After they had eaten and drunk their fill.
The three headed straight to the training ground behind the academy.
The training ground sat on an open stretch of the mountain behind Heaven Dou Royal Academy, with room for several people to fight at once.
Dugu Yan and Xiao Xuan entered the spacious arena one after the other.
Ye Lingling stood beside the white stone steps a dozen or so zhang away to watch their match, secretly preparing to step in and heal them at any moment.
She did not want to see either of them get hurt.
In the center of the arena, Dugu Yan stood with one hand on her hip, her tall, fiery figure tracing a seductive curve.
Her short, shoulder-length, deep purple hair fluttered gently in the mountain breeze, and her emerald eyes shone with a bold wildness and confidence.
"Little Brother Xiao Xuan, I'd better warn you first."
The corners of Dugu Yan's lips rose slightly as she kindly reminded him, "Your big sister here is a level thirty-one control-type Battle Soul Elder."
"My Martial Soul is the Jade Phosphorous Serpent. Its venom is fierce and vicious. Even an ordinary Soul Ancestor would lose a layer of skin from the slightest touch of it."
"You'd better make the first move. Otherwise, once I've covered the arena in a poison formation, I'm afraid you won't even get a chance to use your spear."
There was not a trace of contempt or disdain in her words. She knew full well how overbearing her family's inherited serpent venom was. This spar was only meant to let her see Xiao Xuan's spear technique, so naturally, she did not want to actually hurt this junior she found agreeable.
Xiao Xuan, however, held the Blue Jade Bamboo and merely smiled calmly at her words. He shook his head slightly and said:
"Thank you for looking out for me, Senior."
"But my spear style is meant to defeat an opponent in a single move. If I strike first, I'm afraid this match will be decided immediately. Please make the first move, Senior, so I can also experience the wonders of the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Martial Soul."
"Oh, you've got quite a big mouth!"
Dugu Yan raised an eyebrow, and the competitive fighting spirit in her heart was thoroughly ignited.
Her brows lifted slightly, and she gave a soft snort. "All right, kid. Since you're asking for a lesson, your senior will teach you properly today that there's always someone beyond you, and a heaven beyond heaven!"
As soon as she finished speaking, the Soul Power in Dugu Yan's body surged into motion!
Hum!
A cold, sinister, and murderous presence swept out of her body. Behind her appeared the phantom of a gigantic Jade Phosphorous Serpent, flicking its scarlet tongue, its eyes gleaming with an eerie, chilling green light!
The next second.
Yellow!
Yellow!
Purple!
Three Soul Rings rose unhurriedly from her ankles.
The formidable presence of a level thirty-one Soul Elder swept toward him, accompanied by a foully sweet gust of wind!
"Take this! Second Soul Skill-Jade Phosphorous Blue Poison!"
Dugu Yan shouted, and the second yellow Soul Ring beneath her feet blazed with light!
In an instant, a great mass of thick, viscous, deep blue poisonous mist burst from her palm!
Like a flood bursting through a broken dike, the poisonous mist roared and rolled along the ground and through the air just above it, spreading out to surround Xiao Xuan from every direction!
Yet faced with the raging torrent of deadly poison rolling toward him, Xiao Xuan remained calm. He did not even summon a single Soul Ring from his body.
He simply stood where he was, gripping the Blue Jade Spear in his right hand and allowing the blue mist filling the air to surround him.
Beside the steps a dozen or so zhang away, Ye Lingling's heart tightened slightly, and she instinctively clenched her sleeve.
Across from him, Dugu Yan saw that Xiao Xuan had not reacted in the slightest. Her expression changed abruptly, and an uneasy thought flashed through her mind:
Could this kid have been scared stupid by my Soul Skill?!
Jade Phosphorous Blue Poison paralyzed the nerves and corroded the meridians. If an ordinary Soul Grandmaster inhaled so much as a breath of it, they would be paralyzed from head to toe in an instant!
"You silly boy, dodge!"
Dugu Yan's heart jolted. Afraid that she might truly cause lasting harm to this newly met little brother, she quickly clenched her teeth and drew back her palm, intending to forcibly disperse the poisonous mist roiling ahead.
But the instant she was about to act, a sudden change occurred!
At the very center of the area sealed off by layers of thick poisonous miasma, a soft, deep emerald-green light abruptly appeared!
Hum-!
The long Blue Jade Spear in Xiao Xuan's hand trembled lightly, and the golden threads at the joints of its bamboo segments suddenly blossomed with light!
A layer of pure life ripples, like waves on water, spread gently in a circle in every direction, with Xiao Xuan at their center!
There was no piercing sonic boom, nor any violent blast of air.
Wherever the seemingly faint emerald radiance passed, the Jade Phosphorous Blue Poison, which had come on so fiercely and was potent enough to corrode bones and dissolve souls, became like a thin layer of frost and snow beneath the blazing sun.
Unable to put up even the slightest resistance, it was purified and dissolved completely in an instant!
In a flash, the poisonous miasma vanished, and the air on the training ground regained its usual freshness.
Xiao Xuan stood steadily where he was, his hand resting on his spear, his robes as smooth and neat as before.
Seeing this, Xiao Xuan could not help nodding inwardly in satisfaction.
Just as he had expected.
The life attribute the Blue Jade Bamboo had gained did indeed have the ability to dispel poison as well as heal.
Dozens of meters away, Dugu Yan stood completely dumbfounded.
She stared blankly at the empty ground, her deep green phoenix eyes wide and round, her delicate, spirited face full of bewilderment and shock.
My second Soul Skill... just disappeared like that?
It didn't even touch the corner of his clothes, and some inexplicable ring of green light evaporated it on the spot?!
When Dugu Yan came back to her senses, her cheeks reddened with shame and annoyance.
She stamped her foot, swiftly withdrew all her Soul Rings and her Martial Soul into her body, then crossed her arms and turned away, throwing a little tantrum:
"I'm not fighting anymore! You're obviously cheating!"
Dugu Yan puffed out her cheeks and glared at Xiao Xuan angrily.
"Your Martial Soul obviously counters my serpent venom. You knew that all along, didn't you?"
"And just now you deliberately pretended to be a junior asking for guidance so you could laugh at me! You wanted to make me look foolish, didn't you?"
Hearing this, Xiao Xuan scratched his head, somewhat helpless.
"Don't be angry, Sister Yan. This is my first time fighting a Jade Phosphorous Serpent too. I really didn't mean to embarrass you."
Seeing how sincere Xiao Xuan was, Dugu Yan's slight anger, which she had only been feigning to begin with, immediately vanished like smoke in the wind.
She could not help bursting into laughter. "All right, all right, I was teasing you. I'm not that petty!"
At that moment, Ye Lingling, who had been standing outside the arena, also walked quickly over. Her beautiful eyes were fixed on the Blue Jade Bamboo in Xiao Xuan's hand, full of shock.
Dugu Yan leaned closer and, unable to contain her curiosity, reached out to touch Xiao Xuan's long spear.
"Little Brother Xiao Xuan, did that spear of yours really come from a mutated Lone Bamboo?"
"Not only is the bamboo incredibly hard, it can even give off a spiritual radiance that dispels deadly poison out of nowhere... And why did that radiance feel like a healing Soul Skill?!"
Ye Lingling softly agreed from the side:
"Yanyan is right."
"My Martial Soul is the Nine Heart Begonia, so I've always been especially sensitive to life energy."
"Little Brother Xiao Xuan, could it be... that your Blue Jade Spear can heal too?"
Xiao Xuan nodded.
"You're both right, Seniors. Besides hurting people, my Blue Jade Spear can also save them."
As soon as he finished speaking.
The Blue Jade Bamboo in Xiao Xuan's hand shot out two streams of life force, one landing on Dugu Yan and the other on Ye Lingling.
The instant the light entered her body, Dugu Yan's previously casual expression abruptly froze!
An indescribably gentle warmth burst forth from deep within her chest, flowing rapidly through the meridians throughout her body.
Dugu Yan felt every pore on her body joyfully open!
But what shocked her most was the piercing chill lurking deep in her organs and bone marrow, which usually caused her a faint, persistent ache. The instant it touched this pure life force, a trace of it was silently dissolved and dispersed, like melting snow!
The hidden poison in my body... dissolved?!
In that instant, Dugu Yan's heart seemed to stop beating, and a towering wave of shock surged through her mind!