Chapter 205: Level Fifty
Regardless of what Ye Lingling might have been thinking, Dugu Feng quickly left the Ye residence.
He extended his perception toward the Blue Tyrant Academy.
Zhu Zhuqing had already broken through to Soul Ancestor, reaching level forty-one.
Tang San and Xiao Wu had each advanced another level, both now at thirty-six.
Tang San's progress was impressive—his cultivation speed was remarkable.
The others—Dai Mubai, Oscar, and Ma Hongjun—were training steadily as well, their soul power continuously increasing.
After a brief glance, Dugu Feng lost interest and departed from Heaven Dou City, returning to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
Having obtained the Wisdom Head Bone, his confidence in fusing his Dominating Venom had reached its peak.
His conditions were exceptional—three external soul bones, one right leg bone, one head bone, a spiritual pearl within his dantian, and he had also consumed two immortal herbs.
Everything was ready. Dugu Feng couldn't wait to cultivate until he reached Soul King!
This time, he would not leave the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well without achieving it.
Dugu Feng made his way to the area near the Fiery Apricot, a plant infused with top-level fire poison. It looked like a large crimson cabbage, its surface gleaming faintly red.
This red glow was lethally toxic—touching even a trace could reduce a Soul Ancestor to ashes.
Yet, for Dugu Feng, this terrifying light was something he intended to conquer.
Drawing from his previous experience refining the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass, Dugu Feng summoned his Eight Spider Lances and extended them into the Fiery Apricot's ten-meter attack zone.
The plant reacted immediately, releasing blazing red light.
A surge of fire poison shot forth, blanketing Dugu Feng in searing venom.
Agony assaulted him—but he endured, beginning his battle against the fire poison.
Each time he refined a trace of the poison, its pure fiery essence was absorbed and stored within his meridians, bones, and external soul bones, endlessly tempering his body.
Fully immersed in the process, Dugu Feng's strength began to soar.
His lifetime of endurance and unyielding willpower gave him the fortitude never to stop until he succeeded.
Bit by bit, he closed the ten-meter gap.
Though using his Slaughter God Domain could have brought him closer faster, his fire attribute was weaker than his ice, and his comprehension of fire poison still shallow.
Only by solidifying his foundation first could he later use the Slaughter God Domain to conquer the Fiery Apricot completely.
Otherwise, even if he uprooted it through external force, he couldn't form a Fire Poison Domain as he had with the cold poison from the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass.
Outside the Yin Yang Well, the foundation of such a domain would be his own body; thus, his body needed to store immense amounts of fire poison within it.
A month later, Dugu Feng had advanced only half a meter.
Three months later, through sheer effort, he managed to reach within nine meters of the Fiery Apricot's core.
After seven months, his soul power reached level forty-nine—filling him with exhilaration.
"Soul King… I'm almost there!"
He pressed onward with renewed enthusiasm.
Meanwhile, outside the valley, discussions about the Soul Master Tournament had finally subsided.
This year's tournament had caused an uproar—so many deaths, and not just any deaths, but those of high-status Soul Masters.
The appearance of Martial Spirit Fusion Skills, the Seven-in-One Fusion Technique, and the shocking victory of the Gemstone Academy—all had shaken the Soul Master world.
The community was buzzing again, and Gemstone Academy became famous overnight.
Old Snake seized the opportunity, recruiting over three hundred students and fifty new teachers.
He even attracted several graduates from the Five Element Academies.
Those who had participated in the tournament, like Zhang Jingyang, became the academy's core force.
However, Old Snake kept everything discreet—his actions low-key.
All the newly joined Soul Masters trained and researched within the academy, focusing on cultivating students, arousing little external suspicion.
After all, recruiting instructors and students was a normal move for any academy—especially one that had just won the championship.
The Dugu family's power grew steadily, and Gemstone Academy settled into quiet expansion.
Across the continent, other factions too seemed to be gathering their strength once more.
Peace—and tension—returned to the Soul Master world.
Dugu Feng cared nothing for the clamor or the academy's growth.
His eyes saw only cultivation.
Half a year passed in the blink of an eye.
"My soul power has advanced again—level fifty! It's been so long since I cultivated for such a long stretch. What a satisfying feeling!"
His eyes gleamed with renewed vigor.
"Time to finish this. Over a year we've coexisted, you and I. As I told the Octagonal Ice Grass, I tell you the same—follow me, and I'll let you continue to grow."
He fixed his gaze on the Fiery Apricot.
It glowed crimson and pulsed with firelight, unmoved.
By instinct, such a plant would never submit unless facing life-and-death peril.
Dugu Feng no longer held back.
The Slaughter God Domain erupted from his body.
The Shura Killing Formation began to spin, and the sharp aura cleaved through the poisonous flames, carving a direct path forward.
Dugu Feng advanced through the venom, step by step, until he stood before the Fiery Apricot itself. He grasped it tightly and yanked the fiery-red plant from the ground.
Everything that followed mirrored his conquest of the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass—the Fiery Apricot, sensing imminent death, quickly submitted.
Now possessing both immortal herbs, Dugu Feng was deeply satisfied.
Waves of fiery heat and icy chill interwove and streamed constantly into his body.
The poisons were absorbed by his spider spears and crab claws; the pure energy by his meridians and bones.
Every moment, the two herbs refined his physique through the balance of ice and fire.
Not long after, Dugu Feng realized the immense benefits—it was essentially Body Tempering by Ice and Fire, drawing the twin energies of the Yin Yang Well into his body through the two immortal herbs.
A perfect way to strengthen himself one final time.
After all, the Human-Faced Demon Spider he planned to hunt was a forty-thousand-year soul beast—absorbing its ring would not be easy.
Yes, his target for the fifth soul ring had already been chosen.
It would be a spider-type beast among the Five Venoms—none other than the Human-Faced Demon Spider.
There was no better choice.
With his Eight Spider Lances, absorbing such a ring would promote their evolution further.
Energy of the same origin and nature would greatly enhance the quality of his soul bone.
After all, the Eight Spider Lances could one day evolve to divine level.
Moreover, the spider's venom was exceptionally potent—on par with the Jade Phosphor Serpent, the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion, the Nine Heavens Venomous Centipede, and the Scarlet-Eyed Ice Toad.
It was the perfect target.
Choosing to hunt a forty-thousand-year soul beast was bold, but the Human-Faced Demon Spider was the strongest of its kind in the Sunset Forest.
The lesser ones weren't even worth his attention.
"When performing the Ice and Fire Body Tempering, the effect is at its peak. I'll refine my body for one more month, then hunt the Human-Faced Demon Spider—and advance to Soul King!"
Dugu Feng made his decision.
Red and white light gleamed around him as he resumed his cultivation.
(END CHAPTER)
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