External Soul Bone, Success and Retreat

"Yes."

Liu Yuan's confident reply made Dugu Yan, who had not held much hope, light up. Give it a try?

"What method? How certain are you?"

"Ninety percent."

Leaving himself some room, Liu Yuan did not overstate it.

"Ninety percent..."

Without much thought, Dugu Yan made up her mind. This time, she would go all in and take the gamble!

"Fine, ninety percent it is!" She raised two fingers. "But don't forget, my mission has two requirements. You still have to increase my strength."

Liu Yuan nodded, indicating that he understood perfectly.

"That won't be a problem either."

"Good. Then tell me your method."

But Liu Yuan's next answer froze the atmosphere. "My method is to give you a Poison Sac."

"..."

After a long silence, Dugu Yan smiled. But that smile was like a blooming Poppy Flower.

"What did you say?"

This method really did sound familiar.

"Uh..."

Liu Yuan could not help pausing.

It was as though he could see black mist billowing from the brightly smiling Dugu Yan.

"...I said I'll give you a Poison Sac."

"A Poison Sac..." Dugu Yan wore a smile. "Then is your next sentence going to be that we use a soul bone?"

"That's right, but it's different from Tang San's."

Liu Yuan knew Dugu Yan was having a stress reaction.

Once bitten by a snake, one fears a rope for ten years.

But he had to admit that other methods would be difficult. Even with an idea, it would be hard to put into practice.

After all, Dugu Yan's body...

It was practically on the verge of collapse and could not withstand any more strain.

And Dugu Yan herself admitted that Tang San's method was indeed useful before the soul bone capacity reached its limit.

Fortunately, he had been lucky enough to obtain the Man Faced Demon Spider External Soul Bone in the Gender-Bent Douluo Universe.

Liu Yuan even wondered,

whether the mission refresh had been arranged in advance.

As a soul bone capable of growth, with its special abilities, this External Soul Bone was perfectly suited to serve as the "Poison Sac" within Dugu Yan's body.

He could not use this External Soul Bone anyway.

Origin Willow is the Path to Invincibility!

Why mix in a poison attribute?

So trading it for a treasured place that had not yet been completely ruined, along with several immortal herbs that had yet to sprout or were nearing maturity... no matter how he calculated it, he would not lose out.

"Oh?"

Liu Yuan's words left Dugu Yan stunned.

"There's a difference?"

"That's right."

Liu Yuan nodded, then took the Man Faced Demon Spider External Soul Bone from his Storage Soul Tool.

At a single glance, Dugu Yan's eyes widened.

"A soul bone!? No, that's not right!"

Having already become a Soul Sage, her discernment was naturally much sharper. She immediately realized that this soul bone did not belong to any of the six main soul bones.

A thought surfaced in her mind, and she blurted it out. "An External Soul Bone!?"

When they had first realized that soul bones had a capacity limit, both Dugu Bo and Dugu Yan had considered External Soul Bones. But soul bones were already rare, while External Soul Bones were even rarer. Finding one among a hundred soul bones would already be impressive.

And even if they could find one, evolution might be solved, but how could an External Soul Bone devour deadly poison?

After all, not every External Soul Bone could do that. So they could only give up.

Who would have thought Liu Yuan would produce one?

And this shape...

Dugu Yan pondered for a moment, feeling that it looked familiar.

"That's right, it's an External Soul Bone." Liu Yuan pointed at the eight spider legs resembling ribs. "I got it from a Man Faced Demon Spider."

Suddenly, Dugu Yan jerked her head up.

"The Eight Spider Lances!?"

As Dugu Bo's granddaughter,

before his death, Dugu Bo had told Dugu Yan everything he knew about Tang San.

That naturally included the general details of his Eight Spider Lances, as well as how, after Tang San consumed the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and Infernal Delicate Apricot, the Eight Spider Lances devoured the twin poisons of ice and fire, causing this External Soul Bone to evolve.

Clearly, this perfectly suited her needs.

"So you're going to use it to complete the mission!?"

Dugu Yan stared fixedly at Liu Yuan,

wanting to confirm whether he was joking.

"Of course."

"Ha—"

Dugu Yan laughed.

This time, her smile was utterly sincere.

"I never expected that after obtaining an External Soul Bone, you wouldn't want to absorb it yourself immediately and would instead keep it."

Liu Yuan shook his head.

"It isn't compatible with me."

Hearing that, Dugu Yan said nothing more.

Neither of them was the type to dawdle.

So after confirming everything, Dugu Yan took the Eight Spider Lances. Just before using her Soul Power to guide it into absorption, she spoke again. "Before you complete the mission, I won't fully fuse with this External Soul Bone."

"That way, if I fail, you can dig up my corpse and take the bone. At least then, you can make up for your loss."

"Fine!"

Liu Yuan did not refuse and agreed immediately.

Very soon, the Eight Spider Lances melted into Dugu Yan's body like purple-black liquid, and her aura began to fluctuate. As time passed, her condition gradually stabilized.

Then, after a violent spasm, four fist-sized bulges rose on each side of Dugu Yan's spine.

"Rip—"

The eight bulges suddenly burst open!

Deep-purple objects as thick as fists emerged from them and grew wildly at an astonishing rate.

Those spider legs were terrifying just to look at!

"Haa..."

Opening her eyes, Dugu Yan slowly exhaled a breath of foul air.

After confirming that everything was in order,

she activated the devouring ability of the Eight Spider Lances.

In an instant, the deadly poisons in her body began to stir.

But in less than a breath, the poisons within her body flowed continuously toward the Eight Spider Lances like a hundred rivers returning to the sea.

The originally purple-black Eight Spider Lances were gradually stained an ink-green color. Not only did they look incomparably horrifying, but a thick, fishy stench also spread through the air, startling Liu Yuan.

He hurriedly retreated and summoned his Martial Soul.

Using his Third Soul Skill, he created a transparent barrier to block it off.

This allowed Liu Yuan to clearly see

the changes in Dugu Yan after she transferred the Jade Scale Snake Poison into the Eight Spider Lances. First her nails, then her eyes, then her hair... their original colors gradually faded, turning into the black of an ordinary person.

But after being ravaged by deadly poison,

Dugu Yan's physical condition was far from good.

A moment later, she slowly opened her eyes.

Dugu Yan could feel the state of her body.

Not only had the poison problem now been solved, but to some extent, the path to increasing her strength had also been resolved.

What a good thing!

Dugu Yan was filled with emotion.

She slowly rose to her feet without the slightest hesitation. "Little brother, the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well is all yours."

Liu Yuan: "Deal."

[Ding!]

As Dugu Yan left without looking back,

not long afterward, Liu Yuan was enveloped in multicolored light.

The next second, "Buzz—"

Liu Yuan vanished.

Immediately afterward, the entire valley seemed to be erased by some unknown method, leaving behind only a huge pit.