A World Apart

"Teacher... is this the righteous path you spoke of? Is this the foundation you spoke of?"

"Running?"

"Memorizing texts?"

"Entanglement?"

With every word, Hei Tang San stepped closer.

His eyes were filled with the accusation of someone who had been deceived.

"Why was he already level 24 at six years old while I was still stuck at level 18?"

"Why could he create his own cultivation technique while I could only practice that outdated stuff?"

"Why could he earn hundreds of thousands of Gold Soul Coins while I..."

Hei Tang San raised his bloodstained hand, and his voice suddenly rose, turning shrill and miserable.

"While I can't even afford the tuition fee?!"

"Is this your invincible theory?!"

"Is this the... future you gave me?!"

Boom!

This string of questions was like a series of resounding slaps.

They struck Yu Xiaogang viciously across the face.

Yu Xiaogang staggered back two steps until his back hit the cold wall.

His mouth fell open.

He wanted to defend himself.

He wanted to say, "This is to build a foundation." He wanted to say, "Immediate benefits don't represent the long term."

But.

Looking at the evaluation of "Divine King's Stature" on the Sky Curtain.

Then looking at the disciple before him, whom he had taught into being "Deeply in Debt."

Every excuse caught in his throat.

Turning into a helpless rasping sound.

What could he say?

That the Sky Curtain was wrong?

That money was useless?

That Bai Tang San, who could already laugh and chat with a Titled Douluo, had gone down the wrong path?

No.

He could not say it.

Because at this very moment, even he had developed deep doubts about the things he had upheld for his entire life.

Even... despair.

"Xiao San... I..."

Yu Xiaogang reached out, wanting to grab Hei Tang San's sleeve.

But Hei Tang San violently shook him off.

That movement.

Was decisive.

Cold.

As though he were throwing off a heavy burden.

Hei Tang San turned around, no longer looking at the teacher who had disappointed him beyond measure.

He raised his head toward the Sky Curtain.

Toward the radiant Bai Tang San.

The hatred in his eyes gradually transformed into a twisted obsession.

"Since the righteous path won't work..."

"Since those so-called theories are a joke..."

"Then I'll walk my own path."

"Whether it's Asura or Rakshasa."

"As long as I can win..."

"I, Tang San, will pay any price!"

A black seed finally took root and sprouted in the depths of his heart.

Yu Xiaogang could only stand dumbly in the corner.

Watching that once-obedient figure drift farther and farther away from him, until they were strangers.

The Sky Curtain did not stop because this master and disciple had broken apart.

The first phase's summary had merely been an appetizer.

As the word "WIN" faded away.

The image shifted once more.

Above the Sky Curtain, the enormous chart titled "Phase Summary" finally slowly vanished.

The commercial legend of Nuoding City and the master-disciple rupture at Shrek Academy both came to a temporary close.

The image changed.

This time, the view was no longer limited to those fledgling young Soul Masters.

Instead, it abruptly rose, piercing through layers of clouds and focusing on the very top of Douluo Continent's pyramid—

The domain of Titled Douluo.

It was a forbidden zone beyond the reach of ordinary people.

And also an Abyss filled with deadly danger and ultimate pain.

[Black World]

Deep within Sunset Forest.

This place was shrouded in green poisonous miasma year-round. Sunlight could barely penetrate, and the air was cold, damp, and thick.

Inside a dark, wet cave.

"Urgh—!!!"

A low roar suppressed to its absolute limit echoed through the empty cavern, making the stalactites on the ceiling tremble.

A thin old man with green hair and beard was curled up on a cold stone bed.

Dugu Bo.

Title: Poison.

This Poison Douluo, who made the entire Soul Master World tremble in fear, was now rolling about without dignity like a wounded old dog.

A cold rain was falling outside.

With every raindrop that fell, the bones beneath his ribs felt as though they were being gnawed by countless ants. The itching and numbness were unbearable, burrowing into his very marrow.

The Baihui acupoint atop his head felt even more as though someone had driven a red-hot steel needle into it.

That was the backlash of the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor Poison.

The price of his lifetime of Poison Technique.

"Damn it... damn it..."

Dugu Bo's trembling hand grabbed a handful of multicolored pills. Without caring what they contained, he stuffed them all into his mouth.

They were suppressants he had concocted after trying countless methods.

But as he grew older, their effects became increasingly weak.

The poison had already seeped into his bones.

He could feel death drawing closer step by step—something even more terrifying than death itself: Ten Thousand Poisons Devour the Heart.

"I spent my whole life playing with poison, only to die to my own poison in the end?"

Dugu Bo laughed bitterly as a cloudy tear slid from the corner of his eye.

He was solitary and temperamental, feared and ostracized by others.

No one knew of his pain.

Still less did anyone know that his granddaughter, Dugu Yan, who was still studying at Heaven Dou Royal Academy.

Was at what should have been the blossoming age of her life.

Yet on every rainy day, she had begun secretly clutching her chest as she endured the same torment.

Despair.

Spread through this dark cave like poisonous gas.

[White World]

The scene suddenly brightened.

Though this was likewise the edge of Sunset Forest.

The sunlight was brilliant, and the breeze was gentle.

Bai Tang San wore his signature black brocade robe and stood beneath an ancient tree with his hands clasped behind his back.

There was no large entourage behind him.

Only several Agility Attack System Soul Masters wearing Tang Sect Merchant Association uniforms were respectfully reporting to him.

"President, the news has been released."

"Following your instructions, we only spread word through several designated Black Market channels that there is a cure for Jade Phosphorous Poison."

"And we precisely avoided Spirit Hall's eyes and ears."

Bai Tang San nodded faintly and waved for them to withdraw.

"The fish should be taking the bait."

He turned and looked toward the rolling green mist deep within the forest.

A hunter-like smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

"Dugu Bo."

"In this life, I have no time to play the game of 'snatching a granddaughter's husband' with you."

"What I want is your submission."

"And that Treasure Basin."

Before his words had faded.

Boom—!

A terrifying fishy gale swept out from the depths of the forest without warning.

The surrounding trees instantly withered, and the grass turned into black water.

A dark green figure appeared out of thin air ten meters before Bai Tang San like Gui Mei.

The pressure of a Titled Douluo instantly locked down the entire area.

"Little brat."

Dugu Bo's green eyes fixed viciously on Bai Tang San, his voice hoarse and piercing.

"Was it you who spread rumors everywhere, claiming you could cure this old man's poison?"

Killing intent.

Tangible killing intent.

If it had been an ordinary person, he would likely have been scared out of his wits by that aura.

But Bai Tang San was not.

He did not even blink.

The Mysterious Heaven Skill within his body began circulating on its own, offsetting that spiritual pressure.

"Rumors?"

Bai Tang San smiled faintly and took a step forward.

"Senior Dugu."

"Whenever the sky darkens and rain falls, your ribs itch and ache unbearably, as though ten thousand ants were gnawing at your bones."

"Every midnight and noon, the Baihui acupoint atop your head and the Yongquan Acupoint beneath your feet feel as if they are being pierced by needles and scorched by flames, leaving you wishing for death."

"Is that a rumor too?"

Dugu Bo's pupils suddenly contracted.

His previously indifferent expression instantly became grave, even carrying a trace of shock.

"You..."

"How did you know?!"