Dugu Bo remained silent for a long time, his gaze shifting back and forth between Li Qingshan and Dugu Xin.
His son's poison flare-up had indeed been stopped, but he still could not bring himself to accept someone who looked so much younger than him as his master.
After a moment of silence, Dugu Bo slowly spoke. "I can agree, but I have two conditions."
Li Qingshan looked at him. "Name them."
"First, truly resolve the poison in Xin'er. Then fight me." Dugu Bo stared at Li Qingshan and said, stressing every word, "If you win, I'll accept you as my master."
He paused, his tone turning serious.
"Medicine is medicine, and cultivation is cultivation. I don't want to accept a master only to find that he's weaker than I am."
After hearing him out, Li Qingshan smiled instead.
"Good. It's a deal."
While administering acupuncture to Dugu Xin earlier, he had already sensed Dugu Bo's Soul Power. The man was currently only around level seventy-six, six levels above him.
His Passionate Sword already had seven Soul Rings, and he had mastered some of a Limit Douluo's abilities. Dugu Bo's poison was certainly troublesome, but in an actual fight, he was fully confident he could defeat him.
"Your son's poison flare-up has subsided. He'll be fine for a while." Li Qingshan glanced at the youth on the grass and said, "To completely resolve the accumulated poison, I'll still need to refine pills. Since you want to know what I'm capable of, there's no need to wait until then for our spar."
Dugu Bo was slightly taken aback.
"You want to fight now?"
"That's right." Li Qingshan stood with his hands behind his back and said calmly, "My title is Love Sword, and my Soul Power is level ninety-nine. Since you want strength to decide who is master and who is disciple, I'll show you now."
As soon as he finished speaking, a familiar screen of light appeared before his eyes.
[The host has once again publicly declared his identity: Level 99 Limit Douluo, titled Love Sword.] [Current progress toward making the Love Sword Douluo identity real: 62%.] [Dugu Bo does not yet believe it. Progress gained this time: 0%.]
Li Qingshan glanced at it without any change in expression. In his view, it was perfectly reasonable that the man did not believe him at all right now.
Dugu Bo, however, froze, looking utterly speechless.
"Level ninety-nine?"
He had originally thought Li Qingshan would claim to be a Soul Saint at most. He had never expected the man to open his mouth and announce a Limit Douluo's cultivation.
"Your medical skills are indeed remarkable. I'll admit that," Dugu Bo said with a frown.
"But the Soul Power fluctuations coming from you are only around level seventy. A level ninety-nine Titled Douluo? Do you really take me for a fool? You dare spout such nonsense to my face?"
Li Qingshan was in no hurry to explain. He had anticipated this reaction from Dugu Bo. After all, a title and a level alone would naturally not convince him.
"I have my reasons for suppressing my cultivation as I walk this world." Li Qingshan looked at him and said mildly, "Before long, you'll witness your master's true strength."
The words "your master" made the corner of Dugu Bo's eye twitch. "I haven't accepted you yet."
"Then make your move." With that, Li Qingshan pushed lightly off the ground, swept over the medicinal herbs beside the spring, and landed on a broad boulder atop the cliff.
This spot was far enough from Dugu Xin, and they would not have to worry about their battle damaging the medicinal gardens in the valley.
Silver light poured from his palm, and the crystal-clear Passionate Sword took shape.
Dugu Bo looked up at him. The hesitation in his eyes gradually gave way to fighting spirit, and he laughed loudly. "Good. Then let me see just how much real ability you have, you so-called level ninety-nine!"
Green Soul Power surged from Dugu Bo's body, and his Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor Martial Soul instantly possessed him.
His pupils narrowed into slender vertical slits, fine green scales appeared on his arms, and seven Soul Rings rose from beneath his feet in succession: yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black.
The next moment, Dugu Bo also leaped up the cliff and landed at the other end of the boulder.
The two faced each other from several yards apart.
Li Qingshan raised the Passionate Sword slightly, its edge reflecting Dugu Bo's green-glowing eyes.
Dugu Bo shifted his gaze from the Passionate Sword and glanced once more at Dugu Xin below in the valley. Only after confirming that his son's breathing remained steady did he turn back to Li Qingshan.
"Since you want to fight now, I'll oblige."
Although he did not believe the man possessed level ninety-nine cultivation, he would not actually treat a Soul Saint as a harmless junior.
Besides, the man before him understood medicine. Ordinary methods of poisoning might not work on him.
At that thought, Dugu Bo's third Soul Ring suddenly lit up, and a cloud of multicolored mist rapidly spread in every direction.
"Jade Phosphorous Bewitching Formation!"
The scene before Li Qingshan immediately blurred.
But before the poison formation could fully unfold, another Soul Ring on Dugu Bo lit up. His figure abruptly accelerated, trailing a pale green afterimage as he plunged straight into the mist.
At the same time, a cloud of jade-purple poisonous mist surged toward him beneath the multicolored haze, hugging the stone surface.
Dugu Bo did not rush into a frontal attack. Using the Bewitching Formation to conceal his movements, he sent Jade Phosphor Purple Poison behind Li Qingshan and to either side, first sealing off several places where he could land.
In the blink of an eye, only a single opening around Li Qingshan remained untouched by the poisonous mist.
Trying to make me leave through here?
Li Qingshan's gaze flickered.
That wisp of a Limit Douluo's Spiritual Power had not yet recovered, so he could not use it to see straight through the entire poison formation. But the path Dugu Bo had left him was clearly not as safe as it appeared.
Rather than immediately charging toward the opening, he raised the Passionate Sword, and his fourth Soul Ring lit up.
"Three thousand fathoms of fury in my heart, all poured into a speck of red upon the cold blade."
"Fourth Soul Skill, Fury!"
Pale red flames instantly climbed the blade.
The Soul Power within Li Qingshan grew lively in response. Tightening his grip on the sword, he slashed toward the thickest mist on his left!
Sword light swept past, forcibly tearing apart the roiling poisonous mist.
But just as he prepared to pass through it, a green figure suddenly darted out of the mist, striking straight at him from behind and to the side!
Dugu Bo had not been guarding the opening at all. He had kept changing positions with Serpent Emperor Quickstep, waiting for precisely this moment, when Li Qingshan swung his sword to break the formation and focused his attention ahead.
Fine jade-green poisonous scales already covered his hands and forearms. Dugu Bo struck a palm toward Li Qingshan's shoulder while gathering a ball of jade-purple poisonous gas in his other hand, blocking the space Li Qingshan would have to pass through if he turned.
Poisonous mist lay ahead, and a palm strike bore down from behind.
Whichever direction Li Qingshan dodged, he would have to take one of those attacks first!
"You old poison fiend. You're rather crafty."
With a cold chuckle, Li Qingshan did not turn around, but his first Soul Ring suddenly lit up.
"Look back upon a fleeting moment past; the strike just made comes to naught."
"First Soul Skill, Once Before!"
Dugu Bo felt his mind waver slightly.
In the next instant, the palm that had already reached behind Li Qingshan's shoulder was back at his side. Even his feet had returned to where he had first rushed out of the poisonous mist.
Yet his forward lunge had not stopped.
Dugu Bo's expression instantly changed. Li Qingshan had already turned around, and the Passionate Sword was waiting exactly where his palm was about to pass!
Sssht!
The blade skimmed across the poisonous scales, scattering tiny fragments of green light. Dugu Bo twisted his wrist aside in time, but still suffered a shallow cut.
What alarmed him even more was that, after the red flame on the sword touched the wound, a sharp pain stabbed through his mind as well.
This flame could even injure the mind?
Dugu Bo had no time to think further. His fourth Soul Ring lit up, and an enormous shield shaped like a coiling serpent suddenly appeared before him.
Clang!
Li Qingshan's second thrust, following immediately after the first, was blocked by the enormous serpent-shaped shield.
But Dugu Bo did not use the opportunity to retreat. As the serpent-shaped shield protected his chest, the surrounding poisonous mist suddenly began rapidly converging on the two of them.
He raised his scale-covered palm and blasted it fiercely toward Li Qingshan through the shield, his sixth Soul Ring abruptly lighting up!
Before you continue