Refining the Source, Stripping Away Chaos

"Know a little about medicine and poisons? Read a person's complexion and aura?"

Dugu Bo did not believe him at all. The poisonous mist churned even more violently.

"Bullshit! I've roamed the continent for decades, yet I've never heard of any aura-reading art! Speak! Otherwise, I'll let you taste what true Ten Thousand Poisons Devouring Heart is right now!"

His five fingers spread wide, and a phantom of an ink-green poison claw instantly condensed, locking onto Xiao Yin's throat!

Yet Xiao Yin faced the poison claw. Not only did he not retreat, he took another step forward and said something astonishing:

"Senior, you and your granddaughter, Dugu Yan, have both been afflicted by the same backlash poison originating from the source of your martial souls!

This poison was not caused by an external invasion. It has continued to breed and accumulate alongside the growth of your martial souls, sinking deep into your bones, marrow, and organs!

Like maggots clinging to the bone, it is passed down through generations!

If it is not eradicated, Senior, your lifespan will likely not exceed ten years!

And your granddaughter, Dugu Yan... Her cultivation is still shallow. Although the poison accumulated in her body is not as severe as yours, her foundation has yet to stabilize, and the backlash has already begun corroding her origin!

I fear... she will not last five years!"

"Boom—!!!"

It was as though five thunderbolts had struck at once!

The phantom poison claw Dugu Bo had condensed instantly collapsed!

"Ten years... five years..."

He muttered blankly. His tall body actually hunched slightly, all color draining from his face until only deathly pallor remained!

Xiao Yin's words were like the sharpest ice awls, ruthlessly piercing the deepest, most terrifying suspicion in his heart!

He had always known that he was deeply poisoned, barely clinging to life through his powerful cultivation and the method of fighting poison with poison.

Yet he had always harbored a sliver of hope, believing that with the means of a Poison Douluo, he would eventually find a way to suppress or even resolve it. At the very least... at the very least, he could protect Yan Yan!

He had never considered it—or rather, he had never dared to consider—that Yan Yan's poison had already become this severe!

Five years?!

Did that not mean that his beloved granddaughter was steadily walking toward the abyss of death while he was utterly powerless to stop it?!

An overwhelming panic instantly seized Dugu Bo's heart!

It was a hundred times stronger than when he had been intimidated by the name Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon!

"No... impossible! You're spouting nonsense!"

Dugu Bo suddenly raised his head, his jade-green eyes bloodshot. "I have studied poison arts all my life! The Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor's poison may be fierce, but I have my own methods of suppressing it!

Yan Yan... Yan Yan merely went wrong in her cultivation! Do not make alarmist claims!"

"Suppressing it?"

A pitying, mocking curve appeared at Xiao Yin's lips. "Senior, does your so-called suppression rely on a treasured place blessed by nature, where the powers of extreme cold and extreme heat gather?

Do you rely on the medicinal properties emitted by the countless rare flowers and herbs growing around that place to forcibly neutralize the toxins erupting within your body?

And even... force the poison you cannot endure into a particular Spirit Bone?"

"You... you even know that?!" Dugu Bo completely lost his composure, and even his voice changed pitch!

The Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well!

This brat... It was as though he knew everything! This was no longer medicine—it was sorcery!

"Of course I know."

Xiao Yin's voice was firm and decisive. "But Senior, do you truly think this solves the problem?

It is nothing more than drinking poison to quench thirst!

The medicinal properties of that place can only temporarily neutralize the surface toxins and delay their outbreak. They cannot reach the core poison buried deep in your bones, marrow, and martial soul origin!

The deadly poison you forced into your Spirit Bone has merely been stored there temporarily. Once the Spirit Bone can no longer bear it, or once you suffer grave injuries, it will inevitably surge back in an instant, and you will die even faster!

As for your granddaughter... she does not possess your cultivation or that Spirit Bone to store the poison!

The poison in her body was carried from the womb!

Senior, do you really think she merely 'went wrong in her cultivation'?!"

Every sentence was like a heavy hammer smashing into Dugu Bo's heart!

They shattered the self-deceiving hope he had clung to for years!

Dugu Bo staggered back a step, his face white as paper as fine beads of cold sweat seeped from his forehead.

He stared at Xiao Yin, his eyes filled with unprecedentedly complex emotions—

Shock, fear, despair, and a trace of... hope, like a drowning man clutching at driftwood!

"You... since you can see through it... then... do you have a way?!"

Dugu Bo's voice carried a pleading note that even he had not noticed.

The dignity of a Title Douluo, his earlier rage—before his granddaughter's life, none of it was worth mentioning!

Xiao Yin steadied himself inwardly, knowing the time was right.

He gave a slight nod, a profound and unfathomable expression appearing on his face as he spoke with immense confidence:

"Though this poison is fierce, born from the martial soul and rooted deep in the origin, making it nearly impossible to cure... it is not without hope!"

"Third soul skill: Cauldron Cook!"

Buzz—!

The black Ten-Thousand-Year Spirit Ring beneath Xiao Yin's feet blazed with light!

That ancient, heavy Black Cauldron solidified and appeared once more!

Dugu Bo's pupils contracted sharply!

With his knowledge, he instantly sensed the extraordinary nature of this giant cauldron!

The Taotie totem on its surface actually carried an aura completely identical to Xiao Yin's martial soul!

This was absolutely not an ordinary tool-type martial soul or an object formed by a soul skill!

This cauldron... seemed to be an ultimate manifestation of Xiao Yin's martial soul power itself!

"This cauldron was formed from the power of my martial soul's origin. Its core ability is—refining things back to their source and stripping away Chaos!"

Xiao Yin looked intently at Dugu Bo. "I'll have to trouble you to bring back a soul beast. A hundred-year one will do."

Dugu Bo gave Xiao Yin a complicated look without replying, then vanished in a flash.

At that moment, Liu Erlong asked worriedly, "Are you sure about this? They say Dugu Bo is temperamental and unpredictable. What if..."

"Don't worry. I never do anything unless I'm certain!" Xiao Yin patted Liu Erlong on the shoulder and said confidently.

Five minutes later, Dugu Bo reappeared, carrying a hundred-year Gale Wolf.

Dugu Bo tossed the half-dead Gale Wolf before Xiao Yin. "Brat, if you dare toy with me, no one will be able to save you!"

Xiao Yin snapped the Gale Wolf's neck in one swift motion. "Don't worry, Senior. Just watch—"

Before his words had even faded, the Black Cauldron trembled slightly. The chaotic mist at its mouth suddenly began to spin, transforming into a deep vortex!

A powerful suction force instantly enveloped the Gale Wolf's corpse!

Whoosh—!

The massive beast corpse was effortlessly dragged up by the vortex and swallowed into the Black Cauldron's seemingly small opening, as though it had entered another space!

Buzz—!

Light flowed across the entire Black Cauldron. The Taotie totem on its surface seemed to come alive, its eyes lighting up with a dim golden radiance.

A deep rumble, like muffled thunder, faintly came from within the cauldron, as though invisible flames were refining something inside.

Only a dozen or so breaths passed!

The humming ceased.

The cauldron trembled lightly, and the chaotic mist around its mouth dispersed.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Two streams of light flew out from within the cauldron!

One was a bronze-colored pill radiating pure life energy, quietly floating before Xiao Yin!

The other condensed into a single drop of bronze energy liquid and instantly entered the mouth of the Taotie Martial Soul phantom behind Xiao Yin!

As for the Gale Wolf's corpse, it had already vanished without a trace, leaving nothing behind!

"This pill was condensed from the essence of that Gale Wolf's flesh, blood, and Soul Power. Its impurities have been removed, leaving only the purest essence. It can be absorbed directly with no side effects, and its effects are comparable to the finest pills for strengthening one's foundation and replenishing vitality!"

Xiao Yin held up the bronze pill, his tone calm. "As for that drop of liquid, it is the refined essence of its bloodline origin and residual Soul Power. My martial soul has already absorbed it to strengthen my foundation."