Dugu Bo snorted coldly and stomped his right foot hard against the ground.
"Today, I'll show you what true supreme poison is!"
The moment he finished speaking, the black seventh Soul Ring on Dugu Bo's body suddenly blazed with light.
He did not intend to kill the man outright. Instead, he wanted to use the poisonous mist to torture this arrogant herb gatherer until he begged for death, then slowly force him to reveal the locations of every poisonous herb in the valley.
"Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor, Poison Burst!"
Dugu Bo shouted low and thrust both hands forward.
The viscous jade-green poisonous mist around him instantly condensed into the phantom of a gigantic venomous serpent dozens of meters long.
The serpent phantom opened its gaping maw and, reeking of something foul, lunged at the Pharmacist over ten meters away with thunderous force.
Wherever the poisonous mist passed, even hard rocks sizzled as they corroded away.
Seeing this astonishing sight, everyone outside the Sky Screen held their breath and stared at the scene without blinking.
They were all waiting to see that arrogant herb gatherer swallowed by the poisonous mist and melted into a miserable puddle of pus.
Yet, facing the gigantic venomous serpent phantom roaring toward him, the Pharmacist in the Evil Ghost Mask did not retreat even half a step.
He did not even raise a hand, still looking languid and unhurried, utterly unconcerned.
He merely lowered his head slightly and glanced at the little spider perched on his right index finger.
"Little fellow, you must have been cooped up in that bamboo basket these past few days, huh?"
The Pharmacist's voice came through the blue-faced, fanged mask, carrying a casual hint of amusement.
"The poison that old man released earlier was a little mixed, but it can barely count as an appetizer."
"Go on. Clean up that smell. Don't dirty our place."
As the Pharmacist's words fell, the little spider that had been resting on his finger—the one everyone in Douluo had mocked as weaker than even a ten-year Soul Beast—suddenly moved.
It slowly raised its two tiny forelegs.
Then, it opened its mouth and inhaled at the jade-green venomous serpent phantom dozens of meters long, already rushing right at it with terrifying corrosive power!
As the Pharmacist finished speaking, the little black spider on his fingertip slowly raised its two tiny forelegs.
Facing the jade-green venomous serpent phantom, dozens of meters long and filled with terrifying corrosive power, the little creature opened its impossibly tiny mouth.
It took a gentle breath in.
The next second, a sight that made everyone across Douluo Continent drop their jaws unfolded.
The jade-green poisonous mist filling the sky, along with that enormous serpent phantom, was actually sucked toward the black spider's mouth in spiraling streams, like noodles being pulled in.
It was unbelievably fast.
In just two or three breaths, the poisonous mist that had blanketed half the valley was completely devoured by the thumb-sized spider.
Not even a trace of the foul stench remained.
In midair, the little black spider even let out a very human-like burp and puffed out a tiny green bubble from the corner of its mouth.
Outside the Sky Screen, Douluo Continent instantly fell into a terrifying silence.
Inside the great hall of Heaven Dou Imperial City.
The civil and military officials, who had just been shouting "Long live the Emperor," all stood with their mouths wide open, dumbstruck.
The jade cup in Xue Ye's hand fell with a clatter and shattered on the floor, but he did not notice at all. He simply stared at the Sky Screen with an expression as though he had seen a ghost.
On the training ground of Shrek Academy.
The confidence and pride on Tang San's face completely froze.
He felt as if someone had viciously slapped him across the face more than a dozen times, leaving his cheeks burning with pain.
"How is this possible...?"
Tang San muttered, his voice trembling.
That had been the Poison Burst unleashed by a level ninety-two Titled Douluo's seventh Soul Skill, Martial Soul Avatar!
And it had been swallowed in one gulp by a bug?
Meanwhile, within the Sky Screen, Dugu Bo was utterly dumbfounded as well.
His eyes were wide as he remained frozen in his pose with both hands thrust forward, completely unable to believe that the natal poison he had painstakingly cultivated for decades had simply vanished.
But before he could recover from his shock.
The little black spider on the Pharmacist's fingertip suddenly twisted.
Then, a spine-chilling series of bones cracking and stretching suddenly rang through the valley.
"Crack, crack, crack..."
The thumb-sized black spider rapidly swelled in the wind.
One meter, ten meters, a hundred meters, several hundred meters!
In the blink of an eye, a colossal monster the size of a mountain had appeared alive and well before Dugu Bo.
The black giant spider's eight hairy legs were like eight pillars holding up the heavens, and every bristle was as sharp as a spear forged from fine steel.
Its enormous body blocked the sunlight over the valley, casting a vast, heavy shadow over Dugu Bo's head.
Several enormous compound eyes, like blood-red lanterns, looked down from above at the tiny Dugu Bo.
Before the ancient ferocious aura emitted by this black giant spider, the so-called Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts of the Star Dou Forest—the Titan Giant Ape and the Sky Azure Bull Python—were as laughable as newborn infants.
That sheer difference in size, coupled with the bloodline suppression of a higher-dimensional world, made the nine Soul Rings beneath Dugu Bo's feet tremble violently, as if they might shatter at any moment.
Yet this was only the beginning.
As the black giant spider revealed its true form, the surrounding valley began to shake violently as well.
The earth nearby churned, and a dark-red centipede as thick as a water vat and hundreds of meters long burrowed out from underground.
Its hundreds upon thousands of legs scraped across the rocks, throwing up a long trail of dazzling sparks.
Immediately afterward, a giant toad covered in festering, pus-filled sores and as large as a small hill leaped out of a nearby poisonous pool, releasing an earthshaking croak.
Colorful poisonous moths, winged venomous snakes, and all kinds of enormous poisonous insects whose names could not even be called out crawled forth from every direction of the valley.
These poisonous creatures, which the Pharmacist usually kept free-range in the valley as pets, were each countless times larger and more imposing than the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts of Douluo Continent.
Besides them, countless ordinary-sized poisonous insects crawled out in dense swarms.
Dugu Bo now did not dare move at all.
His clothes were already soaked through with cold sweat, and his legs felt as heavy as if they had been filled with lead.
Run?
Among these terrifying poison kings, any one of which could melt him with a mere puff of breath, if he dared move even half a step, his fate would definitely be ten thousand times worse than those people before him.
He was the mighty Poison Douluo, who had strutted through life in glory, yet before these poisonous creatures of the Great Ruins, he felt inferior to even an ant.
At that moment, the Pharmacist in the Evil Ghost Mask slowly walked over.
He reached out and lightly patted the pillar-like leg of the black giant spider beside him.
"Look at you, old man."
The Pharmacist shook his head, his tone filled with disappointment.
"I already told you earlier that your poison is too mixed and too low-grade."
"Look how awful it tasted for my Little Black. It even spat bubbles."
"That's only because it has a good appetite and isn't picky. If it were another poisonous insect, it would have tossed your poisonous mist away like trash long ago."
Listening to the Pharmacist's words, Dugu Bo's mouth twitched several times, but he could not summon even the courage to argue.
However, just as the Pharmacist finished speaking, his gaze suddenly swept twice over the area beneath Dugu Bo's feet.
More precisely, he was staring at the nine Soul Rings beneath Dugu Bo's feet, which were still trembling.
The Pharmacist raised a fair finger and rubbed the chin area of his mask, muttering thoughtfully.
"Though your poison techniques are worse than a three-year-old child's, and your strength is pitifully weak."
"But..."
The Pharmacist's eyes lit up, as though he had spotted some novel toy.
"The several glowing rings around your feet are rather interesting."
"They seem to contain some sort of special energy circuit and soul imprint."
As the Pharmacist spoke, he circled Dugu Bo once, completely ignoring Dugu Bo's expression, which looked as though he was about to piss himself in terror.
"I've recently been researching how to improve Little Black and the others' breeds, to increase their toxicity."
"If this glowing-ring system can be dismantled and used as medicinal catalysts for poisonous insects, or as a breeding ground for new poisonous insects, perhaps it could produce something new."
The more the Pharmacist spoke, the more excited he became. He turned and patted the enormous dark-red centipede.
"Big Red, go. Wrap up this old man and bring him back to the village pharmacy."
"Remember to be gentle. Don't kill him. I still have great use for those glowing rings of his."
The dark-red centipede happily wriggled its huge body and extended several sharp jointed limbs, grabbing the completely terrified Dugu Bo like a chick.
At this point, the section of the Sky Screen slowly darkened.
A generation's Poison Douluo, a guest advisor of the Heaven Dou Empire, had been treated as material for breeding poisonous insects and humiliatingly carried away by a giant centipede.
After the scene vanished, the entire Douluo Continent remained in a prolonged daze, unable to recover for a long time.
Everyone had thought the Poison Douluo would obtain a fortunate opportunity here and soar to greatness.
Who could have expected that a mighty Titled Douluo could not even defeat one of the other side's pet insects, and would ultimately become experimental material in their eyes?
Then, the Sky Screen gradually darkened as the Pharmacist departed.
When it lit up again, it still showed the perspective of Poison Douluo Dugu Bo.
The light in the scene was extremely dim.
This was a dilapidated thatched hut filled with a strong, strange medicinal smell.
Several rows of rough wooden shelves stood against the walls around the room.
The shelves were packed with black clay jars and glass bottles of every size.
By the faint light filtering in through the window, it was possible to clearly see all kinds of horrifying poisonous insects and poisonous herbs soaking inside the glass bottles.
From the sealed black clay jars came, from time to time, the teeth-grinding sounds of jointed limbs crawling and things chewing.
Dugu Bo was like a discarded burlap sack, tossed by the dark-red giant centipede onto a pile of dry straw in the corner of the thatched hut.
After completing its task, the giant centipede wriggled its enormous body out, then casually slammed the broken wooden door shut with its tail.
The room instantly became quiet.
Dugu Bo lay sprawled on the ground in disarray, covered from head to toe in dirt and the foul-smelling slime left behind by the centipede.
He gasped heavily, trying to circulate the Soul Power within his body to break free from his restraints.
But to his despair, he discovered that in this strange place, the Soul Power of a level ninety-two Titled Douluo like himself was like a clay ox sinking into the sea, utterly unresponsive. He could not even summon his Martial Soul.
"It's over..."
Dugu Bo's face was ashen, and cold sweat had long since drenched his back.
He recalled the black giant spider that had instantly grown massive, like a mountain.
He was also terrified of the Pharmacist in the Evil Ghost Mask, who treated Titled Douluo as experimental material.
Before that group of monsters, the Jade Phosphorus Snake Emperor Poison he was so proud of probably truly amounted to nothing.
He was now like a lamb awaiting slaughter, tied to a chopping block. All he could do was wait in despair for that Pharmacist to return, skin him, pull out his tendons, and feed him to those terrifying poisonous insects.
Watching Dugu Bo's miserable, wretched state, everyone outside the Sky Screen could only sigh.
The Poison Douluo who had been so high-spirited and arrogant just moments ago had fallen to this state in less than half an hour.
That immense contrast filled every Soul Master with a deep sense of helplessness.
Just as Dugu Bo's heart had turned to ashes and his mind was filled with wild thoughts.
"Creak—"
The broken wooden door of the thatched hut suddenly gave a faint scrape and was pushed open from outside, leaving a narrow crack.
Dugu Bo's heart lurched. He quickly shut his eyes and pretended to be dead, afraid that the terrifying masked Pharmacist had come in carrying a knife.
Yet after waiting for a moment, no dreadful footsteps came.
Instead, a series of light, faint tapping sounds entered the room.
Dugu Bo cautiously opened his eyes and looked toward the crack in the door.
A small figure was sneaking in through the gap, moving stealthily like a thief.
When Dugu Bo saw who it was, his pupils suddenly contracted.
The one who had entered was actually a boy around ten years old.
The boy was very handsome, dressed in coarse cloth patched all over. His large eyes darted around brightly, full of cleverness.
The moment he saw that face, Dugu Bo felt his heart nearly leap out of his throat.
Though he had not spoken with the previous groups of explorers, everyone across Douluo Continent had watched the first round of the Sky Screen broadcast before he was transported here!
He recognized him at once.
This seemingly harmless little brat was the terrifying little monster who had once herded cattle by the river, carried the leg of a strange beast one-handed, and casually called that old skin-painted demon woman "Granny"!
He was Qin Mu.
Qin Mu was currently looking around the room furtively. Clearly, while the Pharmacist was away, he had slipped into the pharmacy to hunt for treasure.
He walked up to a wooden shelf, stood on tiptoe, and reached for the glass bottle at the top filled with colorful poison pills.
Watching this little monster, thoughts spun rapidly through Dugu Bo's mind.
"This kid may be unbelievably strong, and his background terrifying beyond belief, but judging by his appearance, he's only around ten and still mentally immature."
"Children are always easy to fool."
"If I can sweet-talk him, perhaps I can use him to escape this hellish place!"
With that thought, Dugu Bo felt as if he had seized a lifeline.
He endured the pain in his chest and forced what he thought was his kindest, most benevolent smile onto his gloomy face.
"Cough, cough... L-little brother..."
Dugu Bo lowered his voice and called out in an extremely weak yet gentle tone.
Qin Mu, who was about to steal the pills, jumped at the sudden voice and quickly pulled his hand back.
He turned toward the sound and only then noticed that there was a living person lying on the pile of straw in the corner.
"Huh?"
Qin Mu blinked his clear, large eyes and curiously walked over, crouching down in front of Dugu Bo.
"Grandpa, why are you lying in Pharmacist Grandpa's woodshed? And why do you smell so bad?"
As Qin Mu spoke, he waved a small hand in front of his nose, his face filled with innocent curiosity.
Before you continue