If It Doesn't Work, You're Dead!

That was impossible!

The difference in Soul Power between them was enormous. She couldn't have been mistaken!

But the Soul Power fluctuations coming from him now didn't seem fake either...

Looking at Dugu Yan, who was now somewhat dazed and bewildered, Li Jingzhe gave a playful smile. "Do you know that there's something in this world called the Innate Poison Body?"

"Innate? Poison Body?"

Dugu Yan turned those words over and over in her mind, her brows drawing together slightly.

Li Jingzhe continued, "The Innate Poison Body is a rare constitution born when someone is eroded by deadly poison while still in the womb, yet survives by drawing nourishment from the mother's vitality and is successfully delivered..."

As he spoke, Li Jingzhe looked at Dugu Yan with amusement and chuckled. "I wonder, have you ever heard of it?"

The womb?

Deadly poison?

Erosion?

Had she heard of it?

Dugu Yan's expression darkened. How could she not have heard of it? He was talking about her!

"Kid! You'd better explain yourself to me! Otherwise, I won't mind letting you taste the poison of a Titled Douluo!"

A cold glint shone in her sharp, slit-pupil eyes, and at some point, a bead had appeared between her fingers.

It was a jade-green bead, containing Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison her grandfather had given her for protection—the poison of a Titled Douluo!

Just a tiny wisp drawn from it would be enough to teach this guy what it meant to wish for death!

"Explain?"

Li Jingzhe glanced at the bead in Dugu Yan's hand, utterly unconcerned. "What do you want me to explain?"

"Only my family and a few people from the Ye Family know these things. How did you find out?"

Dangerous light flickered in Dugu Yan's eyes, and a murderous aura rose from her.

The atmosphere in the room grew tense.

Even Ye Lingling had summoned her Nine Heart Begonia, looking ready to fight at the slightest provocation.

"Heh..."

Li Jingzhe remained unhurried. He even leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs. Looking at the two girls, poised for a fight, he chuckled. "The secrets you consider so precious are nothing special to me. As a matter of fact, there's nothing in this world that I don't know."

A trace of scorn flashed through Dugu Yan's eyes...

What arrogance!

If a Titled Douluo had said that to her, she might have believed it...

But a mere Soul Scholar was standing there, boasting that there was nothing in the world he didn't know?

Absurd.

Sure, the guy in front of her was a little mysterious, and this pavilion had appeared out of nowhere.

He was mysterious, much like Tang San...

The problem her family had struggled to solve for generations had been resolved by Tang San...

Hm?

Dugu Yan's expression tightened. "Are you that bastard Tang San's subordinate?"

If anyone else in the world knew her family's secret and might have leaked the information, it could only be Tang San!

"Why did Tang San send you to approach me?"

Dugu Yan's expression turned grave. She was angry—truly angry. "If Tang San wants you to get something from me, I advise you to give up! Go tell Tang San that I absolutely won't hold back in the Soul Master Tournament! Tell him to wait and see how he likes my new poison!"

"Lingling, let's go!"

With that, Dugu Yan took Ye Lingling by the hand and turned to leave!

"Hey, I'm saying, are you crazy?" Li Jingzhe watched the two turn away, utterly exasperated.

"What did you say?"

Dugu Yan was already furious. Hearing Li Jingzhe insult her again sent her into a rage. She released her Martial Soul, and her Soul Rings blazed to life. An icy serpent coiled around her, its scarlet tongue flicking as she fixed Li Jingzhe with a murderous glare. "If you keep running your mouth, I won't mind using you to test my poison right now! I'd like to see whether Tang San can cure the poison of a Titled Douluo!"

Li Jingzhe rolled his eyes.

"What the hell are you talking about with this Tang San nonsense?"

He couldn't understand how this stupid woman had connected him to Tang San.

"You're not one of Tang San's people?" Dugu Yan asked suspiciously.

"Me? Him? Heh..."

Li Jingzhe gave a scornful smile. "That Little Scumbag? He thinks he's worthy?"

Dugu Yan's aura faded, and her Martial Soul vanished with it.

Still frowning, she couldn't help asking, "Then how did you learn these secrets?"

Naturally, she didn't believe what Li Jingzhe had said earlier.

In her eyes, Li Jingzhe was not only spouting nonsense, but talking through his hat. Not a word he said was true.

Li Jingzhe shrugged. "You ask, but you won't believe me if I tell you. If you don't believe me, why ask? You're stupid, and stubborn too?"

"What did you say?" Dugu Yan's brows shot up, and she looked ready to fly into a rage again.

Li Jingzhe pursed his lips. "See? You're stupid, and you won't even admit it. You had a perfectly good Innate Poison Body, and look what you've done to yourself. Tsk, all I can say is that it's no wonder the Dugu Family's bloodline is dwindling."

"You bastard!"

Dugu Yan flew into a rage, her aura rising again!

Who was she? Poison Douluo Dugu Bo's granddaughter, the possessor of the rare Jade Phosphorous Serpent Martial Soul, a twenty-something-year-old Battle Soul Ancestor at level 42 and a peerless genius. Wherever she went, people had fawned over her and indulged her.

Yet this bastard in front of her had provoked her again and again...

If she didn't teach him a lesson he'd never forget, wouldn't that disgrace the Dugu Family's name?

"But you brought this on yourself!" Dugu Yan said coldly.

But then...

"Whoosh!"

Her vision blurred as something blocked her view.

"What is that?" She knitted her brows and instinctively took two steps back...

Only then did she see that Li Jingzhe had opened the book titled Thousand Spider Poison Hand. He smiled faintly. "You don't believe me? Then try it and see. You're a level 42 Battle Soul Ancestor, after all. Surely you can tell whether something's good or bad?"

Dugu Yan frowned, looking from Li Jingzhe to the book in his hands. A hint of hesitation crossed her eyes, and she glanced at Ye Lingling without thinking.

Ye Lingling shook her head gently. "Yanzi, don't listen to him..."

Before she could finish speaking,

Li Jingzhe continued in a low voice, "The Thousand Spider Poison Hand is just a poison cultivation technique. For an ordinary person, practicing it would be extremely difficult, and they'd even have to pay a steep price! But you, Dugu Yan, have an Innate Poison Body naturally suited to cultivating poison techniques! You'll get twice the results with half the effort from any poison technique. In your hands, any of them could wield power greater than the sum of its parts, and you'd find them easy to master! So, what do you say? Want to give it a try?"

Li Jingzhe's voice curled around her ear like a demon's whisper.

Dugu Yan's expression changed again and again as she looked from Li Jingzhe to the Thousand Spider Poison Hand...

Hesitation, uncertainty...

Then Li Jingzhe's voice sounded again. "If I'm not mistaken, the prenatal poison was cleared from your body, but that only treated the symptoms, not the root cause. If you practice the Thousand Spider Poison Hand, though, you can turn the poison in your body into your own strength! And the benefits wouldn't be limited to you. Your family and your descendants would all be able to escape that so-called 'curse'—all thanks to a single book, the Thousand Spider Poison Hand!"

Dugu Yan swallowed, her eyes unfocused.

Yes, just as Li Jingzhe said, if the Thousand Spider Poison Hand really worked as described, then the Dugu Family might truly be saved!

But...

She was afraid!

She was afraid it might be real, and she didn't want to believe it.

Yet she also feared it might be false, that it would extinguish every last hope...

"Don't tell me you're scared?" Li Jingzhe suddenly said...

"Scared?"

Dugu Yan came to her senses, eyes widening as she snapped, "I, Dugu Yan, don't know the meaning of fear! It's just some Self-Created Soul Skill, isn't it? Fine, I'll try it!"

With that, Dugu Yan snatched the Thousand Spider Poison Hand from him.

At that moment, she seemed to have made up her mind.

"If it doesn't work, you're dead!"

She glared fiercely at Li Jingzhe once more.