Devouring Dugu Bo's Accumulated Poison, All Soul Rings Evolve to Ten-Thousand-Year Level

By the time she reached the last few words, her voice had softened, and her ears had reddened again, but her gaze did not waver.

"Offer yourself to me? You wish."

Li Qinglian curled his lip.

He lowered his head to look at the grandfather and granddaughter kneeling before him and fell silent for a moment.

Then he stepped forward and lightly supported Dugu Bo's arm.

"Get up. I'm not used to people kneeling when they talk to me."

Dugu Bo hesitated for a moment before slowly rising, though his posture remained respectful.

Dugu Yan rose as well, standing beside her grandfather with reddened eyes as she watched Li Qinglian nervously.

Li Qinglian said nothing more and merely raised his right hand.

The next instant, eight dark-purple rays burst forth from his back.

The Eight Spider Lances tore through his flesh and emerged, unfurling and spreading beneath the morning light like a pair of ferocious yet magnificent wings.

A cold, eerie sheen flowed across every spider lance. Their needle-sharp tips radiated a palpitating aura of devouring.

"An External Soul Bone?"

Dugu Bo's pupils contracted slightly.

Among Soul Masters, External Soul Bones were even rarer than Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bones.

But when he considered Li Qinglian's identity, he accepted it.

This man was likely far more than merely Spirit Hall's Holy Son!

With Innate Soul Power at level twenty and such a bizarre Martial Soul, how could he possibly be ordinary?

"Poison Douluo."

"This may hurt a little. Bear with it."

Li Qinglian's voice remained as calm as ever.

As soon as he finished speaking, the tip of one spider lance gently pressed against Dugu Bo's back, over his heart.

Dugu Bo's body tensed slightly, but he neither dodged nor resisted.

He merely took a deep breath and slowly closed his eyes.

The next instant, an incomparably violent suction force erupted from the tip of the spider lance.

Dugu Bo let out a muffled groan, the veins at his temples bulging.

He could clearly feel the Jade Scaled Snake Venom that had accumulated in his body for decades being forcibly stripped from every inch of flesh and every meridian by an invisible hand, flowing along that suction force toward the spider lance behind him.

The process was agonizing, like countless fine needles piercing him from within at once, or as if someone were pulling out his blood vessels one by one and stuffing them back in.

Yet he clenched his teeth and did not cry out once.

Dark bluish-green poison flowed through the spider lance and into Li Qinglian's body like a surging river of venom.

The poison was extraordinarily concentrated, and its energy density was immense.

This was the "Poison Essence" Dugu Bo had accumulated over decades, repeatedly compressed and refined by his cultivation. Every drop contained vast energy.

Li Qinglian's brows furrowed slightly.

The Life Heart and Death Divine Tree within him began operating at the same time.

Li Qinglian was far less adept at using the Life Attribute than he was at wielding Death Origin, but he could still protect Dugu Bo's vital meridians.

The Life Heart purified the lethal components of the poison, while the Death Divine Tree frantically devoured the pure energy contained within it.

That energy surged into his meridians like scorching lava, following the circulation path of Soul Power and rushing into his Martial Soul.

"Dugu Bo's extreme poison is the purest energy he has cultivated over a century."

"It has only spread throughout his body, making it a curse rather than a blessing for him."

"But to me, such pure energy is an immense tonic."

Then—

Bang.

A crisp sound rang out from deep within Li Qinglian's soul.

Li Qinglian's pupils suddenly lit up.

Beneath him, two deep-purple Thousand-Year Soul Rings began changing at a visible rate. Their purple deepened and thickened before a layer of dark light suddenly burst forth, turning them into tranquil black.

They had evolved into Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Rings!

The two purple Soul Rings evolved simultaneously.

And that was not all.

The other two Soul Rings, which had already been ten-thousand-year rings, also became deeper and darker, as if ordinary night had transformed into a bottomless abyss.

Four Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Rings.

They slowly pulsed beneath his feet, emanating a suffocating pressure.

Feeling the surging power within him, Li Qinglian's eyes gleamed, and the corners of his lips unconsciously curled upward.

He had only devoured twenty percent of the poison accumulated in Dugu Bo's body, yet he had already gained such fortune. If he devoured all the poison within him, every Soul Ring would likely rise beyond twenty thousand years!

I can already use the powerful innate soul skill Death Siphon to continuously draw in energy and nurture my Soul Rings. The Eight Spider Lances possess a devouring attribute, perfectly complementing my Death Siphon skill.

In the original plot, after Tang San obtained the Eight Spider Lances, their devouring ability was never fully developed. It was a complete waste of the Eight Spider Lances' potential. Only upon becoming a god did he receive the blessing of divine power, allowing the Eight Spider Lances to evolve into Sea God's Eight Wings.

Dugu Bo was now too shocked to speak.

He slowly turned around and stared at the four tranquil black Soul Rings beneath Li Qinglian, his mouth slightly open for a long while without closing.

Li Qinglian's two purple and two black Soul Rings had already been terrifying enough when he summoned his Martial Soul.

Now, those two purple Soul Rings had actually evolved directly into Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Rings?

Four Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Rings!

A twelve-year-old four-ring Soul Ancestor with four Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Rings!

Nothing like this had ever existed in the history of the entire Douluo Continent!

"Your Highness, Holy Son..."

"You... just now... did you evolve your Soul Rings by devouring my poison?"

Dugu Bo looked at Li Qinglian as though he were looking at a monster.

"Yes, it was an unexpected gain. Your poison has been compressed for decades, giving it an extremely high energy density. It is a tremendous tonic for me."

"However, if I continue absorbing it like this, once the poison accumulated in your body is devoured, your cultivation may become unstable. You might even fall to level ninety. But you have already cultivated to level ninety-one. Even if your realm temporarily drops, half a year of cultivation will be enough for you to recover."

"Without the burden of accumulated poison, you will have a chance to continue breaking through in the future."

Li Qinglian withdrew the Eight Spider Lances and rolled his shoulders and neck.

Dugu Bo was not actually weak.

But he had no way to use his full power. Once he went all out, the accumulated poison within him would lose the suppression of his power, and he would die instantly.

That was why, in the original plot, even the Golden Iron Triangle could withstand several of Dugu Bo's attacks. This was also why Dugu Bo had been called the shame of Titled Douluo, the weakest Titled Douluo.

Without the trouble of accumulated poison, Dugu Bo would no longer need to hold back when he fought in the future.

Dugu Bo fell silent.

As he looked at the handsome youth before him, an unprecedentedly complicated emotion welled up in his heart.

Shock, reverence, and a trace of relief.

Relief that he had come today, and even more relief that he had knelt quickly enough.

Li Qinglian, Spirit Hall's Holy Son, was indeed extraordinary.

Dugu Yan stood quietly to one side.

She looked at her grandfather, then at Li Qinglian. Her gaze lingered for a long time on the four black Soul Rings, her dark-green eyes filled with shock and bewilderment.

She suddenly recalled what she had said earlier. Thinking of it now made her ears burn even hotter.