Poison Wounds

Dan-Devour entered his body like gangrene clinging to the bone, madly corroding the Title Douluo's life essence and the resilient defenses formed by the Sea God's inheritance purification power. Every circulation of Soul Power, every activation of his domain, came with soul-gnawing agony and rapid loss of vitality. His prized "Boundless Vast Sea" domain, capable of suppressing an entire sea region, now flickered unsteadily, on the verge of collapse. Its suppressive effect on Jingtian had long since been reduced to less than a tenth.

Yet a Title Douluo was still a Title Douluo. Even with his strength reduced by more than forty percent due to Dan-Devour, even with his domain unstable and his Soul Power sluggish, his foundation, combat experience, and command of the laws of water remained far beyond that of an ordinary Soul Douluo.

"Boundless Vast Sea—Tidebirth Slash!"

Enduring the agony of his devoured essence and his weakness, the Title Douluo's eyes flashed with ferocity. The slightly dim phantom of a seawater trident in his hand shot upward, then crashed down! No longer was it the condensed single-target attack from before. Instead, it transformed into an overwhelming tide of deep-blue trident shadows containing the force of tidal birth and death, blanketing the charging Jingtian! Every trident shadow carried his weakened domain power and his understanding of water's cutting laws. Though their power fell short of its peak, they covered a vast area and carried terrifying momentum, intending to force Jingtian back and give him time to regroup.

Jingtian's eight tentacles whipped through the water like the wind, Poison Erosion clinging to them as they clashed fiercely with the trident shadows, producing a barrage of metallic explosions. Dark-purple poisonous blood and shattered blue-gold motes scattered in every direction. Though he barely withstood this wide-area attack through Dan-Devour's interference and his ruthless willingness to trade wounds for wounds, several bone-deep gashes had been added to his body. In particular, two tentacles had been struck by the aftershocks of the trident shadows and were nearly severed at their roots, held together only by tough muscle and mucus.

I can't keep fighting him head-on! Warning bells blared in Jingtian's mind. Dan-Devour was powerful, but eroding an existence on the level of a Title Douluo required time. His opponent was clearly fighting desperately as well, trying to kill or cripple him before he was completely corroded. If this battle continued, even if Jingtian eventually wore him down, it would be a disastrous victory. They might even perish together. At the edge of Guixu's core, where danger lurked everywhere, being grievously wounded and near death was no different from suicide.

More importantly, his goal in this battle had already been achieved—he had proven that Dan-Devour worked against a Title Douluo and had successfully inflicted severe injuries on him. Now, it was time to retreat.

"Roar—!"

Jingtian unleashed a soundless roar infused with Soul Power, not as an attack, but as intimidation and interference! At the same time, he detonated his two most severely injured tentacles of his own accord! The tentacle remains, containing massive amounts of poison and Soul Power, exploded before the Title Douluo like two terrifying venom bombs!

Dark-purple toxic mist mixed with violent Soul Power currents instantly flooded the sea between them, severely disrupting even perception. The mist contained Jingtian's strongest corrosive, neural, and confusion toxins. Even the Title Douluo, with his strength greatly diminished and part of his attention devoted to suppressing the Dan-Devour within his body, had no choice but to avoid its edge. He swung his trident, stirring up currents to disperse the poisonous mist.

Using the brief chaos and barrier created by his self-destructed tentacles, Jingtian drove his remaining six tentacles into the edge of Guixu's core behind him, where the fierce battle had turned it into a boiling mass filled with violent energy currents and destructive energy storms! Risking being further torn apart by the raging energy, he used his remaining Soul Power to protect his body and Poison Erosion to clear the way. His enormous body burst forth with all its remaining strength. Rather than continue fighting the Title Douluo, he shot like an arrow toward the deeper reaches of Guixu, into the absolute darkness and chaotic energy field where even perception was warped and swallowed!

He did not choose the seemingly "safe route" back toward the outskirts, because the Title Douluo might anticipate and intercept him there. He chose the apparent "dead end"—charging into Guixu's most violent and unpredictable depths! He was betting that, with Dan-Devour in his body, his strength heavily damaged, and the depths of Guixu equally feared by him, the other man would not dare—or would not find it worthwhile—to risk his life in pursuit!

"Trying to run?! Stay!" The Title Douluo was both shocked and enraged. He had not expected this Poison Beast to be so decisive and ruthless, actually detonating his own limbs and choosing to flee deeper into Guixu! He forcibly raised his Soul Power and thrust out his trident. A concentrated blue beam shot into the churning poisonous mist and energy currents, yet it only sliced off several falling tentacle fragments streaked with poisonous blood. Jingtian's figure had already completely vanished into the depths of the Guixu energy storm, where even his perception was severely disrupted and his heart faintly trembled with dread.

"Pfft!" The Title Douluo swayed, coughing up a mouthful of pale golden blood. His face was as white as paper. Repeatedly activating his Soul Power had worsened Dan-Devour's corrosion within him. He stared fixedly at the energy storm into which Jingtian had disappeared, his eyes filled with unwillingness, fury, and a trace of... indescribable wariness and fear.

Charging in there... even at his peak, he would have to proceed with utmost caution. The slightest carelessness could see him torn apart by the violent energy or swept into some unknown danger. This Poison Beast was not only bizarrely powerful, but also utterly decisive and ruthless—ruthless toward his enemies, and even more ruthless toward himself! And had his final choice to rush into that death trap been suicidal, or... did he have some other support or means of escape?

I must return to Sea God Island immediately! The Title Douluo suppressed his surging blood and agonizing pain, quickly took out a pearl radiating a gentle blue glow, and swallowed it. It temporarily stabilized his injuries and suppressed Dan-Devour. He dared not remain here any longer. His condition was terrible, and the depths of Guixu were fraught with danger. After taking one deep look in the direction Jingtian had vanished, he turned into a streak of light and sped back the way he had come, far slower than before and carrying a hint of panic.

He needed to return as quickly as possible and seek out those on the island skilled in healing and purification, perhaps even god-level beings, to see whether they could remove this strange Dan-Devour poison. At the same time, he had to immediately report the details of today's battle—especially the terrifying intelligence that this Poison Beast's Dan-Devour could harm a Title Douluo, and that he possessed the extreme decisiveness to dare charge into a hopeless situation!

The depths of Guixu returned to "eternal silence." Only the lingering poison and Sea God's Power slowly dissipated amid the violent currents, telling the tale of the brief yet heart-stopping fight for life and death.

The instant Jingtian charged into Guixu's energy storm, he felt as though he had fallen into a meat grinder.

Violent, chaotic, destruction-filled energy currents tore and sliced at his body from all directions like countless warhammers and blades. His Soul Power shield shattered like paper. His tough skin and muscles were easily ripped apart, and the dark-purple poisonous blood that flowed out was immediately annihilated by the energy currents. His two already badly injured tentacles were completely shredded the instant he entered!

Pain! Indescribable pain swept through his entire body!

But he did not stop, and he could not stop! Stopping meant death! Relying on his tenacious will to survive and a faint instinctive awareness of energy flow, he struggled through the destructive storm, searching for relatively "weak" or "stable" gaps in the energy. He drove Poison Erosion to its limit, not to attack, but to "contaminate" and neutralize a small portion of the violent energy approaching his body, buying himself the slightest room to breathe and advance.

He did not know how long he struggled in that storm of death. Perhaps it had only been a few breaths, yet it felt like centuries. Under the agony and energy impacts, his consciousness gradually blurred, leaving only a single thought—break through! Survive!

At last, amid the seemingly endless darkness and chaos ahead, a faint, utterly different energy fluctuation appeared—not Guixu's destructive energy, but a relatively "calm" current carrying the chill and pressure unique to the Deep Sea.

An exit! Or rather, the edge of this energy storm!

Jingtian gathered the last of his strength and hurled himself toward that faint fluctuation!

"Pfft!"

It was as if he had pierced a viscous barrier. The suffocating sensation of energy tearing at him suddenly eased. Jingtian's enormous body, like a wrecked ship thrown by giant waves, tumbled out of the deadly energy storm and crashed heavily into a stretch of cold, dark, yet relatively calm Deep Sea water beyond it.

The familiar pressure of the Deep Sea pressed down on him, but there were none of Guixu's violent energy currents. Struggling to spread his feeble perception, he barely confirmed it—he had successfully broken out of Guixu's most violent energy field and entered a relatively "calm," yet equally lifeless, unknown region deeper within Guixu.

This was still part of Guixu, but its energy was comparatively stable, only extremely thin and filled with inertia. Within the range of his perception, there was no sign of life—not even a Guixu creature. There was only endless darkness and cold.

For now... he was safe, but he had also fallen into a desperate situation. He had charged too deep. This might be Guixu's true hinterland, far from every known sea region.

Forcing his nearly shattered body onward, with only four mangled tentacles remaining and wounds so deep that bone showed everywhere, Jingtian barely found a hollow in a rock wall and "stuffed" himself into it. He immediately entered the deepest state of Tortoise-Breath Feigned Death. The Water-Condensing Pearl's energy was nearly exhausted and could provide only the faintest nourishment. At the wounds where his tentacles had been severed, flesh buds wriggled with extreme slowness, and his life aura had weakened to the utmost limit.

His cultivation had plummeted to around fifty-five thousand years. Four tentacles remained—two severed and two crippled. His body was on the verge of collapse, his Soul Power and Poison Source completely depleted, and Dan-Devour's origin damaged, temporarily unable to condense. His injuries were so severe that he stood at death's edge.

But he was still alive. And he had successfully snatched back his life from the double pursuit of a Title Douluo and Guixu's deadly depths.

I must... recover quickly... even a trace of strength... Even in the final moment before his consciousness sank, Jingtian's thought remained clear. Then... find a way out... return to the Western Silent Sea Abyss... the Soul Bone...

The Deep Sea was deathly silent, and the rock wall was cold.

The dying Poison Beast, like the faintest Core Flame, struggled to maintain the last trace of life and obsession amid absolute darkness and bitter cold.

Western Silent Sea Abyss, ancient Soul Bone...

That was his only, and final... hope.