The scene fell utterly silent.
"Your second test is that hard? Are you kidding me?!"
Murong Ci fumed, but his physical condition wouldn't let him keep ranting.
"Cough, cough!"
He coughed violently twice, glaring at Dugu Bo with fury in his eyes.
Dugu Bo helplessly spread his hands, though his tone wasn't nearly as forceful as before.
"What can I say? You, Little Monster, are so extraordinarily impressive. I'd originally planned to make my Jade Phosphorus Poison Palm the third test, but you managed to block it."
"Fine, fine, fine."
Murong Bo was clearly impatient. He shook his head, indicating how annoying he found this.
Dugu Bo sobered up a little.
"The first two tests measured your offense. Now let's test your defense."
A dark green light spread from Dugu Bo's forehead.
A Soul Bone! It was Dugu Bo's Head Soul Bone!
Murong Ci's pupils contracted sharply.
Damn it, you expect me to tank this?
"This is my Soul Bone Skill, Medusa's Gaze. When I used it, those three fellows last night didn't even dare lift their heads. Since you've already surprised me so much, I won't hold anything back."
As he spoke, a gray-green beam suddenly shot from his forehead, streaking straight toward Murong Ci.
Murong Ci had no time to dodge. Besides, in his current condition, he couldn't have dodged anyway.
The beam shot straight into his leg. Murong Ci felt a searing pain there.
[He held back. He could've aimed straight at your face.]
"...Put that more nicely. And how do I break this?"
[This thing petrifies you. Stone, right? Temper it with ice and fire. Could you try using your brain for once instead of asking me about everything?]
Murong Ci ignored the system's final jab.
Instead, he focused on thinking it through.
Temper it with ice and fire?
But ice and fire had been at odds since ancient times. How could they be brought together?
Or should he alternate between them in a cycle, overlaying one after the other?
Murong Ci racked his brains but couldn't figure it out.
But time waited for no one. The stone around Murong Ci's ankle had gradually turned gray-white, and cracks were spreading upward.
"Forget it! Fire!"
Red flames surged out of Murong Ci, instantly engulfing his whole body. The entire layer of stone glowed red from the heat.
But the petrification only sped up.
"System, you fucking set me up!"
Murong Ci cursed inwardly, but his hands kept moving.
He switched to ice, and extreme cold instantly enveloped him.
A thick layer of frost formed over the entire petrified surface.
It was slowing down! There was a chance!
Murong Ci could clearly feel that at the point where the flames and frost mingled most intensely, the stone seemed to have grown more fragile.
Its hardness had decreased!
Whatever he thought, his feet put into practice.
Murong Ci began switching back and forth between ice and fire.
One moment, he tempered it with Ultimate Fire.
The next, he covered it with Ultimate Fire.
"Ice-Fire Polar Domain!"
Ice and fire interwove, and the entire layer of stone grew brittle along with them.
A look of surprise surfaced on Dugu Bo's face.
Could this kid really break free?
The good times didn't last. As Murong Ci struggled, the Soul Power he'd just managed to recover drained away once more.
But in turn, the stone had now become extremely fragile.
If Murong Ci had been at full Soul Power, he was confident he could've broken through with a single blow.
Unfortunately, fortune wasn't on his side. The timing, the terrain, and the people were all against him.
[Making it brittle was only the first step. Once it's petrified, it becomes stone, and stone belongs to earth.]
[Wood overcomes earth in the Five Elements. Next, use Ultimate Wood. It won't take much Soul Power to break through. In the condition you were in before, you wouldn't have been able to smash it.]
At the system's words, Murong Ci's eyes lit up, but the petrification had already slowly spread to his shoulder.
He couldn't afford to worry about anything else.
He closed his eyes and focused.
"Whoosh!"
A brilliant, bright-green light flared.
The aura of Ultimate Wood!
A drop of kindness should be repaid with a gushing spring.
Murong Ci had stabilized Ultimate Wood at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
Now, he would use the immense vitality of Ultimate Wood to give back to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
A massive amount of heaven-and-earth energy surged into his body, and Murong Ci felt himself regain some strength.
Green light flickered, and the phantom of the Demon Eye Magic Tree King appeared behind Murong Ci.
The Demon Eye Magic Tree King slowly opened its eyes, its leaves swaying.
Murong Ci's fingers had already petrified, leaving him unable to use them. He could only control the tree with his thoughts.
The Demon Eye Magic Tree King conjured several vines out of thin air, thrusting them into the petrified layer from all over Murong Ci's body.
Meanwhile, within the stone, Murong Ci silently circulated his power, forming extremely fine threads of wood-attribute Soul Power to counter it.
"Crack—"
The sound of stone splitting.
Dugu Bo's expression changed drastically. His heart pounded.
At that moment, he was even more excited than Murong Ci.
The cracks continued to spread, widening to an unprecedented extent.
Finally, when the pressure reached its breaking point—
"Boom!" The stone exploded.
Murong Ci was blasted several meters away and splattered against the wall.
The phantom of the Demon Eye Magic Tree King behind him vanished at once.
Now he was completely out of strength.
Murong Ci fell to the ground and rolled onto his back, staring up at the ceiling without answering. He gasped for breath.
Dugu Bo came over too, his eyes full of approval.
He reached out and gently took hold of Murong Ci, helping him to his feet with the lightest touch.
"Youngster, you're impressive. You broke my Soul Bone Skill as a Soul Elder. I'm impressed! You put up an even bigger fight than those three last night and their Golden Sacred Dragon."
Murong Ci staggered as Dugu Bo helped him up. His legs wobbled, and he could barely stand.
"Then... have I... passed all three tests?"
Murong Ci asked tentatively, afraid the old monster might come up with another trick.
Dugu Bo threw his head back and laughed.
"Of course you have. Not only did you pass, I'm determined to make you my friend!"
"Good... Old monster, then you have to let me into this treasure site."
"Of course! I always keep my word."
Murong Ci gave a faint smile, though he was too exhausted to muster much strength.
"Once I've rested for half a day, you'll have to take me out. Huo Wu will be getting worried."
Dugu Bo flicked his sleeve. At that moment, the dignified Poison Douluo seemed almost shamelessly childish.
"You're thinking about Huo Wu every single day. What's wrong with my granddaughter? Is she not as good as that fire girl?"
Murong Ci rolled his eyes.
"You old monster... Why are you so protective of your own? I never said there was anything wrong with your granddaughter. I just miss Huo Wu. She's my girlfriend."
"Ah, that's where you're wrong. A great man born between heaven and earth having three wives and four concubines is only natural. Besides, my granddaughter's no worse. Why are you so ungrateful?"
If people on the continent saw Poison Douluo talking like this, they'd be left dumbfounded.
Yet here he was, saying it all in earnest.
And Dugu Bo had already gone above and beyond. For someone who usually doted on his granddaughter so much to say something like that—
It was truly hard to believe.
Murong Ci suddenly thought of something and clicked his tongue twice.
"And besides, I'm afraid your granddaughter and Yu Tianheng have already cooked the rice into a meal. A meal that's well and truly done."
Dugu Bo's expression changed at once.
"You little monster, don't you dare spout nonsense. I'm keeping an eye on my granddaughter. Take your time recovering. I'm leaving."
Murong Ci chuckled twice and picked up his cup for a sip of water.
[Don't worry, she's still a virgin.]
Murong Ci choked and nearly died on the spot. He could only pound his chest hard.
"You care that much about my private life?"
[Of course. We're one and the same, bound together in symbiosis.]