Ma Hongjun: He's Definitely an Ugly Freak in a Mask!

If Dugu Bo could obtain the chance to become a god in the higher-dimensional world, then the Heaven Dou Empire would definitely be able to use that power to suppress Spirit Hall.

Just as the entire continent was filled with expectations for Dugu Bo...

In the image, Dugu Bo suddenly stopped in front of a short stalk of grass that was emitting a dim blue glow.

The grass had only three leaves, and each leaf was covered in fine white lines, making them look like the blood vessels of some animal.

Dugu Bo crouched down and examined it carefully. A greedy light burst from his eyes.

"Good stuff! This is truly good stuff!"

"The cold, yin poison contained in this poisonous grass is simply rare beyond compare."

"As long as I eat it, my Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor poison will definitely undergo a qualitative leap!"

Dugu Bo swallowed as he impatiently reached out with his right hand, wanting to pull that blue poisonous grass up by the roots.

But the instant his fingers were about to touch the poisonous grass...

From the dense bushes beside him, a somewhat muffled male voice suddenly rang out.

"Hey, newcomer."

"Don't touch that grass. Careful you don't die."

Hearing that sudden voice, Dugu Bo's hand also froze sharply in midair.

His gaze turned fierce, and nine soul rings instantly rose beneath his feet.

Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black, black!

The terrifying pressure belonging to a rank ninety-two Title Douluo, accompanied by emerald-green poisonous mist, instantly swept toward the direction the voice had come from.

"Who dares play tricks before me? Get out here!"

Dugu Bo stood up, his hands clasped behind his back, wearing the arrogant bearing of an unparalleled expert.

As his words fell, the bushes ahead were gently parted by a pair of slender hands.

After that, a man carrying a large bamboo basket on his back slowly walked out from the woods.

When they saw this man's face clearly, everyone from Douluo outside the screen was stunned for a moment.

This person was none other than Pharmacist from Crippled Old Village in the Great Ruins, the man who had tasted every strange poison under heaven and possessed godlike medical skills!

Pharmacist carried a bamboo basket filled with all kinds of poisonous herbs as he unhurriedly walked out of the bushes.

When everyone on the entire continent saw his face clearly, they were immediately stunned.

This tall, slender man was actually wearing a mask on his face.

The mask covered his entire face tightly, leaving only a pair of deep, calm eyes exposed.

The carving of the mask was extremely crude, and the evil ghost pattern on it bared its fangs and brandished its claws, giving off an indescribably ferocious air.

And on his fair, slender right hand, a thumb-sized little black spider was slowly crawling.

There were several spots on the little spider's back, making it look gaudy and flashy. Not only did it have no soul power fluctuations at all, even ordinary poisonous insects in the forest looked more frightening than it did.

Outside the screen, on the training field of Shrek Academy.

After a brief moment of dazed silence, Ma Hongjun was the first who could not hold back, clutching his stomach as he burst into loud laughter.

"Oh my god, you're killing me!"

Ma Hongjun pointed at Pharmacist in the sky, laughing so hard tears almost came out.

"Wandering around in broad daylight wearing such a scary ghost mask—don't tell me this guy's so ugly he's got no face to show anyone?"

Oscar, standing to the side, also raised his eyebrows and stroked his chin as he echoed, "Fatty, I think you've got a point."

"The natives in this Great Ruins—first there was that Butcher without a lower body, then that old woman wearing human skin. I bet this guy with the bamboo basket is ugly too, so he can only use a piece of iron to cover his face."

Dai Mubai crossed his arms in front of his chest and gave a cold snort.

"Just playing at being mysterious."

"Look at the spider on his hand. It doesn't have even the slightest bit of soul power. He probably just grabbed some random little bug off the roadside."

Hearing his companions' mockery, Tang San also shook his head slightly, the corner of his mouth curving into a faint smile.

At this moment, a faint glimmer of the Purple Demon Eye was shining deep in Tang San's eyes.

He carefully stared at the large bamboo basket on Pharmacist's back inside the screen, then looked at the blue poisonous grass on the ground. A trace of pride flashed through his eyes.

"Fatty, Little Ao, don't just focus on laughing."

Tang San clasped his hands behind his back and put on the air of an expert, then spoke slowly and unhurriedly.

"Although this man is dressed strangely, the herbs in his bamboo basket are indeed rare and highly poisonous things."

"Take that Blue Root Grass on the ground, for example. The cold, yin poison contained within it is extremely tyrannical. If an ordinary person so much as touched a little of its juice, their soul would probably be utterly destroyed."

Hearing Tang San say this, everyone from Shrek turned to look at him.

"Third Brother, if that's the case, then this guy is also an expert who plays with poison?" Xiao Wu blinked and asked curiously.

"Expert?"

Tang San gave a derisive laugh, his tone filled with disdain.

"Xiao Wu, you're giving him far too much credit."

"At best, he's just an herb gatherer who knows a little about pharmacology."

"Look carefully. He's standing in that colorful poisonous miasma, and although he seems fine, there's a good chance he took some kind of poison-warding herb beforehand, or that mask of his has a built-in function for filtering poisonous gas."

As Tang San spoke, he paced a couple of steps across the field, the confidence in his eyes growing stronger.

"When it comes to using poison, Senior Poison Douluo of our Douluo Continent stands at the very top of the pyramid!"

"Senior Dugu Bo's martial soul is the Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor, one of the most venomous things under heaven."

"The old senior's poison is fused into his soul power, penetrating deep into the marrow."

"One breath of Jade Phosphor poison mist is enough to slaughter cities and destroy nations!"

At this point, Tang San stopped and pointed at the Pharmacist wearing the evil ghost mask in the sky screen, his voice rising despite himself.

"Now look at this guy again."

"He's holding one pitifully tiny broken spider, and there isn't the slightest fluctuation of soul power on him."

"He actually dares to boast shamelessly in front of Senior Dugu, and even tells the senior not to touch that poisonous herb? This is simply ridiculous!"

Tang San's words were filled with a lofty sense of superiority.

In his previous life, as an outer sect genius of the Tang Sect, he had absolute confidence in his understanding of poison.

In his view, although these Great Ruins were strange, this masked herb gatherer was definitely flaunting a broadsword before Guan Yu.

"This is what they call the light of a firefly daring to compete with the bright moon!"

Tang San delivered his conclusion with absolute certainty.

"In my opinion, this person is an experience pack specially arranged by the sky screen for Senior Dugu!"

"Senior Dugu is about to obtain a great opportunity this time."

"These top-grade poisonous herbs filling the valley, plus the stockpile in that herb gatherer's bamboo basket—once Senior Dugu refines and absorbs them all, his Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor poison will definitely break through its current limits and reach a level even gods would fear!"

After hearing Tang San's well-reasoned analysis, everyone from Shrek suddenly understood.

"So he's a treasure-delivering boy!" Ma Hongjun's eyes shone, and he couldn't help licking his lips.

"Third Brother still sees things clearly. The natives of these Great Ruins are probably used to being arrogant, but this time, now that he's run into a Titled Douluo from our Douluo Continent, he's kicked an iron plate." Dai Mubai also nodded in agreement, the tension on his face swept away.

Yu Xiaogang, who had been standing to the side without speaking, now stroked the prickly stubble on his chin.

He coughed dryly twice, drawing everyone's attention.

"Little San's analysis is very correct."

Yu Xiaogang put on an unfathomable air and spoke in a firm tone.

"The strength of a soul master lies in the perfect combination of martial soul and soul skills."

"Although that herb gatherer may understand some crude methods of using poison, without soul power as support, his poison fundamentally cannot pierce a Titled Douluo's protective aura."

"Just watch. Senior Dugu Bo won't even need to release a soul skill. With the pressure of his ninety-second-rank soul power alone, he'll be able to crush this masked clown into dust."

Yu Xiaogang felt extremely pleased at this moment.

The four consecutive deaths before had trampled his theories into the ground and left him utterly disgraced.

Now, it was finally a Titled Douluo's turn to appear.

He believed Dugu Bo would absolutely be able to use overwhelming strength to trample this native of the Great Ruins underfoot!

And in the process, help him recover a bit of the dignity he had as the "Grandmaster."

The atmosphere on Shrek Academy's side grew relaxed, and everyone even began looking forward to how Dugu Bo would cruelly kill this herb gatherer, then plunder the poisonous herbs in the valley on a grand scale.

At the same time, in the Heaven Dou Empire, the imperial city.

Inside the resplendent court hall, the atmosphere was equally heated.

Great Emperor Xue Ye sat upright on the pure-gold dragon throne symbolizing supreme power.

Today, he wore a magnificent bright-yellow dragon robe and a crown with nine strings of jade beads, his whole person looking flushed and full of vigor.

Below the hall, civil and military officials stood in two rows, all of them craning their necks and staring intently at the image on the sky screen in midair.

When they saw the Pharmacist wearing the evil ghost mask walk out, the hall immediately erupted into roaring laughter.

"Hahaha, Your Majesty, look! The people in these Great Ruins are truly pitifully poor. They don't even have a decent set of clothes and dress like beggars."

An official in purple court robes stepped out from the ranks, pointed at the Pharmacist in the sky screen, and spoke to Great Emperor Xue Ye with a face full of flattery.

"Exactly."

A military officer beside him also echoed in a rough voice.

"This person looks like some rambling charlatan, wearing a broken mask on his face and thinking he's some hidden expert."

"But in the end, all he's holding is that tiny little spider."

As the military officer spoke, he deliberately stuck out his pinky and gestured with it, the mockery on his face plain for all to see.

"That tiny little thing probably doesn't even count as a ten-year soul beast, does it?"

"Back in my hometown, the old ox we used for plowing could stomp hundreds of them to death with one hoof."

"And with that pathetic look, it actually dares come out and point fingers at a guest official of our Heaven Dou Empire? It's practically tired of living!"

A wave of echoing laughter rang through the great hall again.

Great Emperor Xue Ye sat on the dragon throne, also stroking the beard on his chin in satisfaction.

He picked up the jade wine cup at his side and took a shallow sip of the amber wine, his eyes shining with unconcealable ambition and greed.

Seeing this, Prince Xue Xing, who stood to one side, quickly stepped forward and cupped his hands in flattery.

"Your Majesty's fortune reaches the heavens."

"Senior Dugu Bo is a royal guest official of our Heaven Dou Empire. This time, he was chosen by the heavenly screen and descended into this precious land full of poisonous herbs. This is clearly the heavens favoring our Heaven Dou Empire!"

Prince Xue Xing had always regarded Dugu Bo as his greatest backer. Now that he saw his backer about to soar, he was naturally overjoyed.

"The prince speaks reason."

Great Emperor Xue Ye set down his wine cup, excitement flashing in the depths of his eyes.

"Guest Official Dugu's Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor poison is already unparalleled under heaven."

"That masked clown's lousy bug isn't even worthy of getting stuck between the Serpent Emperor's teeth."

"Just you watch. As long as Guest Official Dugu releases his Martial Soul True Body and that sky-filling poisonous mist rolls out, this herb gatherer and his little spider will instantly turn into a puddle of pus."

After the assembled ministers in the hall heard this, they immediately knelt to the ground in unison.

"Your Majesty is wise!"

"Heaven blesses our Heaven Dou Empire!"

Great Emperor Xue Ye suddenly rose to his feet, spreading his arms, the smile on his face growing even brighter.

He took two steps along the jade steps of the hall, his gaze fixed firmly on the heavenly screen, on those top-grade poisonous herbs that radiated eerie blue light and colorful mist. His voice trembled slightly from excitement.

"My beloved ministers, have you ever considered this?"

"This Great Ruins is said to be filled everywhere with opportunities to become a god. Since these poisonous herbs can make Guest Official Dugu's strength undergo a qualitative leap, then deep within this valley—or inside that herb gatherer's bamboo basket—could there be some peerless immortal herb that prolongs life?"

As soon as Great Emperor Xue Ye said this, the ministers in the hall first went quiet, then all reacted.

On Douluo Continent, although emperors possessed supreme power, their lifespans were as fleeting as those of ordinary people.

Great Emperor Xue Ye was already advanced in years, and what he feared most was aging, sickness, and death.

Now that he had seen the herbs of a higher-dimensional world, thoughts of immortality naturally stirred in him.

"Your Majesty is right!"

Prince Xue Xing immediately shouted loudly.

"Senior Dugu is utterly loyal to Your Majesty. As long as he kills that blind herb gatherer and plunders the treasures in this valley, then when he returns after the one-year term is up, he will surely bring back immortal pills and wondrous medicines for Your Majesty!"

"When that time comes, Your Majesty's life will be boundless. Not only will you be able to rule the Heaven Dou Empire for all ages, even annexing the Star Luo Empire and flattening Spirit Hall will be just around the corner!"

"Boundless longevity! Unify the continent!"

The civil and military officials cooperated perfectly, straining their throats as they shouted. The entire court was filled with an almost crazed fervor.

In their eyes, the man wearing the evil-ghost mask was already dead.

As for the colorful little spider crouched on the man's finger, it was an even more ridiculous joke—one that made people laugh just by looking at it.

Right now, all they could think about was the beautiful image of Dugu Bo returning fully loaded, bringing endless glory to the Heaven Dou Empire.

At this moment, however—

Within the heavenly screen's image—

Dugu Bo still maintained the proud bearing of an unrivaled expert.

The nine soul rings around him pulsed up and down, and the emerald poisonous mist surged outward like ocean waves, spreading in rolling wave after wave.

Some ordinary weeds that had originally grown by Dugu Bo's feet emitted wisps of white smoke the instant they came into contact with the emerald poisonous mist, then withered into black ash.

This was enough to show how domineering the Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor poison was.

Hearing Pharmacist's disgusted appraisal, Dugu Bo was so furious that he laughed instead.

"What a reckless mountain bumpkin."

Dugu Bo lifted his chin slightly and stared coldly at the man wearing the evil-ghost mask opposite him.

"What do you know about poison?"

"This poisonous art of mine kills without form. Slaughtering a city is nothing more than the work of a moment."