God-Level Martial Soul! Nine Nether Divine Dragon!

"Poison embodies slaughter and death."

"Earth embodies the land and concealment."

"Without earth, poison disperses between heaven and earth. It will eventually run out and can be purified or driven away."

"Without poison, earth remains still and inert, nothing more than a mundane thing of the mortal world, unworthy of elegance."

"Only when poison enters the earth, when its killing intent is hidden deep within the land and undergoes the passage of time, sedimentation, and decay..."

"Can it transform into true Netherworld Power!"

"Beneath the Nine Nether, all poisons return to the abyss!"

In that instant, Dugu Bo completely understood the essence of Martial Soul Evolution.

It was not a simple accumulation of power, but a qualitative transformation of attributes!

The fusion of poison and earth did not create poisonous soil, but the netherworld!

It was a power that existed between life and death.

It was neither the poison of the living nor the poison of the dead.

It was Nether Poison born from death, yet more eternal than death itself!

The toxins within his body began to contract.

They had not vanished, but transformed from an active state into an inert one.

The Backlash Poison that had constantly eroded Dugu Bo's body and tormented him was enveloped by the earth-attributed power of the Earth Dragon Golden Gourd, gradually becoming docile.

They were no longer wild horses running out of control, but war wolves that had been tamed.

Every wisp of poison was wrapped in a faint earthen-yellow glow, settling deep within Dugu Bo's body like mineral deposits buried underground.

This was not suppression, but transformation.

The essence of the Backlash Poison had not changed, but its ownership had shifted from the Martial Soul itself to Dugu Bo's will.

"So that's how it is... so that's how it is!"

Dugu Bo's mind suddenly cleared.

In the original story, Tang San had used immortal herbs and pills along with his own blood to help Dugu Bo force the toxins into his Soul Bones. That had merely been a temporary measure that treated the symptoms but not the root cause.

The true solution to the Backlash Poison had never been to expel it, but... to control it!

The toxins would no longer be servants of the Martial Soul, but become their master's power!

The moment the toxins were buried by the power of earth, they ceased to be the curse that devoured their master and became veins of death buried deep underground.

Waiting for Dugu Bo to excavate them, summon them, and grant his enemies eternal rest!

Boom!!!

The last trace of energy from the Earth Dragon Golden Gourd was completely absorbed.

Dugu Bo's body stopped trembling.

The golden pillar of light above the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Eyes slowly dissipated as well.

The valley returned to calm.

Only the Dragon Might lingering in the air proved that everything that had just happened was not an illusion.

Dugu Bo stood at the bottom of the pit and slowly opened his eyes.

Those eyes...

Had changed.

Dugu Bo's eyes had originally been dark green, carrying the coldness and viciousness unique to serpents.

But now, they had become a deep, dark gold. His pupils were no longer the vertical slits of a snake, but the golden horizontal pupils of a dragon!

Within those dark golden pupils, it seemed as though the fires of the Nine Nether were burning, while Nether Qi flowed and churned.

One glance was enough to make one feel as though their soul would be sucked inside.

Dugu Bo lowered his head and looked at his hands.

Faint black patterns could be seen beneath his skin, like dragon markings stretching from his fingertips deep into his arms.

They were not tattoos, but traces of the new Martial Soul's power flowing through his body and manifesting through his skin.

"Jade Python Snake Emperor..."

Dugu Bo called softly.

The next moment, a phantom emerged behind him.

It was no longer an enormous jade-green serpent.

Instead, it was a... dragon completely black in color and shrouded in Dark Purple Nether Qi!

It was nearly half the size of the former Jade Python Snake Emperor, but that was not because its power had weakened. Its power had instead been compressed to the extreme.

Every scale on its pitch-black body gleamed with a metallic luster.

Its dragon head was savage, and its Dark Golden Dragon Eyes were identical to Dugu Bo's own.

Its claws were sharp, each bone in its talons radiating the aura of death.

Its tail was long and forked at the tip, like chains from the underworld.

Yet the most shocking part was the layer of Dark Purple Nether Qi surrounding the black dragon.

It was not ordinary energy, but the Netherworld Power born from the fusion of poison and earth!

"It is no longer the Jade Python Snake Emperor."

Dugu Bo stared at the black dragon phantom behind him, the corners of his lips slowly lifting.

"From this day onward, your name is..."

"Nine Nether Divine Dragon!"

"God-Level Martial Soul!!!!"

The instant his words fell, the black dragon phantom suddenly raised its head and let out a long roar toward the sky!

Roar!!!

A true dragon's roar!

No longer the hiss of a snake, no longer the howl of a beast, but the dragon's roar of the Dragon Clan, carrying boundless majesty and oppression!

The soundwave shot into the sky, stirring the winds and clouds.

The waters of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Eyes churned violently. The scarlet-red and snow-white spring water was hurled high into the air by the soundwave, intertwining into a dazzling curtain of water.

The surrounding immortal herbs and Lingzhi all bowed low, as though submitting to this newly born king.

Even the spiritual energy of heaven and earth that filled the air briefly froze under that dragon's roar.

The roar echoed through the valley, lingering without end.

After a long while, the dragon's roar gradually faded.

The black dragon phantom slowly withdrew into Dugu Bo's body, but the Dragon Might did not disappear with it. Instead, it merged into every one of Dugu Bo's cells and became a part of him.

Dugu Bo took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and examined the state of his body inwardly.

The origin of his Martial Soul had completely changed.

From the Jade Python Snake Emperor to the Nine Nether Divine Dragon, it was not merely a change in form, but an elevation of its very essence.

And his Soul Power Level...

"Level ninety-two... it hasn't changed?"

Dugu Bo frowned slightly.

But he quickly understood.

What Martial Soul Evolution brought was not an increase in Soul Power Level, but a reshaping of potential.

All the immortal power from the Earth Dragon Golden Gourd's one hundred seventy thousand years had been used to reshape and evolve his flawed Martial Soul, as well as his body, soul, and the quality of his Soul Power.

That was why his Soul Power Level had not increased.

Because there was not enough energy left.

If the former Jade Python Snake Emperor had been a dead end, with level ninety-two already being its limit...

Then the current Nine Nether Divine Dragon was a broad road leading toward endless heights.

Level ninety-two was merely a new beginning.

Not the end.

Dugu Bo opened his eyes and clenched his fist, feeling the entirely different power within his body.

The Backlash Poison no longer troubled him.

The toxins that had once eroded his body day and night and caused him endless agony now lay quietly settled deep inside him, like treasures buried underground, awaiting his command.

At any moment, he could awaken them and turn them into power capable of destroying everything.

Or he could let them continue sleeping, making them a part of his body.

The identities of controller and controlled had been completely reversed.

"Yan Yan..."

Dugu Bo raised his head and looked toward Heaven Dou City.

His granddaughter's problem was his true heartache.

There had only been one Earth Dragon Golden Gourd, and he had already used it.

But there was still an Aromatic Silk Beauty in the immortal herb garden!