Concluding Remarks

After resolving Lin Xi's matter, Gu Han returned to the Karma Pavilion, yet the trace of doubt in his heart refused to dissipate.

Withered Bone Forest...

He had never looked into the Withered Bone Forest before, knowing only what was recorded in the Spirit Hall's archives:

Located thirty miles west of Spirit City, it was perpetually shrouded in miasma and frequented by spirit beasts; low-level spirit masters were advised to stay away.

However, the aura he had captured from the spirit beast's resentment today gave him a peculiar feeling. It wasn't merely resentment; it felt as though it were burdened by some hidden intent.

"It seems I must make a trip there myself."

Gu Han stood before the third-floor window, gazing toward the west. Xiao Wu, sitting nearby, looked up upon hearing this: "Are you going to the Withered Bone Forest?"

"Yes."

"The resentment on Lin Xi didn't feel that simple. I have a feeling something is hidden there."

Gu Han turned around after speaking, his eyes filled with contemplation.

"Moreover, for the lingering consciousness of a spirit beast to persist for hundreds or even thousands of years, the scale of that battle could not have been small."

"I want to go with you," Xiao Wu said.

Gu Han shook his head and replied:

"The miasma in the Withered Bone Forest erodes spirit power. You should stay here in the pavilion."

"If any commissions come in, you can handle them using the methods I taught you. I will be back soon."

Xiao Wu wanted to say more, but seeing Gu Han's serious expression, she could only nod and say: "Then be careful, and come back soon."

Early the next morning, Gu Han left Spirit City alone and headed west.

The thirty-mile journey was a mere trifle for a Spirit King like him.

However, the closer he got to the Withered Bone Forest, the more desolate the surroundings became.

The trees gradually thinned out, replaced by patches of jagged rocks, and a corrosive stench began to permeate the air.

Half an hour later, a forest shrouded in gray-white mist appeared before Gu Han's eyes.

The Withered Bone Forest.

Even standing outside the forest, Gu Han could feel that oppressive aura.

The mist was not still; it churned slowly, and the dark silhouettes of trees were vaguely visible within.

Scattered across the ground were the bones of unknown creatures, most of them weathered and bleached white.

Gu Han activated [Karma Sight], and the scene before him changed instantly.

Countless threads of karma in various colors drifted through the mist. Most had been completely severed, but some still connected to certain focal points.

He slowly walked into the forest.

Beneath his feet, the damp soil was mixed with bone fragments.

The mist flowed sluggishly, bringing a chill to his skin as it brushed against him.

The deeper Gu Han ventured, the denser the threads of karma became.

Gu Han followed the direction of the thickest thread of karma, observing his surroundings with vigilance.

It was deathly quiet here—no chirping of insects, no calls of birds, only the sound of the wind swirling past his ears.

After walking about three miles, an open area appeared ahead.

The sight before him made Gu Han's pupils contract.

In the center of the clearing was a massive crater, over a hundred yards in diameter, with no visible bottom.

The walls of the pit were not formed by nature; they were covered in all manner of gouges, as if it were a battlefield relic, bearing the marks of high-intensity combat.

Furthermore, Gu Han spotted a patch of exceptionally large bones on the ground.

These were not human remains, but the skeletons of various spirit beasts.

Some skeletons were as large as small hills, and even after who knows how many years since their death, they still radiated a faint pressure.

Other bones shimmered with a peculiar luster, clearly belonging to some rare spirit beast; most, however, were the bones of ordinary spirit beasts, piled up like mountains.

Gu Han walked up to one of the largest skeletons.

It appeared to be the remains of a dragon-type spirit beast. The skull alone was a yard long, and its vertebrae were linked together, extending deep into the pit.

Gu Han reached out and gently touched the skull.

[Karma Sight] activated once more, tracing back along the threads of karma attached to the bones.

Fragmented scenes flashed through Gu Han's mind:

An ancient battlefield, the sky stained with the colors of various spirit skills.

Countless spirit beasts and human spirit masters were locked in a slaughter, blood soaking the earth. A Dark Gold Dragon Beast roared at the heavens, spewing golden flames that reduced dozens of human powerhouses to ash.

But immediately after, three figures descended from different directions. One of them held a long spear, the tip of which pierced the dragon beast's reverse scale...

The screen shattered.

Gu Han withdrew his hand, his heart trembling.

Judging from the attire and combat methods of those soul masters, this was not a battle from recent years; it dated back a long time.

He continued to investigate the other skeletal remains.

Each powerful remnant held similar fragments of combat memories:

Angry roars, desperate counterattacks, and ultimate falls. But the images of all the human soul masters were blurry, only their resolute killing intent could be felt.

"This was a war of extermination..." Gu Han murmured.

The "Soul-Devouring Miasma" was likely a product of decaying soul beast corpses mixed with the earth veins here.

As Gu Han pondered, his body suddenly tensed.

In his [Karma Sight], the scattered karma lines around him suddenly began to converge in an orderly fashion towards him.

"Wuuu--"

A whimper came from the depths of the mist, neither beast nor human.

Then a second, a third... In mere seconds, the entire Withered Bone Forest seemed to come alive, countless whimpers, roars, and shouts intertwining.

Gu Han saw countless semi-transparent phantoms appear in the mist.

There were soul beasts, and there were humans.

They were not true souls, merely remnants of resentment, but their numbers were exceptionally large.

All the phantoms' "gazes" locked onto Gu Han.

The next moment, they moved.

Countless phantom remnants charged towards Gu Han.

They had no physical form, nor did their attacks.

They directly assaulted the spirit. If one's will was not firm, their mind would instantly be crushed by this overwhelming resentment, turning them into a walking corpse.

"Hmph!"

Gu Han snorted coldly, summoning the Sky Frost Sword into his hand.

The Ultimate Ice had a natural restraint on them.

He swung his sword in a horizontal sweep, a frosty white sword energy spreading out. Wherever it passed, the phantom remnants at the forefront were instantly frozen, then shattered.

But the phantoms behind them seemed devoid of intelligence, still charging forward.

Gu Han knew he couldn't linger here.

He fought and retreated, each swing clearing a large area.

The battle lasted for several minutes.

Gu Han had already annihilated more than half of the phantom remnants, but the remaining ones were becoming more solid. Especially those few hundred-thousand-year-level remnants, which had begun to consciously engage Gu Han.

Suddenly, a karma line belonging to a living person appeared, carrying a dark green hue of potent poison. It was currently behind a rock face, observing the battlefield.

"Someone?"

Gu Han was startled, but his movements didn't stop. Under the cover of his sword light, he glanced towards the direction of that karma line.

Behind the rock face, a tall, thin old man with green hair and green eyes revealed himself.

His eyes, like a viper's, watched Gu Han warily.

"Dugu Bo."

Gu Han was shocked. The reclusive Poison Douluo from the original story should have been near the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well in the Sunset Forest. How could he be in the Withered Bone Forest, a thousand miles away?

Their gazes met in mid-air.

Dugu Bo clearly hadn't expected to encounter humans here, especially seeing a young man handling the soul beast remnants surrounding him with ease. A flicker of surprise crossed his eyes.

"Trouble," Dugu Bo muttered.

He had originally come to the Withered Bone Forest to collect ingredients for some special poisons. This ancient battlefield, after being permeated by miasma, often nurtured rare poisonous insects and herbs.

Dugu Bo, being naturally suspicious, attacked directly when he saw Gu Han looking at him.

Without a word, a dark green soul power shot towards Gu Han, moving so fast that even Gu Han almost didn't react.

Gu Han, who was dealing with another wave of soul beast remnants, couldn't understand why Dugu Bo attacked so suddenly, but his reaction was swift.

He blocked with the Sky Frost Sword. The cold energy collided with the poison dart, and the two soul powers canceled each other out.

"What is the meaning of this, Senior?" Gu Han asked sternly.

Dugu Bo emerged from behind the rock face, his voice hoarse:

"Boy, you saw something you shouldn't have."

"I was just passing by to inspect; I meant no offense," Gu Han explained while fending off the remnants. "If Senior doesn't wish to be seen, I will leave immediately."

"Leave?"

Dugu Bo sneered, "Who knows if you'll go blabbing about this?"

He gave Gu Han no chance to explain further, nine soul rings manifesting beneath his feet: yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black, black.

Dugu Bo pressed his palms together, and his third soul ring flared to life.

"Third Soul Skill: Jade Phosphorus Snake Poison!"

Dark green toxic mist surged forth, not only engulfing Gu Han but also sweeping over the lingering remnants of the soul beasts nearby.

Gu Han's eyes narrowed.

Knowing that Dugu Bo's mastery of poison was unrivaled, he dared not be careless. He drove the Sky Frost Sword into the ground, creating a barrier that held the toxic mist at bay.

The two were locked in a stalemate, one attacking and one defending.

The soul beast remnants dissipated in droves amidst the shockwaves of their clash.

Dugu Bo grew increasingly alarmed the longer they fought.

He had assumed this young man was at most a Soul King, someone he could easily dispatch with his poison arts.

Yet, upon actual engagement, he discovered that the quality of his opponent's ice-attribute soul power was terrifyingly high—it was actually capable of freezing his Jade Phosphorus Snake Poison.

"Boy, who are you?" Dugu Bo asked coldly, his fifth soul ring beginning to glow.

"Spirit Hall, Gu Han," Gu Han replied calmly, the light from the Sky Frost Sword intensifying.

At the mention of "Spirit Hall," Dugu Bo was visibly startled.

While he had no personal history with the organization, he harbored a deep-seated aversion and fear toward it.

Dugu Bo proceeded to unleash another soul skill against Gu Han.

This mist was several times denser than the previous one, and the very rocks it touched began to melt away.

The Jade Phosphorus Snake Poison was so overbearing that even the Sky Frost Sword struggled to hold it back.

Seeing the mist surging toward him again, Gu Han pointed the Sky Frost Sword toward the heart of the poison. A point of cold light condensed at the tip before erupting.

There was no earth-shattering roar, only a silence as if time itself had frozen.

The Jade Phosphorus Snake Poison solidified in mid-air, forming a sculpture of purple ice.

Dugu Bo's pupils constricted, and he retreated violently. Even so, a wisp of cold air brushed his sleeve, instantly freezing it into ice.

He hurriedly shattered the ice, his gaze toward Gu Han now completely transformed.

The power of that strike far exceeded what his current soul power could achieve.

Moreover, the nature of Gu Han's Ultimate Ice caused the Jade Phosphorus Snake Emperor soul within Dugu Bo to feel an instinctive dread.

"Good, a fine genius from Spirit Hall indeed," Dugu Bo said, his voice frigid. "But today, you aren't leaving."

Gu Han frowned deeply.

He had no desire for a death match with Dugu Bo, but the man clearly had no intention of stopping.

Just as he considered whether to reveal his twin martial souls, his Karma Sight suddenly caught a peculiar thread of karma on Dugu Bo.

It was a nearly pitch-black thread extending from Dugu Bo's heart, the other end covered in fine cracks and signs of corrosion.

Poison... backlash?

Gu Han realized the truth in an instant.

In the original story, Dugu Bo spent his life cultivating poison, only to be consumed by its backlash. Every rainy day, he suffered the agony of ten thousand poisons gnawing at his heart, a curse that even plagued his descendants.

A thought flashed through Gu Han's mind.

Just as Dugu Bo was about to unleash his eighth soul skill, Gu Han suddenly withdrew his sword and stepped back. "Senior Dugu, hold your hand."

"Oh? Begging for mercy now? The people of Spirit Hall aren't much, after all," Dugu Bo sneered, though the momentum of his soul skill slowed slightly.

"This is not a plea for mercy, but a proposal for a trade."

Gu Han looked at him calmly. "I can resolve the backlash from your poison arts."

As the words fell, the toxic mist swirling around Dugu Bo stalled abruptly.

His eyes locked onto Gu Han, flashing with shock, suspicion, and a glimmer of hope.

"What did you say?" Dugu Bo's voice turned suddenly eager.

"I said I can resolve the backlash of the Jade Phosphorus Snake Poison," Gu Han repeated, word for word. "Not just for you, but for the toxins inherited within your bloodline as well. I have a way to eradicate them completely."

The mist of the Withered Bone Forest drifted slowly between them, and the whimpering of the remnants had long since faded into silence.

Dugu Bo stood rooted to the spot, the toxic mist around him gathering and dispersing, reflecting his inner turmoil. After a long while, he spoke, his voice heavy with suppressed emotion.

"Boy, do you know the price of lying to me?"

Gu Han met his gaze steadily. "Three days from now, outside the Withered Bone Forest. I will bring the solution, and you may verify it yourself. If I have spoken a single word of falsehood, it will not be too late to fight then."

Dugu Bo fell silent.

Finally, the mist around him slowly receded, and his nine soul rings vanished one by one.

"Fine. I will wait three days for you," he said, fixing Gu Han with a deep stare. "If you dare to play any tricks... not even Spirit Hall will be able to save you!"

As the words fell, Dugu Bo's figure transformed into a streak of green light, vanishing deep into the mist.

Gu Han stood where he was, exhaling a soft breath.

The secrets of the Withered Bone Forest, the appearance of Dugu Bo, the deal to undo the backlash—the gains from this trip far exceeded his expectations.

He took one last look at that vast battlefield before turning to leave.

Three days later, he would return here, and he certainly had a way to completely resolve Dugu Bo's backlash.