Poison Douluo

The Imperial Knights Corps surrounding them unconsciously took several steps back.

A sickly sweet smell drifted on the breeze. At the scent, several nearby soldiers turned green, their spears clattering to the ground as their legs began to tremble uncontrollably.

The green figure atop the teahouse drifted down like Gui Mei.

He did not stir even the slightest breeze, his toes landing steadily upon the bluestone pavement.

The newcomer had short dark-green hair, and even his eyes glowed an eerie green.

Xue Beng was still rolling around on the ground in pain. Catching sight of the figure from the corner of his eye, he seemed to have grasped a lifeline and screamed desperately.

"Senior Dugu! Kill... kill this little bastard! Cripple his martial soul! It hurts so much!"

Dugu Bo glanced at Xue Beng on the ground, his brows slightly furrowing.

A dignified Fourth Prince of the Heaven Dou Empire had half his martial soul crippled with a single move right beneath the Emperor's nose, yet he wailed so disgracefully. It truly was embarrassing. Still, since he had accepted Prince Xue Xing's benefits, he had to settle this matter.

Dugu Bo shifted his gaze and locked onto the short-haired boy not far away.

He looked to be around six years old.

No Soul Rings were displayed.

Nor did he appear to possess any protective treasure.

"Brat, you've got some nerve. You dared to touch a member of the royal family in Heaven Dou City. Do you really think no one can handle you?"

As he spoke, the pressure of a Title Douluo surged forward like a burst dam, crashing down upon everything ahead.

This was not merely the oppression of soul power.

Mixed within the pressure was the innate venom of the Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor. Green poisonous mist condensed in the air into the shadow of an enormous serpent, its bloody maw opening wide as it sought to suppress and kill this child who did not know the immensity of heaven and earth.

The surrounding soldiers scrambled away in terror, afraid of touching even a trace of the green mist.

Su Chen stood where he was without retreating a single step.

Facing the Jade Phosphor Serpent shadow lunging toward him, he did not even summon his martial soul.

His eyes stared directly into the dark-green poisonous mist without the slightest fear.

The flow of the poison mist, the poison's corrosive method, and the source of that icy, tyrannical power were all rapidly dismantled and analyzed within his pupils.

Deep within his mind.

[Observing the Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor's venom circulation, comprehending the principles of mutual generation and restraint among all things.]

[Combined with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, enlightenment successful!]

[Self-created physique: prototype of the Myriad Poisons-Immune Immortal Body]

A faint, lustrous white glow emerged across the surface of his skin.

The moment the ferocious Jade Phosphor Serpent Poison touched that pale white radiance, it was like snow encountering scorching magma, instantly melting away without a trace.

Not even a wisp of poison managed to seep into his meridians.

Dugu Bo's pupils suddenly contracted.

With the pressure of a Title Douluo combined with the venom of the Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor, let alone a six-year-old child, even a Soul Emperor-level expert should have been bleeding from all seven orifices and kneeling on the ground begging for mercy by now.

Yet this child before him not only stood perfectly straight, even his breathing had not faltered.

Su Chen dusted off his sleeve as though brushing away some irritating speck of dust.

A mocking sneer curled across his lips.

"Old poison freak, at your age, you can't even control your own poison and let it leak everywhere. You still have the nerve to show it off?"

Dugu Bo's face darkened, killing intent laid bare in his eerie green eyes.

"Impudent brat! When this old man started playing with poison, your grandfather hadn't even been born. Since you want to die, this old man will grant your wish!"

"Playing with poison?"

Su Chen took a step forward.

"You've played with it until you can barely save your own life, and you dare call that playing with poison?"

"Whenever it rains, do you feel numb, aching pain and swelling beneath both ribs? And hasn't the pain been slowly spreading toward your heart?"

Dugu Bo's hand, which had been about to rise, froze in midair.

The killing intent in his eyes stagnated for an instant.

Su Chen gave him no chance to catch his breath and continued exposing him before everyone.

"Every day at midnight and noon, your scalp and the soles of your feet suffer needle-like stabbing pain. The agony reaches your bones, making death seem preferable to life. Your whole body convulses, and you have to endure at least half an hour before it eases, right?"

"A grand Poison Douluo, the foremost poison user in the world, yet you've been backlashed by your own Jade Phosphor Serpent Poison into such a ghostly state."

"If I were you, I would have buried myself in some deserted mountain wilderness long ago, rather than come out and make a fool of myself."

Silence.

Deathly silence.

Dugu Bo stared fixedly at the short-haired boy before him.

The shock in his heart was like towering waves, impossible to calm.

These symptoms of the backlash were absolute secrets! Aside from himself, no second person on the entire continent knew of them! Even his closest granddaughter had never noticed.

How could this six-year-old child see through them at a glance? And he had even named the timing and locations of the attacks with perfect accuracy!

"You... who exactly are you? Who sent you?!"

Dugu Bo's voice tightened, and the green poisonous mist around him began to churn violently without his control.

His killing intent was no longer pure. There was now a trace of panic that even Dugu Bo himself refused to acknowledge.

Su Chen clasped his hands behind his back, his tone as calm as ever.

"Who I am isn't important."

"What's important is how many more years this poisoned body of yours can last. Five years? Or ten?"

"Your own rotten life is worthless, and if you die, you die. But it would be a pity for your obedient, adorable granddaughter. Her name is Dugu Yan, right?"

Dugu Bo's heart violently clenched. He strode forward and roared sharply.

"Shut up! Don't mention Yan Yan! If you dare lay a hand on Yan Yan, this old man will drag you down with me even if it costs me my life!"

"Drag me down with you? No need."

Su Chen met those bloodshot eyes.

"Dugu Yan's hair has already started turning purple, hasn't it?"

Dugu Bo seemed to have been struck by lightning, his entire body freezing in place.

Yan Yan's hair had indeed begun to carry a faint purple tint over the past two years.

"The Jade Phosphor Serpent Poison has already seeped into her bone marrow through her bloodline."

Su Chen's tone turned cold.

"Your cultivation is high enough that you can barely suppress the poison within several major acupoints using your deep soul power, forcibly enduring that torment worse than death."

"But what about Dugu Yan? What cultivation does she have? She hasn't even reached Soul Elder yet, has she?"

"Once the purple spreads to her roots and the poison attacks her heart, even a Great Principle Golden Immortal won't be able to save her. She absolutely won't live past twenty."

Those words were like a sharp blade, stabbing precisely into Dugu Bo's most fatal weakness.

Royal offerings, the dignity of a Title Douluo—

Before his granddaughter's life, all of it was worthless.

The terrifying pressure surrounding Dugu Bo collapsed in an instant like a punctured balloon.

His eerie green eyes widened round, filled with blood vessels.

His killing intent vanished without a trace, replaced by panic and despair he could not conceal.

Because every word Su Chen spoke confirmed the deepest fear in Dugu Bo's heart. Yan Yan's poison had always been the helpless burden weighing most heavily upon him.

"Since you could see through it at a glance..."

"Do you have a way to cure the poison?"

Dugu Bo's voice trembled. Even his breathing became cautious, as though he feared shattering this faint and intangible hope before him.

Su Chen did not answer. He merely looked at this once-arrogant Poison Douluo.

Gui Mei, hidden in the darkness, restrained his aura.

This clash was already decided.