"Grandpa, I can change the trial. Do you remember when I used to sneak around stealing other people's pets to hunt them?"
"Of course. I remember. I was puzzled by it for a while back then."
"Right. At the time, I asked whether I could switch to a different trial."
"The Spirit of the Snake God said I could. The replacement was to hunt twenty Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts."
"Uh..."
Dugu Bo froze in place. When the implications sank in, his eyes went wide.
"Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts?"
"That's right. I'm guessing changing the trial this time will be much like last time. Grandpa, are you sure you still want me to change it?"
"Cough... cough..."
"Yan Yan, let's talk about which poisons you should drink first."
Dugu Yan shot her grandfather a disdainful glance, then began pulling all sorts of bottles and jars out of her Soul Tool.
"Let's see if I have enough poison."
"I've got Leg-Stretching Eye-Rolling Pill, Smiling Half-Step Stagger, Seven-Day Life-Ending Powder, I Love A Stick of Firewood..."
As his granddaughter cheerfully listed her precious collection, Dugu Bo quietly stepped over and picked up the stick of firewood, then tossed it toward the Back Mountain.
There was no way he was letting his granddaughter take that stuff.
In the end, Dugu Yan had laid out everything she owned, but she was still short a few kinds. Dugu Bo promptly filled in the gaps.
"Grandpa's got Three-Corpse Brain-Spirit Pill, Leopard Fetus Tendon-Changing Pill, and—obscene... No, not that one. Throw it out!"
Looking at the twenty poisons neatly arranged on the stone table in the courtyard, Dugu Yan swallowed discreetly.
"Grandpa... I'll be okay, right?"
"Mm. With me here, you'll be fine."
Reassured by her grandfather, Dugu Yan let out a breath.
A trace of grim resolve flashed in her eyes. She broke the seals on all the bottles at once and swallowed all twenty poisons one after another.
She was so quick that Dugu Bo was left staring.
"Uh, Yan Yan, shouldn't we take them one at a time? I can't guarantee anything if you take them all at once!"
Dugu Yan had just swallowed the poisons. Clutching her throat, her face had turned a deep purplish red, and her horrified eyes seemed to be asking why the old man hadn't said so sooner.
Thankfully, the faint smile at the corner of Dugu Bo's mouth gave him away.
Dugu Yan cursed him under her breath for being shameless in his old age, then quickly sat cross-legged and began doing her utmost to resist the effects of the twenty poisons.
As the poisons spread through her body, her face turned as colorful as a rainbow, shifting between ruddy red and mottled blue-purple.
Seeing this, Dugu Bo opened his mouth and spat out the Poison Core he had condensed inside his body, placing it beside Dugu Yan.
As the Poison Core released a cloud of dark green miasma, Dugu Yan's face took on the same color.
Dugu Bo's Poison Core had an extremely powerful ability to absorb and devour. As long as the other poisons weren't stronger than the toxins in the core, it could slowly assimilate them.
His Poison Core had also been refined from Jade Phosphor Snake venom, and Dugu Yan possessed the same Jade Phosphor Snake Martial Soul. By nature, she was highly resistant to that particular poison.
That was why Dugu Bo dared to let his granddaughter swallow so many poisons at once.
Time trickled by, and Dugu Yan's expression gradually eased.
Only then did Dugu Bo quietly let out a sigh of relief.
[Wish Level: E. Executor: Dugu Yan. Completion: 100%.]
[Reward: 300 days of cultivation; Soul Ring age increased by 100 years.]
[Reward: Spirit Snake Sense, Poison Gland.]
At a hotel in Heaven Dou City, Lu Xian received the notification that Dugu Yan had completed the major trial.
He eagerly examined the rewards.
He set aside the cultivation and Soul Ring age for now. Spirit Snake Sense was what caught his attention.
Snakes had an exceptionally keen sense of smell and ability to detect heat.
When Lu Xian accepted and activated Spirit Snake Sense, the goods within nearly a hundred meters of the hotel appeared in his vision as thermal images.
In other words, he could tell exactly where anyone was within a hundred meters.
It was an extremely useful ability for him.
Suppose he were at Notting Academy right now. His spiritual power still wasn't strong enough to sense Tang Hao's presence.
But with Spirit Snake Sense, if Tang Hao appeared anywhere within the academy, Lu Xian would be able to spot him through his heat signature.
The other reward, the Poison Gland, was easy to understand: it was the organ snakes used to store venom.
After all, venomous snakes couldn't poison themselves.
That was because they had poison glands. The Dugu Family used poison through Martial Soul Possession, but since they lacked poison glands, the Jade Phosphor Snake venom gradually ate away at their bodies.
For Lu Xian, who had Immunity to All Poisons, the Poison Gland was practically useless. But for Dugu Yan, that was another matter.
It was no exaggeration to call it a lifesaving ability.
"Forget it. I won't skim this Poison Gland off the top. It's no use to me anyway."
"Better to keep the working girl alive."
They split the rewards in half. After deducting most of them, Lu Xian sent Dugu Yan her share.
Deep in Sunset Forest, Dugu Yan was slowly clearing the poison from her body when the notification that she had completed the trial suddenly rang in her mind. She nearly sprang to her feet.
"Snake God's Tenth Trial: Fall silent amid the poison, or erupt amid the poison—completed."
"Reward: 100 days of cultivation; all Soul Ring ages increased by 15 years."
"Reward: Poison Gland!"
As someone who knew snakes inside out, Dugu Yan knew exactly what a Poison Gland was. With one, she wouldn't have to rely entirely on her Martial Soul to release poison anymore.
That meant the toxin problem that had plagued the Dugu Family for generations had finally been solved.
Still sitting cross-legged with her eyes closed, Dugu Yan even shed tears of excitement.
But to Dugu Bo, who was watching from outside, the sight was terrifying. He thought his granddaughter was crying because she couldn't bear the agony of the poison.
"Yan Yan, what's wrong?"
Only after clearing all the poison from her body did Dugu Yan stand and wipe away her tears.
"It's nothing, Grandpa. The poison in my body has been dealt with."
"What?"
"Quick, tell Grandpa how you managed it."
Dugu Yan explained what the Poison Gland did, then held out her finger.
A snake's poison glands were usually located on either side of its head, but Dugu Yan's were in her fingers, making them more convenient to use.
"Jade Phosphor Snake venom."
As venom danced around his fingertip, Dugu Bo's jaw dropped.
Dugu Yan hadn't even used Martial Soul Possession.
That meant there would be no risk of poison accumulating in his granddaughter's body from now on.
"Wonderful... wonderful!"
"As expected of Lord Snake God. One trial alone has solved the inherited poison problem that plagued my Dugu Family."
Once his excitement passed, Dugu Bo slowly composed himself. He placed his hands on Dugu Yan's shoulders and said:
"Yan Yan, since you've been given such an opportunity, you have to seize it."
"The glory of our Dugu Family rests on you."
"I will, Grandpa!"
Neither grandparent nor granddaughter had any doubts about the Snake God anymore. They would focus on completing the trials; nothing else mattered.
"Snake God's Eleventh Trial: Snake-Skin Movement."
"As a successor to the Snake God, your footwork must be exquisite."
"Return to the academy using the way a snake moves."
"Time limit: one week."
Dugu Yan's excitement vanished, and her expression stiffened.
She slowly looked up at Dugu Bo.
"Grandpa, can we just quit? The poison problem's already been solved anyway."
Before you continue