Dugu Yan Falls Unconscious, Dugu Bo Arrives

"Zhi Lin's words may have been pessimistic, but they weren't wrong." Bai Baoshan shook his head, looking deeply unwilling to accept it.

But Meng Shenji saw things differently. "It's all right. Even if we lose this Soul Master Competition, it doesn't mean Heaven Dou Royal Academy has truly declined. The time for us to bare our fangs will be six years from now!"

At that, Bai Baoshan's eyes lit up as he looked at the spirited young people opposite Heaven Dou Royal Academy's first team. That was right. A temporary victory or defeat meant nothing. The nine members of the Royal Fight Team were their true hope.

"You all fought well today, especially Tianheng and Tianlin. The two of you already work together with considerable tacit understanding. It's a pity you can't perform a Martial Soul Fusion Skill. Otherwise, your strength would surely multiply." Qin Ming walked over. He had actually been exploring the possibility of a Martial Soul Fusion Skill between the Demon Sword and the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon.

The Demon Sword could accommodate all kinds of attributes, while the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon's lightning was unmatched among all martial souls. Logically speaking, these two martial souls should have had good compatibility.

Unfortunately, after researching it for so long, he had only created a few combination skills. Martial Soul Fusion Skills truly were not so simple.

In truth, Tianlin knew they could not fuse because Yu Tianheng's Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon was not of a high enough grade. It was merely a top-tier martial soul, while Tianlin's Demon Sword was a latent Divine Spirit.

Unless Yu Tianheng underwent a qualitative transformation, it would be difficult for them to complete a Martial Soul Fusion Skill.

After finishing today's training, everyone stepped down from the Soul Fighting Stage. Just then, Dugu Yan suddenly felt a wave of dizziness.

"Strange. Could I have overused my martial soul?"

"Yanzi, what's wrong?" Yu Tianheng hurriedly caught his beloved and asked anxiously.

"Tianheng, don't worry. I'm just a little dizzy." Not wanting Tianheng to worry, Dugu Yan forced herself to stand, but she had not expected to feel as if all strength had left her body. The moment she left Yu Tianheng's embrace, she collapsed to the ground and quickly lost consciousness.

"Sister Yanzi!"

"Yanzi!"

The members of the Royal Fight Team and Qin Ming all cried out anxiously, while Meng Shenji immediately stepped forward to examine her.

Dugu Yan was not only a member of the Royal Fight Team and their only control-system Spirit Master, but also the Poison Douluo's sole granddaughter. Nothing could happen to her.

"Old Bai, Qin Ming and I will take Dugu Yan to the infirmary. Go find the best healing-system Spirit Master in the academy immediately!" Meng Shenji ordered. Though Ye Lingling's Nine Heart Begonia was the strongest healing martial soul, her rank was still too low for her to fully wield its power.

"Got it!" Bai Baoshan displayed speed completely at odds with his build, vanishing in an instant.

An hour later, in the infirmary, Dugu Yan finally slowly woke under the treatment of a healing-system Soul Saint in his seventies.

That Soul Saint's martial soul was a healing scepter, the same type as Jiang Zhu's from Blue Tyrant Academy.

"All right, she's fine now. I think she simply overused her martial soul. After all, your opponents were all above rank thirty. You're only a group of Soul Grand Masters, so don't push yourselves so hard in the future, understand?" After retracting his scepter, the Soul Saint advised them.

"Whew, thank goodness she's all right this time. Yanzi, you must know your limits from now on." Qin Ming finally breathed a sigh of relief.

As he watched everyone relax, Tianlin's brows remained tightly furrowed. He knew things were probably not that simple.

Overusing her martial soul? Could Dugu Yan possibly have used hers more than Yu Tianheng and him? Almost all the offense throughout the match had rested on the two of them, yet neither of them had ended up like this.

In Tianlin's view, Dugu Yan's excessive depletion had likely caused the poison within her body to lose the suppression of her Soul Power, triggering a backlash. Fortunately, she was also a Poison Spirit Master, allowing her to regain consciousness so quickly.

However, as Dugu Yan's Soul Power gradually increased, her poison would only grow stronger. Sooner or later, it would exceed the limit of what her body could withstand, and then she would surely die from the poison's backlash.

It seemed that detoxifying Dugu Yan needed to be put on the agenda. The sooner, the better. Only by completely controlling the poison within her body could Dugu Yan fully unleash her strength.

"Yan'er!!!"

Just then, an anxious roar came from outside. The door was kicked open, and an elderly man in jade-green robes strode in. He was thin and lanky, and most astonishingly, not only were his clothes green, but his hair and beard were green as well. A fishy stench emanated from his body.

"Grandpa." With Dugu Yan's address, everyone finally learned the old man's identity.

He was actually one of the current Titled Douluo, the Jade Scale Douluo, said to dominate the world with poison. Of course, more people preferred to call him the Poison Douluo directly, because his personality was just like his martial soul: poisonous and ruthless.

It was only natural that he had come here. Dugu Yan had suddenly fallen unconscious, so the academy naturally had to find a way to inform him. This time, Soul Douluo Zhi Lin had personally gone to fetch him.

"Your Excellency, please don't worry. Student Dugu Yan is already fine. She only needs some rest," Qin Ming said respectfully.

"That's right, Grandpa. You're making too much of this. Didn't I just overuse my Soul Power? There was no need for you to come all this way personally." Dugu Yan threw herself into Dugu Bo's arms and spoke coquettishly.

In truth, she was quite happy that her grandfather cared so much about her.

"Mhm, it's good that you're all right. You scared Grandpa to death." Dugu Bo lovingly stroked Dugu Yan's hair. Today, the Royal Fight Team and Qin Ming had truly had their eyes opened. Other than them, who else could see this Poison Douluo, who killed without leaving even bones behind, showing such a gentle side?

Dugu Bo was naturally not as naïve as the others. His first thought upon hearing the news had been that Dugu Yan's poison backlash had begun.

Though his expression was gentle, Tianlin could see the deep worry in his eyes. His son, Dugu Yan's father, had died the same way, his poison acting up bit by bit until it claimed his life.

Yet he did not dare tell Dugu Yan. His granddaughter was still so young. How cruel would it be for her to learn that her death was drawing near?

The world said Dugu Bo was cold and heartless, but who knew how deeply he valued family in his heart? If he could, he would rather give up his strength as a Titled Douluo, wishing only for his Yan'er to grow up happily.

To avoid disturbing Dugu Yan's rest, everyone soon left the infirmary one after another. Dugu Bo said to them, "You are the Royal Fight Team, aren't you? Yan'er mentions all of you whenever she returns home. As expected, you're all quite outstanding."

"You flatter us, Your Excellency." Before a Titled Douluo, they did not dare act arrogantly and all became humble, well-behaved children.

Dugu Bo's gaze mainly swept across three people: Tianlin, Ye Lingling, and finally Yu Tianheng.

Tianlin was the youngest, yet the strongest among them. In all his decades roaming the continent, Dugu Bo had never seen such heaven-defying talent. Even Tang Hao in his youth seemed to have fallen short.

Ye Lingling possessed the Nine Heart Begonia, the continent's number one healing martial soul. With her around, perhaps Dugu Yan's deadly poison attacks could be alleviated.

If Dugu Bo admired Tianlin and Ye Lingling, then toward Yu Tianheng, he was filled with killing intent. That brat who had stolen away his precious granddaughter—he wanted nothing more than to reward him with a dose of Jade Scale Snake Venom.