"Boy, where exactly did you come from? Are you from Spirit Hall?!"
Dugu Bo instinctively took a small half-step forward, turning slightly to shield Dugu Yan securely behind him as though facing a formidable enemy.
Seven Ten Thousand Year Soul Rings.
In all his years, Dugu Bo had seen countless breathtakingly gifted Soul Masters. He had even dealt with bearers of Spirit Hall's Pope Token and direct disciples of the Upper Three Sects, yet he had never seen a monster who so utterly defied the natural order.
Even a Soul Master blessed with heaven-sent talent had to wait until their fifth Soul Ring before daring to challenge the ten-thousand-year threshold. The slightest misstep would leave their body bursting apart in death.
Yet the boy before him had an ink-black, ten-thousand-year ring as his very first-and all seven of his rings were the same!
This was absolutely not a realm ordinary cultivation could reach. Only an unimaginably vast power backing him,
using some unfathomable secret art and divine medicine to forcibly infuse and temper him, could possibly have created such a rule-breaking existence.
No wonder the boy had remained unruffled from beginning to end, confident that he had nothing to fear.
There are probably at least two Titled Douluos lurking in the shadows, coldly watching my every move...
At that thought, Dugu Bo felt a chill at the back of his neck, and cold sweat quietly seeped down his spine.
He was already nearing the grave; losing his worthless old life would be nothing. But Yanyan had only just turned twenty. Her life had barely begun.
Had that earlier strike truly killed this white-haired boy, not only would Dugu Bo have died without a burial place, but the Heaven Dou Imperial Family and the entire Dugu Family would also have faced that terrifying power's thunderous, bloody purge!
The master behind someone capable of producing such a prodigy had to be at least a Peak Douluo above level ninety-five-or perhaps even... a peerless level ninety-nine powerhouse!
Before the battle had even begun, dozens of horrifying endings with blood flowing in rivers had already flashed through Dugu Bo's mind.
"Spirit Hall?" An Jing's expression settled slightly, and he shook his head, looking rather bored.
"They have nothing to do with me. I have no connection to those charlatans, so don't lump me in with such a crude organization."
"You're not from Spirit Hall?"
The corners of Dugu Bo's eyes twitched furiously. A few words were written nakedly in his gaze: Do I look like a fool to you?
Across the entire Douluo Continent, who besides Spirit Hall's unfathomable Worship Hall could raise a sixteen-year-old Soul Saint with seven entirely black rings?!
"It seems... explaining this might be a little difficult."
An Jing lightly rubbed his brow and sighed helplessly. Then his tone shifted, and he raised an eyebrow with interest. "So, are we still fighting?"
Fight?
Fight, my ass!
If he drew out the Super Douluo secretly guarding the boy, the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well he had tended for decades would turn to ash in an instant. Dugu Bo would never invite such a ruinous enemy upon himself over a few wild herbs!
"No more fighting! No more!"
The vicious aura around Dugu Bo abruptly dispersed. The nine Soul Rings beneath his feet and the enormous phantom of the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor instantly withdrew into his body. He even forced a stiff smile onto his face.
"Boy, since you only came here for the medicinal herbs, feel free to pick whichever ones you fancy and take them away!
"Whatever sacred land you hail from, I'm willing to grant you this favor today!"
"You're stopping? You really won't fight?"
Seeing that the other man had actually dismissed his Martial Soul outright, An Jing couldn't help trying to persuade him.
"Have you considered the possibility that I really don't have a single guardian behind me? Why don't you... try another move or two?"
He wasn't deliberately provoking him. He had finally managed to catch a living, breathing level ninety-one Titled Douluo,
and had been about to reveal his Battle Armor and exchange a few moves with Dugu Bo.
He hadn't expected the man to surrender outright.
He hadn't given An Jing any chance at all to camp his spawn.
The corners of Dugu Bo's mouth jerked twice, and he gave a dry laugh.
"Whether or not a peerless powerhouse accompanies you as a guardian, your unprecedented talent alone guarantees you a place at the summit of this continent someday."
At that point, Dugu Bo drew a deep breath, his tone becoming much calmer.
"Although you abducted my granddaughter earlier, you didn't harm so much as a hair on her head, and instead brought her back completely unharmed. We can count today's affair as a friendship forged through a fight.
"I, Dugu Bo, have always admired talented young people. Why not let bygones be bygones and sow the seeds of a good relationship?"
Whether An Jing's words were true or false, Dugu Bo would never entertain another murderous thought.
Trading a field of herbs he couldn't take with him for the goodwill of a prodigy with the potential to become a Peerless Douluo was a deal that paid off however he calculated it.
Seeing that this old poison master had paved such a smooth, broad road forward, and that not even a trace of murderous intent remained around him,
An Jing knew that continuing the fight would only amount to a one-sided beating of a punching bag, with no value as a test. He could only regretfully disperse the pulsing wind pressure in his palm.
The seven unfathomably dark, pitch-black Soul Rings beneath his feet silently receded like the tide.
"Ah, fine."
An Jing looked somewhat disappointed as he said evenly, "Since Your Excellency the Poison Douluo is being so reasonable, it wouldn't be right for a junior like me to press you too hard."
After a brief pause, An Jing's azure eyes, deep as the void, shifted slightly and settled calmly on the guarded Dugu Bo and the still-frightened Dugu Yan.
"I, An Jing, have always believed in equivalent exchange.
"I'm no saint, but I've never liked taking advantage of others for free, either.
"Since you're so generous, Senior, and willing to let me freely pick the Immortal Herbs and spiritual treasures here, then as your junior, I can offer you a great blessing in return."
"A blessing? An opportunity?" Dugu Bo's brows creased slightly, and a trace of suspicion flashed through his eyes.
"Exactly."
An Jing slipped both hands back into his pockets and strolled two steps forward as leisurely as if he were walking through a courtyard. His tone was flat, yet every word struck Dugu Bo's heart like a heavy hammer.
"If I'm not mistaken, the reason you've lived in seclusion all these years in this basin where ice and fire converge
"isn't merely to cultivate these herbs. It's also to use the alternating yin and yang forces of extreme cold and heat in this hot spring to forcibly suppress the backlash of the serpent poison that has already riddled your body with wounds, isn't it?"
Boom!
Dugu Bo's pupils contracted sharply. He looked as though he had been struck by lightning!
An Jing paid it no heed. His tone remained utterly level as he continued laying bare the bloody truth.
"Every rainy night, unbearable pain strikes beneath both your ribs, as though ten thousand snakes were gnawing at you.
"At midnight, the Baihui point at your crown and the Yongquan points on your soles feel like oil seething over a blazing fire and frost stabbing into your bones, tormenting you for six full hours.
"You think your vast Soul Power as a Titled Douluo can keep it suppressed?
"Unfortunately, the toxins have already penetrated your marrow and organs. Within ten years at most, when your poison cultivation can no longer hold them down, your own Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison will dissolve you alive into a puddle of blood."
Dugu Bo's breathing instantly quickened. He stared fixedly at An Jing, towering waves of shock surging through his heart.
This hidden affliction was the greatest secret of his life. Even Prince Xue Xing of the Heaven Dou Imperial Family knew nothing of it, yet this boy had exposed every detail without the slightest error after nothing more than a glance!
"You... how exactly did you know?!"
"There's no need to look like that. This isn't some profound secret, merely the inevitable progression of rejection between your poison cultivation and your physical body."
An Jing remained composed. His gaze then shifted to the trembling Dugu Yan.
"As for your granddaughter, she suffers from the same condition.
"What's more, her Jade Phosphorous Serpent Martial Soul is far less pure than yours, and her meridians can withstand several times less strain.
"Her Soul Power is still low, and the toxins remain dormant, so she appears perfectly fine. But once her Soul Power breaks through in the future, the deadly poison inside her will erupt in full, holding nothing back.
"As for what will happen to her then, Dugu Bo, as her closest family, you should know better than anyone."
Dugu Bo's face instantly went from deathly pale to ashen, and his whole body began trembling uncontrollably.
This was the nightmare buried deepest in his heart!
His son had died from this very vicious backlash. If Yanyan was destined to follow in his footsteps, what meaning would Dugu Bo's continued existence have?!
Yet just as Dugu Bo's heart turned to dead ashes and despair threatened to swallow him, An Jing's cool voice suddenly echoed through the valley like the first light of dawn breaking through the night.
"Still, there's no need for either of you to despair like this."
An Jing looked at Dugu Bo, who stood on the brink of despair.
"To others, a poison that has penetrated so deeply into the blood and marrow is incurable. To me, however, it's merely a secondary problem of energy guidance and vessel construction.
"I can completely eradicate the deep-rooted ailments in both your bodies with hardly any effort."
Dugu Bo's body shuddered violently. His previously dull, lifeless serpentine eyes suddenly blazed with wild joy and disbelief!
"And that's not all."
An Jing swept his gaze over the strange flowers and rare herbs around them, which breathed out radiant light, and said calmly,
"After completely resolving the underlying danger, I can also refine away the impurities in your Martial Souls while I'm at it, thoroughly loosening the level ninety-one bottleneck of an old man nearing his grave like you, and allowing your granddaughter to shed her old self and rise to an even greater level of strength."
Before you continue