"Grandpa, what's wrong?"
After Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling finished planting the trees, they saw the commotion here and ran over as well.
Seeing Dugu Bo's face full of shock and stupefaction, Dugu Yan, who had no idea what was happening, asked worriedly.
Dugu Bo did not answer.
He raised a trembling hand and pointed at the crude monster spawning opening.
His lips quivered for a long while before he finally forced out a sentence.
"It... it went up..."
"My Soul Power... went up!"
His words came as a shock.
The entire place fell silent.
Ye Guanlan and Mu Qingyu exchanged glances, each seeing the horror in the other's eyes.
At Dugu Bo's level—
a level ninety-one Title Douluo—
raising his Soul Power by even one level was measured in years.
Sometimes, he might not make even the slightest progress after several years.
But now—
he had merely swung a sword and killed a pile of bones that did not even qualify as a soul beast.
His Soul Power had actually increased?
What kind of Monster Grinding Tower was this?
This was clearly a heavenly ladder leading to godhood!
"I'll try too!"
Ye Guanlan could no longer hold himself back. He snatched the Stone Sword and squeezed his way to the front.
Smack!
Another Zombie dropped down.
Ye Guanlan swung his sword.
Experience entered his body.
This level eighty-three Soul Douluo reacted even more dramatically than Dugu Bo.
"This..."
"This rate of improvement... is faster than a month of secluded meditation!"
"This is... this is far too ridiculous!!"
Gu Changge watched these country bumpkins who had never seen the world, the corners of his lips curling upward slightly.
This was already too much for them?
If he built a little black tower or a pigman tower later—
when experience flooded the screen like a waterfall—
wouldn't they pass out on the spot?
"Uncle Ye, don't get so worked up. This is just a small scene."
Gu Changge spoke with a smile.
"Since this tower has been built, it's our private property."
"Everyone can take turns grinding here from now on."
"Let's strive to have everyone become Title Douluo as soon as possible."
If those words had been spoken before, they would have been dismissed as the ravings of a madman.
But now—
watching monsters fall endlessly from above—
everyone's breathing grew heavy.
What monsters were these?
They were clearly cultivation that could walk!
Then!
What were they waiting for?
Of course, they started grinding!
As long as they didn't grind themselves to death, they would grind like their lives depended on it.
Holding the Stone Sword, Ye Guanlan charged ahead first with a wild howl.
Smack!
The dull thud of something heavy hitting the ground came from the Monster Grinding Tower.
A Zombie fell into the gap behind the barricade, its legs twitching weakly.
Dugu Yan stepped forward.
She steadily thrust out the Stone Sword in her hand, taking the Zombie's life.
"Urgh—"
The Zombie turned into white smoke and dissipated.
Several emerald-green motes of light sprang from the void and swiftly drilled into her chest.
Dugu Yan felt the thrill of growing stronger as experience entered her body.
Even though she could no longer remember how many times she had felt it today—
she still found this effortless way of becoming stronger unreal.
"Chang Ge, I'm level forty-nine!"
She turned to look at Gu Changge beside her.
Her voice was soft as she spoke.
"Keep it up. Try to grind your way to level fifty before nightfall. Tomorrow, we'll go obtain Spirit Rings together!"
Gu Changge smiled and praised her.
Yet his gaze was not on Dugu Yan.
Instead, it rested on Dugu Bo nearby.
At that moment, Dugu Bo stood before a taller, larger Monster Grinding Tower with greater grinding efficiency.
He swung the Stone Sword so quickly that it left afterimages, as if sparks were about to fly from it.
Yet he did not feel the slightest fatigue. Instead, an almost crazed smile spread across his face.
Smack! Smack! Smack!
The monsters inside the Monster Grinding Tower fell continuously, like raindrops striking the ground.
The Stone Sword in Dugu Bo's hand swished nonstop.
And the green experience motes, like fireflies—
fell endlessly like stars filling the sky.
Faced with such a scene, Dugu Bo's motivation to grind monsters naturally kept rising.
Because this Monster Grinding Tower was simply too satisfying.
His Soul Power had long since stagnated.
Being able to break through to the Title Douluo realm with the innately flawed Jade Phosphor Serpent Martial Soul—
and evolve his Martial Soul into the Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor at the same time—
had already exhausted nearly all of his potential.
If he could not solve the poisonous backlash from his Martial Soul—
then level ninety-one, the threshold of Title Douluo, was the highest he could ever reach.
Even if time eventually allowed him to rise another level or two—
the lethal threat of his Martial Soul's backlash—
meant that even if he could advance, he did not dare advance at all.
Because the Dugu Family's Martial Soul was innately flawed.
The poison did not merely harm the body—
it was also a chronic affliction tangled together with Soul Power.
If he rashly increased his Soul Power without solving this problem, he would be courting death.
So Dugu Bo himself had actually given up long ago.
The strength of a level ninety-one gatekeeper—
he had accepted it!
Because that was his fate.
But now, things were different.
Gu Changge had appeared.
The Monster Grinding Tower had appeared.
Soul Power and the Experience Bar had become semi-bound together.
Everything had changed.
His Soul Power Level, which used to make him anxious—
which he had not dared raise even when given the opportunity—
could no longer bind him now.
Because using the Monster Grinding Tower to grind monsters, raise his Experience Level, and thereby drive up his Soul Power Level—
actually increased only pure Soul Power.
It would not cause the backlash poison carried by his Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor Martial Soul to increase alongside it.
It was like having two mana bars.
One mana bar carried venom like maggots clinging to bone, poison that could claim his life anytime, anywhere.
The other mana bar contained only pure mana, without the slightest trace of poison.
Originally, the two mana bars—
were at the same level.
Both stood at level ninety-one.
But now, with the Monster Grinding Tower's aid—
the poison-free mana bar had become the core of his strength, and it had begun to rise.
As a result, his strength increased.
Yet the backlash poison did not increase in the slightest.
Together, this method of improvement—
was like continuously pouring clean water into a bucket of water blackened by ink.
Of course, this pouring could not completely remove the original ink.
But as more clean water was added, the original ink would be diluted without end.
And for Dugu Bo, that dilution was the best possible blessing.
With every bit it was diluted, the pain of the Jade Phosphor Serpent Venom's backlash would lessen by a bit.
Perhaps, if it could be diluted to a certain degree—
with the Poison Pill he had condensed in his early years by staking his life on it—
he would have a considerable chance of completely subduing the damned Jade Phosphor Serpent Venom that had plagued him all his life and bringing it under control.
So under these circumstances—
how could the Stone Sword in Dugu Bo's hand possibly not be throwing sparks?
As for him monopolizing a taller, larger Monster Grinding Tower with greater grinding efficiency...
Before you continue