"Watch closely! This is the might of me, Dugu Bo, the Poison Douluo!"
Dugu Bo stood with his hands behind his back, a confident smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. He had barely finished speaking when—
Nine Soul Rings rose beneath his feet: yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black, and black.
The pressure of a Titled Douluo poured out, shaking frost loose from the cave walls.
Dugu Bo opened his mouth and spat out a cloud of green poison mist, its pungent, sickly-sweet stench filling the air.
The poison mist drifted toward the Northern Plains Snow Pig in the cave.
However...
The Northern Plains Snow Pig was still fast asleep, completely unaware of the approaching poison mist.
Tang Wu and Tang San stood outside the cave, quietly watching everything unfold.
But the next moment, something unexpected happened.
The Jade Phosphorus Snake Poison, potent enough to kill an ordinary Soul Beast on the spot, slowly floated to the Northern Plains Snow Pig's snout.
Still in hibernation, the Northern Plains Snow Pig merely twitched its nose, catching a whiff of the pungent odor.
Its plump body gave a slight shudder, then... it rolled over, turning its backside toward the cave entrance.
It didn't even lift an eyelid.
The smile froze on Dugu Bo's face, and the smug expression he'd worn just moments ago vanished without a trace.
"Impossible!"
"How could my Jade Phosphorus Snake Poison have no effect? I don't believe it! Again!"
He widened his eyes and, unwilling to give up, activated his Soul Skill once more.
Another cloud of poison mist billowed out, but this time it was even denser, nearly swallowing the Northern Plains Snow Pig whole.
Yet it remained completely motionless.
It only grunted in its sleep, irritated, as a thin blue glow rose of its own accord around its body.
The instant the poison mist touched that layer of cold, its molecular motion slowed abruptly.
In a low-temperature environment, the poison mist's potency was greatly diminished, until it became completely ineffective.
"Impossible! This absolutely cannot be—"
Unable to believe what he was seeing, Dugu Bo activated Martial Soul Possession and sank his teeth into the Northern Plains Snow Pig.
Enraged and humiliated, he tried to inject a highly concentrated dose of Jade Phosphorus Snake Poison directly into its body.
But the effect... calling it useful would be a stretch. It barely did anything at all.
The ice-attribute Soul Power inside the Northern Plains Snow Pig instinctively surged into motion, freezing the injected poison layer by layer.
The effect was practically zero...
Just as Dugu Bo was questioning his entire life—
The Northern Plains Snow Pig woke up.
Sensing Dugu Bo riding on its back, its drowsy head, still fogged by hibernation, was instantly roused by another deeply ingrained instinct.
That was...
In the Northern Plains Snow Pig herd, this sort of mounting had only one meaning:
Mating!
It jolted awake.
All four hooves dug into the ground, and its plump body erupted with astonishing strength as it suddenly rolled over!
Before Dugu Bo could react, the two-to-three-hundred-pound snow pig had pinned him firmly beneath its body.
A strong, wild odor hit him full in the face.
Then the snow pig began its signature "wriggling tactic."
It braced its hind legs against the ground and thrust its body forward in a series of jerks.
For a while, the scene was utter chaos.
666, this guy's got a whole lifetime of blackmail material.
Who would've thought that Dugu Bo, that stern-looking fellow, was actually a freaky furry?
Tang Wu's eyes widened as he stared at the scene in disbelief.
Then he turned away, unable to bear watching...
"That's enough! Seventh Soul Skill, Jade Phosphorus Snake True Form!"
"Go to hell..."
Dugu Bo's eyes were bloodshot as he switched into berserk mode in an instant.
Obviously.
For a dignified Titled Douluo to suffer such humiliation—and at the hands of a beast, no less—was enough to drive Dugu Bo nearly mad.
"You two, promise the old man that this stays between us. Heaven knows, earth knows, you know, and I know. No fourth person can ever find out."
"As long as you don't tell anyone, I'll agree to anything you ask—except anything concerning Yanyan's life..."
With one lash of his tail, he killed the Northern Plains Snow Pig and dispelled his Martial Soul Avatar.
He sternly ordered the Tang Wu brothers to keep the secret and never let it slip.
"Heh, Poison Old Man, I'll hold this over you for the rest of your life."
Holding such a juicy secret in his hands, Tang Wu grinned and gave Dugu Bo a decidedly unfriendly look.
With an opportunity like this, he naturally wasn't going to let it go. He made it clear that he planned to hold it over Dugu Bo for the rest of his life.
"Fine..." Tang San nodded, then changed tack.
"But I need you, Poison Douluo, to agree to one condition."
"Name it."
"I hope Senior Poison Douluo will become a guardian for the two of us brothers. It doesn't have to be for very long—only until we reach Soul King, Level 50."
Tang San saw the displeasure on Dugu Bo's face and lowered his expectations of his own accord.
Hearing this, Dugu Bo began to think it over.
With Tang Wu and Tang San's talent, it would take only five or six years for them to reach Level 50.
And during those five or six years, I can build a good relationship with them. Looked at that way, this is a good deal!
With that thought, Dugu Bo immediately accepted Tang San's condition.
"Fine. I agree to be your guardian."
The deal was done.
Just then, the rich aroma of roasting meat drifted over.
Tang San and Dugu Bo turned to look.
Someone had eagerly lit a fire to warm themselves and started roasting meat.
At some point, Tang Wu had slipped over to the dead Northern Plains Snow Pig. With a swift stroke of his knife, he cut off several succulent ribs and set them over the fire.
Golden fat sizzled as the flames licked it, dripping onto the coals and scattering tiny sparks. The aroma spread through the air.
The Northern Plains Snow Pig's meat was rich and tender, its fibers marbled with delicate streaks of fat. With just a small pinch of salt, it was a feast fit for a king.
As Tang Wu ate, he didn't forget to give a thumbs-up.
"You know what? You really have to hand it to this meat..."
"No wonder Northern Plains Snow Pigs can become Titled Douluo-level Soul Beasts. This meat is truly second to none."
Dugu Bo's face darkened on the spot.
"That's over with. Don't bring it up again."
Tang Wu grinned and tore off another piece of meat, offering it to Dugu Bo.
"Poison Old Man, want a piece? It'll put some strength back in you."
"...Get lost. Don't make me hit you."
"Mm—this is delicious!"
But after trying it, Dugu Bo couldn't help letting out a sound of praise.
As expected, no one could escape the law of "this actually tastes great."
After eating their fill, the three-person team set off again, searching for traces of the Mirror Shadow Beast in the Far North Snow Forest.
"Look over there!"
Suddenly—
As the group moved forward, Tang Wu spotted something.
Tang San and Dugu Bo followed his gaze and saw a little deer.
Strangely, there was no herd nearby. The lone deer stood all by itself.
Dugu Bo was puzzled. "It's just a deer. What's the big deal?"
"Size. It's far too small!"
Tang San's expression grew grave as he finally spotted what was wrong.
Generally speaking, the deer's size was highly abnormal.
A herd-dwelling Soul Beast like this little deer was still a juvenile. It shouldn't be able to leave its herd and roam alone, let alone be doing so just fine with no injuries.
That left only one possible explanation...