Chapter 122: Controlling Dugu Yan
Even Dugu Bo, presently busy on the other side of the mountain, couldn't possibly detect the Emerald Dragon Snake as it carefully activated its soul skill.
Dugu Feng turned his senses toward the cave's interior, amusement flickering in his eyes.
Inside, the clinking sounds echoed. Through the Dan Pearl, he saw Dugu Yan practicing finger strikes—demonstrating the second stage of the Jade Phosphor Purple Poison, unleashing swift sword-like attacks from both hands.
Dugu Feng smirked. The Snake Branch developed this skill as their third soul technique—their first real boost in toxic attack power.
Dugu Yan was putting in genuine effort.
What struck Dugu Feng as strange was her muttering while training:
"Surpass that bastard Dugu Feng!"
"Surpass that bastard Dugu Feng!"
His cousin still held quite the grudge against him.
Well, that just made it more necessary to feed her a Dan Pearl.
The Emerald Dragon Snake's mouth held a Dan Pearl infused with Jade Phosphor Scarlet Poison.
As Dugu Yan sat and regained her strength, the pearl's influence began to work—its confusion effect setting in.
She felt exhaustion, her eyelids heavy, chalking it up to overtraining and needing rest.
Dugu Yan slipped into unconsciousness.
Then it was simple—the Emerald Dragon Snake gave a gentle leap and tapped her jaw.
The Dan Pearl entered her mouth.
"Sorry cousin, you'll have to keep working hard from now on!"
Dugu Feng chuckled.
Poor Dugu Yan—always knocked out by poison, whether from Dugu Shuo before or Dugu Feng now.
With a burst of speed from the Emerald Dragon Snake, Dugu Feng entered the cave.
"Cousin, how can you fall asleep in such a dangerous place as the Sunset Forest? You're far too careless."
He called softly.
Dugu Yan quickly woke up, still dazed.
"Dugu Feng, what are you doing here?"
She was confused but slightly alert.
"This is the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well—I'm naturally here to train. Bi Lin Excellency kicked me out because he started his alchemy.
From the signs, you're working on the Jade Phosphor Finger Strike, aren't you?
I can teach you. I can release finger strikes from both hands—I call it the Jade Phosphor Twelve Fingers.
You've seen this skill in my duels, haven't you? It's all thanks to it."
Dugu Feng spoke with a bit of pride.
Dugu Yan's eyes grew cold, ready to refuse. But after training fruitlessly for over a year, her resolve wavered.
Hmph—once she mastered it, she could use it against him and wipe that smug look off his face. Wasn't his goal just to cozy up to her grandfather?
"Fine, tell me how to train it!" she said coolly.
"To master this skill, you must use martial spirit possession. The key is keeping the arm meridians clear while channeling soul power—first widen them, then keep some energy back to protect them from damage…"
Dugu Feng explained his techniques.
Dugu Yan didn't hesitate, immediately enabling her martial spirit possession.
Her transformation was markedly different from Dugu Feng's—besides the green diamond scale at her brow, her legs fused into a thick serpentine tail, swishing powerfully beneath her.
Was this the true difference between the Snake and Poison Branches?
Dugu Feng had no intention of just helping Dugu Yan—he was also probing the Snake Branch's martial spirit nature.
Within the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well grew a herb called Earth Dragon Golden Melon, which could evolve snake spirits into dragon spirits.
For beast spirit soul masters, evolving toward dragon-type was an ultimate goal, and absorbing rings with dragon bloodline was a common step.
Dugu Yan's martial transformation, fusing her legs into a tail, demonstrated immense serpent lineage.
By contrast, his own martial spirit possession mainly changed the color pattern of the brow scale.
Dugu Shuo's was four-colored; his three; Dugu Yan and Dugu Bo's were green only.
The more vivid the scale color, the stronger the venom—proving the poison branch's martial transformation overwhelmed the snake branch's beast attributes.
Dugu Feng mused that perhaps aiming for dragon evolution wasn't actually ideal for a poison soul master.
Maybe Dugu Yan or Dugu Bo, with dragon-bloodline spirit rings, would see great benefit. For himself, focusing on poison development made more sense.
He wondered: with further toxin refinement, how far could his martial spirit evolve?
With interest, he continued watching Dugu Yan's training.
Shortly after, Dugu Bo appeared.
"Bi Lin Excellency, I'm teaching Yan Yan the Jade Phosphor Twelve Fingers."
Dugu Bo shot Dugu Yan a doubtful look, relaxing only when she didn't object.
Suddenly he seemed to remember something.
"Dugu Feng, stop spending time with Yan Yan. You and your father poison people during conversations—it's shameless.
She'll get herself sold off one day."
Dugu Bo didn't mince words. For some reason, even as a Title Douluo, he felt a trace of fear toward Dugu Shuo.
Had Dugu Feng known his thoughts, he'd realize—sometimes, the reckless are feared by even the strong.
"Grandfather!" Dugu Yan whined, clearly annoyed.
Despite his words aimed at Dugu Feng, it sounded like he thought she was too gullible. But she wasn't about to be cowed by her cousin.
"Bi Lin Excellency, I'm leaving now," Dugu Feng said, turning to go.
Ha, Grandpa, your granddaughter has already sold herself. From now on, she's 'Servant Yan', at my beck and call.
Returning to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, Dugu Feng resumed training.
Time passed—half a year slipped by in silence.
On the mountaintop above the Yin Yang Well, a youth in silver robes gazed out at the world, tall and handsome, nearly one meter ninety.
His eyes sparkled beneath star-like brows, every glance flashing with golden light.
"Thirteen years old," Dugu Feng murmured, idly turning a golden-red bead in his palm.
For him, half a year felt like nothing—instead, it was filled with endless progress refining soul power and cold poison.
His physique had reached an unprecedented peak.
When Old Scorpion came to compare, even among Soul Sages, Dugu Feng's physical strength outmatched most.
His eight extraordinary meridians were clear; with the aid of the Strange Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum's medicinal power, his body had transformed, its quality now equal to wearing another Eight Treasure Glazed Soft Armor.
High-spirited, Dugu Feng watched the Sunset Forest.
Finally, a little green dot swooped down.
"Did you find it? If not, I might as well treat you all as spirit rings—your age fits perfectly," he said coolly.
(END CHAPTER)
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