Dugu Bo's Worries

At fourteen years old, with a cultivation level of 32, she might still have lagged behind those top-tier geniuses.

But Dugu Yan was already quite satisfied, not realizing that her Innate Soul Power had only been seven and a half.

The fact that she could keep pace with Yu Tianheng, whose Innate Soul Power was higher, was all thanks to having a good grandfather.

As Dugu Yan continued to complete her trials, Lu Xian also noticed that Xiao Qing was gradually growing stronger.

When Xiao Qing had first been possessed, she had been a beast that didn't even qualify as a Soul Beast.

Now, Lu Xian could clearly feel the transformation in Xiao Qing's life level. At the very least, she could now take on the Soft Bone Rabbit one-on-one without a problem.

This also proved that all of Lu Xian's hypotheses had come true.

His Martial Soul could not only possess living beings, but the possessed beings could also grow stronger as they received rewards for fulfilling wishes.

He could even imagine Xiao Qing transforming into an Azure Dragon that blotted out the sky and covered the sun one day.

Next, he would use Xiao Qing's growth to judge whether he should possess another beast for his next Soul Ring.

If Xiao Qing's growth fell short of his expectations, he would begin the next stage of his experiments.

Once he reached Soul King, he would try possessing a century-year or even millennium-year Soul Beast.

He wanted to see whether beasts with higher innate talent would grow more dramatically.

After all, with his 3.5-core drive, reaching Soul King wouldn't take very long.

Half a year passed in the blink of an eye.

Tang San had already completed 29 trials, raising his Soul Power to level 29 at the age of ten.

Gangzi, who had completed 19 trials, had reached level 32.

Thousands of days' worth of cultivation rewards had only raised him by one level. Even Tang San couldn't help admiring his teacher's truly "inspiring" talent.

But the one who had changed the most over the past six months was Ma Hongjun, who had transformed into Master Wuwei.

After shedding all that blubber, the fatty's looks had changed beyond recognition.

He also often muttered, "Cliffs stand a thousand fathoms tall; a man without desire stands firm!"

His cultivation had also reached level 27, leaving Flender dumbfounded.

As for how he had gotten rid of all that fat, Ma Hongjun said, "Try eating only three meals a month, and you can lose weight too."

For eight trials in a row, the fatty's task had been to control his appetite. It would've been a miracle if he hadn't slimmed down.

The last tool, Dugu Yan, had successfully completed nine trials, bringing her cultivation to level 35.

During that time, she had completed a string of bizarre tasks, including putting snakes in her sleeping classmates' blankets, destroying every snake soup shop in Heaven Dou City, and crawling like a snake for three days straight.

No matter how careful Dugu Yan was, she had inevitably become a problem student in the eyes of everyone at the Royal Academy.

After keeping watch for half a year, Dugu Bo had finally noticed a few clues.

His granddaughter seemed to be carrying out some sort of instructions, and those strange stunts stemmed from them.

Every time she completed one, his granddaughter's cultivation seemed to improve.

It was a genuine improvement, with not the slightest damage to her foundation.

This delighted Dugu Bo, but also left him worried. He was happy because his granddaughter's cultivation was rising rapidly, but after half a year, he still hadn't discovered the person giving her those instructions.

Thanks to the efforts of his four Destined Workers, Lu Xian's cultivation had smoothly reached level 46.

Raising his cultivation by six levels in a little over half a year was a feat few could match.

His Soul Ring Configuration had also smoothly become two purples and two yellows.

The Third Soul Ring tied to the fatty had already reached an age of 900 years, not far from a millennium.

Only Dugu Yan had been taking trials for too short a time; her Fourth Soul Ring was still some way from reaching a millennium.

"Gangzi's talent is honestly a bit worrying. Otherwise, my cultivation should be higher."

"I shouldn't have picked him as my second worker just to get back at him."

Lu Xian was only lamenting. At this point, there was no changing what had happened.

"As for Dugu Yan, I should be able to give her some sort of reward related to solving her poison problem. The timing's perfect, since she's about to reach her tenth major trial."

After thinking it over, Lu Xian sent Dugu Yan her tenth trial directly through Xiao Qing's soul imprint.

"Snake God's Tenth Trial: don't sink into silence amid the poison; rise up amid the poison."

"Resent the poison, understand the poison, become the poison."

"Swallow twenty different kinds of poison in a row and survive."

"Time limit: one week."

"Friendly reminder: every ten trials make up one major trial."

In her dorm, Dugu Yan had still been fretting over her title of "Snake-Skin Girl." She sat bolt upright.

The trial's demands made her shudder.

"Take poison? That direct?"

For Dugu Yan, who had grown up cultivating all kinds of poisonous flowers and herbs, preparing twenty kinds of poison was no challenge.

The hard part was staying alive after taking them.

Dugu Yan wasn't sure she could manage that.

After turning it over in her mind, she decided to return to Sunset Town and discuss it with her grandfather.

With her grandfather there, even if she couldn't handle the poison in her body, he could save her.

After getting permission to take leave from her counselor again, Dugu Yan left campus and headed straight home.

Dugu Bo, watching from the shadows, saw her leave and hurried home ahead of her to wait for her return.

This time, he was going to get to the bottom of things, no matter what.

Otherwise, he would never feel at ease.

When Dugu Yan reached home, she kicked the courtyard gate open.

"Grandpa, I need to take poison!"

Dugu Bo had still been thinking about how to bring up his questions and nearly stumbled.

In the past, the girl's antics had been strange, but at least she had only been making trouble for other people.

Why was she no longer sparing herself now?

"Yan Yan, what are you talking about?"

"Grandpa, I really do need to take twenty kinds of poison. Do you think you can keep me alive?"

Dugu Yan let her head droop listlessly, clearly having expected her grandfather to react this way.

"No. I let you mess around at the academy without saying anything. As long as you didn't hurt yourself, I could turn a blind eye."

"But now you want to hurt yourself. I won't allow it!"

Dugu Yan stared back at her grandfather, who was glaring with his beard bristling, without the slightest fear.

"Oh, so you were following me, Grandpa."

"Tell me, how long have you been following me?"

Her question instantly deflated Dugu Bo's imposing manner. He awkwardly glanced away.

"Your grandfather was worried about you. I was afraid someone with ulterior motives might take advantage of you."

"By the way, why does your cultivation improve a little every time you do something bad?"

Dugu Yan knew, of course, that her grandfather was worried about her. After sighing, she told him everything about the Snake God.

Dugu Bo had always been cautious and didn't believe her. He stepped forward and held his granddaughter by the shoulders, examining her, but still couldn't find anything unusual.

Now even the old man had to believe that gods really existed.

Otherwise, how could he explain his granddaughter's sudden leaps in Soul Power?

"So this Snake God gives you trials from time to time."

"And once you complete all ninety-nine, you'll become the next Snake God?"

"That's right, Grandpa. By then, the hereditary poison troubling me will be resolved. Maybe I can even clear the poison in your body at the same time."

After pondering for a moment, Dugu Bo couldn't help asking, unable to bear the thought:

"Do you really have to take poison? Can't the trial be changed to something else?"

Dugu Yan calmly nodded.

"It can be changed, of course."

"Really? Then what are we waiting for? Hurry up and change it!"

Hearing that the trial could be changed, Dugu Bo's face lit up with joy. But when his granddaughter spoke, the smile on his old face instantly froze.