Moonlight flowed over the steps, coating them in a cool silver sheen.
The smile gradually faded from Dugu Yan's face, and her gaze turned cold.
"How do you plan to counter it? With your mouth?"
Dugu Yan's tone was mocking. She had shed her earlier flirtatious, carefree manner, and her expression was icy. The slight contrast caught Fang Lin off guard.
He recalled that when Dugu Yan had appeared before Shrek in the original book, she had been defiant from the start. Now she had switched to hostile mode.
"I don't know about stronger Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison, but this can counter yours as it is now. If you don't believe me, we can try it." Fang Lin took a jar of prepared realgar wine from his storage ring and gestured toward the nearby Shattered Jade Forest. "There's plenty of room over there. We can have a match."
"This stuff can counter my Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison?" Dugu Yan narrowed her eyes slightly, her gaze falling on the jar in Fang Lin's hand. "There's no Soul Power fluctuation, and it isn't some special Soul Tool. It's just an ordinary jar. Besides, we already have a match tomorrow, so why come looking for me tonight?"
It was the dead of night, he was making alarming claims, and he wanted to lure her somewhere deserted.
Dugu Yan's expression grew even colder. "You dare have improper designs on me? Do you know who my grandfather is?"
Huh?
Fang Lin's expression froze, and his mouth twitched. "My lady, it's precisely because I know of your grandfather Poison Douluo's fearsome reputation that I don't dare use it in the match tomorrow."
"You make it sound as if you really can counter it." Dugu Yan's expression softened as her gaze swept over the jar in Fang Lin's hand. "I'd like to see how you use that thing to counter my poison technique."
A winding path of broken bricks led from the dormitory entrance deep into the Shattered Jade Forest. Moonlight filtered through the scattered branches and leaves, falling on Dugu Yan's neck, where a fine layer of pale green scales had appeared over her formerly fair, tender skin.
Dugu Yan was using Martial Soul Possession. Her green pupils had narrowed into vertical slits, and her legs had transformed into a serpent's tail, its tip raised and swaying gently behind her.
Two Yellow Soul Rings rose from where her feet had been and circled her. One lit up, and Dugu Yan breathed out a cloud of green poisonous mist.
"Second Soul Skill, Jade Phosphorous Blue Poison."
The poisonous mist surged toward Fang Lin, and Dugu Yan's cold voice came from behind it.
"My second Soul Skill, Jade Phosphorous Blue Poison, corrodes a Soul Master's Soul Power if even a wisp is inhaled, causing dizziness and paralysis. Even a Soul Elder can only use seventy or eighty percent of their strength. It's also mixed with the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison naturally present in my body. Without an antidote within two hours, only someone with Soul Power at the Soul Ancestor level or above can suppress it. Otherwise, the poison will kill them."
"Now, how are you going to counter it?"
Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison was an innate poison naturally present in the Dugu bloodline. As a Soul Master cultivated, it would merge into their Soul Power, imbuing every Soul Skill with poison. Its potency also increased as a Jade Phosphorous Serpent Soul Master's cultivation advanced.
If it were Dugu Bo's Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor Poison, Fang Lin wasn't sure whether realgar wine could counter it. But someone had already shown how to deal with Dugu Yan's poison.
He slapped open the wine jar, releasing a rush of alcohol mixed with realgar's distinctive earthy, mineral tang. Fang Lin splashed the wine at the poisonous mist. Just before the two met, a fireball ignited all the liquid. The strong liquor burned with the realgar, bursting with a loud report. The blue poisonous mist melted away layer by layer like spring snow beneath the scorching sun, and a huge gap appeared in an instant.
On the other side of the gap in the poisonous mist was Dugu Yan's astonished face.
All she had seen was fire illuminating the night, and then the poisonous mist had begun to dissipate.
"No, that's not right. Even if my Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison encounters fire, it won't dissolve and dissipate like that. It should evaporate even faster instead."
Only now did she believe what Fang Lin had said: the stuff in that jar really could counter her Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison.
"What's in that jar of yours?"
Fang Lin smiled slightly, his expression meaningful.
"This is science."
"Thirst for blood? Is it some kind of Soul Beast's blood?" Dugu Yan stared blankly. "There's actually a Soul Beast whose blood can counter Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison?"
"It's not Soul Beast blood." Fang Lin coughed, abandoning his clever remark. "What I mean is, it's a matter of mutual generation and restraint. I happened to read in an ancient book that realgar and strong liquor, activated with fire, can dissolve Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison."
"Realgar and strong liquor? Something that simple?" Dugu Yan was stunned, and then her expression grew complicated.
This news was worse than any Soul Beast blood. Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison, which the Soul Master World feared so deeply, could be countered with two commonplace things found on every street. For a moment, she felt how absurd it was. What, then, did the poison techniques her Jade Phosphorous Serpent bloodline had devoted hundreds of years to amount to?
Seeing how hard Dugu Yan found it to accept, Fang Lin spoke up to comfort her:
"Absurd as it sounds, that's how it is. If you have to blame someone, blame the author of that ancient book. That fellow surnamed Tang just had to write it that way..."
After a lifetime spent training in the Iron Shirt, to have someone put a bullet straight through it would upset anyone.
"Who else has read that ancient book besides you?"
The shock in Dugu Yan's eyes faded, replaced by cold seriousness.
Fang Lin's mouth twitched. "You're not thinking of killing me to keep me quiet, are you? This method can only counter Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison that hasn't reached full mastery. If your grandfather used his, it definitely wouldn't work. Once you cultivate to the Soul Ancestor level or above, it might not work on yours either."
The higher a Jade Phosphorous Serpent Soul Master's cultivation, the greater the power of their poison techniques.
That explanation eased Dugu Yan's frown a little. Her lips curved as she looked at Fang Lin teasingly. "You seem to know my grandfather quite well. He's also the reason you don't dare use it in the match, isn't he? But you don't want to give up tomorrow's match, so you came to challenge me tonight?"
"Clever." Fang Lin gave her a thumbs-up. "It's not just your grandfather. I'm also worried some Lord Soul Master might find out and seize me for interrogation under torture. Someone from the imperial family might even come to question me."
The Dugu Clan had a fearsome reputation, but it had no shortage of enemies. If anyone learned there was a way to counter Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison, even one that only worked against low-level Soul Masters, people would flock to it like ducks.
Dugu Yan was somewhat surprised. She hadn't expected Fang Lin to have considered that as well.
"Then aren't you afraid my grandfather will seize you and kill you to keep you quiet? If you die, none of those things will ever happen."
Fang Lin was a student of Heaven Dou Academy, but the academy's education committee and the imperial family would surely know which mattered more: a student who had yet to mature and was a Soul Saint at most, or a Titled Douluo.
Fang Lin grinned.
"That brings me to the second reason I came to you. That ancient book also contained a way to deal with Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison backlash. The cloyingly sweet scent on you should also be caused by serpent poison running out of control, shouldn't it? Senior Dugu is a Titled Douluo of such high standing; surely he wouldn't repay a junior's kindness with enmity."
"What method?"
Dugu Yan's heart skipped a beat, and she blurted the question out almost instinctively.
Serpent poison accumulated in Jade Phosphorous Serpent Soul Masters' bodies, and their offspring were born with poison in their bodies as well. Those with slightly weaker constitutions struggled to survive, which had caused the Dugu Clan's bloodline to dwindle. But if this problem could be solved, it would be tremendously good news for the Dugu bloodline.
"Your problem is relatively easy to solve. The poison hasn't accumulated deeply yet. You only need to find a Soul Bone and force the poison into it, and it won't affect your body."
"It's that simple?" Dugu Yan frowned slightly. "Will any Soul Bone do?"
Soul Bones were rare, but if age and attributes weren't a concern, finding one or two wasn't too difficult.
Fang Lin nodded. "In theory, any will do. But there's no need to deliberately waste a Soul Bone slot. At least for now, you're still safe."
"What about my grandfather?"
"Your grandfather's poison is much more complicated. I can't explain it in a few words, and there are parts I can't be entirely sure about. It would be best to confirm them with Senior in person."
The moonlight was dim, and the occasional chirp of an insect broke the stillness.
Dugu Yan fell silent, seemingly turning Fang Lin's words over in her mind. After a while, she spoke with a soft laugh.
"All right. If what you say is true, I promise my grandfather won't make things difficult for you, and he'll owe you a favor."
With Dugu Yan's promise, Fang Lin breathed a sigh of relief.
Dugu Bo was unpredictable, but he doted on his granddaughter. Through Dugu Yan, Fang Lin now had a chance to negotiate.
After going to such lengths, Fang Lin's goal was naturally the Immortal Herbs in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. Otherwise, Tang San would strip the place bare in five or six years.
The two Immortal Herbs in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well could cure Dugu Bo's serpent poison. But if he took them directly, they would also dissolve all his poison cultivation while curing him. The best way was to use the blood of someone who had taken the Immortal Herbs as a medicinal catalyst, which was an opportunity for Fang Lin.