Why Dugu Yan's Body Was Being Devoured

The two stared into each other's eyes, neither saying a word.

Dugu Yan's heart was filled with mixed emotions.

She had originally been a favored daughter of heaven, the granddaughter of a Titled Douluo, with a boundless future ahead of her. Yet overnight, her Martial Soul had been damaged, toxins had begun devouring her body, and she had to endure unimaginable pain at every moment.

For his granddaughter's sake, Dugu Bo had sought out Xue Qinghe and borrowed the Nine-Petal Golden Orchid. It was a Sacred Medicine that could convert toxins into Soul Power.

However, its medicinal effects were too overbearing and had nearly dissolved all of Dugu Yan's Poison Arts.

Her Martial Soul had been passed down through Dugu Bo's line. Both possessed the Jade Phosphorous Serpent, and the vast majority of their strength lay in their Poison Arts. With her Martial Soul already damaged, if her Poison Arts were truly dissolved, she would have nothing to do with poison for the rest of her life.

"Long time no see, Dugu Yan."

Yu Mingfei rose calmly to his feet and casually wrung out his sleeve. The squeezed-out droplets splashed back into the river.

He was completely composed, as though he was not worried about his situation in the slightest.

Ye Lingling shrank back, glanced at Yu Mingfei, then at Dugu Yan, and quietly fell silent.

Dugu Yan's lips moved as she turned to look at Dugu Bo.

"Grandfather, why did you bring him here? Can he solve my problem?"

Dugu Bo was not confident either. He had captured Yu Mingfei mostly so his granddaughter could vent her anger.

Yet his granddaughter did not seem to be in the mood for that.

Dugu Bo shot Yu Mingfei a fierce glare. Just as he was about to speak, he was interrupted.

"Enough. If you can't solve it, just kill me. I'm already here, so why waste words?"

Yu Mingfei waded forward, approached Dugu Yan, and studied her carefully.

"What exactly happened? What did the Yu Family say when they approached you and your grandfather? And what did you do?"

Dugu Yan fell silent for a moment before describing how her Martial Soul had been damaged.

Dugu Bo also added what Yu Luomian had told him when he came seeking him out, including the method for resolving the toxins devouring her body.

Yu Mingfei found it strange. What Dugu Bo described was no different from the method he had told Yu Luomian.

He looked at Dugu Bo. "Did you use this method?"

The other man nodded with a dark expression. "If this Old Man hadn't tested it himself, how could he dare let Yanyan try it rashly?"

Yu Mingfei looked astonished. "Then how are you not dead?"

At those words, Dugu Bo's eyes widened in fury again. Soul Power surged from his body, and he looked ready to release his Soul Rings and suppress Yu Mingfei.

But with Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling present, he swallowed his rage bitterly.

Yu Mingfei did not beat around the bush. "The toxins in your body are more than a hundred, even a thousand times greater than Dugu Yan's. If there were something wrong with this method, grass would already be sprouting from your grave."

He stared expressionlessly into Dugu Bo's eyes.

"So the problem isn't with the method. It's with the people carrying it out."

Dugu Bo fell silent. How could he not know that? But his granddaughter's life hung by a thread, and she could be swallowed by the out-of-control toxins within her at any time. Yet she was stubborn and refused to give up her Poison Arts to use the Nine-Petal Golden Orchid to detoxify herself and prolong her life.

Yu Mingfei directly tore away that last shred of pretense, but he did not linger on the matter.

He looked at Dugu Yan and asked again, "Was the Soul Bone you used to contain the poison bought at auction?"

Dugu Yan nodded without speaking.

"What age?"

"Thousand-Year."

That answer was far too vague. Yu Mingfei shook his head and pressed, "How many thousand years? What Soul Beast did it come from? And why did Dugu Bo, a Titled Douluo, go to an auction house to find a Soul Bone for you? That place isn't guaranteed to have good items.

"Isn't he close with the Heaven Dou Imperial Family? Even if that didn't work, he could have posted a commission through the Heaven Dou Empire for a Soul Bone. Plenty of Soul Masters would have rushed to find one."

Dugu Bo puffed out his beard and said irritably, "What do you know, brat? This Old Man merely has some friendship with Prince Xue Xing, but which family doesn't treat Soul Bones as heirlooms?

"The Heaven Dou Imperial Family may have Soul Bones, but why would they give one to Yanyan?

"This Old Man may be a Titled Douluo, but..."

At that point, Dugu Bo let out a long sigh. "This Old Man is already advanced in years. The title 'Poison' may sound imposing, but in truth, people fear me everywhere. If we truly went to the Heaven Dou Imperial Family asking for a Soul Bone, I'm afraid my granddaughter and I would both have to serve them."

Yu Mingfei understood his difficulty and nodded in agreement. "You're still too concerned with saving face."

"?" The three of them were stunned, and Dugu Bo was just about to flare up.

Yu Mingfei continued, "At your age, you've lived like a dog.

"The Heaven Dou Empire has four princes. Two are dead, leaving two.

"Xue Qinghe is already the Crown Prince, with the throne within reach. Xue Beng may be a wastrel, but he isn't an idiot. He's simply afraid of dying, especially after two princes died one after another in recent years.

"If you had just gone straight to him and used your strength as a Titled Douluo to say you were willing to save Xue Beng's life when it mattered, either of those princes would have had to curry favor with you.

"Xue Qinghe has to maintain his image as a loving elder brother, while Xue Beng wouldn't mind adding another layer of insurance to his life.

"Serve them? Even if you openly took a pound of flesh from them, they wouldn't dare say a word."

Yu Mingfei looked at Dugu Bo, whose expression was becoming increasingly unpleasant amid his embarrassment, and shook his head.

Dugu Yan interjected at that moment, defending her grandfather. "It's not Grandfather's fault. Yu Tianheng originally said the Yu Family could provide a Soul Bone, but then the Heaven Dou Auction House suddenly released news of a Soul Bone. It was even a Left Leg Bone dropped by a Jade Phosphorous Serpent.

"Grandfather and I both have Jade Phosphorous Serpent Martial Souls. This Soul Bone would be more useful to me than any other, so I chose it."

Hearing that name, Yu Mingfei slightly raised his eyes. "Yu Tianheng?"

Dugu Yan nodded and explained, "Yu Tianheng wanted to use the Yu Family's Soul Bone to ask Grandfather for my hand in marriage. I knew Grandfather disliked getting involved with these sect factions, so I refused."

Yu Mingfei was silent for a while before suddenly nodding. "A fine scheme."

With Yu Luomian and Yu Yuanzhen's personalities, if Yu Tianheng and Dugu Yan got together, then no matter how much I contributed, I wouldn't get a share of the Immortal Herbs at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

On one side, they could marry into a Titled Douluo's family and gain a top-tier deterrent for their clan. On the other, they could obtain Immortal Herbs and cultivate their younger generation.

Luckily, I held something back. I only told Yu Luomian that Dugu Bo had some precious herbs that could affect Mutated Martial Souls.

Otherwise, even if they gave away a Soul Bone for free, they would definitely want a share of Dugu Bo's gains.

Various thoughts flashed through Yu Mingfei's mind before he gathered himself.

"What exactly was the age of that Soul Bone?"

After thinking for a moment, Dugu Yan answered, "Around twelve hundred years."

"Was it full of energy? How many Soul Masters had used it before? I mean Soul Masters who had absorbed it." Yu Mingfei asked again.

Dugu Yan frowned, seemingly not quite understanding.

"Energy? The Soul Power within the Soul Bone was somewhat unstable, but it was abundant. The seller said it was a family heirloom, and that they would not have risked selling it if they had not desperately needed money."

She explained simply, but Yu Mingfei immediately heard the problem. He looked at Dugu Yan as though she were an idiot.

"Didn't you learn anything about Soul Bones before absorbing one?"

"What are you talking about? Of course I know about Soul Bones!" Dugu Yan protested.

"Then do you know that after a Soul Bone is used repeatedly, the energy within it gradually runs dry? Not only do the Soul Skills contained within it weaken, but the Soul Bone's structure itself also becomes damaged.

"You thought the Soul Power inside it was unstable because the Soul Bone's own energy had already been exhausted! Before the previous owner died, they filled it with their own Soul Power to create the illusion that it was brimming with power!

"If you had carefully inspected it before absorbing it, or asked someone else, you would never have ended up like this!"

"Ah?"

As soon as those words were spoken, not only Dugu Yan but even Dugu Bo and Ye Lingling were left dumbfounded.

Yu Mingfei frowned. "What exactly do they teach you at Heaven Dou Royal Academy? Cultivation, Soul Master battles, and romance?"