Chapter 48

"Hmph." With a cold snort, the displeasure on Dugu Yan's face vanished entirely. She looked toward Ye Chen and proposed, "I remember your name is Ye Chen, right? We look to be about the same age, and we're both three-ring Soul Elders. Why don't we spar?"

Ye Chen shook his head. "No thanks. I'm not much of a fighter."

"Tch, you're really useless," Dugu Yan said with disdain.

"You've misunderstood. I'm not a fighter, but my Blaziken is. If you want to spar, you can fight my Blaziken."

Hearing Ye Chen's suggestion, Dugu Yan glanced at the Blaziken.

The Blaziken nodded, indicating its willingness to spar.

"Fine then. Since your strength lies in your external beast Martial Soul, fighting you would be boring anyway. I'll fight your Martial Soul instead. Come on, it'll be a good chance to see whether my snake venom is stronger or your flames are."

As she spoke, Dugu Yan walked toward the clearing ahead.

"Go, Blaziken," Ye Chen instructed. "But remember to go easy on her during the spar. Don't break her."

"Chamo." With a sharp cry, the Blaziken leaped into the air, covering thirty meters in a single bound and arriving at the center of the clearing before Dugu Yan.

Seeing this, Dugu Yan felt provoked, and her expression immediately turned serious.

Although this Poison Mist Forest was fraught with danger and inhabited by a large number of poison-attribute Soul Beasts, with a Title Douluo like Dugu Bo present, there was no need to worry about any accidents.

After all, the Poison Mist Forest was only a part of the Sunset Forest. And within the Sunset Forest, even in the Core Zone, there were no Soul Beasts stronger than Dugu Bo. Otherwise, the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison Array would have been destroyed long ago.

Watching the Blaziken and Dugu Yan face off in the center of the clearing, Ye Chen realized that Dugu Yan must not have heard his conversation with Dugu Bo, and therefore knew nothing about things like the Fire God Inheritor.

That made sense; when a Soul Master absorbs a Soul Ring, their entire focus is on comprehending the information regarding the soul skills granted by the ring, leaving no attention for external matters. That was precisely why one needed protection while absorbing a Soul Ring.

"Senior, have you not told your granddaughter about the issue of the snake venom backlash yet?" Ye Chen asked in a low voice.

Dugu Bo shook his head. "I was afraid she might let it slip, so I haven't told her explicitly. Kid, don't you go telling others about the snake venom backlash, not even my granddaughter. Once I send her back to the academy, I'll take you to the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well to identify the immortal herbs."

"Understood."

Just as the two finished their discussion, Dugu Yan had already completed her Jade Phosphorous Serpent Martial Soul possession. Her third Soul Ring lit up, and her third soul skill, Jade Phosphorous Purple Poison, erupted from her mouth, rapidly transforming into a massive cloud of purple toxic mist that enveloped the Blaziken.

The Blaziken was about to use Flamethrower to incinerate the purple mist, but it suddenly recalled Ye Chen's instruction to go easy. Consequently, the high-powered Flamethrower was instantly weakened into an Ember attack.

Pea-sized sparks shot continuously from the Blaziken's mouth, slamming into the purple mist in a dense barrage. At that moment, the purple mist disintegrated amidst a series of popping sounds, and even the toxic gas lingering in the air was burned away completely.

Watching her purple mist being easily incinerated, Dugu Yan couldn't help but frown. This was the third soul skill she had just acquired, and it was the most powerful of her three skills.

Yet, not a single Soul Ring had appeared on Ye Chen, meaning the Blaziken's Ember attack just now wasn't even a soul skill. For her strongest third soul skill to be so easily countered by a basic attack—anyone would consider that a humiliation.

"Again!" With that, Dugu Yan channeled more soul power to activate her third soul skill, spewing an even thicker cloud of purple toxic mist from her mouth.

In the end, there was no suspense; the Blaziken defeated Dugu Yan with overwhelming superiority. Because the gap in their strength was too vast, the combat experience gained from this victory provided very little feedback.