Lin Yuan couldn't be bothered to waste another word on that stray dog.
He turned and looked straight at Dugu Bo.
"Old Poison, forget his nonsense."
"Go look around nearby and hunt a snake-type Soul Beast over five hundred years old. It has to be highly poisonous. Bring it back to help your granddaughter absorb it."
Dugu Bo didn't hesitate in the slightest.
After witnessing the miracle of a thousand-year First Soul Ring, he had developed a powerful trust in Lin Yuan.
"Good lad, you've got guts! I'll go right now!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, green Soul Power surged around Dugu Bo. With a whoosh, he shot into the depths of the forest.
As a Titled Douluo, catching a several-hundred-year-old Soul Beast on the outskirts of Soul Hunting Forest was easier than eating or drinking.
A shrill cry rang out from deep in the woods, and then great flocks of birds took flight in alarm.
The terrifying pressure of a Titled Douluo flashed into existence and vanished. The hunt was already over.
It had taken no more than a moment.
With a tremendous crash as trees snapped, Dugu Bo returned.
He dragged a massive serpent along with one hand and slammed it onto the open ground before them.
The serpent had nine heads of varying sizes, and its body was covered in purplish-black scales. A pungent, foul stench wafted from it.
This was a highly venomous Nine-Headed Serpent Soul Beast. Judging by its length and the color of its scales, it had to be at least six hundred years old.
"This one will do!" Dugu Bo brushed the dust from his hands, quite pleased with the prey he'd brought back.
When Yu Xiaogang saw the six-hundred-year-old Nine-Headed Serpent lying on the ground, barely alive, his soul nearly fled his body in terror.
He immediately stepped forward and spread his arms, blocking Dugu Yan with all his might.
"Stop! You mustn't!"
"Senior Poison, you're harming your granddaughter! A six-hundred-year-old poison-type Soul Beast—this goes far beyond the limits of my theory!"
"If she absorbs its Soul Ring, her meridians will rupture and she'll die. Even if she somehow survives, the terrifying venom will cripple her! She absolutely cannot absorb it!"
But this time, no one paid the slightest attention to his frenzied shouting.
Dugu Bo snorted. A powerful wave of Soul Power sent Yu Xiaogang staggering backward until he landed flat on his backside in the mud.
Dugu Yan didn't even glance at Yu Xiaogang on the ground.
She took a deep breath, then turned to Lin Yuan.
Facing the hideous six-hundred-year-old Soul Beast, she still felt a little nervous.
Lin Yuan met Dugu Yan's gaze, his expression calm. He gave her a gentle nod.
That assured look was like a shot of courage, dispelling the last of Dugu Yan's hesitation in an instant.
Dugu Yan clenched her little fists, her resolve firm.
"Grandpa, cripple this Soul Beast. I want to absorb its Soul Ring!"
Several streams of dark green poison shot out like blades, precisely severing the Nine-Headed Serpent's vital points.
Then Dugu Yan delivered the finishing blow. The six-hundred-year-old Soul Beast, already on its last legs, died without even a chance to struggle.
A dense purple Soul Ring rose slowly from the serpent's corpse, hovering in midair and radiating a violent, dangerous aura of poison.
Dugu Yan took a deep breath and walked straight up to the Soul Ring, then sat cross-legged.
The little girl formed a seal in front of her chest with both hands. Her Jade Phosphorous Serpent Martial Soul appeared behind her, and a sweetly acrid poisonous mist billowed outward.
She closed her eyes and used her Soul Power to draw the purple Soul Ring toward her.
As purple light flashed, the Soul Ring settled securely around her Martial Soul.
But this was, after all, a six-hundred-year-old, highly venomous Soul Beast.
From the very start of the absorption, things went terribly.
Dugu Yan's fair little face flushed bright red. Beads of sweat welled on her forehead and streamed down her cheeks.
She bit her lip hard, her slight body trembling uncontrollably under the violent surge of energy.
The Jade Phosphorous Serpent Martial Soul let out an uneasy hiss. Red and purple streams of poison writhed and clashed around her. The Soul Beast's remaining, violent energy was clearly resisting absorption.
Seeing his granddaughter in such agony, Dugu Bo's heart leapt into his throat.
He clenched his hands into fists and unconsciously took half a step forward. A gentle mass of green Soul Power had already gathered in his palm, ready to forcibly interrupt the absorption and save his granddaughter's life.
Yu Xiaogang watched everything unfold from the sidelines.
The face that had turned ashen with envy after Hu Liena's success was finally regaining some color. He even felt an irrepressible surge of delight.
Yu Xiaogang immediately straightened up and clasped his hands behind his back, once again putting on the airs of a lofty Grandmaster.
"See? I told you the limit of the First Soul Ring must never be broken!"
Yu Xiaogang began shouting from the sidelines, his tone dripping with sarcasm.
"A six-hundred-year-old poison-type Soul Ring? That's simply asking for death! Forcefully absorbing a Soul Ring that violates my core theory means nine chances of dying and only one of surviving."
He pointed at Hu Liena, who stood quietly to one side, his expression filled with contempt.
"That little girl just got absurdly lucky. She happened to come across a weakened, mutated fox. Are you really going to mistake an event with such tiny odds for the norm?"
"Senior Poison, make her stop already! If you break the Soul Ring now, you might still save your precious granddaughter's life!"
The more Yu Xiaogang spoke, the more excited he became. Spittle flew from his mouth as he convinced himself that at last he would prove his invincible theory once more.
His snide words fell into Dugu Bo's ears like oil on a fire.
Already frantic with worry over his granddaughter's peril, Dugu Bo had no patience left for this useless man's prattle.
He whipped around. His eyes glowed green as he fixed Yu Xiaogang with a deadly stare, murder plain in his gaze.
The crushing pressure of a Titled Douluo crashed down like a mountain. The wind whipped the leaves around them into a rustling frenzy.
"Say one more word, and I'll sew your mouth shut right here!"
Dugu Bo barked. The palpable pressure in his stare made Yu Xiaogang's legs go weak, and he nearly fell to the ground again.
Yu Xiaogang hurriedly shut his mouth, not daring even to breathe too loudly. His murky eyes remained fixed on Dugu Yan, though, eager to see her explode and die at any moment.
Dugu Yan had reached the most dangerous, critical stage.
The savage remnant consciousness of the six-hundred-year-old Nine-Headed Serpent took the form of a phantom purple hydra in Dugu Yan's spiritual world, biting and tearing at her in a frenzy as it tried to devour the human child who was attempting to control it.
Just as Dugu Yan was about to give out—
"..."
Lin Yuan remained calm and stepped directly to Dugu Yan's side.
He didn't need to summon his full Martial Soul. He merely stirred his thoughts.
The power of the Nine-Nether Ao Bloodline, buried deep within him, surged to life.
A pitch-black shadow spread out from beneath his feet. With it came the terrifying bloodline aura of an ancient Ferocious Beast, one that had stood supreme through the ages and suppressed the heavens.
The aura wasn't violent, yet it carried an absolute dominion born of being innately above all living beings.
The instant the pressure of the Ferocious Beast's bloodline emerged, the Nine-Headed Serpent's raging phantom froze.
It was like a lowly ant facing a god in the highest heavens.
The Nine-Headed Serpent's meager remnant consciousness couldn't even muster the thought of resisting. Crushed by that overwhelming power, it shattered in an instant and dissolved into pure energy, merging completely into Dugu Yan's body.
The once-rampant purple light immediately turned docile, flowing steadily through Dugu Yan's meridians.
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