The trees blotted out the sky in Sunset Forest.
Qin Yao walked unhurriedly at the front. The Soul Power pressure of the Amethyst Winged Lion King spread from him. It wasn't particularly strong, but it was enough to make Soul Beasts under a thousand years old keep their distance.
Training didn't mean wasting time clearing out these nobodies.
Just then, he sensed a chilly aura. It wasn't a Soul Beast. It was a person.
Soon, a slender figure stepped out from behind a tree.
She looked to be no older than seventeen or eighteen. She wore a fitted outfit of purple and black trimmed in silver, which accentuated her graceful curves.
Her long, dark green hair fell loosely down her back. Her eyes were narrow, their outer corners slightly tilted upward, and her irises were pale purple. She looked cool and beautiful, with a hint of defiance.
At the sight of that distinctive dark green hair and unique bearing, a name instantly surfaced in Qin Yao's mind: Dugu Yan.
Qin Yao was a little surprised. He hadn't expected to run into Dugu Yan on his very first day in Sunset Forest.
Dugu Yan had obviously noticed him too. She stopped and faced him from a dozen meters away.
In a place like Sunset Forest, a stranger suddenly appearing—especially a man who looked like trouble—was more than enough reason for caution.
Especially when that man was ridiculously handsome.
His long hair was dark purple, his features sharply defined, and his build tall and straight. Though he stood there casually, he still exuded an imposing presence.
Someone like him was either an elite from a prominent family or a powerful rogue Soul Master.
Either way, trouble.
How did I run into a guy like this in the middle of nowhere? Dugu Yan grumbled to herself, growing even more wary.
Seeing her guarded expression, Qin Yao's lips curled into a smile. Since they'd crossed paths, he could save himself the trouble of looking for her.
It might work better to get straight to the point.
Having made up his mind, Qin Yao took a few steps toward her, then stopped just outside the distance at which Dugu Yan was about to attack.
"May I ask if you're Poison Douluo's granddaughter, Dugu Yan?"
Qin Yao's voice was calm, but it sounded especially abrupt in the silent forest.
Dugu Yan frowned. Plenty of people knew she was Poison Douluo's granddaughter; that wasn't unusual.
But meeting a stranger here in Sunset Forest was still dangerous.
"Who are you?" Dugu Yan asked warily, staring hard at Qin Yao. "I don't think I've seen you before."
"Who I am doesn't matter." Qin Yao's answer was simple and direct. "I came here to meet someone. Your grandfather, Dugu Bo."
The moment the name "Dugu Bo" left Qin Yao's lips, Dugu Yan's entire aura changed.
"You're looking for my grandfather?"
Dugu Yan gave a cold laugh, a mocking look appearing on her beautiful, icy face.
"What are you supposed to be, thinking you're worthy of meeting my grandfather? Plenty of people have tried to cause him trouble over the years. Who do you think you are?"
Before her words had even faded, dark green Soul Power erupted from her body!
The phantom of a massive Jade Phosphorous Serpent appeared behind her, its eyes icy as it flicked out its tongue.
The next moment, yellow, yellow, purple!
Three Soul Rings rose one after another from beneath her feet, slowly circling her slender waist.
Level thirty-six, a Soul Elder.
Although her cultivation wasn't as formidable as a true genius's, Dugu Yan was confident no one could break through her third Soul Skill, Jade Phosphorous Purple Poison!
Seeing her ready to unleash her Martial Soul at the slightest provocation, Qin Yao didn't get angry. Instead, he found it a little amusing.
Her temperament really was just like it had been in the original story—she'd blow up at the drop of a hat.
"Miss Dugu, I think you've misunderstood." Qin Yao spread his hands to show he meant no harm. "I didn't come to cause trouble. I came to offer you a fortuitous opportunity."
"A fortuitous opportunity?" Dugu Yan seemed to have heard the funniest joke in the world. "You? A brat who hasn't even finished growing?"
She had already decided that no matter who this man was, she couldn't let him leave alive after asking about her grandfather.
"First Soul Skill, Jade Phosphorous Red Poison!"
"Second Soul Skill, Jade Phosphorous Blue Poison!"
"Third Soul Skill, Jade Phosphorous Purple Poison!"
Dugu Yan wasted no more words. Her first, second, and third Soul Rings lit up in succession.
The next moment, red, blue, and purple clouds of poison poured alternately from the Jade Phosphorous Serpent's mouth, engulfing Qin Yao in an instant.
A cold smile appeared on Dugu Yan's face.
This was the attack she had the most confidence in. Mixed together, the three deadly poisons could make even a Soul Master with greater Soul Power lose the ability to fight in a short time. In the end, they would die amid numbness and agony.
That arrogant fool was as good as dead.
Just then, an overbearing lion's roar exploded from the center of the poisonous fog!
"Roar!"
Purple flames rose from within the poisonous fog without warning, instantly turning into a sea of fire.
The moment the three-colored poison touched the Purple Fire, it was like snow meeting Lieyang. It didn't last even a second before burning away completely.
The flames died down, revealing a figure.
His dark purple hair whipped wildly, and his scarlet eyes held not a trace of emotion. Behind him, a pair of savage Dark Purple Bone Wings slowly unfurled.
Yellow, purple, purple, black!
Four Soul Rings hovered quietly at his feet. The final one, black as ink, was a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring that radiated a heart-stopping pressure.
"This... this is impossible!"
The smile on Dugu Yan's face froze completely, her heart filled with shock.
Her Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison had been burned away just like that?
And his fourth Soul Ring was actually ten thousand years old!
What kind of monster was he?
Before she could recover from her shock, Qin Yao's Bone Wings suddenly beat.
"Whumm!" The air cracked with a sharp boom.
Dugu Yan's vision blurred. That figure crossed the dozen meters between them in an instant and appeared right in front of her.
Too fast!
Her nerves couldn't react in time!
The next moment, a hand closed around her slender throat. Her feet left the ground, and Dugu Yan was lifted up with one hand.
"I told you, I have something to discuss with your grandfather."
Qin Yao's voice was very calm, giving no hint of anger or joy.
"Why did you have to make me angry?"
The feeling of suffocation surged over her like a tide. Dugu Yan's face turned red as she desperately tried to pry the hand from her throat.
But that hand was hard as iron. No matter how much she struggled, it didn't move an inch.
Under the other man's overbearing pressure, her Soul Power couldn't circulate properly, and even her Martial Soul began to grow indistinct.
Am I... going to die?
Her consciousness began to blur, and everything before her eyes doubled.
Just as she thought she was really going to die here, the pressure on her neck suddenly eased.
Fresh air flooded into her lungs. Dugu Yan coughed violently, her body going limp as she fell toward the ground.
But the pain she'd expected never came.
A strong arm wrapped around her waist, steadying her just before she hit the ground.
Dugu Yan froze.
She looked up instinctively and met those dark purple eyes.
An unfamiliar masculine scent enveloped her. The warmth of the hand at her waist seeped through her fitted clothes, making her feel uncomfortable all over.
"Take me to your grandfather."
Qin Yao released her. He had only caught her just now to keep her from falling.
"You and your grandfather are both deeply poisoned. If you don't get the poison out, you won't live much longer."
Dugu Yan snapped back to her senses. Clutching her aching throat, she backed away several steps to put some distance between herself and Qin Yao.
"What nonsense are you talking about?" she gasped, her voice hoarse. "How could we possibly be poisoned?"
"Impossible?"
Qin Yao looked at her, amusement in his eyes.
"Whenever it rains, do your ribs start tingling?"
"Every day at noon and midnight, when the poison acts up, does the pain become unbearable?"
"In the dead of night, do you feel needle-like stabs at the crown of your head and the soles of your feet, followed by spasms throughout your body?"
With every question Qin Yao asked, Dugu Yan's face grew paler.
By the time he finished, all that remained on her face was terror.
An Immortal Herb exchange code—terrifying indeed!
"Y-you... how do you know?"
She had never told anyone about these symptoms—not even her grandfather, Dugu Bo.
Why did this man know every detail?
"Because this isn't an illness. It's poison."
Qin Yao calmly revealed the cruel truth.
"It's the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison that comes with your Martial Soul. Your grandfather is powerful enough to suppress it, with his Soul Power above level ninety. You, however, will die from the poison in no more than ten years."
"As for your father and mother..."
Qin Yao paused. "They died for the same reason."
"N-no... that's impossible!" Dugu Yan murmured, her body swaying unsteadily.
Her father. She suddenly remembered that when she was little, he would often complain of pain in his ribs on rainy days.
She had always thought the symptoms she suffered from were just some strange illness inherited from her father.
But now, it seemed it hadn't been an illness at all. It had been poison!
The revelation left her ice-cold.
"Who... who are you?" Dugu Yan looked up, her voice trembling.
She knew he hadn't been lying.
Someone who could neutralize her deadly poison so easily and expose her family's greatest secret with a few words was no ordinary person.
And he didn't seem to have any ill intent.
Qin Yao spoke slowly.
"The Holy Son of Spirit Hall, Qin Yao."
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