"What?!
A domain?!"
Dugu Bo cried out in shock, his eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets.
Domain skills were incredibly rare!
Usually, only Titled Douluo or peerless geniuses with an Innate Domain could possess one.
Yan Yan was only at her fourth ring, yet she already had a domain?!
"Fourth Soul Skill, second ability!"
Dugu Yan spread her arms. Her crimson fourth Soul Ring shone brightly once more, even more dazzlingly than before!
"Poison Dragon Domain!"
Humm—!
Centered on Dugu Yan,
a pale purple-gold barrier instantly spread outward, covering a hundred-meter radius in the blink of an eye.
Within the domain, the air seemed to grow thick, suffused with a faint purple-gold mist.
Dugu Bo, standing inside the domain, instantly changed expression.
To his horror, he discovered that the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor Poison in his body was being greatly suppressed!
His Soul Power, which had previously circulated freely, now moved sluggishly, as if he were trapped in a mire.
His strength had been forcibly reduced by thirty percent!
"This... is this attribute suppression?!"
Dugu Bo was horrified.
He was a level 91 Titled Douluo!
And Yan Yan was only a level 49 Soul Ancestor!
A domain released by a Soul Ancestor could actually weaken a Titled Douluo by thirty percent?
Against an opponent of the same rank, wouldn't that turn them into a lamb waiting to be slaughtered?
"Grandpa, within this domain, all my attributes increase by fifty percent."
"Also, all enemy units inside the domain will be affected by 'Poison Dragon Deterrence.' All poison-based abilities will be rendered ineffective, and they'll continuously suffer the corrosive effects of Ultimate Poison."
Feeling the tremendous boost the domain gave her, Dugu Yan's eyes brimmed with delight.
"Good!
That's wonderful!"
Dugu Bo was so overcome with emotion that tears streamed down his face. He threw back his head and laughed:
"Hahahaha!
The heavens favor the Dugu Family!"
"With attacks from Ultimate Poison and this peerless, overbearing Poison Dragon Domain!"
"Yan Yan, with this fourth Soul Ring, you can hold your own against Soul Kings, and even early-stage Soul Emperors!"
"That Poison Dragon has practically given us a heaven-defying gift!"
Just as Dugu Bo was still reveling in the joy of having struck it unbelievably lucky, his laughter echoing around the empty crater,
a sudden voice, tinged with laziness and amusement, shattered the peaceful moment.
"Old Poison Freak, are you done laughing yet?"
"Who?!"
Dugu Bo's grin, which had stretched from ear to ear, froze instantly. Every hair on his body stood on end.
His instincts as a Titled Douluo kicked in at once. He pulled Dugu Yan behind him, his emerald snake eyes warily sweeping the surroundings as he released his full spiritual power without reservation.
"Who's playing tricks? Get out here!"
Anyone capable of approaching him without his noticing was no doubt powerful!
Yet apart from the howling wind and the lingering smell of sulfur, there was no one around.
"Stop looking. Where are you even looking?"
The voice rang out again, and this time Dugu Bo heard it clearly.
That voice... had come from behind him!
Dugu Bo whipped around, his pupils contracting sharply.
The Dugu Yan who had been standing obediently behind him had undergone a complete transformation.
Her lively eyes had turned entirely purple-gold, their slit pupils radiating an air of age and disdain.
Dugu Yan's lips curled upward in a wicked smile Dugu Bo had never seen before.
The "Dugu Yan" before him stood with her arms crossed, head tilted, watching him with a half-smile:
"What's wrong? You just took my Soul Ring and Soul Bone, and now you're pretending you don't know me?"
"You... you're that Poison Dragon?!"
A chill shot from the soles of Dugu Bo's feet straight to his crown. His voice turned shrill:
"You're not dead?!
How is that possible?!
Your soul should have dissipated after your sacrifice!"
Dugu Bo instinctively tried to summon his Soul Power.
But he was afraid of hurting Dugu Yan's body, so he held back.
His hands froze in midair, his expression turning hideous.
"Yan Yan!
What have you done to Yan Yan?!"
"Old man, don't be so nervous."
"Dugu Yan"—or rather, Yu Nan, who now controlled her body—waved a hand nonchalantly.
He even rolled his neck, making it crack.
"If I wanted to hurt her, couldn't I have possessed her during the sacrifice?
Why go to all the trouble of rebuilding her meridians and giving her a Soul Bone?"
"This is called a 'Wisdom Soul Ring.' Get it?"
Speaking through Dugu Yan's mouth, Yu Nan solemnly made up a concept that had yet to appear on the Douluo Continent:
"My body is gone, but my soul remains inside the Soul Ring."
"Put simply, I'm your granddaughter's cheat, her personal old-timer...
No, wait. Her personal dragon bro."
Hearing this, Dugu Bo's taut nerves eased slightly, though the wariness in his eyes remained:
"A Wisdom Soul Ring?
I've never heard of such a thing!
What are you doing controlling Yan Yan's body?"
"Obviously, I wanted to talk to you."
Yu Nan's teasing expression faded. A glint flashed through his purple-gold slit pupils, and his tone turned serious and enticing:
"Dugu Bo, your poison cultivation is powerful.
But whenever the weather turns damp and rainy, you feel an itch around your ribs, and it gradually grows worse.
It flares up once at noon and once at midnight. With your current cultivation, you can probably suppress it, but it can't be pleasant, can it?"
Dugu Bo's expression changed dramatically. This was his greatest secret, one no one but himself knew!
"How do you know?!"
Yu Nan ignored his shock. It wasn't as if he could say he'd read the original novel, could he?
Besides, before surviving the 200,000-year tribulation and evolving into a Poison Dragon, he himself had been a Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor.
He knew every last detail of Dugu Bo's symptoms.
Yu Nan paused, then dropped another bombshell:
"Not only that, every night, your head and the soles of your feet feel as though they're being pricked by needles.
Your entire body convulses for at least half an hour. The pain is unbearable."
"Most importantly..."
Yu Nan controlled Dugu Yan's hand and lightly tapped the chest of her body, his voice low:
"You know better than anyone how your son died."
"You don't want your only granddaughter to follow in her father's footsteps at such a young age, only to be killed by the backlash of her Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison, do you?"
Those words stabbed like a blade into the softest, most painful place in Dugu Bo's heart.
The fierce aura around him crumpled at once, and he seemed to age ten years.
Dugu Bo stared at his granddaughter, possessed before his eyes, his expression impossibly complex. His voice trembled:
"You... can you do something about it?"
"Obviously. Why else would I sacrifice myself to her? Because she's pretty?"
Yu Nan rolled his eyes.
The gesture looked rather cute coming from Dugu Yan's beautiful eyes.
"Since I'm the Ancestor of All Poisons, this little bit of poison is nothing more than seasoning to me."
Before you continue