Dugu Bo Appears? A Hair's Breadth from Death!

"Good. Very good."

There was no fluctuation in Dugu Bo's voice, calm as a stagnant pool.

Yet that calm was even more terrifying than fury.

"This old man was gone for less than two days, and rats have already snuck in."

Dugu Bo looked at Lin Ye, his gaze gradually turning cold.

"A mere Great Soul Master dared to break into this old man's herb garden."

"And you even stole all the herbs this old man had tended for over a decade...?"

His voice grew lower and colder.

"Little brat, have you grown tired of living?"

He slowly raised his right hand.

Boom!

The pressure of a Titled Douluo poured down without restraint!

Crack.

The next moment, his right knee slammed heavily into the ground as he dropped to one knee.

An ominous sound came from Lin Ye's knees.

"Cough—"

Lin Ye felt as though a heavy weight were lodged in his chest, making his internal organs ache terribly.

At the same time, his expression became incredibly grim.

So this was the pressure of a Titled Douluo?

Compared to Zhao Wuji, that level-seventy-six Soul Sage, it was simply the difference between heaven and earth.

If Zhao Wuji's pressure was no more than a strong gust of wind,

Then Dugu Bo's was a Category 18 typhoon!

Yet Lin Ye gritted his teeth and refused to collapse.

Then he raised his head and stared directly into those dark green pupils.

"This junior, Lin Ye, greets Senior Dugu Bo!"

Dugu Bo's pupils contracted slightly.

"Oh? You actually know this old man?"

"Who in the entire Heaven Dou Empire has not heard of Senior Dugu Bo's name? This junior has long admired the prestige of the Poison Douluo."

Lin Ye's voice trembled slightly beneath the pressure, but he did his best to keep his tone steady.

Dugu Bo looked at him coldly.

"Since you know who this old man is, you still dared to trespass here!"

He then slowly stepped down from the boulder. With every step he took, the pressure on Lin Ye's shoulders increased.

"You knew this old man's name, knew this was this old man's territory, and still stole every last herb this old man had tended for over a decade."

Dugu Bo stopped three steps away from Lin Ye and looked down at him.

"Little brat, you have more guts than anyone this old man has ever seen."

"Unfortunately, having guts is not a virtue in front of this old man."

"It is a reason to seek death!"

As soon as the words fell, the pressure surged again.

Lin Ye's other leg began to tremble as well, and his entire body was nearly forced flat against the ground.

No.

He could not keep enduring this head-on.

"Dark Demon Evil God Tiger, possess me!"

Buzz!

A surge of black evil energy erupted from Lin Ye's body,

And two purple Thousand-Year Spirit Rings lit up beneath his feet.

"Second spirit skill, Evil God Guard!"

At that moment, black evil energy, purple lightning, and fierce wind intertwined into a spherical barrier, blocking part of Dugu Bo's pressure.

The pressure dropped sharply.

Lin Ye finally managed to catch his breath, though he still could not stand.

The pressure of a Titled Douluo was not something a two-ring Great Soul Master's defensive spirit skill could completely cancel out.

However,

Dugu Bo was now staring in shock.

He fixed his eyes on the two Spirit Rings beneath Lin Ye's feet.

Purple.

Both were purple.

They were actually Thousand-Year Spirit Rings.

"These are... two Thousand-Year Spirit Rings?"

For the first time, Dugu Bo's tone fluctuated.

He had lived for seventy-eight years and seen countless geniuses.

But a Great Soul Master in his twenties possessing Double Thousand-Year Spirit Rings...

It was simply unheard of.

Yet his expression changed for only an instant before returning to coldness.

"Boy, your talent is indeed impressive."

Dugu Bo said flatly,

"But unfortunately, even a genius who steals this old man's belongings has only one outcome."

Before his words had even faded, he suddenly reached out with his right hand.

A stream of spirit power then turned into an invisible restraint that locked directly around Lin Ye's neck.

Lin Ye was lifted into the air.

His feet left the ground.

Dugu Bo's withered five fingers gripped his throat from afar with precise force,

Not enough to crush his windpipe, but more than enough to make breathing difficult.

"Speak. Who exactly are you, and how did you pass through this old man's poison barrier?"

Lin Ye's face had turned red from the choking grip, but his mind was still racing.

Fight head-on?

That would be pure suicide.

Run?

With a Titled Douluo having locked onto his aura, even ten lives would not be enough to escape.

Beg for mercy?

The more cowardly he acted around someone like Dugu Bo, the more Dugu Bo would look down on him—and the more decisively he would kill.

There was only one path left now.

Negotiate.

"Senior... cough... this junior was being pursued by a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast and accidentally entered this place... Before this, I did not know this was your herb garden..."

Lin Ye first tossed out a tentative explanation.

However,

Dugu Bo's expression did not change at all.

"Pursued?"

He sized Lin Ye up from head to toe.

"There is not a single wound on your body, your aura is steady, and your spirit power is abundant."

"This is what you look like after being pursued by a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast?"

Lin Ye: "..."

Sure enough, he could not fool him.

"Besides."

Dugu Bo's voice grew even colder,

"Forget a Great Soul Master—even a Soul Emperor would lose a layer of skin after entering this old man's poison barrier."

"You are only a two-ring soul master, yet not only were you unharmed, you even found this place!"

"Boy, do you take this old man for a fool?!"

As he spoke, Dugu Bo's five fingers tightened slightly.

"Boy, lie to this old man one more time, and in the next second, your head will leave your neck."

Feeling the ever-increasing force around his throat, Lin Ye knew the old man was not trying to scare him.

Dugu Bo had never blinked when killing people.

He could not stall any longer.

If he delayed any further,

This old man really would crush him to death.

He had to use his trump card!

Lin Ye then used every ounce of strength he had to force out a sentence through clenched teeth.

"Senior... I actually came here... to help you!"

"Because I can detoxify... your granddaughter... Dugu Yan!"

Upon hearing Lin Ye's words, Dugu Bo's hand around his neck suddenly froze.

"What did you say?"

His voice changed.

It no longer carried that cold, calm tone from before, but instead had a faint, almost imperceptible tremor.

"Detoxify Yanyan?"

Lin Ye was already close to rolling his eyes from being choked, but he still stared fixedly at Dugu Bo and forced out several words with all his strength:

"Dugu... Yan... Jade Phosphor Serpent Martial Soul... Innate Backlash Poison..."

For some reason, Dugu Bo's hand suddenly loosened slightly.

Not because he had softened.

But because he was shocked.

This boy had never met him before,

Yet he knew about Yanyan, and he even knew about the backlash poison of Yanyan's Jade Phosphor Serpent Martial Soul!

"Boy, how do you know about Yanyan?"

Dugu Bo's voice suddenly rose, and an almost savage expression appeared on his withered face.

"No one besides this old man knows about this! Who exactly are you?!"

Feeling Dugu Bo's hand slowly continue to loosen,

Lin Ye finally managed to draw a breath.

He gulped in air, his throat making hoarse sounds.

"Cough, cough... Senior, who I am is not important."

Lin Ye raised his head, his dark eyes staring straight at Dugu Bo.

"What matters is that I am confident I can cure the poison within your granddaughter."

"Even..." He paused.

"I am also somewhat confident that I can clear away the accumulated toxins in your body."