Poison Douluo's Visit

After Dugu Yan left, the people on the training ground gradually dispersed.

Lin Qing stood where he was, looking in the direction she had disappeared. The wind blew over, carrying a faintly sweet, fishy smell.

It was the lingering scent of Jade Phosphorus Snake Venom, clinging to the stone slabs and the air, refusing to dissipate for a long time.

He crouched down and touched a spot corroded by the poisonous fog. A faint burning sensation came from his fingertip, but Bamboo Breath quickly dispelled it.

Lin Qing carried on as usual, spending the next few days cultivating and attending classes at the academy in accordance with its assignments. Having defeated Yu Tianheng and Dugu Yan in succession, Lin Qing became famous throughout the academy.

"Ah Zhu, when do you think Dugu Bo will come?"

"As soon as tonight. At the latest, three days from now." Lone Bamboo's voice sounded in his mind.

"He can't afford to wait too long."

"Why?"

"Because his poisoning is worse than you imagine. Your appearance is his only hope." A smile curled the corners of Lin Qing's mouth.

He stood up and dusted off his hands. Instead of returning to the dormitory, he went to an old street in Heaven Dou City. There was an inconspicuous herbal medicine shop there.

Lin Qing bought a few common medicinal herbs for treating poison-honeysuckle, Chinese lobelia, and spreading hedyotis. They were of little use against Jade Phosphorus Snake Venom, but he needed a reason, a reason to say, "I'm researching antidotes."

It was already evening when he returned to the academy. The setting sun painted the glazed tiles of Heaven Dou Royal Academy in a medley of colors, and a distant bell tower chimed three times.

Lin Qing pushed open the dormitory door. Tang San was absent. He sat on the bed, spread the herbs he had bought on the table, and examined them one by one.

Honeysuckle cleared heat and dispelled poison. Chinese lobelia countered snake venom. Spreading hedyotis reduced swelling and dispersed lumps. The scents of the herbs mingled into a bitter yet refreshing fragrance.

He picked up a piece of honeysuckle, put it in his mouth, and chewed. It was bitter, and the back of his tongue went numb. Bamboo Breath circulated on its own, and the bitterness quickly faded, leaving only a faint sweetness on the tip of his tongue.

"What are you doing?" Lone Bamboo asked.

"He won't believe me. But he'll believe his own poison." Lin Qing put the herbs away in his pocket. "If he wants to test me, I'll let him. His poison can't do anything to me, so he'll naturally believe me."

Outside the window, the sky darkened. Lin Qing lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling. He didn't know when Dugu Bo would come, but he knew the man would come.

On a day off, a classmate came to pass Lin Qing a message, saying someone was looking for him outside the dormitory and warning him to be careful.

"Careful? Why should I be careful? Could it be... Dugu Bo has come?"

Sure enough, when Lin Qing walked outside, he saw a middle-aged man waiting there.

The imposing presence of a Titled Douluo was indeed terrifying. The mere pressure he radiated was enough to leave the Soul Masters present struggling to breathe.

Dugu Bo was tall and wore a dark green robe. His gray-white hair hung loose over his shoulders.

His face was narrow, his cheekbones high, and his eyes had vertical pupils-the same as Dugu Yan's, but deeper and colder, like two bottomless wells.

He stood in the doorway without coming in or speaking. He simply looked at Lin Qing, his gaze like a knife scraping from Lin Qing's face to his chest, then from his chest to the soles of his feet.

Lin Qing's palms began to sweat. But he did not retreat.

"Might I ask if you are Poison Douluo, senior?" Lin Qing said.

Dugu Bo narrowed his eyes slightly. "Oh, you know me?"

"I sensed the dense presence of the poison element on you, senior. I have also studied the use of poison a little. You must be the Heaven Dou Empire's only poison-attribute Titled Douluo."

Dugu Bo was silent for a moment, then walked in. His steps were as light as a cat's, but the ground trembled slightly with each one. He sat on Lin Qing's bed, and the bed frame creaked.

"Yanyan said you can cure Jade Phosphorus Snake Venom." His voice was low and deep, like a stone rolling down a mountain. "I came to see for myself."

Lin Qing took the packet of herbs from his pocket and placed it on the table. "I'm not a doctor, and I don't know how to cure poison. But my constitution naturally counters it."

Dugu Bo glanced at the herbs on the table, and the corner of his mouth twitched. It was impossible to tell whether he was smiling or something else. "Honeysuckle, Chinese lobelia, spreading hedyotis. These are all the most ordinary herbs for treating poison. Against Jade Phosphorus Snake Venom, they wouldn't even scratch the surface."

"I know," Lin Qing said. "That's why I didn't use them."

Dugu Bo held out his hand. His fingers were long, and his nails glinted dark green. "Give me your hand."

Lin Qing held out his hand. Dugu Bo's fingers settled on his wrist, cold as a snake's skin.

A chill seeped in through his wrist and crawled up his meridians, like a snake swimming through his blood vessels.

The chill reached his shoulder and stopped. It had encountered something-something green and warm, like spring sunshine: the Bamboo Breath circulating through the blood vessels in his body.

Dugu Bo frowned slightly. He increased the flow of his Soul Power, and the chill grew denser and fiercer, surging into Lin Qing's body like a flood.

Lin Qing felt his arm go numb. From his fingertips to his shoulder, the entire limb turned to ice.

But Bamboo Breath did not retreat. It spread down from his shoulder like a warm spring breeze, melting the layer of ice bit by bit.

The icy Soul Power and warm Bamboo Breath confronted each other inside Lin Qing's arm, neither giving way.

Green patterns began to emerge beneath Lin Qing's skin, running from his shoulder to the crook of his elbow, then from his elbow to his wrist. Like bamboo roots or the veins of leaves, they slowly spread beneath his skin.

Dugu Bo reduced his Soul Power, and the warm Bamboo Breath surged into his meridians.

Dugu Bo's eyes lit up. He sensed that the imprint of the toxins seemingly accumulated in his body over decades seemed to be shaken.

After a while, Dugu Bo withdrew his hand.

"Your constitution!" he said slowly. "It doesn't naturally counter poison."

Lin Qing was taken aback. He had originally intended to demonstrate it himself, but he hadn't expected Dugu Bo to discover it on his own.

"It's purification." Dugu Bo fixed his eyes on Lin Qing's. "Your body can break down toxins, absorb them, and transform them.

"At first, I thought it was a rare and powerful Martial Soul trait that allowed you to resist my Jade Phosphorus Snake Venom. I never expected it to be purification rather than poison resistance."

He paused. "An ability like this is indeed rare. I've finally seen a glimmer of hope in you."

"Yanyan is fifteen this year. Her body has been eroded by poison since she was born.

"I'm already an old bag of bones. My Soul Power can still help me suppress my toxins, but she's been dragged down by me..."

"I've tried countless methods and sought out countless people-Titled Douluo, medicine hall grandmasters, and reclusive physicians. None of them could cure it."

Dugu Bo raised his head and looked at the sky. "I thought there was no hope left in this lifetime."

The wind blew, tousling his gray-white hair. He paid it no mind.

"Little fellow, what was your purpose in drawing me here? What do you want? If you really can cure Yanyan, you may take your pick of heavenly materials and earthly treasures."

"As expected of the old poison. You understood what I had in mind at a hint."

Lin Qing spoke. "I'm confident I can cure the poison in you and Dugu Yan, but I need to enter the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well and take my pick of the heavenly materials and earthly treasures there."

Dugu Bo's face filled with shock.