moon Halberd and, as usual, used the Transformation Technique to disguise his thousand-year soul ring as a hundred-year soul ring.

"Junior, be careful!" Dugu Yan said before charging at Ye Zhou like a long snake. Her movements were exceptionally agile as she darted left and right, constantly changing her route.

Is she trying to evade my first soul skill like this? Ye Zhou's Sunbeam Thrust was a straight-line attack, and an opponent moving swiftly like a snake was indeed difficult to target.

But...

If you aren't using a soul skill to move, I don't have to use one either.

Ye Zhou gripped the Sun Moon Halberd tightly and charged toward Dugu Yan. When they were two meters apart, he swept his halberd horizontally, releasing a burst of true qi.

"Whoosh!" Dugu Yan leaped high into the air, avoiding Ye Zhou's halberd blade.

Then, while she was descending, her eyes flashed.

First soul skill, Jade Scale Red Poison.

She did not use the poison on Ye Zhou, but on herself.

After this soul skill was released, it stimulated the target's nerves, increasing their attack speed and strength by twenty percent.

In an instant, Dugu Yan's speed and strength surged. Combined with gravity, her speed immediately reached the level of an ordinary agility-type Soul Elder.

"Ya!" She flipped in midair, raised her smooth leg, and fiercely chopped it down toward Ye Zhou's shoulder.

Leg blade!

I can't see it—it's too fast!

Ye Zhou's eyes widened. With no time to think, he hurriedly raised the Sun Moon Halberd to block.

"Bang!" Dugu Yan's thigh struck the halberd shaft. Her enhanced strength, combined with the momentum of her fall, numbed Ye Zhou's arms. The stone tiles beneath his feet shattered, and he nearly dropped to one knee.

Her first strike having failed, Dugu Yan immediately changed moves. With a flip, she launched another kick.

"Bang!" It struck Ye Zhou squarely in the chest, sending him flying.

"Ow~" Ye Zhou crashed to the ground after flying seven or eight meters, baring his teeth in pain.

"Whoosh!" Not giving Ye Zhou a chance to get up, Dugu Yan landed on both feet and immediately dove toward him. Her lips parted slightly, revealing her lovely teeth.

Although the soul skill granted by her soul ring was a buff-type skill, the Jade Scale Snake was a poison-type Martial Soul. After Martial Soul Possession, a Soul Master naturally possessed poison.

One bite.

As long as she bit Ye Zhou once, he would be poisoned.

In fact, she did not necessarily need to bite him. She could win by simply rushing over and kicking her opponent out of the arena. But as the granddaughter of the Poison Douluo, she wanted the world to know that her greatest strength was—poison!

"Hiss~" The piercing sound of a venomous snake flicking its tongue rang across the arena.

Watching the figure rapidly charge toward him, Ye Zhou felt a chill in his heart. No matter how good the stats are, real combat really is what matters.

Having barely fought anyone before, he had actually been suppressed this badly by Dugu Yan.

Clearly, aside from having less Soul Power, all his other stats should have surpassed hers.

"It's over!" Dugu Yan thought with a smile as she reached Ye Zhou's side in the blink of an eye. She then bent down and opened her mouth to bite toward his neck.

Such a handsome little brother—his blood must smell sweet, right?

The moment Dugu Yan had that thought, her expression suddenly changed drastically.

"Three Points Return to One Qi!"

His eyes had struggled to fully keep up with Dugu Yan's movements, allowing her to smoothly reach his side. But once you got close to me, leaving would not be so easy.

Once Ye Zhou sensed a figure beside him, he stopped worrying about anything else. He immediately raised the Sun Moon Halberd to block while opening his other hand. Three streams of inner force—frost, wind, and cloud—instantly condensed into a sphere, which he fiercely struck at the figure.

"Boom!" Dugu Yan bit down on the Sun Moon Halberd's shaft, while Ye Zhou's Three Points Return to One Qi blasted into her abdomen. Instantly, "Pfft!" She spat out a huge mouthful of blood, her entire body tracing a beautiful arc as she flew out of the arena.

"Yan Yan!" In the VIP box, Dugu Bo abruptly stood and shouted.

He had not expected his granddaughter to suddenly be hit and lose the spirit battle when she had been on the verge of winning.

Then, he glared viciously at Ye Zhou, who was still lying on the ground and had yet to rise.

What genius? What person valued by Prince Xue Xing? All of it was bullshit.

"Brat, how dare you hurt my granddaughter?" The enraged Dugu Bo roared before smashing through the window and charging straight toward the arena.

He would not kill the boy, but he had to knock him out of the arena too. And he had to make him cough up one—no, ten mouthfuls of blood.

"Wood Stake Great Technique!"

"Bang!" A massive wooden stake appeared out of thin air in Dugu Bo's path toward Ye Zhou and slammed fiercely into him. Caught off guard, Dugu Bo took the hit head-on.

"Pfft!" Dugu Bo spat out a mouthful of old blood and flew backward into the private box even faster than he had come.