Heaven Dou City was not far from Sunset Forest.
Dugu Yan and her grandfather even had a home outside Sunset Forest.
It was in the small town on the forest's outskirts.
She hurried back to Sunset Town.
Dugu Yan pushed open the gate to her family's courtyard and shouted,
"Grandpa! Grandpa, are you home?"
At the commotion, an old man with white hair and beard, dressed head to toe in dark green, slowly emerged from the house and stepped into the courtyard.
"Yan Yan?"
"What brought you back?"
Dugu Yan had a whole pile of questions she wanted answered and wasn't in the mood to chat with her grandfather.
She got straight to the point.
"Grandpa, does our family's Jade Phosphor Snake Martial Soul carry a hereditary poison?"
"Does it erupt after it builds up for a certain length of time?"
"Hm?"
At his granddaughter's question, killing intent immediately surged in Dugu Bo's emerald-green eyes.
His first thought was that someone was trying to use his precious granddaughter against him.
"Yan Yan, who told you this?"
"Grandpa, don't worry about who told me. Just tell me—is it true?"
"And did Father die from this hereditary poison too?"
At the mention of his son, Dugu Bo's expression turned gloomy.
He let out a long sigh, then gave a bitter smile.
"Since you already know, I won't hide it from you."
"That's right. Your father died from our family's hereditary Jade Phosphor Snake poison."
"But don't worry, Yan Yan. Even if it costs me my life, I won't let you suffer the same fate."
After hearing his confirmation, Dugu Yan's shoulders trembled slightly.
She stumbled back a few steps, looking dazed as she murmured,
"So it's true. Our Dugu Family really can die from the hereditary poison of our own Martial Soul."
Dugu Bo couldn't bear to see his granddaughter's expression. He was just about to comfort her when she suddenly seemed to spring back to life.
Her eyes became more resolute than ever.
"Then the Snake God must be real too."
"No matter how difficult the trials are, I, Dugu Yan, am going to become the Snake God. No one can stop me."
Her fiery gaze gradually softened. When Dugu Yan looked up again, a faint smile had appeared at the corner of her mouth.
"Don't worry, Grandpa. I can get rid of this poison myself."
"What?"
"Hey, Yan Yan, don't do anything reckless. You could get yourself into trouble!"
"Oh, Grandpa, don't worry. I have my own way, and the chances of success are very high. I wouldn't risk my life for no reason."
Having gotten the answers she wanted, Dugu Yan stayed at home for a day, then headed straight back to the Royal Academy.
As for the Snake God, she didn't plan to tell her suspicious grandfather just yet.
If he forbade her from taking part, she might miss out on Godhood.
She could tell him once she confirmed that the Snake God's trials could really resolve the poison inside her and benefit her as well.
Dugu Yan was right about one thing: Dugu Bo was indeed a suspicious man.
As he watched his granddaughter leave, the tenderness vanished from his face.
Someone had been spreading rumors about his granddaughter behind her back.
He would make that person pay.
Several hours after Dugu Yan had left, Dugu Bo quietly slipped out of the courtyard and flew toward Heaven Dou City as well.
The round trip had already cost her two days. As Dugu Yan reviewed the God Trial information in her mind, she began psyching herself up.
"You can do this, Dugu Yan. It's only a dance."
"Whether your descendants can avoid the snake poison depends on you."
The next morning, after having breakfast with Ye Lingling, who had invited her, the two went to class together.
Their teacher was a powerful Soul King who was lecturing on the various types of Soul Masters.
At an advanced Soul Master academy, lessons on coordinated combat had become part of the curriculum.
Unlike usual, Dugu Yan felt as if she were sitting on pins and needles.
Just thinking about what she had to do next made her want to dig a hole and hide in it.
But the arrow was already on the string and had to be loosed. She had boasted about it to her grandfather and had no way out now.
Halfway through the lesson, Dugu Yan suddenly slammed a hand on her desk and stood up.
Her bizarre behavior immediately drew everyone's attention.
Even the Soul King teacher at the front stopped lecturing.
He looked at Dugu Yan, one of the class's top students, with confusion.
"Dugu, is something the matter?"
Dugu Yan didn't respond to the teacher. She ignored the puzzled stares of her classmates, too.
After taking a deep breath, her expression slowly turned alluring.
She began a Snake Dance, without any music.
The atmosphere in the classroom suddenly grew strange.
Some of the students who loved a spectacle even started whistling.
On a crooked tree outside the window, Dugu Bo's gray eyes bulged so wide he nearly fell out of the branches.
"What is Yan Yan doing?"
Dugu Bo had followed her here, but he hadn't yet found the person who'd been spreading rumors when he stumbled upon this bizarre scene.
His granddaughter had always been aloof around outsiders. He never would have imagined she'd dance in front of everyone.
Several excruciating minutes passed. After finishing her Snake Dance, Dugu Yan covered her flushed cheeks and looked at the teacher.
"Teacher, I'm not feeling well. I'd like to take the rest of the day off."
Without waiting for the bewildered Soul King teacher to respond, she ran straight out of the classroom.
[Wish Rank: F. Executor completion: 100%.] [Reward: 40 days of cultivation, and Soul Ring age increased by 20 years.]
Watching Dugu Yan's dance from start to finish through Xiao Qing's eyes, Lu Xian's grin stretched wider and wider.
That meant he had another Destined Worker.
He promptly handed out the reward, already looking forward to the days ahead with four cores—er, 3.5 cores—powering things along.
Meanwhile, Dugu Yan ran back to her room, jumped onto the bed, and pulled the covers over her head.
Her legs kicked wildly.
"How embarrassing! How embarrassing!"
A long time had passed, but Dugu Yan's cheeks were still burning.
Only when the familiar notification sounded in her mind again did she spring upright on the bed.
"The First Trial of the Ninety-Nine Trials of the Snake God, Snake Nature, is complete."
"Reward: 10 days of cultivation, and all Soul Rings increased in age by 3 years."
Feeling Soul Power surge through her limbs and torso, Dugu Yan was instantly delighted.
"So there are rewards for completing the trials! Looks like this Snake God is pretty considerate!"
"And it doesn't just increase my cultivation. It can even raise the age of my Soul Rings."
"Does that mean I could have a thousand-year First and Second Soul Ring in the future?"
After getting such tangible benefits, Dugu Yan's enthusiasm for the trials soared.
At first, she'd only done them to save her own life. Now she had another reason: getting stronger.
But before she could enjoy the feeling for long, the smile on Dugu Yan's face suddenly froze.
"The Second Trial of the Ninety-Nine Trials of the Snake God: Hunting!"
"As an excellent predator, a snake must have the ability to hunt."
"Kill twenty pets in the courtyard."
"Time limit: one week."
"What's going on? Why does the Snake God's trial have anything to do with other people's pets?"
"Discontent from the trial-taker detected. The requirement may be changed to killing twenty Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts."
"Would you like to change it?"
"No, no, no... I'll stick with the pets. Pets are great."
"I love killing pets!"
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