"Although Senior is a Title Douluo, this junior is unwilling to be slaughtered. I think Senior knows better than I whether Yanzi has been poisoned. In that case, this junior will have to offend you." A
faint blue light began to emerge from behind the zuzong. Immediately afterward, the zu zong's entire spine seemed to burst forth, releasing a pale purple light. The ends of his eight ribs suddenly bulged from his back, forming eight bulges.
Accompanying the bulges, a tearing sound rang out, and the eight bulges burst forth, with eight thick, purple, columnar objects rapidly extending from his back.
"Eight Spider Spears."
As soon as the words fell, the zu zong's Eight Spider Spears were fully unleashed.
At the same time, the zuzong also felt a qualitative leap in his attack power, approximately fifty percent.
Dugu Bo's eyes narrowed, a greedy look on his face. He thought to himself, "Is this the external soul bone that Yan Yan mentioned?"
He beckoned to the clan leader and said, "Boy, Yan Yan said you're incredibly skilled. You can break Yan Yan's snake venom. Today, let this old man see for himself."
The zuzong didn't reply. He immediately activated his martial soul, the Blue Silver Emperor, in its strongest form, a form he had never shown in public before—the Extreme Flame Blue Silver Emperor.
Two yellow and one purple soul rings rose simultaneously from the zuzong's feet, swirling around his body.
The first soul ring suddenly lit up. "First Soul Skill—Poison Dragon Entanglement!"
The zuzong formed several strange hand seals, and the ground beneath his feet cracked inch by inch. Dozens, even hundreds, of Blue Silver Emperor vines as thick as bowls grew out and shot towards Dugu Bo.
Meanwhile, the scales covering the Blue Silver Emperor vines gradually turned red. When the earth, vegetation, and the reddened Blue Silver Emperor came into contact, white smoke rose, and a burnt smell filled the air—caused by the intense heat of the scales covering the vines. No, it should now be called the Extreme Flame Blue Silver Emperor.
Without hesitation, the zuzong raised the temperature to its maximum limit.
Dugu Bo was startled. He hadn't initially taken the zu zong's Blue Silver Emperor seriously, intending to let it entangle him. After all, with his Title Douluo strength, how could a mere level 40 kid's soul skill possibly get close to him? However, the sudden terrifying temperature made him feel a sense of danger.
Almost instinctively, Dugu Bo released his soul power to defend himself. With a wave of his right hand, a ring of emerald green flames instantly ignited around him.
The emerald green flames collided with the Extreme Flame Blue Silver Emperor. Unsurprisingly, the zu zong's Blue Silver Emperor crumbled almost instantly, destroyed in large quantities.
The zu zong's lips curled into a smile, and he softly uttered, "Poison Devour."
As the word "devour" was uttered, streams of a reddish liquid, resembling magma, seeped from the remaining reddish scales of the Blue Silver Emperor vines. However, unlike magma, it didn't solidify; the moment it touched the purple flames, almost instantly, Dugu Bo's purple flames were devoured by the red liquid. At the same time, the zu zong's first soul skill was also completely exhausted.
In their first exchange, the two were evenly matched.
A flicker of surprise crossed Dugu Bo's eyes. The purple flames he released weren't pure flames, but a potent poison. Although he hadn't activated his Martial Soul and it was just a casual strike, he knew that with this one move, even a Soul Emperor or Soul Saint would struggle to withstand it, let alone a mere Soul Sect cultivator.
Suddenly, a green light flashed in Dugu Bo's eyes, as if he had thought of something.
Dugu Bo coldly said to the zuzong, "Boy, the red, high-temperature liquid you released from your Martial Soul just now should also be a potent poison, right? A plant-type Martial Soul covered in high-temperature poison, interesting." The zuzong said calmly, "It can also be considered poison. I'll name it Fire Poison."
"Fire Poison, interesting. This is the first time I've heard of it." Dugu Bo crossed his arms in front of his chest, leaned against a nearby tree, and said calmly, "In that case, let this old man see it again!" As soon as he
finished speaking, Dugu Bo vanished from his spot and appeared before the Clan Elder in the next instant. He raised a fist imbued with heavy soul power and slammed it down.
Zu zong's pupils contracted. He tried to use his Instantaneous Movement Technique to escape, but it was too late. As for the Substitution Technique, which he had never used before, he needed time to prepare. With things as they were, zuzong could only imbue his feet with soul power and accelerate his "Ghostly Shadow Steps" movement. At the same time, the Eight Spider Lances behind him almost instinctively stabbed out. The full power of the poison was unleashed.
"Eh—" Dugu Bo was somewhat surprised. With his strength, he didn't even need to actually engage; his body's energy already detected the intensity of the Eight Spider Lances' attack. Green light instantly spread from Dugu Bo's body. Without him using his own Martial Soul, the Eight Spider Lances struck the green light, only creating eight ripples of emerald green, unable to penetrate it.
Although the Eight Spider Lances failed to achieve their goal, they bought zuzong a sliver of time. In the nick of time, Zuzong dodged, and Dugu Bo's soul power fist almost grazed past Zu zong's chest. Under the force of Dugu Bo's soul power fist, the clan leader was blown away. Fortunately, the eight spider legs of the Eight Spider Lances cushioned his fall and protected him; otherwise, he would have broken several ribs. Even so, a trace of blood spilled from the corner of the zu zong's mouth. Although Dugu Bo's soul power had only grazed his skin, it had still injured his internal organs.
Dugu Bo stared at the zu zong's with burning green light in his eyes, as if looking at a rare treasure. A greedy glint flashed in his eyes. "I have to admit, Yan Yan is right. You are stronger than her, even stronger than that Yu Tianheng kid. Not even thirteen years old, yet your soul power is close to that of a Soul Master, with an external soul bone, high temperature and deadly poison, and a powerful plant-type mutated martial soul. What a pity, what a pity."
Changing his tone, Dugu Bo said, "Yan Yan said your external soul bone has been completely fused, and it seems that's true. Otherwise, I really would have wanted to take it. However, for Yan Yan's sake, if you take back your words about 'Yan Yan being poisoned,' I can..." "I'll spare you."
The zuzong shook his head. "Previously, out of concern for my teammates, I only guessed that Yanzi might be poisoned. But after seeing Senior Dugu, I'm certain. Not only Yanzi, but you are too, and the poison has penetrated to the bone marrow."
Dugu Bo's eyes flashed with a cold light like a venomous snake. "Do you want me to kill you immediately? Killing you is as easy as crushing an ant for me. However, I won't rush to kill you. The soul bone dropped by the Human-Faced Demon Spider is quite interesting. I will force out all the toxins from your soul bone, and then slowly kill you."
"Uh." The zuzong felt a little embarrassed when the Human-Faced Demon Spider's legs were recognized. Fortunately, when someone from our clan was trying to deceive us, they only said that it was taken from a thousand-year-old spider-type soul beast, otherwise, they would probably have been exposed. But now is not the time to worry about that; we need to add fuel to the fire.
Thinking of this, the zuzong repeated Tang San's words from the original work.
"You're not poisoned? Then let me ask you this. Whenever it's cloudy or rainy, do you experience a tingling, itchy sensation in your ribs, which gradually intensifies? It occurs twice a day, around noon and midnight, and given your current condition, each episode should last for at least an hour. Also, every night, around the third watch (around 3 AM), you experience needle-like stabbing pains on the top of your head and in your lower abdomen. Your whole body spasms for at least half an hour. I don't need to describe that excruciating pain, do I? If it weren't poisoning, would you experience these symptoms? You're not only poisoned, but the poison has seeped into your bones. I'm just very curious why you're not dead yet. The poison you've been given is simply beyond what soul power can suppress."