"Snow Empress, you're mocking me again!"
Faced with the Snow Empress's raised eyebrow and teasing words, Yang Xingchen rolled his eyes at her in exasperation.
"Then buy this empress ten skewers of candied hawthorn once we get out, and I'll stop mocking you for a while."
The Snow Empress had finished the candied hawthorn they bought last time a week ago. Now that her cravings had returned, she naturally set her sights on Yang Xingchen's wallet.
Back when they were in the Far North, Yang Xingchen had happened to fish up a chest of Gold Soul Coins, so he had no need to worry about running out anytime soon.
"Make it ten extra skewers, and double the time you won't mock me!"
"Sorry, dear customer, this shop doesn't offer that service!"
Mocking Yang Xingchen now and then was one of the Snow Empress's few pleasures. How could she give it up for ten skewers of candied hawthorn?
Just as the Snow Empress and Yang Xingchen were bantering, Dugu Bo suddenly began convulsing, and clouds of dark green poisonous mist poured from his seven orifices.
The Snow Swan Kiss's medicinal effects were too powerful. Even though Dugu Bo had successfully moved it into his dantian, the medicinal potency leaking from it still multiplied the toxins in his body to the limit of what he could control.
"Dugu Bo's reached his limit. The Snow Swan Kiss's medicinal effects are still too powerful for him."
"If I'd known, I wouldn't have given Dugu Bo an Immortal Herb. I wanted him to take one to improve his talent, but instead, I've cost him his life."
Yang Xingchen had not expected that he had still overestimated Dugu Bo's talent. His idea had been to use the Snow Swan Kiss to condense a poison core. Never mind challenging opponents above his level-it should have been more than enough to make Dugu Bo a formidable fighter among his peers.
But in the end, the Snow Swan Kiss was not an Immortal Herb like the Aromatic Silk Beauty, which even Ning Rongrong and the others could refine. To refine the Snow Swan Kiss, one had to suppress its powerful medicinal potency.
"Use Emperor Cold Heaven: Snow Dance Shining Sun. With this empress's support, the Ultimate Ice within the domain can suppress Dugu Bo's toxins from outside his body."
"Huh?! Snow Empress, you're willing to save Dugu Bo?"
Learning that the Snow Empress was willing to save a human like Dugu Bo, Yang Xingchen looked in disbelief at her as she emerged from his Spiritual Sea.
After spending so long with Yang Xingchen, the Snow Empress's hostility toward most humans had diminished considerably, but not to the point where she would willingly take the initiative to help them.
"Didn't someone want to show Cangyuan some beautiful things? If this empress doesn't help, wouldn't those beautiful things someone spoke of be shattered?"
Looking at Yang Xingchen's shocked face, the Snow Empress burst into a chuckle and answered his question with a smile.
Learning that the Snow Empress was saving Dugu Bo because of him, Yang Xingchen scratched his head, a little embarrassed.
With the Snow Empress willing to help, Yang Xingchen hesitated no longer. He immediately unleashed Emperor Cold Heaven: Snow Dance Shining Sun, covering Dugu Bo's body with the domain.
In the blink of an eye, a layer of frost covered Dugu Bo's body, and even the poisonous mist flowing from his seven orifices froze into ice fragments that fell to the ground.
Had they not still been at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, where the fire-attribute Heaven and Earth Yuan Power leaking from it affected the domain, Emperor Cold Heaven: Snow Dance Shining Sun, supported by the Snow Empress, could have instantly frozen Dugu Bo into an ice sculpture.
"Keep the domain up for no more than a quarter of an hour. Any longer, and even if Dugu Bo doesn't die from the eruption of his toxins, he'll die from the Ultimate Ice."
Seeing that the toxins were under control, the Snow Empress gave Yang Xingchen this warning before returning to his Spiritual Sea to play with Cangyuan, who had just finished cultivating.
Dugu Bo had thought he was about to die from the eruption of his toxins, only to suddenly discover that, under the suppression of the Ultimate Ice, the toxins in his body were multiplying far more slowly than before.
It's only been a short while, yet I've already come to owe Yang Xingchen my life again.
But Dugu Bo was not one to get sentimental. While Yang Xingchen's Ultimate Ice suppressed the erupting toxins, Dugu Bo drove the Soul Power within his body at full force to compress the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor poison, making it envelop the Snow Swan Kiss.
Dugu Bo expended more than seventy percent of the Soul Power in his body on this compression before finally wrapping the Snow Swan Kiss in Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor poison to form a bead with an uneven surface.
At this point, Dugu Bo had completed the condensation of the poison core's nucleus. Next, he needed to continue drawing out the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor poison accumulated in his body, using it to polish the bead continuously until it became a poison core with a smooth surface.
When he drew the first wisp of Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor poison out of his body, intense pain surged over him like a tide. Dugu Bo desperately clenched his teeth, refusing to let his strength slacken.
The sweat beading on Dugu Bo's forehead had barely slid down his cheeks before the Ultimate Ice froze it into soybean-sized beads of ice, which fell to the ground with a clatter.
As more and more Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor poison was extracted, Dugu Bo felt himself gradually going numb. Fortunately, the poison core in his dantian was growing increasingly smooth and round, keeping him from losing himself in the unending pain.
"Dugu Bo's presence has stabilized. It looks like he's successfully condensed the poison core!"
To prevent the Ultimate Ice from continuing to damage Dugu Bo's body, Yang Xingchen hurriedly dispelled the domain and withdrew the Ultimate Ice as soon as he sensed that Dugu Bo's poison core condensation was on the right track.
When the final wisp of Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor poison was drawn from Dugu Bo's body, a perfectly round, jade-green poison core floated in his dantian. Now, all he needed to do was summon the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor and have it actively release the toxins within its body, establishing a connection with the poison core.
Once that connection was formed, the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor poison would no longer flow into Dugu Bo's body. Instead, it would flow into the poison core, continuously improving its quality.
Just as Yang Xingchen was wondering why Dugu Bo had summoned his Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor Martial Soul, he saw Dugu Bo open his mouth and spit out a jade-green poison core marked with pale green stripes.
The phantom of the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor behind Dugu Bo fixed its eyes on the slowly rising poison core. When it reached the serpent's head, the serpent opened its mouth and swallowed it whole.
The poison core continuously absorbed the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor poison released by the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor. With every wisp it absorbed, the pale green stripes on its surface grew a shade darker.
Early the next morning, Yang Xingchen was awakened from his sleep by a powerful presence.
"Dugu Bo's finally succeeded in condensing his poison core. I never expected the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor to have so much venom."
Rubbing his eyes, Yang Xingchen walked out of the stone cave Dugu Bo had carved out. He was just about to look for Dugu Bo to congratulate him when he found Dugu Bo standing before him.
"Brat Yang, not only did I successfully condense my poison core, but my Soul Power Level also broke through to level 94! Let's go outside and fight again. I refuse to believe I'll lose to you this time!"
This breakthrough had given Dugu Bo tremendous confidence. He did not believe he could lose to Yang Xingchen again this time.
Looking at the brimming confidence on Dugu Bo's face, Yang Xingchen genuinely did not want to discourage him. His own improvement had definitely far exceeded Dugu Bo's, and with the two hundred thousand years of cultivation the Snow Empress could now draw upon, his overall strength was definitely greater than Dugu Bo's.
If they fought again, unless the Snow Empress stayed out of it and left Yang Xingchen, still a Four-Ring Soul Ancestor, to fight Dugu Bo, who was already a Titled Douluo, Dugu Bo had no chance of winning.
"Brat Yang, you'd better be careful. My poison isn't just for show now. Touch it, and at best, you'll suffer unbearable pain; at worst, your flesh will rot! And my poison can corrode Soul Power too, so don't think you can block it with Soul Power alone."
Dugu Bo led Yang Xingchen outside the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, calmly toying with the poison core he had condensed.
"Since the Poison Douluo puts it that way, it'd be such a shame not to experience it for myself!"
Yang Xingchen summoned his Heavenly Snow Woman Martial Soul and reached forward, closing his hand. A long ice-crystal sword instantly appeared in his grasp.
As his Soul Power Level rose and the Snow Empress's seals were lifted, Yang Xingchen's understanding of the Snow Empress's Three Absolutes had deepened, and he could now unleash them instantly.