Dugu Yan's body trembled.
The Holy Son of Spirit Hall!
"Do you know that my grandfather and Spirit Hall are enemies?" she blurted out.
Dugu Yan didn't know how the enmity between her grandfather and Spirit Hall had begun. She only knew that Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo had once struck her grandfather with serious injuries, and then Prince Xue Xing had rescued him. That was how her grandfather had become a guest elder for Dugu Bo.
"I know."
Qin Yao answered without hesitation.
"But so what?"
He stepped forward and studied Dugu Yan.
"If I told you I could completely cure your snake poison, what do you think your grandfather would do?"
Qin Yao smiled confidently.
He wasn't particularly interested in killing Dugu Bo.
A Titled Douluo who controlled large-scale poison would be far more useful on future battlefields than an ordinary Power Attack System Titled Douluo.
Spirit Hall would surely unite the continent in the future. Someone like him had to be brought into Spirit Hall's fold.
Dugu Yan fell completely silent.
That was true. Given how much her grandfather treasured her, what did that little grudge matter?
"You really have a way?" she asked uncertainly.
"I never joke."
Qin Yao held out a hand. "Now, can you take me to see your grandfather?"
Dugu Yan hesitated for a long time. In the end, she nodded as if resigned to her fate.
She raised a hand and pointed toward a spot deep in the forest.
"My grandfather should be in that valley."
Qin Yao looked in the direction she indicated. The outline of a ring of mountains was faintly visible in the distance.
That was where the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well was located.
"Good." Qin Yao nodded in satisfaction.
The next moment, before Dugu Yan could react, he stepped forward again and swept her into his arms.
"What are you doing?"
Dugu Yan cried out in surprise, instinctively wrapping her arms around his neck.
"You're too slow."
With that, Qin Yao beat his bone wings behind him and soared into the sky, carrying her in his arms as he streaked toward the valley in a flash of purple light.
The wind roared past Dugu Yan's ears. Held tightly in his arms, she could clearly feel the warmth of his chest and the steady, powerful beat of his heart.
Her cheeks grew burning hot, whether from flying so fast or for some other reason.
They soon reached the outskirts of the valley.
Clouds of poison in every color rose from below, forming a natural barrier.
"This is the poison formation my grandfather set up!" Dugu Yan reminded him quietly.
"Don't worry."
Purple fire appeared around Qin Yao, forming a shield that enclosed them both.
Without slowing down at all, he plunged straight into the poison formation, which was potent enough to kill a Soul Douluo!
The wind whipped past her ears. Dugu Yan instinctively buried her face against Qin Yao's chest. His chest was almost unnaturally solid, and the steady, powerful beat of his heart calmed her scattered thoughts a little.
Soon, the sensation of weightlessness vanished.
Qin Yao landed steadily, then gently set down the soft, fragrant body in his arms.
Dugu Yan steadied herself and finally had a chance to look at her surroundings.
The valley floor wasn't large, but it held a world of its own.
A strange hot spring filled the center of the valley. Its waters were sharply divided, half crimson and half icy white. Mist rose and intertwined above them, making the whole valley look like an immortal paradise.
Beside the spring, a thin, tall, green-haired elder sat cross-legged.
The instant he sensed someone had intruded, his emerald eyes flew open!
His gaze, sharp as two swords, locked onto Qin Yao and Dugu Yan.
When he saw his most beloved granddaughter being lowered from a strange man's arms, her cheeks flushed an unnatural red, a towering fury surged through Dugu Bo!
"Yanyan!"
Dugu Bo's figure flashed. The next instant, he appeared in front of Dugu Yan and shielded her behind him.
His cold, serpentine eyes bore into Qin Yao as he unleashed the full pressure of a ninety-first-level Titled Douluo. The air throughout the valley turned thick and heavy.
"Who are you? You dared touch my granddaughter—you're asking to die!"
Faced with pressure that could make an ordinary Soul Master quake with fear, Qin Yao stood calmly in place and spoke unhurriedly:
"I am Qin Yao, the Holy Son of Spirit Hall!"
"Spirit Hall?"
Dugu Bo's expression darkened further as old and new grudges surged in his heart.
"Good! Spirit Hall, is it? First those two bastards, Chrysanthemum and Ghost, ambushed me, and now you send some damned Holy Son after me! Do you really think I'm made of clay?"
Before he had finished speaking, the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor Martial Soul had possessed him. Nine Soul Rings rose beneath his feet as terrifying poison began to spread.
"Grandfather! Wait!"
Dugu Yan hurriedly grabbed Dugu Bo's arm from behind.
"He... he didn't come here to cause trouble!"
"He didn't come to cause trouble?" Dugu Bo was so furious that his beard bristled. "He carried you here in his arms, and you're saying he didn't come to cause trouble?"
Dugu Yan's face turned scarlet in an instant. She stamped her foot in a fluster.
"Oh, it's not what you think! He... he said he can cure the poison in both of us!"
Dugu Bo's movements abruptly stopped.
The pressure and poison he had released halted as well.
He slowly turned around, his emerald eyes fixed on Qin Yao. Each word seemed to grind out between his teeth.
"You... how did you find out about this?"
This was the deepest pain in his heart, a weakness he would never allow an outsider to learn about!
Seeing his shocked and furious expression, Qin Yao's face curved into an amused smile.
"Isn't it obvious?"
"Look at yourself. Aren't those the symptoms of poison that's seeped into your bones?"
Then Qin Yao changed tack.
"If I didn't think you might be useful to me, I wouldn't waste so much breath on you."
"After all, Spirit Hall isn't exactly short of Titled Douluo who are only at level ninety-one and won't live much longer."
"You!"
Dugu Bo trembled with rage, and his Soul Power surged again, but he couldn't find a single word to refute him.
Because the boy was telling the truth!
Dugu Bo knew better than anyone how powerful Spirit Hall was. It wouldn't care about one level-ninety-one Titled Douluo. It might not even care if there were two more.
"Qin Yao! You..."
Dugu Yan couldn't stand by any longer. She stepped forward to defend her grandfather.
"Yanyan!" Dugu Bo stopped her.
He took a deep breath and forced down the churning blood in his chest. After all these years, he was no longer an impulsive young fool.
This boy was young, yet already possessed such strength and cunning. He was no ordinary person.
Most importantly, he had exposed Dugu Bo's greatest secret and claimed to have a way to save him.
True or not, this was his only hope.
"How can I trust you?" Dugu Bo's voice was hoarse, with a note of hope he didn't even realize was there.
"It's simple."
Qin Yao held up two fingers.
"I'll completely cure the poison in you and Dugu Yan. In exchange, you and your granddaughter will swear allegiance to me and join Spirit Hall."
He paused, his gaze sweeping over the valley, where rare medicinal herbs grew in abundance.
"Also, this treasured land will be mine."
Outside the valley, Qin Xiong was hidden in the shadows. Hearing their exchange, he couldn't help grinning.
"Good boy, what a ruthless streak! Just like me!"
Dugu Bo's rank might not amount to much among the old monsters in the Worship Hall, but his poison skills were truly strange and unpredictable. On the battlefield, they'd be a devastating weapon.
Bringing him into the fold would be a good deal!
After hearing Qin Yao's terms, Dugu Bo fell into a long silence.
Join Spirit Hall and serve his enemy? He was a hundred times unwilling.
But Yanyan's life...
He looked at his granddaughter beside him. Worry filled her pale face.
So be it. So be it!
For Yanyan's sake, he'd accept!
Having made up his mind, Dugu Bo raised his head. A glint of resolve flashed through his emerald, serpentine eyes.
"Fine! I agree!"
"As long as you can completely cure Yanyan's poison, I'll sell you this old life of mine!"
"From this day forth, I'll join Spirit Hall, but..."
He changed his tone and stared hard at Qin Yao.
"I'll only take orders from you, boy! No one else—not even the Pope—gets to command me!"
That was the last of his pride.
He could tell that the boy before him was the one with true potential. Rather than serve Spirit Hall, divided as it was into rival factions, he'd be better off clinging directly to the thickest thigh.
"Deal."
Qin Yao agreed without hesitation.
Dugu Bo's decision saved him a great deal of trouble.
With the deal struck, the atmosphere in the valley eased at once.
Dugu Bo withdrew his Martial Soul, though his expression toward Qin Yao remained unfriendly.
"Boy, anyone can make big claims. Now let this old man see what you can really do!"
Dugu Yan watched Qin Yao tensely, her beautiful, light-purple eyes full of hope.
But Qin Yao didn't hurry to act. With his hands clasped behind his back, he walked toward the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well.
"Don't rush."
His voice drifted back to them.
"Before I treat you, I'll need to gather some medicinal herbs."
Before you continue