The Past of Sinking Moon Valley (I)
He didn't insist any further. Now was indeed not the time to enter the palace; his strength was insufficient, and his foundation was unstable. Rashly getting involved in the royal family's conflicts would be a losing proposition.
"By the way, how's your investigation into the Moon-Eroding Nether Poison going?" Dugu Bo changed the subject, lightly tapping the table with his fingertips as his gaze fell on Lin Chen's face.
Lin Chen snapped out of his reverie, gently placed the teacup on the table, and said clearly, "We're almost there. The ' Moon Curse ' mentioned in the ancient texts is a lie; its essence is blood poison. A thousand years ago, someone swallowed the lotus seed of the Blood Moon Devil Lotus, and the poison entered their bloodline, passed down through generations, becoming the current Nether Blood Moon Clan. The clan members possess Netherworld Soul Power and can borrow the power of moonlight, but on the night of the full moon, the Yin energy triggers the blood poison, causing it to go berserk. The pure Yang sunlight can suppress the Yin poison, but direct sunlight will backfire."
He paused, then added, "This disciple speculates that the Nether Blood Moon Clan is a race that inherited this blood poison. Their Martial Soul are mostly related to the Netherworld and the Blood Moon, which should also be the result of the Martial Soul Fusion."
"Not bad." Dugu Bo nodded slightly, a hint of approval flashing in his eyes. "To be able to find this out and deduce the connection between the clan and the poison, you've already figured it out to be 60% complete."
Lin Chen looked up at him and finally asked the question that had been lingering in his heart for a long time, "Master, why did you ask me to investigate the Moon-Eroding Nether Poison? Could it be... that you had dealings with the Nether Blood Moon Clan?"
Dugu Bo picked up his teacup, but didn't drink it.
He gazed out the window at the deep night, his eyes drifting far away, as if traversing ten years of time to reach the distant southern tip of the Star Luo Empire.
Ten years ago.
Just then, Xiao Wu's bedroom door suddenly creaked open a crack.
Xiao Wu peeked out, her face full of curiosity. "Senior, Brother Lin Chen, are you talking about the Moon-Eroding Nether Poison? I want to hear it too."
She lingered as she walked out, clutching a soft pillow, and sat down on the stool, not too far from Lin Chen, her knees together, looking like she was listening attentively to a story.
Dugu Bo glanced at her, his lips twitching slightly. "You little brat, why aren't you asleep so late?"
"Isn't it that you're going to tell a story, senior?" Xiao Wu blinked. "Please tell me quickly, senior. I was so stressed from looking up those ancient books." As she spoke, she moved closer to Lin Chen.
"Back then, I was level 89, stuck at the peak of Soul Douluo for two whole years, unable to take even a single step forward." Dugu Bo spoke slowly, his voice deep and heavy with the weight of memories.
"The Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor Martial Soul is a top-tier poison Martial Soul, possessing immense power but also extremely severe backlash. The higher one's cultivation level, the deeper the accumulated toxins become, repeatedly eroding the meridians and slowing down the cultivation speed. At level eighty-nine, the toxic backlash has reached a critical point; taking another half step forward could result in sudden death from the poison."
"I knew it. Just practicing relentlessly won't work. I need to find an opportunity, either to find medicine to suppress the backlash, or to find an even more potent poison to fight poison with poison and break through the bottleneck."
"So I left the Heaven Dou Empire and traveled the continent alone, searching for rare and exotic herbs and poisons."
"Later, I heard from a Soul Master who was a merchant that deep within the Hidden Bone Mountain Range at the southernmost tip of the Star Luo Empire, there was a strange poisonous miasma. No Soul Master who went in ever came out alive. The Soul Beast inside had all been mutated by the poison and were extremely ferocious."
A wistful smile, tinged with arrogance, curled at the corner of Dugu Bo's lips.
"I was immediately interested. The fiercer it was, the more potent the poison must be. Once everything was arranged properly, I went."
Hearing this, Xiao Wu couldn't help but hug the soft pillow in her arms tighter, muttering softly, "Going to such a dangerous place alone... Senior is really brave."
"Not very likely to break through to the Titled Douluo?" Dugu Bo glanced at her, made a rare joke, and then continued speaking.
"The Hidden Bone Mountain Range are deep and densely forested, shrouded in miasma. Legend has it that countless white bones from ancient battlefields are buried within, and poison seeps from these bones. Just entering the outer perimeter of the mountains, a faint, sweet-smelling poisonous odor permeates the air. The deeper one goes, the thicker the grayish-white fog becomes, reducing visibility to less than three zhang (approximately 10 meters)."
"I casually hunted a few mutated Soul Beast and immediately noticed something was wrong," Dugu Bo said slowly. "The poison on these Soul Beast isn't just simple miasma poison. The poison is intertwined with their blood, as if it's growing from their bones."
"I immediately became interested. I followed the direction with the highest concentration of poison and headed deeper into the mountains. After walking for about three days, I accidentally stumbled upon the outskirts of a valley."
"The valley was hidden deep within the mountains, surrounded by steep cliffs, accessible only by a narrow slit. A dark red mist hung over the valley, as if reflected by a blood moon, making it appear from afar like a moon sunk in blood."
"Later I learned that the place was called Sinking Moon Valley, the secluded residence of the Nether Blood Moon Clan."
"I had just arrived at the valley entrance and hadn't even had a chance to take a good look when several figures darted out from the woods."
They were all dressed in uniform dark gray, their faces covered with black cloths, only their eyes visible. Their movements were light and silent, as if they had emerged from the shadows. The group spread out in a fan shape, instantly surrounding me.
"It was a patrol team from the Blood Moon Clan, six people in total, the highest cultivation level being only at the peak of the Soul King." Dugu Bo chuckled. "Normally, I could take down someone with that level of cultivation with a single breath. But I sensed something was off at the time."
"These people do not possess the yang energy of ordinary Soul Master. Instead, they carry a faint sense of gloom, as if they have never seen the sunlight. The fluctuations of their Soul Power are faintly mixed with a bloody smell, which comes from the same source as the poisonous miasma in the valley."
"No one spoke, they just stared at me." Dugu Bo tapped his fingertips lightly on the table. "The light in their eyes wasn't human, it was like that of a predator."
Xiao Wu shivered involuntarily and moved closer to Lin Chen, almost pressing against his arm. "Then, what happened next? Senior, did you hit them?"
"I added a little poison."
Dugu Bo spoke, his fingertips twitched slightly, "The venom of the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor is enough to bring down a Soul King. I want to test their strength."
But what happened next was something Dugu Bo remembered for ten years.
"After inhaling the poisonous mist, the Blood Moon Clan members only experienced a slight flush in their faces, as if they had drunk a little alcohol. Then, a dark red light flashed and disappeared in the depths of their eyes. Their poison resistance far exceeded that of ordinary Soul Master —no, it even far exceeded that of the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor's poison."
"I was stunned." Dugu Bo's tone still carried some of the surprise from back then. "The poison of the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor would stifle even Soul Douluo of my level back then for half a day if they were hit by a wisp. These Soul King Soul Elder are acting like nothing happened?"
"It's like..." Dugu Bo said slowly, "They've seen far more poisonous things. My poison is like a drizzle on a lake, not even causing a ripple. Just as I was lost in thought, a person walked out of the valley."