At those words, the valley fell utterly silent.
Dugu Bo's eyes widened. He thought he had misheard.
A Titled Douluo, pledging allegiance to a Soul Elder barely above level thirty?
"Insolent!" Dugu Yan snapped from the side. "Who are you to demand my grandfather's allegiance?"
Dugu Bo laughed in his fury, jade-green Soul Power surging violently around him. "Boy, your appetite is far too great. I am a mighty Titled Douluo. Why would I let a junior like you order me around?"
The pressure descended again, bowing the surrounding vegetation.
Chen Jin stood where he was, his posture straight and his expression unchanged.
"You may refuse, Senior. But Dugu Yan has less than three years left to live. You yourself will not survive another ten."
Chen Jin's words doused Dugu Bo's anger like a bucket of cold water.
Dugu Bo looked at Dugu Yan beside him, his eyes full of conflict.
A Titled Douluo's dignity mattered, certainly, but his only granddaughter's life was more precious.
If she died, he would have no family left in this world.
Wind swept through the valley, stirring the white mist above the hot springs.
Dugu Bo stared at Chen Jin, his facial muscles twitching. "Are you truly confident you can cure Yanyan?" His voice was low.
Chen Jin smiled. "My word carries the weight of nine great cauldrons.
"Agree to my terms, Senior, and I guarantee that within three years, Dugu Yan will not only be entirely free of poison, but her strength will advance as well.
"You too will be able to increase your Soul Power without fear of future trouble."
Jade-green mist raged through the valley. Loose stones hissed under the poisonous vapor's corrosion, dissolving into thick green liquid.
Dugu Bo stood at the center of the poisonous mist, murderous intent laid bare in his dark green eyes. "Boy, you're courting death!"
His fierce killing intent became a gale, scattering the white mist above the hot springs.
Dugu Bo moved, crossing dozens of meters, his green-scaled hand clawing straight for Chen Jin's throat.
He unleashed the full pressure of a Titled Douluo without reservation.
Jade-green poison needles condensed in the air with explosive cracks. The entire valley trembled beneath his pressure.
Chen Jin remained where he stood, facing that claw without blinking.
Gold-Red light flowed around him. The Nine-Heaven Divine Phoenix's Ultimate Fire automatically protected him, forming a barrier over his body.
The poison needles struck the barrier and melted in the heat.
"Kill me, and no one in this world will remain who can cure the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor's poison."
Chen Jin's tone was even, without panic.
The hand covered in green scales stopped an inch from his throat.
The fierce wind sent Chen Jin's black hair flying and his clothes snapping.
His eyes were as calm as still water.
Dugu Bo stared at the young man before him, green poisonous light flickering from his fingertips.
"Do you think I truly dare not kill you?"
Dugu Bo gritted his teeth, veins bulging on his forehead.
As a Titled Douluo, when had he ever been threatened like this by a Soul Elder barely above level thirty?
"You're welcome to try, Senior."
Chen Jin met Dugu Bo's gaze. "It's only one life. Trading my life for the end of the Poison Douluo's bloodline isn't such a bad bargain."
Dugu Bo's breathing grew heavy. His suspended hand shook violently, yet he still dared not bring it down.
He knew his condition was exactly as Chen Jin had described, and Dugu Yan's condition was worsening by the day.
If he killed Chen Jin, his only hope would be severed.
But for a Titled Douluo to pledge allegiance to a Soul Elder was a humiliation beyond measure.
Overcome with agitation, Dugu Yan lost control of the Soul Power within her.
"Aah!"
A scream of agony shattered the deathly silence.
Dugu Yan shuddered and collapsed limply onto the ground.
An eerie blue-green color swiftly spread over her face. Green currents coursed across her skin, a sign that the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison was running rampant through her meridians.
"Yanyan!" Dugu Bo's expression changed drastically. Withdrawing his killing intent, he flashed to Dugu Yan's side and lifted her into his arms.
Dugu Yan convulsed, her limbs spasming. Her nails gouged furrows in the dirt, and blood seeped between her fingers.
"Cold... Grandpa, I'm so cold..."
Dugu Yan's clenched teeth chattered, yet her body burned like fire, extreme cold and extreme heat intertwining within her.
Dugu Bo panicked. He hurriedly circulated his Soul Power and poured it into her, attempting to forcibly suppress the poison.
But the moment his Soul Power entered her, Dugu Yan spat out a large mouthful of black blood, her convulsions growing even worse.
"How could this happen... how could this happen!"
Dugu Bo's eyes stretched wide, as though their corners might split.
Suppressing it with Soul Power had always helped somewhat before. Why was the backlash so severe today?
"Like a frog slowly boiled in warm water, the poison has long since penetrated her marrow."
Chen Jin stepped forward, looking at the frantic Dugu Bo. "Your Soul Power is no tonic for her now. It's a death warrant. The stronger your Soul Power, the fiercer the poison's backlash."
Watching the life drain from Dugu Yan in his arms, Dugu Bo's conflict gave way to despair.
He knew very well that if he continued suppressing it with Soul Power, Dugu Yan would not last half an hour.
"Save her! As long as you save her, I'll agree to any terms!" Du-
-gu Bo shouted.
Chen Jin's expression remained unchanged. "Senior, I need your spoken promise.
"Once the poison is cured, this valley and you, the Poison Douluo, will belong to me."
Dugu Bo gritted his teeth, but looking at his dying granddaughter, he could only sigh.
"Fine! I agree! As long as you can save Yanyan, my life will be yours from now on!"
Chen Jin nodded. "In that case, please step back, Senior."
He stepped forward. Yellow, yellow, purple-three Soul Rings rose from beneath his feet and pulsed around his body.
When the Nine Heavens Divine Phoenix Martial Soul manifested, a wave of pressure swept through the valley: the bloodline suppression of an ancient divine beast.
Even the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor Martial Soul within Dugu Bo began to tremble.
Golden-red flames flickered in Chen Jin's eyes.
"The Nine-Heaven Divine Phoenix, Ultimate Fire. It can purify the filth and deadly poisons of this world."
Formidable though the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison was, it was merely fuel before Ultimate Fire.
But Dugu Yan's constitution was weak and could not endure being tempered by Ultimate Fire. Medicinal herbs were needed to moderate it.
Chen Jin fixed his gaze on the immortal herbs surrounding the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
"Dugu Bo, go beneath the eastern cliff and pick three stalks of Nine-Section Jade Grass. They grow in damp rock crevices, are jade-green throughout, and have nine sections.
"Then go to the red-water side of the hot springs and find three Blazing Sunflower leaves with serrated edges that give off warmth."
Dugu Bo dared not delay. He vanished in a streak of green light.
Before long, he returned with the required herbs.
Chen Jin took the herbs and approached the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, looking at the hot spring water, scarlet on one side and milky white on the other.
Wrapping his hands in Soul Power, he reached into the spring where extreme cold and extreme heat met and retrieved a few drops of pink water.
Gold-Red flames rose from his palm. He placed the Nine-Section Jade Grass and Blazing Sunflower leaves into the flames to refine them.
Under the Ultimate Fire's control, the herbs became a mass of medicinal liquid threaded with green and red. Chen Jin blended the yin-yang spring water into it, and the liquid boiled, releasing a delicate fragrance.
"Put her in this wooden bucket."
Chen Jin pointed to a large wooden bucket nearby.
Dugu Bo complied.
Chen Jin poured the medicinal liquid into the wooden bucket and drew in mild hot spring water. The water in the bucket turned pale pink.
"This medicinal soup will protect her heart meridians and draw the poison out of her flesh. What comes next is the crucial part."
Chen Jin approached the wooden bucket and pressed his right hand onto the crown of Dugu Yan's head.
Gold-Red Soul Power became fine threads, flowing into her through the Baihui acupoint.
Dugu Yan trembled, pain crossing her face.
"Bear with it," Chen Jin said.
The Ultimate Fire Soul Power coursed through her meridians, dissolving the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison wherever it passed.
Some poison was purified, while some was forced out through her pores into the surrounding medicinal soup.
The pale pink medicinal soup soon turned green, then black, giving off a foul, fishy stench.
Dugu Bo watched from the side.
He could sense Dugu Yan's faint life force recovering, and her convulsions gradually stopped.
"Pfft!"
The water in the medicinal bucket had already turned blackish green.
A pungent, fishy stench filled the air.
Dugu Yan's breathing finally steadied, and most of the blue-green color faded from her face.
Chen Jin withdrew his right hand from the crown of Dugu Yan's head.
"Come out."
"This medicinal soup can't absorb any more poison."
Chen Jin pointed to a flat Giant Rock nearby.
Dugu Yan was only half-conscious now.
Instinctively following his instructions, she rose from the wooden bucket.
Her soaking clothes clung to her body.
They outlined her full figure.
Her curves were exquisite.
They rose and fell unevenly.
Dugu Yan staggered over to the Giant Rock and sat cross-legged.
Chen Jin walked to the other side of the Giant Rock.
They sat facing each other.
Barely half a foot separated them.
Their breathing was clearly audible in the silent valley.
"The next part will be painful."
"You must cooperate fully with the circulation of my Soul Power."
Chen Jin looked at the woman before him.
Conflict flickered through Dugu Yan's dark green eyes, but she finally gave a slight nod.
Chen Jin took a deep breath.
The Nine Heavens Divine Phoenix Martial Soul within him began to awaken.
Gold-Red light spilled from every pore.
A sacred, blazing aura filled the entire valley.
An enormous phantom of a divine bird slowly appeared behind Chen Jin.
Its wings spread, blotting out the sky and sun.
Eternal Gold-Red flames burned in its phoenix eyes, radiating the pressure of a divine beast that stood above all birds.
More than a hundred meters away.
Dugu Bo watched them nervously.
When the divine bird's phantom appeared.
The Titled Douluo's expression changed drastically.
The Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor Martial Soul within him actually began trembling uncontrollably.
A sense of submission arose from the deepest reaches of his bloodline.
Even circulating his Soul Power became exceedingly difficult.
"What... what Martial Soul is this?"
"How can it suppress my Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor?"
Towering waves surged through Dugu Bo's heart.
Even when facing the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon or Spirit Hall's top-tier Martial Souls, he had never experienced this kind of trembling from the depths of his soul.
Chen Jin paid no attention to what was happening outside.
His hands formed a seal before his chest.
Gold-Red flames moved like spirit serpents.
Flowing along their bodies, they formed a huge, round flame cocoon around the Giant Rock.
It enclosed them both.
The view from outside was completely cut off.
Extreme heat rose within the flame cocoon.
The moment Dugu Yan's wet clothes met that heat, they turned to drifting ash.
Chen Jin's clothes were not spared either.
The fabric dissolved in the searing heat.
Not a trace remained.
Inside the flame cocoon.
The temperature was astonishingly high, yet it did not harm either of their skin.
Firelight flickered.
It illuminated this tiny space.
A body that could be called perfect lay revealed before his eyes.
Dugu Yan's skin was as fair as mutton-fat jade.
Bathed in the golden-red firelight, it took on a faint pink glow.
Beneath her slender neck, her exquisite collarbones seemed like heaven's proudest masterpiece.
Her peaks rose and fell.
They trembled violently with her breathing.
They radiated allure.
Her waist was slender, too slight to fill a hand.
Her beautiful legs were straight and long, crossed flawlessly together.
Her rounded, jade-like feet rested on the warm rock.
Her toes were like peeled lychees, translucent and lustrous.
As the toxins were expelled, a fine layer of sweat still coated her skin.
It reflected a captivating sheen in the firelight.
Chen Jin closed his eyes.
He took a deep breath and steadied his mind.
"Close your eyes and concentrate."
"Drop all your Soul Power defenses."
Chen Jin spoke and extended both hands.
His palms pressed against Dugu Yan's warm shoulders.
Stimulated by the heat of Ultimate Fire, Dugu Yan's delicate body shuddered violently.
The moment Chen Jin's scorching hands touched her.
A strange sensation spread throughout her body.
Her life was at stake.
Dugu Yan could only forcibly suppress her shame, close her eyes, and drop the Soul Power defenses within her body.
Chen Jin circulated the Nine-Turn Nirvana Art.
The Gold-Red Divine Phoenix Fire transformed into countless fine threads of flame, flowing along Dugu Yan's shoulders and surging into her meridians.
"Mm..."
Dugu Yan let out a soft moan.
It was a sound in which extreme comfort and pain intertwined.
Wherever the Divine Phoenix Fire passed, the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison lurking deep within her meridians melted away as though it had met its nemesis.
Some of the toxins were purified.
The rest were forced out through her pores by this formidable power.
The blackish-green toxins turned into wisps of smoke, burned to nothing by the surrounding Flame Cocoon the instant they left her body.
Every meridian was being reshaped.
Her meridians, left terribly fragile by the toxins' corrosion, brimmed with life anew under the nourishment of the Divine Phoenix Fire.
The toxins deep within her bone marrow were the most stubborn.
Chen Jin carefully controlled the flames, letting them penetrate little by little.
This process was extremely taxing.
Fine beads of sweat formed on Chen Jin's forehead.
The sweat slid down his resolute face and dripped onto Dugu Yan's fair collarbone.
Dugu Yan's delicate body trembled again.
That drop of sweat carried a scorching heat that burned all the way into her heart.
Time trickled by.
The temperature inside the Flame Cocoon gradually fell.
The Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison within Dugu Yan's body had been completely cleared away.
And that was not all.
Tempered by the Divine Phoenix Fire, her meridians were tougher than before, and her Soul Power even showed faint signs of a breakthrough.
Chen Jin withdrew his hands.
He slowly exhaled a breath of stale air.
The phantom of the Nine-Heaven Divine Phoenix behind him gradually faded.
The Gold-Red Flame Cocoon surrounding the Giant Rock dissipated with it.
A breeze blew through the valley.
It brought waves of coolness.
Dugu Yan's feathery lashes fluttered. Her deep-green eyes slowly opened.
Her vision went from blurry to clear.
The first thing she saw was a handsome face close at hand.
Next came his broad, sturdy chest.
Completely bare.
Dugu Yan froze for a moment.
Her body felt utterly at ease.
The pain in her bone marrow that had tormented her for years had now vanished without a trace.
Her whole body felt warm.
It was filled with strength.
However.
Before she could rejoice.
Dugu Yan instinctively lowered her head.
Her gaze traveled down her own body.
Fair skin.
Undulating curves.
Long, beautiful legs.
All lay fully exposed to the air.
Without any clothing to cover them.
Dugu Yan's mind instantly went blank.
"Aah-!"
A piercing scream.
It tore through the entire valley.
It echoed endlessly among the sheer cliffs.
Dugu Yan abruptly folded her arms over her chest and curled her entire body into a ball.
Her face was so red it almost seemed about to drip.
She pressed her beautiful legs tightly together.
Her jade-like feet scrabbled restlessly against the rough rock.
Before you continue