Breaking the Cocoon into a Butterfly, the Venomous Serpent Becomes a Dragon!

Dugu Bo was jolted awake by Ning Chen's roar. He forcibly stopped in his tracks, clutching his hair tightly with both hands as he anxiously paced in circles.

"Yan Yan, hold on! You have to hold on!" Dugu Bo prayed, his voice trembling.

At that moment, Dugu Yan was enduring torture straight out of hell.

The golden energy rampaged through her body. Wherever it passed, her meridians were torn apart before being forcibly repaired.

The bone-deep agony made Dugu Yan's body convulse violently beyond her control.

She clenched her teeth so hard that her lips split open, blood trickling down her chin.

But Ning Chen's words kept echoing in her mind: she absolutely could not pass out!

I can't die... I still have to grow stronger... I can't let him look down on me...

Dugu Yan screamed wildly in her heart, desperately mobilizing her meager soul power in an attempt to guide the violent golden energy.

As time passed, the medicinal power of the Earth Dragon Golden Melon began to erupt in full.

Sweat poured from Dugu Yan's body, instantly soaking through her clothes.

Her already form-fitting dress clung tightly to her body, outlining the graceful curves of a young girl.

Because of her violent struggling, several seams had even torn open, exposing large patches of pale skin.

Ning Chen stood nearby, calmly watching it all.

His gaze was clear and free of any distraction, focused only on the energy fluctuations within Dugu Yan's body.

"The most dangerous stage is coming," Ning Chen said softly.

The moment his words fell, Dugu Yan suddenly threw back her head and let out a long cry.

"His—"

The sound no longer seemed human. It carried the hiss of a serpent, mixed with a faint, deep dragon's roar.

Immediately afterward, a dazzling jade-green radiance erupted from Dugu Yan's body.

Her Jade Phosphor Serpent martial soul burst out of her body beyond her control.

A massive jade-green venomous serpent, seven or eight meters long, coiled above Dugu Yan's head.

Yet at this moment, the serpent's condition was extremely strange.

It writhed painfully in midair as its jade-green scales fell away in great patches, leaving it covered in blood.

"Her martial soul is shattering?!"

At the sight, Dugu Bo was terrified out of his wits. His legs went weak, and he nearly collapsed to his knees.

"Don't panic!" Ning Chen shouted.

"This is a butterfly breaking free from its cocoon! If the old shell isn't shed, how can a new bloodline be born?"

As soon as Ning Chen finished speaking, the Jade Phosphor Serpent writhing painfully in the air suddenly stopped struggling.

Threads of golden light began to emerge from the spots where its scales had fallen away.

The light grew increasingly brilliant, gradually enveloping the serpent's entire body.

Dugu Yan sat on the ground, both hands clutching the dirt beneath her.

Her consciousness was already on the verge of collapse. She was holding on solely through an unyielding refusal to lose.

Change... for me!

Dugu Yan roared inwardly, pouring every last bit of soul power in her body into the martial soul above her head.

Boom!

The golden sphere of light in midair exploded, releasing an incomparably powerful pressure.

That pressure carried a trace of an aura belonging to a superior being—the might of a dragon!

Dugu Bo was forced back two steps by the pressure, staring into the air with a face full of shock.

As the light faded, an entirely new martial soul appeared before them.

It could no longer be called a snake.

It was more than twice as large as before, over ten meters long.

Its once jade-green scales were now intermingled with dark gold, the two colors complementing one another.

A metallic sheen flowed across every scale, making them appear indestructible.

Most shocking of all, a bloody hole had opened at the center of the venomous serpent's head. A golden horn, roughly half a foot long, had grown from it, gleaming with a sharp light.

At its belly, the once smooth underside had somehow sprouted two fleshy bulges.

Then the bulges split open, and a pair of thick, powerful claws with three sharp talons emerged!

A horn upon its head, three talons beneath its belly!

This was no snake. It was a flood dragon!

Roar!

The jade-green and dark-gold flood dragon circled once through the air, releasing a deafening roar.

Its cry was filled with the joy of rebirth and a sense of overwhelming power.

With the successful evolution of her martial soul, the violent energy within Dugu Yan's body finally calmed.

The remaining medicinal power of the Earth Dragon Golden Melon began gently nourishing her devastated meridians and flesh.

Dugu Yan's tightly tensed body suddenly relaxed. She looked as though she had just been pulled from the water, drenched from head to toe.

Not long afterward, she slowly opened her eyes. They were filled with exhaustion, but even more with barely contained ecstasy.

She could clearly feel that the cold poison that had tormented her for so long had completely vanished from her body.

In its place was an overwhelmingly tyrannical power brimming with vitality.

Driven by that power, her soul power directly shattered through the bottleneck of level thirty-six. It rose several levels in succession, reaching the peak of level thirty-nine—just one step away from becoming a Soul Ancestor!

"It... it worked..."

Dugu Bo's voice trembled beyond recognition as he stared at the imposing jade-green and dark-gold flood dragon overhead.

Tears streamed down his aged face as he collapsed onto the ground, laughing and crying at once.

"The venomous serpent really evolved into a flood dragon! The fatal curse of the Dugu family has finally been broken! Yan Yan is saved!"

Dugu Bo was so excited that he could barely speak coherently. Even when he had broken through to become a Titled Douluo, he had never lost his composure like this.

Ning Chen stood to one side, watching the scene with a satisfied nod.

The plan had gone very smoothly. The Earth Dragon Golden Melon's effects were even better than he had expected.

Not only had Dugu Yan's martial soul evolved into a flood dragon, but her strength had also risen to a new level, and the injury on her leg had healed.

Dugu Yan then struggled to her feet. Just as she was about to speak, she suddenly felt a chill all over her body.

She subconsciously lowered her head and immediately screamed.

"Ah!"

Her violent struggles earlier had damaged her clothes in many places.

Now, her clothes clung tightly to her body, exposing far too much skin.

Together with the black grime covering her, she looked utterly miserable.

Dugu Yan was mortified. She hurriedly crossed her arms over her chest and crouched down, her face red as a ripe apple.

"You jerk, y-you're not allowed to look!" Dugu Yan shouted at Ning Chen.

Ning Chen rolled his eyes, turned around, and said irritably:

"Tch, who wants to look at you? You're covered in stinking mud. Go wash up in that pool over there. There's an ordinary hot spring on the outskirts. Don't wander too far."

Only then did Dugu Bo come to his senses. Looking at his embarrassed granddaughter, he smiled helplessly.

He quickly took out a loose robe from his storage soul tool and tossed it to her.

"Yan Yan, go wash up and change your clothes. Grandpa will wait here for you," Dugu Bo said with a smile.

Dugu Yan grabbed the robe and hurried toward the distant hot spring.

As she ran, she did not forget to turn back and stick out her tongue at Ning Chen in a spoiled, playful manner.

Once Dugu Yan had gone far away, Dugu Bo rose from the ground.

He then walked over to Ning Chen, his expression becoming exceedingly solemn.

Thud!

The mighty Poison Douluo, a level ninety-one powerhouse, bent both knees and directly knelt before Ning Chen!