Dugu Bo Arrives

Before long, Ye Lingling escorted the unconscious Dugu Yan to a side hall of the Education Committee and settled her there.

Tang San checked her pulse again. Only after confirming that the poison was stable did he finally breathe a little easier.

About the time it took an incense stick to burn, a dark green figure streaked across the sky, carrying boundless fury, and crashed straight into the Education Committee's main hall.

"Yanyan!"

The moment Poison Douluo Dugu Bo landed, his green snake eyes swept across the hall, finally stopping on the unconscious girl in the back.

In an instant, the pressure of a Titled Douluo erupted like a surging tide!

"Who?! Who hurt my granddaughter?!"

"You!?"

Tang San, who was still checking Dugu Yan's pulse, instantly became Dugu Bo's target.

Before the words had even left his mouth, he stepped forward and struck straight at Tang San with a palm wreathed in green poison light!

"Give me your life!"

"Your Excellency, please show mercy!"

At this critical moment, three figures sprang into action at once!

The three members of the Education Committee simultaneously used Martial Soul Possession, weaving their Soul Power into a wall that barely blocked the poison-laced palm crashing toward them in fury.

With just one blow, the three committee members were forced to retreat together!

That was the insurmountable chasm between a Titled Douluo and a Soul Douluo.

Dream Shenji forced down his churning blood and hurriedly said, "Your Excellency, it was student Tang San who saved her!"

"Bullshit!"

Dugu Bo barked, "How could a little brat like him save Yanyan?"

"Senior, this is absolutely true!"

Dream Shenji said urgently, "Your granddaughter invited student Tang San to spar. During their spar, she was unexpectedly overcome by poison. Luckily, student Tang San used Silver Needle Acupuncture Sealing to preserve her life for the time being!"

"A spar? Poisoned?"

Dugu Bo's gaze swept over Tang San, and a mocking smile tugged at his lips. "Yanyan is fourteen years old, a twenty-ninth-level Soul Grandmaster. Her Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison is enough to make even ordinary Soul Ancestors give her a wide berth. And you expect me to believe that a brat who isn't even ten years old could do it?"

He paused, his voice suddenly turning cold. "How could he possibly hurt my granddaughter? Much less suppress the poison in Yanyan's body!"

Dream Shenji opened his mouth, about to say more, but Dugu Bo glared him into silence.

"If Senior doesn't believe us, you can inspect Dugu Yan's condition yourself."

Bai Baoshan gritted his teeth and stepped forward. "Student Tang San may be young, but he's already a twenty-fourth-level Soul Grandmaster. His abilities far surpass those of his peers!"

"A twenty-fourth-level Soul Grandmaster?"

Dugu Bo raised an eyebrow. A hint of scrutiny finally entered his gaze.

An eight-year-old child, a twenty-fourth-level Soul Grandmaster?

Bai Baoshan pressed his advantage. "Moreover, when student Tang San sparred with and treated your granddaughter just now, student Ye Lingling was present the entire time!"

"Ye Lingling?"

Following Bai Baoshan's gaze, Dugu Bo looked toward the girl who had been standing beside Dugu Yan all along.

Ye Lingling took a deep breath and slowly stepped forward.

She said nothing, merely opening her palm.

The next instant, a pure white begonia flower quietly blossomed in her hand.

Dugu Bo's pupils contracted. "Nine-Hearted Begonia..."

"This junior, Ye Lingling, pays her respects to Your Excellency Poison Douluo."

Dugu Bo stared at the white flower turning in Ye Lingling's palm. "Are you a successor of the Nine-Hearted Begonia?"

"Without a doubt."

Ye Lingling withdrew her Martial Soul. "When Yanyan was overcome by poison, student Tang San used silver needles to suppress the deadly poison in her body. Though he is still young, neither his strength nor his medical skills should be underestimated."

"Hmph."

Dugu Bo snorted. "Even so, that's no excuse for hurting my granddaughter!"

He stepped forward, green light blazing around him, and looked ready to attack again!

"Senior!"

Just as the air grew taut with hostility, Xu Linjiu's voice suddenly rang out from behind the three committee members.

He slowly emerged from behind Dream Shenji. "This junior has a way to cure the poison in student Dugu Yan's body once and for all."

Even Dugu Bo was taken aback for a moment.

"Cure it? And who are you?"

Xu Linjiu bowed respectfully. "I am Xu Linjiu, Xiao San's teacher and student Dugu Yan's senior."

"Xu Linjiu? I've heard that name."

Dugu Bo changed tack, bringing all his pressure to bear on Xu Linjiu. "I heard Xue Xing mention you, but you don't seem to be a healing-type Soul Master, do you?"

"Your Excellency is perceptive. This junior is indeed not a healing-type Soul Master. However, I once came across a strange book containing a great deal of detailed knowledge about poison. The technique Xiao San used to seal the poison with silver needles came from that book."

As he spoke, Xu Linjiu turned to Tang San and gave him a meaningful look.

Tang San understood at once and quickly stepped forward. "This junior happens to be interested in this subject. I've read a lot about it, which is how I learned this technique."

Xu Linjiu continued, "Moreover, my Martial Soul is rather special. It can inspect a Soul Master's condition. My Martial Soul has always shown that student Dugu Yan is in a poisoned state."

At that point, Xu Linjiu shifted his focus and turned the accusation toward Dugu Bo. "In fact, Senior Poison Douluo, you have been in a poisoned state all along as well."

The instant those words fell, the expression on Dugu Bo's face froze.

An unprecedented tempest erupted in his heart!

"You... You...!"

He had kept this secret for decades. From beginning to end, no one but himself had known!

Yet now, this young Soul Master before him had exposed it with a single remark!

Seeing Dugu Bo's shock, Xu Linjiu immediately brought Tang San forward. "Xiao San, tell Senior Poison Douluo what you think."

Tang San obeyed and stepped forward at once. "This junior will be so bold as to begin with the poison in senior sister's body."

"First, the poison in senior sister's body comes from her Martial Soul inheritance. Whenever she uses Martial Soul Possession or activates a Soul Skill, the poison hidden within her Martial Soul and Soul Rings will turn back on her and seep into her body. As the days and years pass, it builds up more and more."

"Senior sister is only a Soul Grandmaster, yet the poison in her body is already this severe. Senior, as the master of a Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor Martial Soul, have fought with your Martial Soul for decades. The poison in your body can only be worse."

Dugu Bo's figure stiffened slightly.

"Then there's the dark green color of your hair and senior sister's."

Tang San continued, "A normal human's hair should be black. Only when an awakened Martial Soul possesses elemental power does the hair change to the corresponding color. Poison-type power is different. It isn't some illusory element; it's something that truly exists. Generally speaking, it shouldn't affect the color of one's hair."

"But both senior sister Dugu Yan and you have dark green hair. That's highly abnormal. So there's only one possibility: the poison in your bodies has affected it."

At this, Dugu Bo involuntarily raised a hand to touch his long hair.

"Third."

Tang San lifted his head and looked Dugu Bo straight in the eyes. "According to that strange book, those plagued by Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison suffer unbearable itching along both sides of their ribs whenever the weather turns cloudy or rainy, and it grows worse over time."

"Every night at the third watch, they feel needle-like pain in the crown of their head and the soles of their feet at the same time. Their whole body convulses, and it lasts for at least half an hour."

"The poison in senior sister Dugu Yan's body probably hasn't reached that stage yet, but Your Excellency, the poison in your body has likely built up to that point!"