"Archenemies..."
At those words, Qian Renxue's eyes flew wide open.
Although Dugu Bo and Spirit Hall had some grievances between them, they were nowhere near being archenemies.
That meant the problem lay with that young man.
Who exactly was he?
"Enough. Don't think about it so much. Relax your mind and hand your body over to me. I'll take care of them for you."
"Oh... huh?"
Qian Renxue answered instinctively, still mulling things over. It would be a shame to kill a Titled Douluo for no reason—
But then she realized what he'd said. Ling Xiao had said something outrageous.
"Wait... T-Teacher, what do you mean? What do you mean, hand my body over to you?"
She was like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, nearly leaping off the treetop.
"Was I not clear enough?"
Ling Xiao's tone was perfectly matter-of-fact.
"I'm practically on my last legs. How could I possibly beat a Titled Douluo?"
"So naturally, I'll have to borrow your body for a while."
His condition really was poor right now,
but he could still handle a gatekeeper-level Titled Douluo with ease.
It was just that
floating around without a body felt incredibly uncomfortable.
He sorely missed having a physical body.
But since he couldn't come back to life anytime soon, he could only be reborn in someone else's body and relive those glorious days!
"Don't overthink it. Just stay put and watch your teacher perform!"
"No! Absolutely not!"
Qian Renxue shook her little head furiously.
She wasn't particularly squeamish,
but just thinking about someone else occupying her body, using it,
made her feel uncomfortable no matter how she looked at it.
Besides, how could there not be physical contact while using her body?
Wouldn't that mean he'd see every inch of her, inside and out?
And he'd even use her...
Boohoo, no, no, absolutely not.
Even if he was her teacher, even if he'd already seen her before...
Still no!!
"Come on, don't you know what kind of person your teacher is?"
"I definitely won't lay a hand on you!"
Ling Xiao coaxed her patiently, as if he were tempting a little girl with candy.
"Don't you want to recover your cultivation?"
"Can you really stand by and watch your enemy grow stronger right in front of you?"
"No means no!"
"At worst, I'll have Spirit Hall—no, I'll have Uncle Snake Lance and Uncle Poison Thorn do it!"
Ling Xiao and Qian Renxue were still locked in heated negotiations.
Down below, Tang San
had already gotten the measure of Dugu Bo's temperament.
He couldn't help lifting his chin, ready to show this country bumpkin what was what.
"Senior, this poison is both inherited through your Martial Soul and cultivated later in life, but that doesn't mean there's no way to cure it..."
Before he could finish,
Dugu Bo's expression changed dramatically.
His triangular eyes flashed with murderous intent as he whipped his head around and barked,
"Who's there? Stop skulking around and come out!"
Before his words had even faded,
a dark-green arrow formed from poisonous miasma shot from his palm,
tearing through the night and hurtling toward the forest halfway up the mountain.
"Not good, our position's been exposed!"
"Quick, quick, hurry up, don't hesitate!"
"Listen to your teacher! Get back into your sea of consciousness at once, or we're both done for!"
Qian Renxue had been absolutely unwilling to give in, but
when she felt that powerful surge of Soul Power, she began to waver.
"Then you... absolutely can't touch me anywhere you shouldn't, and you can't look around either!"
"Swear it! Promise me!"
"All right, all right. Your teacher swears. Your teacher promises."
"Hmph... th-this must have been your plan all along—you deliberately gave us away..."
Qian Renxue gritted her teeth. Though she said that, she still shyly closed her eyes.
That little look of hers...
It made Ling Xiao feel awkward about taking over, as if he were committing some terrible crime!
But Dugu Bo's attack was already closing in,
and Ling Xiao had no time to think about it.
In an instant, he took control of Qian Renxue's body and squeezed her into the sea of consciousness.
Ling Xiao raised his hands and flexed them—
"It feels so good to have a body."
"Though these arms are a little thin, and the legs are a little thin too. There's not much strength in this whole body."
"And these pectoral muscles..."
"They're heavy. It's really uncomfortable, and they're getting in the way!"
Ling Xiao threw a few punches and lifted a leg for a side kick.
Unavoidably,
the two mounds on his chest swayed along with him...
The strange sensation made him very uncomfortable!
"Sure enough, it's better when these troublesome things grow on someone else!"
But even those small movements of his
set off a chorus of screams like mountains crumbling and seas surging.
"Ah! Teacher! How can you do that?!"
"Huh? No, I didn't do anything!"
"I was just moving my hands and feet to get used to the body, wasn't I?"
"How else am I supposed to fight?"
Ling Xiao said, perfectly justified.
Sure, Qian Renxue had a great figure, but he'd seen plenty of beautiful women before.
And she was his only disciple. How could he possibly have any improper thoughts about her?
Inside the sea of consciousness,
although Qian Renxue no longer had a physical body,
her wisp of soul had been worked up from head to toe by Ling Xiao's movements,
until smoke might as well have been rising from the top of her head!
There was nothing wrong with what Ling Xiao said,
but watching her own body swing its arms and kick its legs,
while her chest swayed in spectacular waves—
she felt so unbearably embarrassed that she wanted to dig a hole and bury herself in it!
At that moment, she deeply regretted the decision she'd just made.
"No! I don't care, it's still no! You can't make those movements again!"
Qian Renxue warned him in a frenzy.
"All right, all right. I absolutely won't do it again! I absolutely won't!"
Ling Xiao promised.
By then, Dugu Bo's attack was already right in front of him. He really had no time to get used to this body.
His figure blurred, and he vanished from the spot.
The next instant,
Dugu Bo's poison arrow struck.
The forest within a few hundred meters of where Ling Xiao had been standing was instantly shrouded in poisonous mist.
The leaves and branches turned black, withered, and rotted,
all signs of life drained away until nothing remained, leaving the ground covered in black, decaying debris.
Yet there was no sign of anyone suspicious...
Tang San was also startled by this sudden turn of events.
Nothing like this had happened in his previous life...
Could his rebirth have caused a chain reaction?
"As expected of the first Douluo Continent Titled Douluo to earn his title through poison. You certainly have some skill with toxins. But—"
A deep, weathered voice, filled with supreme authority, drifted leisurely through the canyon.
Unhurried,
it seemed to float in from a distant place, yet also whisper right beside their ears.
"Your strength is too weak!"
Dugu Bo was still searching for his opponent,
but in the blink of an eye—
a figure shrouded in black mist suddenly appeared before him.
He hadn't even seen how the other person got there.
The black robe fluttered slightly in the night breeze. The figure's face was obscured,
and its shape was impossible to make out.
All he could see, within the deep, abyss-like mist, was the faint outline of a human form.
Dugu Bo instinctively took a step back, cold sweat trickling down from his temples.
If this person had attacked him just now, he would likely have been dead or seriously injured by now.
But he was, after all, a Titled Douluo standing at the very pinnacle of the continent. His nerves were still strong.
He quickly steadied himself, suppressed his fear, and demanded,
"Who are you, sir? Why have you trespassed into my medicinal garden?"
Before you continue