Jade Phosphorous Challenge · Tower Realm Devours Poison

P.S.: First, thank you all for reading my first novel. This is my first time writing, and I don't have the experience of the big-name authors. I don't have many chapters saved up, because every time I write, I have to check the main plot and timeline I prepared beforehand, for fear that I won't be able to keep the story coherent. So I'm not as fast as the great authors, but I promise to keep updating three chapters every day. I'm not a professional writer; I write after work every day! Thank you for understanding!

On Nan Feng's fourth day at Heaven Dou Royal Academy, Dugu Yan stopped him in the library.

He had fought Yu Tianheng two mornings earlier. That afternoon, he was in the library leafing through a journal on Soul Beast distributions that Ye Lingling had found.

Dugu Yan pushed the door open, her purple ponytail sweeping through an arc.

"Tower Simpleton." She walked up to the table, planted both hands on it, and leaned over to look at him. A faint green light swirled deep in her pupils.

"Fight me."

Nan Feng closed the journal. "Now?"

"Now. The training ground's empty."

Dugu Yan straightened and strode toward the door, leaving him no room to refuse.

Nan Feng glanced at Ye Lingling. She was sitting behind another table by the window, sorting through medical texts without looking up.

"She's been waiting for days."

Nan Feng followed her out.

The building on the west side blocked half the afternoon sunlight, leaving only one half of the training ground illuminated. Dugu Yan stood in the sunlight and set her short dagger on a stone bench at the edge of the field.

Nan Feng stopped ten paces opposite her, leaving his short staff tucked behind his waist.

"You're not using a weapon?"

"Let's see first."

Dugu Yan raised an eyebrow but asked no more.

She bent her knees, lowered her center of gravity, and spread her hands. Green Soul Power from her Jade Phosphorous Serpent Martial Soul rose from her palms, condensing into a layer of poisonous mist in the air.

The mist was darker than it had been in Gengxin City, having changed from pale green to a deep, inky green. Her Soul Power had risen considerably since they parted, from level thirty-one to level thirty-two, and both its density and coverage had climbed a notch.

Dugu Yan moved.

Her movements differed from both Xiao Wu's and Zhu Zhuqing's. Xiao Wu advanced in bounding leaps, Zhu Zhuqing struck from the shadows, while Dugu Yan's movements were closer to a snake's winding slither, her path unpredictable.

Her right palm shot out of the poisonous mist, inky-green poisonous light gathering at her fingertips as she went straight for Nan Feng's throat.

Nan Feng activated Tower Suppression.

A cyan halo spread from beneath his feet, covering five paces. Dugu Yan charged into it, and her movements faltered for a beat. Her reactions were far quicker than an ordinary Soul Master's, and her left palm sliced in from the side.

A concentrated stream of Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison shot from her fingertips like a slender venomous snake, curving around the edge of the halo to bite at Nan Feng's ribs.

Nan Feng reached out with his right hand, and five dark-purple claw shadows sprang from between his fingers as his hand's External Soul Bone activated.

Tiger Claw · Star Shattering slashed through the middle of the snake. The claw shadows touched the venom, and corrosion hissed. Some of the dark-purple light was eaten away, but the snake was severed.

Dugu Yan gave him no time to catch his breath.

She slithered around the edge of the halo, firing Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison from different angles, each stream aimed at a gap. She was probing its range, looking for an opening.

Nan Feng maintained Tower Suppression's output and activated his second Soul Skill.

A cyan spiderweb shot from his palm, covering the three paces in front of him. Dugu Yan charged in, and the strands wrapped around her ankle. Inky-green poisonous mist surged over them, corroding the threads.

The Power of Devouring in the web began to work, drawing out and converting the Spiritual Power in the poisonous mist. The threads were not corroded; they became tougher than before.

Dugu Yan's pupils contracted.

She channeled all her Soul Power, and her Jade Phosphorous Serpent Martial Soul condensed into the phantom of a massive venomous snake above her head. Its head rose high, its tongue flickering in and out. Inky-green poisonous mist spewed from its mouth, shrouding the space above Nan Feng.

Third Soul Skill, Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison Miasma.

The poisonous mist covered half the training ground, enveloping the edge of Tower Suppression's halo as well.

Nan Feng did not retreat. He activated Tower Suppression and Tower Realm at the same time. The halo of Tower Realm · Creation expanded to twice its size, and the warm-colored Power of Creation within it flowed through the poisonous mist.

When the mist touched the Power of Creation, its Spiritual Power was broken down, devoured, and converted. The corrosive potency of the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison weakened by more than half, and by the time it reached Nan Feng, only a layer of mist remained.

Nan Feng stepped forward, the claw shadows of his right-hand External Soul Bone springing out at full force as he slashed down at Dugu Yan's shoulder.

Dugu Yan withdrew the venomous snake phantom and rolled to the side, avoiding the brunt of the claw shadows. The wind from the claws swept across the fabric on her left shoulder, tearing it open.

She rolled five paces away and came to rest on one knee. Her ponytail had come loose, and a few stray strands clung to her cheeks.

She looked up at Nan Feng, her chest rising and falling. Surprise and assessment showed in her purple eyes before her gaze finally settled on the back of his right hand.

"No more."

She stood, brushed the dirt from her knees, and withdrew her Soul Power. The Jade Phosphorous Serpent's green halo dissipated, and the poisonous mist faded.

Dugu Yan walked up to Nan Feng and stood very close. Her nose twitched twice, as though she were smelling something.

"Your Tower Realm can devour my poison."

Her voice was very low. "My Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison is a unique Martial Soul. The poisonous mist contains both Soul Power and toxins. An ordinary Soul Master's defensive Soul Skill can only block the Soul Power half; the toxins will seep through. Your Tower Realm devoured both."

"My grandfather once said there was only one possibility when a domain could devour both Soul Power and toxins: a form of energy higher than Soul Power was at work inside it."

Nan Feng looked at her without answering.

Dugu Yan stepped closer still, almost pressing against his chest. She drew a breath and frowned.

"There's a very warm presence about you. It's neither Soul Power nor spiritual power. It's as though it's seeping out from somewhere very deep. My grandfather has a similar layer around him, but his is much thicker."

"That layer of his is the overflowing presence of his origin, the result of cultivating the poison attribute to its peak. Yours is different: lighter and warmer than his."

Nan Feng was silent for two breaths.

Dugu Yan's perception was keen. She had picked up on the characteristics of the Power of Creation overflowing and noticed that this power differed from the presence of Poison Douluo's origin. She had only sensed the warmth on its outer layer.

"What do you mean by all this?"

Dugu Yan tilted her head. The light in her purple eyes softened a little.

"Nothing in particular. There are a lot of things about you that are different from other people."

"My grandfather is very interested in unusual Martial Souls and energies. If you have time, come with me to the Dugu Family's residence in the east of the city and pay him a visit."

Nan Feng did not agree immediately.

Dugu Yan did not press him. She picked up her short dagger, tucked it behind her waist, and turned to glance at him. Her purple ponytail swept through an arc, and the smile at the corner of her mouth was more pronounced than usual.

"You held back when we fought. If that last claw strike had come down at full force, my left shoulder would be gone by now. I owe you for that."

"As for my grandfather, come find me whenever you want to visit. I'll introduce you."

She walked out of the training ground, her inky-green fighting clothes flashing at the boundary between light and shadow before she disappeared around a corner of the passage.

Nan Feng stood in the center of the field, looking down at his right hand.

Tower Realm · Creation had just devoured Dugu Yan's Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison. After the toxins' energy was converted, it had nourished his meridians in return, and the crack in the third-layer door had widened another sliver. The Power of Creation reacted especially vigorously to the toxins, converting them at a higher rate than ordinary Spiritual Power.

Ye Lingling walked over from the far end of the corridor. She stopped and swept her gaze over his left shoulder. After confirming that there were no signs of poisoning, she handed him the journal.

"Dugu Yan's poison attribute is very strong. Your Tower Realm devoured some of it, so the crack in the third-layer door should have widened another sliver."

Nan Feng took the journal. Even from half a training ground away, Ye Lingling could detect the fluctuations of the Power of Creation when Tower Realm was operating.

He opened the journal. Tucked inside was a Soul Beast distribution map Ye Lingling had newly copied, marking the habitats of Soul Beasts aged ten thousand years or more within three thousand li of Heaven Dou City. The handwriting was neat and delicate.

"Your Third Soul Ring is already twelve thousand years old," Ye Lingling said, her voice even. "You'll absorb your Fourth Soul Ring at level forty. Given what your tower can withstand, the fourth ring can be thirty-two thousand years old."

"Soul Beasts of that level are rare around Heaven Dou City. There are some deep in the Star Dou Great Forest, but it's too far away. There are also ice-attribute Soul Beasts on the edge of the Far North that are old enough, but their attribute isn't a very good match for you. I'm still looking."

Nan Feng closed the journal and put it away.

"There's no rush. My Soul Power still has six levels to go, from thirty-four to forty. That'll take at least a few months."

Ye Lingling nodded and turned toward the library. After two steps, she stopped and glanced back at him.

Afternoon sunlight fell over the roof of the western building, tracing a warm border around her plain white dress.

"When you fought Dugu Yan just now, your Tower Realm's range was a little wider than when you fought Yu Tianheng. The crack in the third-layer door widens faster in actual combat than in secluded cultivation."

With that, she left, her plain white figure receding through the light and shadows of the corridor.

Nan Feng turned Ye Lingling's words over in his mind.

The crack in the third-layer door widened faster in actual combat than in secluded cultivation. Over the next few months, he would raise his Soul Power from level thirty-four to level forty while using actual combat to stimulate the output of the Power of Creation.

The academy's training ground, Dugu Yan's challenge, his sparring with Yu Tianheng, the opponents he would meet in the future. All of them were forces pushing the door open.

He tucked the journal inside his robes and walked along the passage back to the guest elder's quarters.

His Soul Power was at level thirty-four, and the crack in the third-layer door continued to widen in actual combat. A seed of the Power of Creation had been left in Ye Lingling's Nine Heart Begonia. Dugu Yan had noticed that unusual warmth, but had not reached its substance.

The deep-black underlying glow of the Soul Ring in his palm pulsed against his skin, rising and falling in response to the cyan light in the crack at the bottom of the tower.

Life in Heaven Dou City was unfolding.