Su Ze's words made Dugu Yan's expression turn cold.
Her jade-green eyes fixed icily on Su Ze.
A handsome little boy like Su Ze was exactly her type.
That was why she had been so gentle with him.
Who would have thought this little brat would call the Jade Scale Snake Martial Soul a trash Martial Soul and the Jade Scale Snake Poison worthless?
Dugu Yan couldn't just let those words slide.
"Brat, say that again!"
Seeing Dugu Yan's expression turn cold, Su Ze's eyes lit up.
This was exactly what he wanted: for Dugu Yan to take him seriously.
"I'll say it again. Dugu Yan, the Jade Scale Snake Poison you're so proud of is completely useless against me. I'm officially challenging you to a poison duel."
"The loser has to agree to one condition set by the winner."
Su Ze met Dugu Yan's icy gaze without the slightest fear.
Dugu Yan was so angry she laughed.
Today, she was going to teach this brat called Su Ze a lesson.
She'd make him understand that you could eat whatever you wanted, but you couldn't say whatever you wanted.
"Fine, I'll take you on!"
"But we're raising the stakes!"
"The loser has to agree to three conditions set by the winner!"
Su Ze had no objections to Dugu Yan's terms.
All he needed was for her to agree to the duel.
As for how many conditions there were, it didn't matter at all.
After all, his ultimate goal was Dugu Yan's grandfather, Dugu Bo.
As he accepted the challenge, Su Ze quickly recalled the information Di Tian had given him about Dugu Yan.
Dugu Yan was fifteen, with a Soul Power Level of twenty-eight.
Her two Soul Skills were Jade Phosphor Purple Poison and Wounded Farewell.
Both were Poison Attribute Soul Skills.
This style of fighting, relying on poison, was enough to make most ordinary Soul Masters shudder.
After all, they might lose half their strength before they even got close to their opponent.
But to Su Ze, poison was completely meaningless.
Within the domain of Thunderous Force, the lightning around him blocked all poison.
"Fine, I accept!"
Hearing Su Ze agree without hesitation, Dugu Yan's expression stiffened.
A wave of embarrassment washed over her. She'd thought the annoying brat had come up to confess to her.
She hadn't expected him to want to challenge her.
Annoying brat.
When the fight was over, she'd make him work like a beast.
"Brat, you're the one who agreed to a Soul Duel!"
"When you lose, you'll work like a beast for me!"
As soon as she finished speaking, Dugu Bo's expression turned cold as he announced their Soul Power Levels.
"Dugu Yan, a level twenty-eight Soul Grandmaster, Martial Soul: Jade Scale Snake!"
"Su Ze, a level twenty-six Soul Grandmaster, Martial Soul: Mutated Lightning Attribute Martial Soul."
When Dugu Yan heard Su Ze announce his Soul Power Level and Martial Soul, she was taken aback.
This brat was already a Soul Grandmaster.
And the name Su Ze, along with that Mutated Lightning Attribute Martial Soul...
Could he be the brat she'd heard about that morning, the one who had defeated Yu Tianheng?
At the thought, Dugu Yan immediately grew serious.
She leaped backward on her long legs, swiftly retreating.
As she jumped into the air, the two Soul Rings on Dugu Yan lit up.
"First Soul Skill: Jade Phosphor Purple Poison!"
"Second Soul Skill: Wounded Farewell!"
Dugu Yan's fighting style was simple: release poison, then wait.
The poison would wear down her opponent until they collapsed.
The Jade Scale Snake Poison was peerless across the continent!
Dugu Bo had even earned his title, Poison, through his mastery of it.
One especially terrifying characteristic of the Jade Scale Snake Poison made it so formidable:
The more Soul Power an enemy expended, the stronger the poison became.
In other words, as the enemy attacked, they also weakened their own defenses.
Fortunately, as Dugu Yan made her move, Su Ze didn't hesitate either. He thrust out both hands.
"Shatter the Darkness with Thunder!"
In an instant, violent lightning surged from Su Ze's body, tearing his white shirt to shreds and exposing his muscular build.
His black hair turned white, and he floated in midair. Empowered by lightning, he looked like the Thunder God of legend.
The moment Su Ze activated Thunderous Force,
the poison mist Dugu Yan had sent at him was torn apart by the raging lightning.
Looking at the snake poison that had been completely shredded, Su Ze nodded.
Just as he'd expected, although snake poisons came in all shapes and varieties, at their core they were still proteins.
Heat was the natural enemy of protein.
Of course, extreme cold could work too.
Although Poison Flame Snake Poison was resistant to high temperatures,
Sikong Zhen's Martial Soul wielded Extreme Thunder.
Now that Dugu Yan's proudest weapon—the snake poison—was useless against him,
the fight was as good as over.
At that moment, Dugu Yan stared at Su Ze, floating in the sky, her eyes filled with confusion and alarm.
This kid called Su Ze really did have some tricks.
No wonder he could defeat Yu Tianheng.
With lightning covering your body, your opponent's snake poison couldn't invade you at all.
If the snake poison couldn't get through, how was she supposed to fight?
Just as Dugu Yan was starting to panic,
Su Ze slowly raised his right hand in midair. Sensing the fear in Dugu Yan's heart, he spoke calmly.
"Being weak isn't scary. What's scary is being a coward."
"Cowards have no value!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Su Ze's Electric Eyes turned toward Dugu Yan, and countless bolts of violent lightning shot toward her.
Seeing the lightning rushing at her,
the alarm in Dugu Yan's eyes grew more obvious. She hurriedly retreated.
"Where Thunder Strikes, all is annihilated. You flee, while I conquer!"
Anticipating her movements, Su Ze gently raised his right hand and made a grasping motion in the air.
In an instant, the raging lightning sealed off every possible route of escape.
As the lightning rushed toward her, its overwhelming presence made Dugu Yan close her beautiful eyes in terror.
Panic filled her thoughts.
If the lightning hit her, would it ruin her face and turn her into an ugly monster?
No!
Dugu Yan waited in terror, but after a while, she still hadn't felt any pain.
So she opened her eyes, a little confused.
Su Ze stood before her, lightning guarding him on all sides. He was smiling at her.
"Senior Sister Dugu, I win!"
Su Ze had never intended to actually hurt Dugu Yan.
Scaring her a little was enough.
He only needed to show her how strong he was.
His goal was the Immortal Herb.
There was no need to make an enemy of her.
As soon as he finished speaking, Su Ze showed his good faith by letting the lightning around him fade away.
Dugu Yan saw that the floor where she'd dodged the attack had been shattered by the lightning.
If she'd tried to take the hit just now, she would have been seriously injured.
With that thought, Dugu Yan gave Su Ze a complicated look.
"Why did you cancel your Soul Skill?"
Su Ze smiled.
"I've already achieved what I wanted, so I canceled it."
"Besides, I don't want you to get hurt."
After all, her grandfather was famous for being fiercely protective.
Of course, Su Ze kept that last thought to himself.
"All right, Senior Sister Dugu. I've won, so now you have to honor the terms you agreed to."
Hearing Su Ze's words, Dugu Yan instinctively folded her arms across her chest and eyed him warily.
"I'm warning you!"
"Don't ask for anything outrageous."
"Or I'll bite you to death!"
As she spoke, Dugu Yan ground her little tiger teeth together, still watching Su Ze warily.
Hearing her, Su Ze gave a helpless smile and said, "Don't worry, Senior Sister Dugu. My request is simple."
"Tell your grandfather that I can resolve your Martial Soul Defect!"
"That's all!"
"Senior Sister Dugu, I really can resolve your Martial Soul Defect!"
"My immunity to your snake poison proves it!"
"Please talk to your grandfather when you get home, and let me know tomorrow."
With that, knowing Dugu Yan was still wary of him,
Su Ze turned and left.
All he left behind was his retreating figure.
Watching Su Ze leave so decisively, without anything like what she'd expected happening,
Dugu Yan blushed with embarrassment.
From the moment they first met until now, she'd thought Su Ze was interested in her.
But it seemed he was more interested in her grandfather than in her.
The humiliation of being ignored,
the way he'd broken through her Soul Skill, and completely overpowered her in close combat,
and the fact that Su Ze had dared to call her a coward during the fight—
All those feelings piled up.
Dugu Yan etched Su Ze's name into her heart.
Dugu Yan watched Su Ze's figure grow smaller as he walked away.
You damned brat.
Just you wait!
She stamped her foot angrily, then turned and headed toward the Dugu Family home in Heaven Dou City.
Dugu Bo noticed Dugu Yan's disgruntled expression as soon as she came home.
Dugu Bo had lost his parents when he was young, his wife in middle age, and his son in his later years.
His life had been utterly tragic.
Now, all he had left was his precious granddaughter, Yan Yan.
Dugu Bo couldn't bear to see his granddaughter suffer even the slightest grievance.
So, when he saw the unhappy expression on his granddaughter's face, he immediately decided to pay a visit to Heaven Dou Royal Academy.
He would teach a good lesson to whoever had dared upset his granddaughter.
"Yan Yan, what's wrong? Why the frown? Did someone upset you?"
"Come tell Grandfather. Let's see which fool dared bully our Yan Yan!"
"I'll make him pay."
At the end, Dugu Bo's eyes and voice turned icy.
The flowers throughout the courtyard began to wither in an instant, struck by Dugu Bo's fury.
Watching her grandfather's angry expression, Dugu Yan hurriedly said, "Grandfather, I'm fine. I didn't suffer much."
"It's just that some brat came to challenge me, and I lost to him."
Hearing Dugu Yan's words, much of the anger in Dugu Bo's heart dissipated, though confusion showed in his eyes.
He knew his granddaughter's strength very well.
Only that boy from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan could just barely get the better of Yan Yan.
Yet now his granddaughter said that a brat had made her suffer.
A brat even younger than his granddaughter, who had still managed to beat her with ease.
Had another genius appeared at Heaven Dou Royal Academy?
Just as Dugu Bo was wondering about this, Dugu Yan spoke again.
"And, Grandfather, that brat has a way to deal with the Martial Soul Defect of our Jade Phosphor Serpent Clan."
The moment Dugu Yan finished speaking,
she saw an expression on her grandfather's face that she had never seen before.
His aged face had become incredibly solemn.
At the same time, a powerful pressure bore down on her.
Dugu Yan even felt as though she couldn't breathe.
Fortunately, Dugu Bo quickly noticed something was wrong with her and hurriedly withdrew the pressure.
As he did, Dugu Bo said with utmost seriousness,
"Granddaughter, tell Grandfather all about it!"
Elsewhere, after defeating Dugu Yan, Su Ze didn't return to Thunder Gorge to cultivate.
Instead, he headed into Heaven Dou City.
This time, Su Ze planned to find a medical clinic in the city and buy some medical books.
After all, he needed to learn to identify those legendary Immortal Herbs first.
Besides, since ancient times, medicine and martial arts had been inseparable, and the same principle held true on the Douluo Continent.
In this world, with Support Soul Masters around, most Soul Masters couldn't be bothered to study medicine.
Besides his protagonist's luck, Tang San owed much to the Mysterious Heaven Skill he had brought from his previous life.
It was a genuine technique that involved the circulation paths of Soul Power.
Su Ze didn't have Tang San's Mysterious Heaven Skill, so he planned to study the subject himself and see if he could create a Cultivation Method of his own.
As he wandered around, Su Ze heard about a special medical clinic.
It was located in the very center of Heaven Dou City.
The clinic's owner was a highly skilled healing Soul Master.
She could treat any difficult or unusual ailment.
Su Ze wasn't particularly interested in her medical skills. What truly interested him was—
the female Soul Master who ran the clinic was named Ye Qingxian.
She had a daughter named Ye Leng Leng.
That immediately stirred Su Ze's memories.
He recalled a supporting character from the story, Ye Leng Leng.
Like Dugu Yan, her Nine Hearts Begonia Martial Soul had a defect.
There could be no more than two holders in any generation.
Su Ze also knew how to remove the restriction on Ye Leng Leng's Martial Soul.
Since he was going to help Dugu Yan remove her Martial Soul restriction,
he might as well do the same for Ye Leng Leng.
As Ye Leng Leng's mother, Ye Qingxian was surely also a holder of the Nine Hearts Begonia, and her medical skills should be exceptional.
If he offered to resolve her Martial Soul Defect in exchange for her teaching him medicine, there was a very good chance she would agree.
With that thought, Su Ze immediately decided to meet Ye Leng Leng's mother.
Following the information he had gathered, Su Ze soon found the clinic run by Ye Leng Leng's family.
As soon as he entered, he saw two women, one tall and one short.
The taller woman wore a white dress and had a curvaceous figure. Though a white veil covered her face, her brows alone were enough to reveal her beauty.
The petite figure wore black and had long, pale-blue hair that fell like a waterfall. A black veil concealed her face.
They were Ye Leng Leng and her mother, Ye Qingxian.
"Su Ze?"
The moment Su Ze stepped into the clinic, Ye Leng Leng, whose face was covered by a black veil, asked in confusion.
"Leng Leng, do you know this boy?"
Hearing her daughter's words, Ye Qingxian looked up at Su Ze.
"Mother, he's a student at Heaven Dou Royal Academy too."
"He defeated the strongest student in our academy, Yu Tianheng, just yesterday."
While Ye Qingxian and Ye Leng Leng were talking, Su Ze had already walked up to Ye Qingxian.
Looking at the beauty veiled in white, Su Ze got straight to the point.
"Ye Family Head, I know how to fix the defect in the Nine Hearts Begonia."
"I know how to resolve the defect in your Martial Soul!"
"Shall we talk?"
Before you continue