As night deepened, the entire Mimic Cultivation Sanctuary fell into silence.
In the academy's rear hills, inside a top-tier private villa reserved exclusively for the imperial family's children of the Heaven Dou Empire.
Xue Yao sat cross-legged in the spacious, brightly lit cultivation room.
A faint azure halo flowed around him—the visible manifestation of exceptionally pure wind elements circulating in an orderly pattern under the pull of his Soul Power.
Eight years old, with Soul Power at level thirty-one.
This astonishing rate of cultivation was not due to talent alone. More than anything, it came from day after day of diligent meditation, without fail.
Suddenly, the night wind, which had been flowing steadily and regularly, faltered ever so slightly.
The disturbance was faint to the extreme, but mingled with it was a hint of sickeningly sweet, fishy odor.
The scent was cold and viciously poisonous, as if it could corrode even the surrounding air.
Xue Yao slowly opened his eyes.
There was not a trace of panic in his clear, deep eyes. Instead, they held a hint of helpless resignation.
He straightened his moon-white silk robe, then turned to calmly regard a patch of shadow in the corner of the cultivation room.
"Old Senior Dugu, since you've gone to the trouble of visiting in the middle of the night, why hide in the dark and catch a chill? Why not come out and have a cup of hot tea with me?"
His clear, even voice rang out abruptly in the spacious cultivation room.
Silence.
Deathly silence.
A full three seconds passed before the air in the shadow, which had been empty just moments before, suddenly rippled like water.
"Bzz—"
A terrifying pressure that made it hard to breathe descended in an instant. The temperature in the entire cultivation room seemed to plummet to freezing.
A mass of dark green light silently gathered. Then a tall, gaunt old man, as straight as a spear, slowly stepped out of the shadows.
His hair and beard were both dark green, and his eyes shone with a cold, eerie light like green gemstones.
He was like a venomous snake lurking in the night, radiating a sinister aura that sent chills down one's spine.
Poison Dominates the World, Titled Douluo—Dugu Bo!
At that moment, Dugu Bo's emerald-green eyes were fixed on the handsome boy before him, who was only eight years old. They were filled with unconcealed shock and disbelief.
He was a Titled Douluo, after all. Even if stealth was not his specialty, he had deliberately concealed his aura as he slipped inside. Never mind a Soul Grandmaster or Soul Elder—even a Soul Douluo should have had no chance of sensing his presence!
Yet this boy had not only sensed him with pinpoint accuracy, he had even identified him at a glance!
"Boy, how did you discover me?"
Dugu Bo's voice was hoarse and icy, like two rusty metal plates grinding together. It was painful to hear.
That afternoon, he had heard that his precious granddaughter had been knocked out by this boy in a single blow, and that he had even left a bright red paw print on her forehead. He had been so angry he'd skipped dinner.
He had planned to slip in under cover of darkness, teach this presumptuous boy a lesson, and take the measure of him while he was at it.
He hadn't expected to be caught the moment he snuck inside.
Faced with the terrifying pressure released by a Titled Douluo, Xue Yao remained utterly unaffected, like a gentle breeze brushing against a mountain.
He walked over to the tea table, calmly picked up a purple clay teapot, and poured two cups of steaming tea. He even gestured for Dugu Bo to take a seat.
"Senior, you jest. I'm only a lowly Soul Elder. How could I possibly see through a Titled Douluo's concealment?"
Xue Yao smiled faintly, his eyes shining with an air of innocence and sincerity.
"Though..." Xue Yao changed tack. His nostrils twitched, and he put on an expression of deep admiration before saying loudly, "Though I could smell the overwhelming stench of poison on you from far away!"
"The sickly-sweet poison on you is so potent even the breeze can't disperse it. Its toxicity is truly beyond belief. If I smelled something like that on anyone else, I'd say the poison had seeped into their bones, they were at death's door, and their end was near!"
At the words "seeped into their bones" and "their end was near," Dugu Bo's gloomy expression stiffened. His emerald pupils shrank to pinpoints!
Yet Xue Yao seemed not to notice Dugu Bo's reaction at all. Instead, he suddenly clapped his hands, his eyes blazing with feverish admiration, and continued praising him loudly:
"But! Who are you, Old Senior Dugu? You are the renowned Poison Douluo, whose poison dominates the world!"
"To have such deadly poison encircling your body, seeping into your bones and penetrating your internal organs, could never mean you've been poisoned!"
"I dare say your mastery of poison has advanced by leaps and bounds! The poison that covers you is clearly a sign that your cultivation has reached the sublime state of returning to simplicity and becoming one with Heaven and Man! Congratulations, Senior! My congratulations! The Heaven Dou Empire has gained yet another peerless warrior!"
Xue Yao delivered this speech with such passion and sincerity that he seemed genuinely delighted by the birth of a peerless powerhouse.
"Boom—"
But to Dugu Bo, those words of "praise" were like a thunderbolt from the heavens, exploding in his mind!
Dugu Bo's gaunt frame shuddered uncontrollably. The flush on his face, brought on by the protection of his Soul Power, instantly drained away, leaving him deathly pale!
Poison seeping into his bones? His end near?
Returning to simplicity? Becoming one with Heaven and Man?
Bullshit! All of it was bullshit!
No one else knew, but how could Dugu Bo not know the state of his own body?!
What Poison Douluo? What Titled Douluo!
He was nothing but a wretched invalid, suffering worse than death as the poison of his own Martial Soul ravaged him! That agony, which left him unable to live or die, had tormented him for decades!
He knew better than anyone that if he couldn't find a solution, he had only a few years left to live!
This was the deepest secret in Dugu Bo's heart. It concerned his standing in the Soul Master World—and the very survival of the Dugu Clan!
Yet today, an eight-year-old boy had laid that secret bare before him!
Was this boy genuinely flattering him, or mocking him with thinly veiled sarcasm?!
Had he already seen through the truth—that Dugu Bo was nearing death?!
And if this child could see that he was nearing death, what about everyone else? What about his old rivals?
At the thought, Dugu Bo's breathing grew extremely labored, and a fine sheen of cold sweat broke out across his forehead.
If he were the only one to die, then Dugu Bo, who had spent his life dominating the world and killing countless people, had long since put life and death out of his mind.
But... what about Yanyan?!
His son had died young because of the backlash from that accursed Jade Phosphor Serpent Poison.
Now, that terrifying hereditary poison had already taken root in his precious granddaughter, Dugu Yan!
If the pillar holding up the Dugu Clan fell, if he died from the poison, what would happen to his granddaughter?
Without a Titled Douluo to protect her, with Dugu Yan's haughty nature that made enemies wherever she went and a poison bomb in her body that could go off at any moment, her fate would be utterly miserable!
Overwhelming fear and worry shattered the mental defenses of this mighty Titled Douluo in an instant!
"You... you..."
Dugu Bo pointed at Xue Yao with a bony finger, his lips trembling violently.
His poison cultivation, of which he was so proud, and the dignity of his lofty Titled Douluo status had, in that moment, become nothing but a complete joke before this mild-smiling boy!
"Senior? What's wrong? Was my guess mistaken?"
Xue Yao lifted his teacup and gently blew aside the floating tea leaves. A keen, knowing glint flashed in his deep eyes.
Of course he knew that Dugu Bo was deeply poisoned. Not only that—he also knew about Dugu Bo's Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
Today, he would use his information advantage to keep Poison Douluo's every thought firmly in his grasp. And he would seize this opportunity to bring the Titled Douluo—and the treasure trove behind him—entirely into his fold!
Before you continue