Flame Splitting Devouring Wave Ruler!

"Tianjiao? What's wrong? Why did you suddenly space out?"

Dugu Yan's voice pulled Yu Tianjiao out of his delight at receiving the mission rewards.

Yu Tianjiao collected himself, a brilliant smile spreading across his face.

"Nothing. I just suddenly figured out the final piece of my self-created soul skill."

A self-created soul skill?

At those words, both Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling let out soft gasps.

On the Douluo Continent, anyone capable of creating their own soul skill was unquestionably a genius among geniuses!

To think that not only had Yu Tianjiao avoided falling into despair over these past few years, he had even been tinkering with a self-created soul skill!

"Yes, but I've only worked out the concept. I haven't mastered it yet."

Yu Tianjiao spoke with a smile.

The so-called self-created soul skill was, of course, the Flame Splitting Devouring Wave Ruler rewarded by the system.

Whatever the system rewarded him with counted as his own creation anyway.

"Tianjiao, you're amazing!"

Ye Lingling praised him with a beaming smile.

"A self-created soul skill! Let me see it later, okay?"

Dugu Yan's face was also full of anticipation.

"No problem!"

Yu Tianjiao gave Dugu Yan a thumbs-up.

"Where should we go next?"

Satisfied with his agreement, Dugu Yan nodded before taking the initiative to ask.

"Wherever you two want to go, I'll come along."

Yu Tianjiao answered with a gentle smile.

Although Yu Tianjiao desperately wanted to pore over the Seven-Colored Poison Manual and see whether he could find a solution to the problem of Poison Douluo Dugu Bo and Dugu Yan being poisoned by their own martial souls, this really was not the time.

He could only force down his urge to study it immediately and patiently accompany his two girlfriends on a stroll around the academy.

Hearing Yu Tianjiao's gentle, doting words, Ye Lingling and Dugu Yan both felt as though their hearts had been filled with honey.

"Let's go to the back mountain!" Dugu Yan spoke first, her eyes sparkling. "It's quiet there, and the scenery is lovely. You can practice your soul skill there, Tianjiao, and we'll keep you company."

How could Ye Lingling fail to realize that Dugu Yan actually wanted somewhere the three of them could be alone? She tightened her hold on Yu Tianjiao's arm and smiled softly.

"Yanzi's right. I'm looking forward to your self-created soul skill too!"

Naturally, Yu Tianjiao had no objections. Half his attention was on the two beauties, while the other half remained on the three weighty scrolls in the system's storage space.

"All right, the back mountain it is."

Yu Tianjiao nodded, and the three headed toward the back mountain, the academy's most scenic area.

Along the way, they naturally drew plenty of envious, jealous, and shocked looks, along with all sorts of whispers.

"Look, look! Senior Yu really is together with Senior Dugu and Senior Ye!"

"Heavens, a beauty in each arm! He's winning at life!"

"Just look at Senior Dugu's eyes. Tsk, tsk, she practically wants to glue herself to Senior Yu..."

"Senior Ye is so gentle. Too bad she always wears a veil. I'm afraid Senior Yu Tianjiao is the only one who gets to see her beautiful face..."

"Boo-hoo, my goddesses! Yu Tianjiao, for stealing my wives, we cannot share the same sky!"

"Brother, calm down. You can't beat him..."

"Ah, no wonder he tops our Heaven Dou Royal Academy's 'This Scoundrel Must Be Executed List.' Senior Tianjiao really is the undisputed authority."

"Ha! If I remember right, that wasn't the list's original name. Apparently, Senior Tianjiao said this name would be better, and the senior girl managing it changed it overnight."

"Senior really does kill a man and then stab him through the heart!"

"Aaaah!!!"

Listening to the increasingly absurd chatter, Yu Tianjiao remained perfectly composed. He even felt a little like laughing.

Dugu Yan, however, blushed when she heard people saying she "practically wanted to glue herself to Yu Tianjiao." She could not help secretly glaring at the gossiping students, only to draw a burst of good-natured laughter.

Ye Lingling maintained her serene smile throughout, though she held Yu Tianjiao's arm even more intimately. The redness at the tips of her ears betrayed that her heart was far from calm either.

They reached a grassy slope on the back mountain with an expansive view. A breeze brushed their faces, carrying the fresh fragrance of plants and trees, truly refreshing the heart and lifting the spirits.

Dugu Yan pulled Yu Tianjiao down to sit on the grass, and Ye Lingling naturally nestled against his other side.

"Tianjiao, what exactly is that self-created soul skill you mentioned?" Unable to contain her curiosity, Dugu Yan blinked her large eyes and pressed him. "Is it for attacking or defending?"

Ye Lingling also cast him a curious look.

Looking at their expectant eyes, Yu Tianjiao smiled and said,

"My self-created soul skill is purely offensive. To suit my martial soul and physique, it also requires a heavy giant ruler as a weapon to unleash its full power."

Both girls looked somewhat surprised.

A giant ruler as a weapon?

That was hardly common on the Douluo Continent.

Generally speaking, apart from tool soul masters who used their martial souls as weapons, other soul masters on the Douluo Continent rarely used weapons.

Once their soul power level reached a certain point, most weapons simply could not withstand the soul skill attacks of high-ranking soul masters.

Soul masters with beast martial souls, for instance, were themselves the sharpest of weapons. They had no need for arms forged from ordinary iron.

Still, Yu Tianjiao was only at rank fourteen now. Fighting with weapons was not uncommon at his level.

With others beside him, Yu Tianjiao certainly could not take out the scroll and start reading it. He simply began consulting the instructions for the Flame Splitting Devouring Wave Ruler inside the system's storage space instead.

But anything produced by the system was guaranteed to be first-rate.

Yu Tianjiao merely selected the "Use" button on the system interface, and every piece of information about the Flame Splitting Devouring Wave Ruler appeared in his mind, as though he really had developed this soul skill through years of painstaking practice and deliberation.

The two girls beside him noticed nothing. They merely saw his eyelids lower slightly, as though he were thinking.

About two minutes later, Yu Tianjiao finished organizing the information in his mind and walked toward a huge boulder on the back mountain.

"I'll give it a try. Stand a little farther away, both of you, and be careful."

After reminding his two girlfriends, Yu Tianjiao held his right forearm across his body. As he activated Martial Soul Possession to strengthen himself, he began compressing the soul power within his body and gathering it in his right hand and forearm.

His purple soul power compressed to its limit, turning dark purple. Using his arm in place of a weapon, Yu Tianjiao slashed fiercely at the boulder.

"Flame Splitting Devouring Wave Ruler!"

With his sharp shout, a purple ruler-shaped arc of light shot from Yu Tianjiao's arm and slashed straight toward the boulder!

The arc arrived in an instant and struck the boulder.

Boom!

In the next instant, amid a tremendous explosion, the boulder burst apart. An invisible wave of air surged outward, sweeping over Yu Tianjiao before spreading toward Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling.

The two girls hurriedly used their soul power to resist the shock wave, but their gazes remained fixed on Yu Tianjiao's hair, which danced in the blast, and his robes, which snapped in the wind.

So handsome!

The same thought rose in both their hearts.

At that moment, Yu Tianjiao's right arm pointed diagonally toward the ground, his robes fluttering and his hair flying. With his magnificent bearing and a face as handsome as a god's, he was practically a walking arsonist setting young maidens' hearts ablaze!

"Ah, too bad my soul power is only rank fourteen. If it were rank forty, I'd dare to challenge Teacher Qin to a fight right now!"

Yu Tianjiao shook out his arm. Feeling the nearly exhausted soul power within his body, he sighed helplessly.

He was still far too weak!

"That's already incredible!" Dugu Yan praised him sincerely. "Tianjiao, you were quiet for three years because you were working on this move all along? Its power is really impressive. Even an ordinary two-ring Soul Grandmaster going all out could probably only match that strike. Your talent really is enviable!"

"Yes," Ye Lingling added softly. "This self-created soul skill is already very powerful. I'm sure that once you regain your former strength, you'll amaze everyone when you use it!"

His two girlfriends' praise and reassurance eased much of the urgency Yu Tianjiao felt over his inadequate strength.

He smiled, but his gaze drifted involuntarily toward Dugu Yan.

Seeing how healthy and lively she appeared, then thinking of the Seven-Colored Poison Manual, his heart sank slightly.

Dugu Yan's short, dark-purple hair and green eyes were not natural. They were caused by the deadly poison inherited from Poison Douluo's martial soul, the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor.

Dugu Yan was still young and had not cultivated for long. The poison of her Jade Phosphorous Serpent martial soul had yet to corrode her deeply, so she showed no obvious abnormalities.

But on the few occasions Yu Tianjiao had met Dugu Bo, he had noticed that on rainy days, the old man would press his hands against his ribs in a distinctly unnatural manner, with a faint dark haze lingering between his brows.

His lips were not the pale red of an ordinary person's, either, but a purplish black.

That old fellow probably won't last many more years...

Since the system is so capable, I might as well see whether the Seven-Colored Poison Manual can solve the problem of the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor's poisonous backlash!

This was not merely to cure Dugu Yan and Dugu Bo. It was also so he could reap a great haul of benefits from Dugu Bo's Yin-Yang Well.

With that thought, Yu Tianjiao stood where he was and closed his eyes slightly. Once again, he selected "Use" on the system panel, this time for the Seven-Colored Poison Manual. The next instant, a vast torrent of toxicological knowledge flooded his mind.

Profound information on identifying poisons, refining them, neutralizing them, countering poison with poison, combining poison with soul power, and the relationship between toxins and martial souls instantly branded itself into the depths of his consciousness.

He felt as though he had immersed himself in this field for decades, his understanding of "poison" reaching an unprecedented height.

Wait, that can't be right.

Yu Tianjiao caught on.

Did the original Seven-Colored Poison Manual contain this much material?

It looks like the system automatically adapted all its rewards to the Douluo Continent.

That's good news.

When he opened his eyes again, his gaze instinctively settled on Dugu Yan, who was nestled against his side.

This time, he saw more than the girl's loveliness and vitality.

The knowledge granted by the Seven-Colored Poison Manual allowed him to keenly detect an almost imperceptible dryness at the edges of Dugu Yan's dark-purple hair, as well as an exceedingly faint murkiness shifting deep within her emerald eyes, nearly blending into their vibrant green.

Even her breathing seemed to carry an extremely faint, sweetly rank scent that ordinary people could not detect. It was a sign of Jade Phosphorous Serpent poison slowly accumulating within her body and intertwining with her life force.

Although it was currently extremely slight, far from the point of flaring up and affecting her body, it was like a buried seed. As her soul power increased and she grew older, it would eventually take root and sprout, consuming her vitality.

He understood the cause almost immediately.

The poisonous backlash of the Jade Phosphorous Serpent martial soul was not simple poisoning. Rather, it was an imbalance and corrosion arising during the coexistence of the martial soul origin and the life origin.

The dark haze between Dugu Bo's brows, his habit of pressing his ribs, and his purplish-black lips were precisely the late-stage symptoms of poison penetrating his marrow and corroding his internal organs.

"Tianjiao?"

Dugu Yan saw him staring intently at her. His gaze was unlike either the excitement he had shown while using his soul skill or the quiet he had shown while thinking. It carried a gravity and tenderness she could not understand.

She could not help calling softly to him, a trace of confusion appearing on her pretty face.

"What's wrong? Did using that soul skill tire you out?"

Concerned, she reached out to feel his forehead.

Ye Lingling also noticed the change in Yu Tianjiao's expression and asked softly,

"Did you use too much soul power? My Nine Heart Begonia can help you recover a little."

Yu Tianjiao instantly returned to his senses. Now that he knew how to address Dugu Yan's problem, there was no need to conceal anything.

"Yanzi, what has your grandfather been doing lately?"

Yu Tianjiao asked with a smile.

"My grandfather?" Dugu Yan thought for a moment. "Probably nothing much. I expect he's tending his flowers and plants in the Sunset Forest again. I was planning to go visit him in a couple of days. Do you need him for something, Tianjiao?"

Beside them, Ye Lingling also looked curiously at Yu Tianjiao.

"I previously obtained the poison cultivation inheritance of an ancient Titled Douluo who once subdued an entire era single-handedly. After studying it these past few years, I've gained a little insight. I suspect there's a problem with your grandfather's martial soul that's affecting his body. The Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor's poison may have already corroded his internal organs."

Yu Tianjiao spoke with a solemn expression.

"You're saying my grandfather's been poisoned? Tianjiao, you're not joking, are you?"

Dugu Yan's expression changed at his words. But she knew Yu Tianjiao well; he would never joke with her about something like this. She simply did not want to believe that her grandfather had been poisoned by his own martial soul.

"Not just him. You also show mild signs of poisoning. Your eye and hair colors are both the result of Jade Phosphorous Serpent poison. If it's convenient, I'd like to see your grandfather and examine his condition carefully."

Yu Tianjiao shook his head, took Dugu Yan's hand, and looked into her eyes. His tone was utterly straightforward, even leaving little room for argument.

"All right. There's no time to lose. Let's go to the Sunset Forest now."

Dugu Yan spoke immediately, without the slightest hesitation.

"Lingling, come with us too."

Then Dugu Yan turned toward Ye Lingling beside them.

"Wouldn't it be inappropriate for me to go?"

Ye Lingling sounded hesitant.

"Not at all. You're my closest sister. Grandfather treats me very well, and he'll treat you just as well."

Dugu Yan spoke earnestly.

"All right, then I'll come with you."

Ye Lingling nodded.