Acting

But Lu Mingfei quickly realized another problem...

Dugu Bo himself was still watching them.

If Huang Fei was the only one rolling on the ground in agony while he stood there completely fine, even an idiot would know something was wrong.

Given Dugu Bo's prideful nature, if he discovered that a little brat was completely immune to his poison, he might do something even more vicious to save face.

Lu Mingfei gritted his teeth and made a snap decision. With a miserable cry of "Ow," he rolled onto the ground, flailing his limbs wildly and copying Huang Fei as he rolled around in the dirt.

Lu Mingfei let out exaggerated wails. "Ah... It hurts... I'm going to be poisoned to death... Help..."

His acting was absurdly over-the-top. His voice was shrill and loud, and he rolled around hard enough to send dust flying everywhere.

Huang Fei was trembling all over from the pain. When she heard Lu Mingfei's booming cry, even while suffering the torment of deadly poison, the corner of her mouth could not help twitching.

Dugu Bo stood there expressionlessly, watching the two poisoned people rolling on the ground.

His gaze shifted from Huang Fei to Lu Mingfei, and a nearly imperceptible trace of doubt flashed through his emerald eyes.

This brat's screams might have been loud, but why did he sound so full of vigor?

A truly poisoned person should look like Huang Fei—convulsing all over and unable to utter a word.

But he did not think too deeply about it.

His goal in teaching Huang Fei a lesson had already been achieved. As long as she admitted her mistake and softened her stance, he had no interest in truly killing a junior at the Soul Sage level.

After all, this was Dragon Valley, territory of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan. Though he was a Titled Douluo, he did not want to cause deaths and invite unnecessary trouble.

Dugu Bo withdrew his martial soul, and his nine brilliant soul rings faded away one after another.

He turned around and beckoned to Dugu Yan. "Let's go, Yanzi."

Dugu Yan glanced at Lu Mingfei rolling on the ground. A trace of curiosity flashed through her green eyes, but she quickly looked away.

She followed behind her grandfather, her snake tail swaying. Their figures soon vanished into the mist deep within Dragon Valley, leaving behind only a faint murmur drifting on the wind.

"Overconfident little brat..."

Only after Dugu Bo's presence had completely faded into the distance did Lu Mingfei cautiously stop rolling around.

He listened carefully for quite a while. Once he confirmed that the Poison Douluo had truly left, he climbed up from the ground and brushed the dirt and dead leaves off himself.

"Lady Huang Fei!"

He hurried to Huang Fei's side and crouched down, wanting to help her up.

Huang Fei was still kneeling on the ground, drenched in sweat, her face deathly pale.

Although the poison was no longer active after Dugu Bo withdrew his Soul Power, the lingering poison in her body continued tormenting her.

She raised her head with difficulty and looked at Lu Mingfei. When she saw that the brat was rosy-cheeked, breathing steadily, and bouncing around full of life, her pupils abruptly contracted.

"You... are fine!" Huang Fei's voice was hoarse and weak.

Lu Mingfei scratched his head, not knowing how to explain it. "It seems... Dugu Bo's poison doesn't work on me."

Huang Fei's complicated gaze lingered on his face for several breaths. In the end, she merely let out a long breath. "I underestimated you."

Lu Mingfei supported Huang Fei by the arm, intending to help her stand.

Huang Fei waved him off and gritted her teeth as she pushed herself up from the ground.

Her complexion was still terrible, but her foundation as a Soul Sage-level expert was there. The lingering poison hurt, but it could not take her life.

She took several deep breaths to steady her blood and qi, forcibly suppressing the residual poison within her body. Light returned to her eyes.

"This is not a place to linger."

Huang Fei's voice was weaker than before, but her tone remained calm. "Dugu Bo may have left, but there could be other experts deeper in Dragon Valley.

We'll pick up the pace. Once we find a suitable soul beast for you and obtain your soul ring, we'll leave immediately."

Lu Mingfei nodded solemnly.

He turned back to look in the direction Dugu Bo and Dugu Yan had gone.

The thin, spear-straight figure in the green mist had completely disappeared, yet those emerald-like eyes seemed to still flicker in and out of sight deep within the fog.

Dugu Bo, the Poison Douluo—a powerhouse among Titled Douluo.

Today, he had finally seen what a true top-tier expert was like.

The Black Dragon King within him could resist Dugu Bo's poison. That discovery was both a pleasant surprise and a cause for concern, because it meant his martial soul still concealed trump cards he had yet to fully understand.

The Black Dragon King tattoo on the back of his right hand continued pulsing warmly, as though urging him not to remain here.

Lu Mingfei clenched his fist and followed behind Huang Fei, striding deeper into Dragon Valley.

Deep within Dragon Valley's outer valley, mist swirled through the air, and the fluctuations of Soul Power grew increasingly dense.

Lu Mingfei followed behind Huang Fei, carefully stepping over the damp moss.

The ground beneath his feet was no longer the ordinary soil of the outer valley. It was dark red rock, with enormous skeletal fossils occasionally visible half-buried in the earth.

"This place... kind of feels like a dinosaur theme park!"

Lu Mingfei muttered, sweeping his eyes over the surroundings. "Think a Tyrant Dragon or something will jump out around the next corner?"

Huang Fei did not turn back. Her long purple hair flickered in and out of sight within the thin mist. "What are you thinking? How could a soul beast at the Tyrant Dragon's level possibly appear in the outer valley?"

The two continued deeper, when heavy footsteps suddenly sounded from an open clearing ahead.

Lu Mingfei instinctively shrank behind Huang Fei and poked out half his head to look...

A soul beast covered in dark green scales, shaped like a gigantic lizard, was slowly walking past the stream.

A row of bony spikes grew along its back, and its tail ended in a hammer-like club. With every breath, pale blue flames puffed from its nostrils.

"An Earthfire Lizard, with eleven hundred years of cultivation."

Huang Fei gave it a glance, her tone as casual as if she were introducing a vegetable at the market. "Fire attribute, physically strong, and its soul ring quality isn't bad."

Lu Mingfei's eyes lit up. "Then how about this one? It looks pretty impressive."

"No."

Huang Fei rejected the idea cleanly. "You have a Black Dragon King martial soul, and you want to absorb a lizard soul ring? How am I supposed to show my face if word gets out? People will think I abused you!"

"You weren't human to begin with. You're a phoenix."

"That makes it even less acceptable. A soul master raised by a phoenix absorbing a lizard—it's species humiliation."

Lu Mingfei: "..."

After walking for roughly another half hour, they came upon a mountain hollow where a snow-white, six-legged beast was devouring the corpse of a soul beast.

The giant beast was over two zhang long. Every one of its teeth was as sharp as a dagger, its eyes were blood-red, and an icy aura radiated from its entire body.

"An Ice Dragon Beast, fifteen hundred years..."

Huang Fei gave it a glance. "Ice attribute, a speed-type soul beast. Its soul ring should provide a decent agility boost."