"Kid, stop trying to sound mysterious. Plenty of people know this Jade Phosphorus Snake venom of mine harms me as well as others." Dugu Bo was astonished by Xiao Yan's assessment, but as Spirit Hall's Holy Son, Xiao Yan could obviously have learned of his hidden ailment without much difficulty. That alone was not enough to make the Poison Douluo take the initiative to make a deal with the boy.
Xiao Yan chuckled and said in a clear voice, "That it harms others and oneself is merely a rumor spread by the world, hardly worthy of belief. In the dao of poison, harming others is easy, and so is harming oneself. That is a feature of the dao of poison, not a flaw in poison itself. A true master of poison must turn what attacks himself against others, refine poison to its utmost, and transform his own body into poison without harming himself. Only then can he make his enemies watch their every step and suffer at every moment, bringing poison's deterrent power to its utmost. Merely removing the excess poison from your body would treat the symptoms, not the root cause, and it would waste the power you have spent so much effort cultivating, Senior."
"Xiao Yan, you understand poison too? How come I didn't know?" Yan Xiao said with a secret laugh. Obviously, since he shared Xiao Yan's memories, how could he not know? At most, Xiao Yan knew how to refine medicine, and could perhaps manage to refine some poison. As for the dao of poison, he knew absolutely nothing. I'm making it up. This old monster is so desperate he'll try any cure. If I spout some nonsense that sounds reasonable, it'll be even easier to fool him, Xiao Yan replied with a secret laugh of his own. Yet his face gave nothing away, and he maintained the bearing of an expert.
Dugu Bo thought there was a sliver of sense in what he heard, but seeing Xiao Yan hold forth so fluently, he felt somewhat unwilling to concede and said stubbornly, "Kid, how old are you? How much can you know about poison? Those ideas are somewhat interesting, but that's all. If you can't turn your words into something tangible, they're nothing but empty talk." With that, Dugu Bo poured himself a cup of tea and took a sip. Putting on the airs of an expert, he said with satisfaction, "Young man, you'd do better to keep your feet on the ground. Heh heh."
Yue Guan saw this old opponent, who had just suffered yet another defeat at his hands, putting on that same disdainful manner again. He frowned and raised a hand, knocking the teacup from the Poison Douluo's hand and splashing tea all over his face. Dugu Bo was furious, but he dared not voice his anger and could only wipe the tea from his face.
These two old nemeses. Xiao Yan struggled to hold back his laughter, then said gravely, "Senior Poison, though I lack talent, I do know a thing or two about poison."
"You understand poison?" Dugu Bo asked in surprise. But Xiao Yan did not answer. Dugu Bo saw him raise his right hand, and a pale purple flame suddenly appeared above his index finger. It burned for a moment before drifting toward Dugu Bo. Looking closely, he saw that the flame was shaped like a butterfly beating its wings. As the butterfly danced, a faint purple Poison Qi spread through the air. The Poison Qi smelled sweet, and the butterfly's dance was enchanting. Though it was only a tiny flame, even Dugu Bo, a Titled Douluo who had immersed himself in the dao of poison for half his life, almost failed to resist it. The butterfly settled on Dugu Bo's fingertip like a real one, but in an instant, pale purple poison flame rampaged into his body. Using the Poison Douluo's body as their battlefield, it and the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor's Poison Qi began to tear at each other. The Poison Douluo was utterly astonished. Since becoming a Titled Douluo, this was the first time he had encountered a poison that could rival his Poison Qi, and this strange and powerful purple poison flame had come from a junior with only four rings. Thinking that a junior had turned his lifelong cultivation upside down, how could the Poison Douluo not be both ashamed and furious? All nine Soul Rings appeared at once as he tried to suppress the poison flame with his powerful Soul Power. But the poison flame had no fear of his suppression. It shed the shape of a butterfly and darted through the Poison Douluo's poison like a will-o'-the-wisp, as free as a bird in the blue sky or a fish in the deep sea.
"This poison flame isn't afraid of my poison at all!" Rage welled up in the Poison Douluo's heart, but the matter was particularly thorny; even he found it hard to withstand. With that, Soul Power surged throughout Dugu Bo's body, and all nine Soul Rings shone with brilliant colors. Clearly, the Poison Douluo had used every trick at his disposal, even bringing out his Martial Soul Avatar. Three breaths later, the enormous Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor spat out a mass of foul-smelling poison blood. The poison flame was wrapped inside it, forced out by Dugu Bo.
In an instant, the Netherworld Poison Flame burned the poison blood to nothing. Its presence had not weakened in the slightest; if anything, it seemed even livelier after rampaging through Dugu Bo's body. The Netherworld Poison Flame hopped about cheerfully for a moment, then turned into a butterfly again and flew to Xiao Yan's fingertip. A lovely purple butterfly rested on the fingertip of the black-robed youth, whose features were as delicate as a woman's. The sight compelled one to marvel at its beauty.
"Well, Senior Dugu?" Yet the Poison Douluo had lost so much face that he did not want to say another word. Xiao Yan chuckled and continued, "Since ancient times, the principles of poison have also been the principles of medicine. Refining poison is also refining medicine, and the dao of poison is also the dao of pills. The two complement each other, each the other's exterior and interior. I, Xiao Yan, know only the barest surface of poison's principles, but fortunately, I am skilled at refining pills. Though I know little, it is not difficult to grasp how the two connect."
"As I see it, Senior Dugu, poison has already penetrated your vital organs, and you do not have long to live. If I am not mistaken, whenever it is cloudy or rainy, you feel numbness and itching along both sides of your ribs. It gradually grows worse and probably lasts more than an hour, flaring up once at noon and once at midnight. Every night, at around the third watch, you feel a stabbing pain like needles in the crown of your head and the soles of your feet, and your entire body goes into spasms for at least half an hour. My estimates of the timing may be off, but they should be close enough. If I do not intervene, perhaps you have lived long enough, Senior Dugu, but what of your family? Do you intend for your children and descendants to be tormented by their own Martial Souls forever?"
"Yanyan..." Dugu Bo murmured at his words. But Xiao Yan paid no attention to what Dugu Bo was thinking and continued:
"As I said before, in the so-called dao of poison, channeling is better than blocking. Forcing Poison Qi into a Martial Soul or Soul Bone and then suppressing it by force is far too crude and wasteful. Your Poison Qi should be integrated into your body, transforming it into a body of ten thousand poisons. Not only would you become immune to all poisons, but your body would also become your finest weapon. Forcibly suppressing Poison Qi elsewhere has only one benefit: it no longer harms your body. Your cultivation speed and the killing power of your Poison Qi would both suffer. It has a hundred harms and only one benefit. I trust you are not such a fool, Senior Dugu."
Dugu Bo nodded repeatedly at his words. The boy did have some ability after all. Unfortunately, everyone knew that Poison Qi was a powerful weapon only when it could be used, but the poison in his body could not be used at all and would harm him instead. It was an indescribable headache. Xiao Yan also anticipated what Dugu Bo was thinking. Clearly, his plan to win Dugu Bo over was only one final step away from success. Xiao Yan slowly spoke, saying something that no one present had anticipated or dared believe.
"I have a secret method that can make the life-threatening Poison Qi throughout your body cease to be a headache from now on, and it will also take your cultivation to the next level."
"If you are lucky, even breaking straight through the bottleneck at level ninety-five would not be a problem."
"You can also pass this secret method on to your family. From then on, your Jade Phosphorous Serpent family will never again suffer the backlash of Poison Qi, and their cultivation speed will rise to another level as well. Given time, you might even become the next Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon. All you need to do is agree to one small condition."
"Don't worry, Senior Dugu. I won't ask an exorbitant price. This condition is very simple. Once you agree to it, I won't ask anything more of you."
Dugu Bo could hardly wait after hearing this. Clearly, he did not entirely believe Xiao Yan, but at this moment, he was like a drowning man who had suddenly spotted a pleasure boat, wanting only to seize it with all his strength. Yet Xiao Yan's next words were like a bucket of cold water, dousing all his enthusiasm.
"I want you, Dugu Bo, to swear loyalty to Spirit Hall. I want your Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor lineage to be a part of my Spirit Hall forever from this day forward, never to turn away from it for ten thousand generations."