Dugu Yan Was Poisoned: "Grandpa, Are You Really Poisoned?" Dugu Bo: "Go to the Holy Dragon Sect!"

The Secret Chamber fell quiet again.

Then Tuoba Xi slowly opened his eyes, a brilliant light flashing in them!

His chest rose and fell sharply several times before he threw back his head and laughed.

"I did it!

I finally did it!

The heavens haven't forsaken the Holy Dragon Sect!"

Tuoba Xi opened his right hand and looked at his palm.

Besides the Lightfire he had just gained, a steady torrent of pure, dense Soul Power now surged through his body like a mighty river.

Deep within his Dantian, a solid crystal the size of a grain of rice hung motionless, glowing with a gentle white light.

It spun ceaselessly, devouring the surrounding Heaven and Earth Essence!

"Congratulations on forming a Soul Core, Grandpa!"

Yin Changqing smiled and cupped his hands.

Yin Yu smiled in relief too.

"How do you feel, Father-in-law?"

Tuoba Xi stood and clenched his fist, marveling at the transformation within his body.

"Incredible... truly incredible!

Now that I've formed a Soul Core, my Soul Power recovers several times faster than before!

And its quality has risen by more than a single level!

I'm still level 91, but in sheer reserves and explosive power, I could stand toe-to-toe with a level 93 Titled Douluo!"

Two Soul Cores!

The Holy Dragon Sect now had two Titled Douluo who had formed Soul Cores!

One was Yin Yu, a level 95 assault-type Super Douluo. The other was Tuoba Xi, a level 91 Titled Douluo with formidable defenses.

With such strength, they were a force capable of sweeping across an entire region of the Douluo Continent!

"Good. Good!"

Tuoba Xi steadied his excitement and turned to Yin Changqing and Yin Yu, his voice solemn.

"Yin Yu and I have both completed our transformations. The Sect's foundation is now as solid as stone.

Next, we'll see whether Old Poison takes the bait."

Leaning against the stone wall, Yin Changqing smiled calmly.

"Don't worry, Grandpa. By now, he should have learned just about everything he can in Heaven Dou City.

He'll come to us in a few days."

Heaven Dou City, Dugu Manor.

Dugu Bo sat alone in a high-backed chair in his study.

Several scrolls packed with intelligence lay across his desk.

They contained the latest information on the Holy Dragon Sect, gathered through every connection he had in the Heaven Dou Empire over the past few days.

"The Holy Dragon Sect... Yin Changqing..."

Dugu Bo murmured the two names, a cold glint flickering in his green eyes.

The more he read of his findings, the more alarmed he became.

The Holy Dragon Sect had kept a low profile in recent years, but its strength had grown at a terrifying rate.

Its leader, Tuoba Xi, had long since become a Titled Douluo, while his son-in-law Yin Yu's strength was unfathomable.

Yin Yu had only become a Titled Douluo five years ago.

Yet rumor placed him among the strongest of them.

As far as Dugu Bo was concerned, Yin Yu was someone he absolutely could not afford to provoke.

What shocked Dugu Bo even more was Yin Changqing.

Not only did the boy possess the mutated, top-tier Light Sacred Dragon Martial Soul and reach roughly level 40 at just twelve years old, but he also held considerable sway within the Holy Dragon Sect.

At the Heaven Dou City auction house, the Holy Dragon Sect had spent a fortune on ten-thousand-year Whale Rubber and a Golden Earth Dragon King Spirit Bone.

At Prince Xue Xing's banquet, Yin Changqing had answered every question with ease and carried himself with astonishing confidence. He had even toyed with Prince Xue Xing through his words.

All of it showed that the Holy Dragon Sect was no ordinary member of the Lower Four Sects. Its resources and ambitions were far greater than anyone had imagined!

"Grandpa..."

The study door opened gently, and Dugu Yan walked in carrying a bowl of hot tea.

The gloom vanished from Dugu Bo's face, replaced by affection and concern.

He turned to his granddaughter and asked softly,

"Yan Yan, why aren't you asleep yet?"

Dugu Yan set the tea on the desk and looked at him worriedly.

"Grandpa, you've been frowning for days. Is it because of what that boy Yin Changqing from the Holy Dragon Sect said at the Prince's Mansion?"

Dugu Bo fell silent for a moment.

He reached out and gently took Dugu Yan's wrist.

As he sensed along her meridians, he could feel it clearly.

Deep in her marrow and meridians, a faint but stubborn Jade Phosphorous Serpent venom was slowly eating away at her vitality.

Dugu Yan was only in her teens, and her cultivation was still shallow, so the backlash had not yet become severe.

She merely felt a dull, chilling pain around midnight now and then, while a green tinge appeared at the corners of her eyes.

But Dugu Bo knew that feeling all too well!

His son, Dugu Yan's father, had died in agony in the prime of his life because he could not withstand the venom's terrible backlash!

And if Dugu Bo had not relied on his immense Titled Douluo Soul Power and powerful body to suppress it, he would likely have died long ago too!

Even so, whenever the weather shifted or the moon waxed and waned, agony like ten thousand ants gnawing at his bones still pierced his soul and left him wishing for death.

"Yan Yan."

Dugu Bo looked at his granddaughter's lovely young face, his voice hoarse.

"What that boy said that day... it was all true."

Dugu Yan trembled, disbelief filling her eyes.

"Grandpa!

What... what are you saying?

I really am poisoned?

But my Martial Soul is the Jade Phosphorous Serpent!"

"That's precisely why we're poisoned."

Dugu Bo sighed deeply, helplessness and pain showing in his eyes.

"The Jade Phosphorous Serpent venom is so potent that even our own bodies can't fully withstand it.

That was how your father died...

I searched the world for medicines and settled in the Medicine Garden in Sunset Forest. That was how I barely managed to stay alive. I've also been giving you herbs to suppress the venom.

I thought I'd hidden it well. I never expected that brat from the Holy Dragon Sect to see through it at a glance."

Dugu Yan stood frozen.

She had never seen her grandfather, who had always looked down on the world, appear so vulnerable and pained.

"Grandpa... then what about me...?"

Dugu Yan's voice shook.

"Don't worry!

As long as I'm alive, I won't let anything happen to you!"

Resolve flashed in Dugu Bo's eyes.

He rose and walked to the window, looking toward the Holy Dragon Sect in the distance.

"At the banquet, Yin Changqing said the Holy Dragon Sect was searching the entire continent for rare treasures and medicinal herbs...

He also said that wherever there was a deadly poison, a way to counter it could be found within a hundred paces."

Dugu Bo clenched his fists, his voice conflicted.

"That boy is young, but his mind is unfathomable.

He brought it up in front of Xue Xing because he knew I would never gamble with your life!"

Dugu Yan bit her lower lip and said quietly,

"Grandpa, what if the Holy Dragon Sect is only bluffing, or plans to use this to hold us hostage?

They're a powerful Sect with two Titled Douluo, after all."