Counterkill the Soul Emperor, Refining Cultivation

Black Spring watched the motionless Dugu Feng, believing that he had already been dragged into endless darkness by his snake venom.

His snake venom specifically targeted the soul. Even a Soul Saint could easily be trapped by it if caught off guard.

Black Spring drew a dagger and stabbed directly toward Dugu Feng's heart.

Under normal circumstances, a Soul Ancestor would find it difficult to break his snake venom. But to be safe, he still had to kill Dugu Feng personally and avoid any unforeseen complications.

Just as the others watched the sharp dagger come within mere centimeters of Dugu Feng's heart.

Two fingers suddenly caught the dagger. Dugu Feng opened his eyes. One of them was crimson, while the other was icy blue.

Two completely opposing types of Soul Power surged around his body.

"Ice-Fire Toad Palm!"

Dugu Feng drew upon the Ice-Fire Poison in his dantian and snapped the dagger caught between his fingers.

Then he struck out with both palms at once.

Ice-Fire Poison was contained within his palms as they slammed into Black Spring.

Black Spring was sent flying by the Ice-Fire Toad Palm.

His body spun out of control, and he only barely managed to steady himself after retreating more than ten meters.

Uncontainable Soul Power burst out together with a mouthful of blood.

The power of ice and fire instantly invaded his body.

Black Spring tried to circulate his Soul Power to suppress the Ice-Fire Poison within him.

But unfortunately, the Ice-Fire Poison born from ultimate ice and fire was itself an ultimate poison.

The instant his Soul Power touched the Ice-Fire Poison, it was like adding fuel to a fire.

His Soul Power was directly transformed into Ice-Fire Poison.

A chill spread through his meridians and began to permeate his entire body, gradually freezing his Soul Power.

Flames began to burn his internal organs.

Meanwhile, Dugu Feng wore a smug smile.

"Your snake venom truly is strange. Even I nearly fell for it."

"How did you break my poison?"

"My Ice Fire Toad King possesses a devouring attribute and can devour every poison in the world. Even if your snake venom targets the soul, it is still poison in the end. As long as it is poison, my Ice-Fire Toad can devour it."

"I should thank you for your snake venom. My spiritual power has greatly increased now. Don't worry, I definitely won't waste all that Soul Power in your body."

Dugu Feng used A Thousand Li in a Flash and instantly appeared behind Black Spring.

"Third Soul Skill! Snake Shadow Stealth!"

Black Spring still tried to use a Soul Skill to escape, but the instant he mobilized his Soul Power, his meridians seemed to freeze solid.

Bone-piercing cold surged through his body. His arms and legs froze instantly, and ice spikes pierced through the surface of his skin.

They jutted out rigidly.

His hands and legs had already become ice sculptures.

At this moment, he was nothing more than a cripple.

Dugu Feng pressed his palm against Black Spring's skull, and the Ice-Fire Poison within him began to reverse by force.

The Soul Power within his body also began to flow in reverse under the influence of the Ice-Fire Poison.

Reversing one's meridians could cripple one's cultivation at best, or cause qi deviation—or even make one explode and die on the spot.

Black Spring let out a heart-wrenching scream.

But there was not a trace of mercy in Dugu Feng's eyes. He had never shown mercy to anyone who wanted to kill him.

He continued until the final wisp of Soul Power in Black Spring's body had been completely drained.

Black Spring's body, apart from his limbs, was instantly burned to ashes by poisonous flames.

His limbs fell to the ground at the same time, shattering into fragments of ice.

"A Soul Emperor's Soul Power must be properly refined. And his soul-eroding poison is an excellent tonic for me."

The burned remains left behind some Gold Soul Coins and a token.

Dugu Feng picked up the somewhat blurred token and faintly made out the emblem of Spirit Hall.

"So it really is Spirit Hall. My grandfather, Dugu Bo, has a grudge against them. If they learn of my current talent, they will definitely want to eliminate me as quickly as possible."

"I didn't expect them to send only a Soul Emperor to deal with me."

"Did they really think I was an ordinary Soul Ancestor? But now that I have killed this man, Spirit Hall may send a Soul Saint next, or even a Soul Douluo—or a Titled Douluo—to deal with me."

"Looks like I must head to the Star Dou Great Forest next. The poisonous soul beasts there are no fewer than those in Sunset Forest."

"Once I refine this Soul Emperor's poisonous Soul Power, I may be able to reach the Soul King realm even faster. By then, even against a Soul Douluo, my Ice-Fire Poison will be enough to handle them."

After collecting the Gold Soul Coins from the ground, Dugu Feng turned and left the deserted alley.

One month later, within the mixed region of the Star Dou Great Forest.

Inside a pitch-black cave, a pair of red-and-blue eyes opened.

After entering the Star Dou Great Forest, Dugu Feng had immediately found a safe place to refine Black Spring's cultivation.

Dugu Feng had not absorbed all of Black Spring's cultivation in one go.

Doing so would not make him stronger; instead, it would leave behind hidden dangers. That was why he had spent more than a month.

He purified Black Spring's Soul Power before absorbing it through his martial soul.

His Soul Power Level had now risen to level 49.

He was only one level away from reaching level 50.

"If I had not chosen to purify it, my Soul Power would probably have already reached level 50. But unpurified Soul Power would ultimately leave hidden dangers behind."

"Cultivation is like constructing a towering building. Every material must be of good quality. Even one defective piece could prevent the building from bearing its own weight, causing the building painstakingly constructed;

either to be inferior in quality and unable to compare with other buildings, or to collapse in an instant."

Although Dugu Feng's Ice Fire Toad King martial soul possessed a certain devouring attribute, it could not directly devour the Soul Power within a soul master's body. But if that Soul Power had been contaminated by poison.

Dugu Feng's figure turned into an afterimage and vanished from the cave entrance.

Moments later, he arrived in a dense forest. A massive boar soul beast was chewing on wild fruit scattered across the ground.

Dugu Feng exhaled a breath of turbid air. The poisonous gas he breathed out instantly blended into the air, and the boar soul beast that had been eating fruit inhaled it.

Its body immediately stiffened. It let out an unwilling shriek before collapsing to the ground for good.

Dugu Feng took out the saber he carried with him and began dressing the boar soul beast's corpse on the spot.

After cleaning out all the internal organs and removing its hide.

He carried the remaining meat back to the cave entrance and roasted it over a large fire.

Although it had been prepared, the meat was still tough and even carried a fishy stench.

It was far from delicious, but there was nothing good to eat in the Heaven Dou Great Forest, so he could only make do.

"Now that I have successfully refined the Soul Power, it is time to head to the Star Dou Mountain Range and take a look at the valley Gu Lei mentioned. Perhaps I can hunt my fifth soul ring while I'm there."

Dugu Feng had absorbed so many immortal herbs that their medicinal power had fused into his martial soul and his body.

As his strength increased, his physique had become no weaker than that of a Soul Saint, and was even close to matching a Soul Douluo.

Therefore, he planned to push beyond his limits for his fifth soul ring and absorb a fifty-thousand-year soul beast.