Chapter 24

"This form consumes a lot of Soul Power, so save it as a last resort when you're fighting for your life. Your Soul Power might run out before you even land a hit."

Dugu Bo thought it over and felt that his granddaughter made perfect sense. But then another thought struck him. No, that wasn't right-he didn't want Dugu Yan to choose this path. If Dugu Yan thought it was too powerful and chose this path because of that...

"Yan'er, do you like this kind of form?" Dugu Bo asked cautiously.

"No. It's too ugly," Dugu Yan answered instantly.

"Ug... ugly?" Her blunt answer left Dugu Bo deeply wounded. All his earlier excitement had vanished; all that was missing was for him to squat down and draw circles.

"Now let's talk about the second method. The second method uses life divine power to transform the toxins and Soul Power inside you into another form of Soul Power. But your Martial Soul might mutate, and you might also lose your poison attribute in the future."

Dugu Yan looked at Dugu Bo for a long, long time. "Grandpa, you actually want me to choose this path, don't you?" she said softly, though there was a trace of trembling in her voice.

"Ah... yes." Dugu Bo nodded.

"Are we really going to abandon our family's Martial Soul just like that?" Dugu Yan's voice choked up. She had never imagined that the method her grandfather wanted her to choose would come at such a great cost. Generations of their family had held fast to it, yet now her grandfather wanted her to give it up.

"Yan'er, let this Martial Soul that brings us suffering end with this generation." Dugu Bo's voice was quiet but firm.

"All right." In the end, Dugu Yan agreed, but her tears came before her answer.

Dugu Bo felt as though a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Though his heart ached for her, he truly believed this was the best method.

"Younger Brother Lan, I'm counting on you!" He turned to Lan Changsheng and moved to bow again.

But Lan Changsheng, who had been ready for this, caught him and straightened him up. "Don't worry, elder brother. Your family is my family." Then he looked at Dugu Yan and said, "Get yourself ready, and we'll begin."

After Dugu Yan regulated her breathing, Lan Changsheng stood opposite her. "Yan'er, this process may be somewhat painful. After all, for both you and your Martial Soul, it will be like breaking out of a cocoon and being reborn. But with me here, nothing will happen to you!"

She nodded and closed her eyes, though the trembling of her eyelashes betrayed the unrest in her heart.

Lan Changsheng pressed a finger to her forehead. Life divine power flowed like water from his fingertip, enveloping her.

"Relax. Don't resist. Follow the flow of my power." Lan Changsheng's voice held warmth.

Like spring water flowing over frozen earth, life divine power slowly seeped into her back, meridians, and internal organs.

Lan Changsheng discovered and soothed many hidden injuries there, left by the corrosive effects of her Jade Phosphorus Snake Martial Soul.

Dugu Yan shuddered all over. A warmth she had never felt before enveloped her and her Martial Soul little by little.

The Jade Phosphorus Snake Martial Soul appeared behind her on its own. Its body coiled, its tongue flickering, it twisted uneasily, the emerald scales on its body rustling. It seemed to sense something and let out a low hiss.

Lan Changsheng did not stop. His divine power wound around the Jade Phosphorus Snake Martial Soul inch by inch like fine threads, as though weaving a cocoon.

Only after it was tightly wrapped did the life divine power begin breaking down the toxins inside Dugu Yan and the Jade Phosphorus Snake, as though drawing out silk and unraveling a cocoon. The broken-down toxins became a new kind of Soul Power that shone with white light, then merged with their Soul Power.

The Jade Phosphorus Snake inside the cocoon also began to glow white. Its emerald scales were falling away as though it were shedding its skin. The old, poisonous shell peeled off piece by piece, and new scales emerged beneath it, gleaming with a gentle white light.

Dugu Yan began to tremble, but not from pain. Poison had corroded her since childhood, and she had long since grown accustomed to suffering.

But as the poison she had known since childhood, the poison that had brought her suffering, was broken down bit by bit, she felt as though her very core was being hollowed out. A question sprang unbidden into her mind: Without poison, am I still Dugu Yan?

"Hold on," came Lan Changsheng's voice. "The perseverance you've shown all your life won't be forgotten. All the training you've done since childhood won't go to waste, either. The toxins won't disappear, and neither will your past. They'll simply stay with you in another form."

Lan Changsheng's words seemed to take effect. Dugu Yan stopped trembling, and her breathing gradually steadied as she focused on feeling the newborn power within her.

The light around them grew brighter and brighter. The Jade Phosphorous Serpent's freshly shed head could be felt continuously changing shape: its brow bone rose, its snout shortened, and two tiny white horns grew from the top of its head.

Its scales turned completely white, and soft mane hair grew around its neck. Two slits opened along its back, and a pair of wings broke out through them, white all over, with a wingspan of nearly ten feet. Pale golden divine power flowed over every feather.

It burst free of the cocoon's restraints, with golden eyes, a dragon's head, a snake's body, no feet, and a pair of feathered wings. It raised a long, clear cry into the air, close to a dragon's roar yet unlike its earlier serpentine hiss. Though not piercing, it lingered.

"It's done." Lan Changsheng withdrew his hand. "Open your eyes."

Dugu Yan slowly opened her eyes. Her pupils had changed from their original dark green to a normal black, and traces of tears still lingered at the corners of her eyes. Her shoulder-length black hair looked neat and fresh, and her skin had taken on a normal, delicate pink. Gone was her former eerie, uncanny appearance; she now looked serene and dignified.

She lowered her head to look at her hands. A faint white sheen glimmered at her fingertips. As Soul Power circulated through her body, she no longer felt that corrosion from the toxins. In its place was a gentle, unending sensation.

She turned and saw her new Martial Soul behind her. It was snow-white all over, its wings spread, pale golden light flowing over it. It lay quietly coiled behind her, watching her. Its golden eyes no longer held that uncontrollable ferocity, only a peculiar affection.

"Is this... my Martial Soul?"

Lan Changsheng nodded. In his million years of memories, he had truly never seen a creature like this, resembling both a snake and a dragon. "You can give it a new name."

Dugu Yan stroked her new Martial Soul's head and thought for a while. "Let's call it the Life Dragon Snake."

"Ying~" The Life Dragon Snake let out a delighted sound. It seemed to like the name very much.

"A fine name!" Dugu Bo chimed in from the side. "Life Dragon Snake. To think our family would one day see a transformation into a dragon."

He walked over and stroked Dugu Yan's hair, unable to hide the tenderness in his expression.

He knew Dugu Yan had also chosen this path out of concern for him. They were each other's only remaining family. He did not want Dugu Yan to suffer because of her Martial Soul, and Dugu Yan did not want him to keep worrying about her.

Dugu Yan gently embraced him. "Grandpa."

Dugu Bo choked up as well. "Yan'er..."