Who is the Number One Poison Soul Master Under Heaven?!

Back when Snake Spear Douluo and Pufferfish Douluo were hiding in the tavern, eating and drinking, Dugu Bo had already secretly made his move, slipping a bit of the Jade Phosphorus Serpent Emperor's innate lethal poison into their food.

The two had remained in hiding until just now, so the poison had taken effect slowly.

Now that they were burning their soul power to launch a full-scale attack, the poison lurking in their meridians was instantly detonated, coursing through their entire bodies.

Snake Spear Douluo could no longer concern himself with killing Ning Fengzhi; he slumped to the ground, sweating profusely as he channeled his soul power to desperately suppress the rampaging serpent venom within him, losing his combat effectiveness entirely for the moment.

However, after only two or three breaths, Pufferfish Douluo's complexion returned to normal, appearing even more ruddy than before.

"Heh... Old Poison, you poisoned me?"

Pufferfish Douluo sneered.

Originally, he had not been among the planned participants for this mission, as his primary duty was to guard the Spirit Hall branch in the Heaven Dou Empire.

But as a titled official of the Heaven Dou branch, how could he not come to support the cause when Spirit Hall was operating within the empire's borders?

Therefore, he had personally requested to join the team from the Title Douluo leading the mission.

His reason for coming was simple.

Dugu Bo had suddenly vanished, disappearing right under everyone's noses; he no longer appeared in public, and no one knew where he had gone or what he was doing.

Why had Spirit Hall chosen him as the Title Douluo to guard the Heaven Dou Empire?

In terms of cultivation, he was inferior to Snake Spear, and in terms of soul power, he was far behind the other Title Douluo within Spirit Hall.

Yet, it was he, not those others, who guarded the Heaven Dou Empire.

It was only because his Pufferfish martial soul naturally granted him an extremely strong immunity to toxins!

Furthermore, he could directly absorb toxins to strengthen himself; if an enemy were blind enough to poison him, it would not only fail to take him down, but would instead be a disguised form of aid, making him even more powerful!

The chief official of the Heaven Dou Empire was none other than Dugu Bo, that old poison-user who was lackluster in direct combat but excelled at underhanded harm!

A natural counter!

The smile on Pufferfish Douluo's lips was undisguised. Previously, he had never revealed the true nature of his martial soul, waiting for the moment he could face Poison Douluo head-on to deal him a heavy blow.

Now, he had finally seized the opportunity!

"Avatar of the Martial Soul!"

"Blood Sea Pufferfish Abyss!"

Two soul rings on Pufferfish Douluo's body lit up in succession, suddenly whipping up a violent gale!

Then, a massive pufferfish suddenly appeared where Pufferfish Douluo had been standing. With him as the core, patches of pufferfish spines instantly erupted from the ground all around him!

Although it was an explosion, Pufferfish Douluo clearly had not lost his reason. Knowing they were in Soto City, he did not fully unleash the power of his ninth soul skill; instead, he remained extremely restrained, keeping the range confined to the open space.

Then, the blood-red pufferfish spines instantly spread toward Dugu Bo!

"You old bastard, you set me up!"

Dugu Bo's expression flickered, realizing he had been played by Ci Xue.

He truly had not expected that this thick-browed, big-eyed fellow could be so patient, hiding his toxin-nullification trait so well!

He had guarded the Heaven Dou Empire for years, yet he had never discovered this trait!

Seeing the large-scale area-of-effect skill erupt, Dugu Bo instantly understood Pufferfish Douluo's intent: he clearly did not want to harm the innocent, and even less did he want to accidentally injure Cuihua!

Without a moment's hesitation, Dugu Bo sneered and simply flashed behind Cuihua, using her as a human shield!

Seeing this, Ci Xue felt an urge to vomit blood.

When he had requested to join the mission, the leading Title Douluo had frowned deeply.

"You shouldn't come on this trip to Soto City."

"First, the Heaven Dou Empire branch needs you to guard it. Second, your Pufferfish martial soul is toxic; if a major battle breaks out, you cannot unleash your full power in Soto City, or the entire city will be buried with you."

"And if you don't unleash your full power, how much combat strength will you have left?"

"Furthermore, His Holiness the Pope has given a strict order to bring back the young girl alive. Your martial soul is toxic—do you intend to hand the Pope a poisoned girl?"

The barrage of questions had left Ci Xue speechless, and it was only through his thick-skinned, desperate pleading that he had secured the chance to join the mission.

It was for nothing else but to catch Dugu Bo and face him in a direct confrontation!

He wanted to prove to the world who the true number one poison soul master was!

Yet, at this moment, that old bastard Dugu Bo had seen through his weakness at a glance and was using the little girl as a shield—he truly had no shame!

Pufferfish Douluo was helpless; he channeled his soul power to forcibly retract his ninth soul skill.

However, forcibly interrupting a skill that had already been released still caused him significant injury, forcing him to pause his confrontation with Dugu Bo and briefly recover.

In this brief moment, the situation fell into a bizarre equilibrium.

The two elders of the Clear Sky Sect were locked in a stalemate with Chrysanthemum Douluo, the light of their soul skills illuminating half the night sky.

Sword Douluo Chen Xin was being held fast by Ghost Douluo, who had transformed into a mass of black mist; the two collided repeatedly in mid-air, neither able to overcome the other.

Bone Douluo lay on the ground severely wounded, Ning Fengzhi's combat power was negligible, Snake Spear was poisoned and could only channel soul power to suppress the venom, and Pufferfish Douluo had been backlashed by his own ninth soul skill—both had lost their ability to fight.

Miraculously, a massive void had appeared on the battlefield!

Dugu Bo flickered into motion, stopping just a few paces in front of Cuihua.

He had witnessed the lethality of Cuihua's flying knives with his own eyes and knew that although the girl possessed no soul power, her method of controlling objects with mental energy was impossible to guard against.

Furthermore, he did not specialize in single-target brute force, so he naturally dared not act recklessly.

Dugu Bo put on what he considered his most amiable smile and grinned hideously: "Little girl, don't be afraid. This old man is the Chief Consultant of the Heaven Dou Empire."

Dugu Bo cleared his throat and attempted to persuade her with kind words: "You were born in Soto City, so logically speaking, you are also a subject of my Heaven Dou Empire."

"Come with this old man, and I will personally take you to meet Emperor Xue Ye."

"You can trust this old man; this is the promise of a Title Douluo."

"The terms Emperor Xue Ye offers you will absolutely not be inferior to anyone or any faction present. The Heaven Dou Empire will become your firmest backing, protecting both you and your family."

Once these words were spoken, Cuihua, who had been wavering between the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and Spirit Hall, felt her heart stir once more.

Although Spirit Hall was strong, it was precisely because they were too strong that Cuihua lacked a sense of security.

Would she really be valued in a faction where her presence or absence made no difference?

While the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was wealthy, it was ultimately just a sect. Moreover, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect seemed to consist of support-type soul masters; how much combat power could they have, and could they really protect her?

As for the Heaven Dou Empire, that was a behemoth that controlled half the continent!

It seemed to possess the advantages of both Spirit Hall and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, while its drawbacks were not nearly as apparent.