A Wish Before Death

Ning Chengyi looked at Dugu Yan standing in front of him.

His eyes held a hint of scrutiny.

After a long absence, Dugu Yan now possessed a sickly beauty, and was completely different from before.

Gone was the arrogance and domineering attitude; only a faint sense of sadness remained.

She was wearing a bright green robe that clung to her body in the wind. Her voluptuous figure, encased in a gold-embroidered bodice, trembled violently with every step she took, as if trying to break free of the brocade's restraints.

It already feels quite ripe.

But Ning Chengyi was mostly curious.

What exactly did Dugu Yan go through during this period that caused such a drastic change?

"I feel like I'm going to die..." Upon entering the room, Dugu Yan's first words struck Ning Chengyi thunderbolt. "Because of snake venom?" Ning Cheng replied, only to see her already undressing.

"What are you doing?!" Ning Chengyi shocked. He was a normal person, and although Dugu Yan wasn't top-tier, she was still quite attractive.

"Since our battle, the snake venom within me has become increasingly rampant, and my grandfather is powerless to help. Therefore, I wish to fight you one more time to fulfill my dying wish."

Ning Chengyi remained silent.

After a long pause, Dugu Yan said, "Okay." She looked at Ning Chengyi with a look of infatuation that she had never seen in Yu Tianheng.

The fallen leaves in the courtyard were swept away by the wind, and the night grew darker.

"Bone-Eroding Incense, this is the first poison I developed."

She held a silver needle as thin as a cow's hair between her fingers. The tip of the needle gleamed with a ghostly green. It was a poison she had painstakingly refined over several months. It was colorless and odorless, and it would corrode the meridians as soon as it entered the body.

Ning Chengyi looked at the fine needle in her hand, his eyes also becoming serious. Although he possessed the Phantom Butterfly Spirit Tide, he did not know where its limit lay.

"Let's begin," Ning Chengyi said calmly, and Dugu Yan nodded.

Douluo I!

With a flick of her wrist, Dugu Yan sent the silver needle flying straight towards his throat.

Ning Chengyi the side, and the silver needle flew past his ear, embedding itself in the wooden pillar behind him. The needle's tail trembled slightly, emitting a barely audible hiss.

Then came the second, the third, the fourth...

She poured out the poison like a madwoman.

Poison powder flew out from the sleeve, poisonous thorns were hidden in the hairpin, and emerald green venom was ejected from under the fingernails.

Each and every one of them was painstakingly extracted from the venom glands of the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Martial Soul after countless sleepless nights.

That research and development took place after the onset of the illness, under a brief period of suppression.

She even bit her tongue, "This is the seventy-third one." Her voice was very soft, and she held a bright green pill between her fingertips.

The pill shattered in her palm, turning into a wisp of pale green mist that spread silently.

The blood mist ignited upon contact with air, transforming into a ghostly blue poisonous flame that instantly enveloped the courtyard.

Ning Chengyi stood in the center of the poisonous flames, yet not a single detail of his clothes was scorched.

He looked at her, his eyes as calm as a deep pool.

These poisons seemed to have no effect on him at all.

Since the start of the war, he has been exposed to a total of seventy-two different kinds of poison from her.

Bone-Eroding Incense, Bone-Rotting Powder, Heart-Devouring Pill, Intestine-Severing Sand, Jade Phosphorous Smoke... Each of these is enough to make Soul Ancestor- level expert kneel and beg for mercy, but when they fall on him, they don't even make his skin turn red.

Dugu Yan's hands were trembling.

It's not fear, it's exhaustion.

She was too tired.

Over the years, witnessing Ning Chengyi's relentless training, she also secluded herself, repeatedly testing poisons, preparing medicines, and improving formulas. Her fingers were burned with layers of scars by corrosive venom, which she then forcibly repaired with her Soul Power.

Even her grandfather Dugu Bo, found it difficult to get a meeting with her.

Her initial intention in developing poison was never to kill, but to save herself.

The Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison in her body was getting worse every day; she had to find an antidote.

But all she found was an increasingly potent poison.

However, its own transformation had already begun.

But when she saw Ning Chengyi unharmed and looking completely calm, Dugu Yan panicked.

She was like a madwoman, under the influence of various toxins, shouting incoherently.

"Why..." she gritted her teeth, her voice trembling, "Why even you...?"

Before she finished speaking, she had already pounced on him.

There are no Soul Skill, no Soul Ring, and no Martial Soul Possession.

She attacked him clumsily and fiercely, just like any ordinary girl, using her fists, elbows, and knees.

Her movements were haphazard, yet they carried a desperate force, like a dying snake biting its prey one last time.

Ning Chengyi did not retaliate.

He simply parried and dodged, occasionally reaching out to support her staggering body.

With each touch, he could feel the toxins churning wildly within her body.

The Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison had already invaded her heart meridian, and her internal organs were being corroded little by little.

She can't hold on much longer.

Unless he uses the Phantom Butterfly to cure him.

"Stop hitting him," Ning Chengyi low voice.

"I don't!"

She screamed, and tears finally streamed down her face.

This was the first time she had ever cried feeling utterly helpless.

His hair was soaked with sweat and clung to his cheeks; his green eyes shimmered with tears, yet he stubbornly refused to bow his head.

She punched him in the chest, the force so light it was like a tickle.

Then came the second punch, the third punch... until she didn't even have the strength to lift her arm.

"I have one last poison!" Dugu Yan revealed a stubborn expression, her eyes filled with determination.

The last poison was hidden under her tongue.

She crushed the pill, tilted her head back, and spat out a mouthful of blood.

The blood was black, with a pungent, fishy smell, and dispersed into a dark red mist in the air.

This is her proudest work.

Soul-Eroding Powder.

Using his own essence and blood as a catalyst and the venom of the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison as a base, even Soul Emperor would avoid him.

However, Ning Chengyi did not make any move, letting the blood mist envelop him, just like the scene of the first battle Heavenly Apex Class and the Imperial Fighting Team.

The blood mist instantly enveloped Ning Chengyi.

"It's no use." Ning Chengyi big gulp, and the blood mist was immediately swallowed into his body.

After just a few breaths, the fog dissipated.

He remained standing there, a few specks of black blood on his clothes, yet his breathing remained steady.

The black blood belonged to Dugu Yan, not his.

Dugu Yan stared at him blankly, then suddenly smiled.

The smile was faint, yet breathtakingly beautiful.

The light in her green eyes dimmed little by little, like a candle flame burning out.

She finally used up all the poison, finally exhausted her last bit of strength, and finally... confirmed one thing.

He won't be poisoned.

It seems that no poison in this world can harm him.

Including her.

"It's so nice..." she murmured, leaning back.

In the instant she fell, she felt an unprecedented sense of relief.

For years she has lived with snake venom, enduring excruciating pain every single moment.

But it seems the person she likes has never liked her back.

Since returning to his sect, he has vanished without a trace.

The person in front of her was the one who had been supporting her through the snake venom.

It was the fight that day that gave her a sense of exhilaration.

It wasn't the tormenting pain of snake venom, but rather a pleasurable sensation that touched both the body and the mind.

She seemed to have some masochistic tendencies, but Dugu Yan believed she had done nothing wrong.

So she changed her target.

It turns out that the person she loved never had her in his heart.

So why not immerse myself in developing poisons to save myself, while also proving myself?

In the end, however, there wasn't even one person who could withstand all her poison.

Even today.

The boy she hated so much actually agreed to her request.

Moreover, he has taken on all the poisons he has developed over the years.

They caught them all.

Dugu Yan felt exhausted and slumped backward.

As she fell into a warm embrace, she suddenly felt that this was good too.