Chapter 55: Elbow Me

Dugu Bo rushed into the courtyard with bloodshot eyes, his long green hair standing on end under the influence of soul power and swaying from side to side in the air, making him look as though he had gone completely berserk.

Chen Ming had imagined many scenarios for meeting Dugu Bo beforehand, but he had never anticipated a scene like this. All the pre-prepared reactions and words were thoroughly declared obsolete at this moment.

Facing the oppressive presence akin to a walking natural disaster, Chen Ming did not dare to underestimate him in the slightest. His first soul ring flashed, shrouding his body in a mist of poison. The poison explosion skill of his second soul ring and the Poison Emperor Avatar of his soul bone were both held at the ready, capable of being released at any second.

Seeing someone dare to play with poison in front of him, Dugu Bo was almost so angry he laughed. If it weren't for the circumstances, his fluttering hair probably would have formed a question mark in mid-air.

Faced with the reckless Chen Ming, Dugu Bo waved his hand, and a thick, dark green poison mist surged toward Chen Ming, as if intending to envelop his entire body.

Although Dugu Bo was furious that some wild boar had seduced his precious cabbage, a shred of rationality still remained in his heart. Even though he desperately wanted to finish off this wild boar right now, Dugu Bo ultimately considered his relationship with Dugu Yan and held back from delivering a fatal blow, leaving some restraint within the poison mist.

This poison mist could easily knock out Spirit Kings and some weaker Spirit Emperors. Although the toxicity was not lethal, it would deliver a quite invigorating sting and leave a deep impression.

Dugu Bo assumed that subduing Chen Ming with this wave of poison mist would be as easy as taking candy from a baby. Therefore, after releasing the mist to envelop Chen Ming, he did not launch any further attacks. Instead, he stood there coldly, wanting to see how this wild boar would perform.

Yet reality dealt Dugu Bo a powerful slap in the face.

Although the poison mist released by Dugu Bo surpassed Chen Ming's poison mist by several times in sheer volume, upon contact, Dugu Bo's poison mist was gradually swallowed up by the poison mist released by Chen Ming.

Not only did this poison mist fail to break through the defense, but a portion of it was even assimilated by Chen Ming's toxins, becoming part of the protective barrier around him.

Seeing this, Dugu Bo was truly dumbfounded.

He blinked, and the fluttering hair behind him stopped swaying. Like a phantom, he circled around Chen Ming, carefully examining his martial soul. Then he reached out a finger and began to probe the poison mist around Chen Ming, which was obviously quite extraordinary.

"Hiss~ Impressive, truly impressive."

The poison mist of the Jade Phosphor Seven-Absolute Flower was formidable, but before Dugu Bo, who had already become a Titled Douluo, it still posed no threat at all.

Should they be called a true grandfather and granddaughter after all?

Dugu Bo not only reached out to test it and probed it with his soul power, but he even deliberately dissipated a portion of his soul power, thrusting his head deep into Chen Ming's poison mist and taking a deep breath.

Feeling this distinct and intense toxin, and then looking at Chen Ming's face and his martial soul which approached the level of the Scorpion Emperor, Dugu Bo gradually calmed down from his original rage. Having thought of something, he actually nodded.

Then, without another word, Dugu Bo slammed his palm against Chen Ming's chest. Although it did not carry soul power of the Titled Douluo level, the force contained within it was still enough to cause a Grandmaster-tier spirit master to completely lose consciousness.

Chen Ming concentrated his mind, gathered his soul power onto his palm, and used his waist and hips to drive his arm, transmitting the force all the way to his hand. Without dodging or evading, he traded blows with Dugu Bo palm-to-palm.

The force of this strike was neutralized by Chen Ming, but right after came the continuous oppression of poison-attribute soul power.

The toxic soul power originating from the Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor eroded Chen Ming's soul power like persistent maggots on a rotting bone, attempting to forcefully penetrate his body, forcing Chen Ming to continuously mobilize the soul power within himself to resist.

Dugu Bo controlled his soul power, slowly increasing it step by step from the level of a Grandmaster, until his soul power was just about to reach the level of a Spirit Ancestor, at which point Chen Ming finally showed signs of exhausting his soul power.

Even by splitting a single portion of soul power into several parts to use, Chen Ming could no longer sustain the endurance match with Dugu Bo. That was a sheer numerical suppression, which was very difficult for the current Chen Ming to resist.

What was more, although Chen Ming's martial soul was now close to the level of the Scorpion Emperor, Dugu Bo's martial soul had been the genuine Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor for many years, possessing a natural suppression in quality over Chen Ming's martial soul.

Being able to hold on until now actually indicated that Chen Ming far surpassed ordinary spirit masters.

Seeing this, Dugu Bo nodded slightly, his palm emitting a subtle surge of soul power that directly knocked Chen Ming back several steps. Watching Chen Ming, who was still able to maintain his composure under his test, Dugu Bo nodded approvingly.

Although Dugu Bo could not accept the fact that his granddaughter had been carried off by some unknown wild boar in just a few short days, as an unprecedented figure in the path of poison, Dugu Bo could not completely deny that this suddenly intruding wild boar had indeed performed exceptionally well.

In terms of age, he was only eleven years old this year, four years younger than his granddaughter Dugu Yan, but his soul power had reached the twenty-fourth rank, clearly making him more outstanding than YanYan. Such extraordinary soul rings—one yellow and one purple—were also beyond the reach of ordinary people.

In terms of martial soul, the Jade Phosphor Scorpion King belonged to the top-tier poison-attribute martial souls. Although inferior to his own Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor, it still surpassed ninety-nine percent of the poison-attribute martial souls in the world, being a cut above normal Jade Phosphor Serpents.

With future cultivation, a martial soul that was already close to the Scorpion Emperor level might advance even further, ultimately transforming into a Jade Phosphor Scorpion Emperor martial soul no less inferior to his own Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor.

In terms of toxins...

Although Dugu Bo was somewhat reluctant to admit it, the toxins of this Emerald Scorpion King—having absorbed goodness knows what kind of soul ring—were indeed far stronger than those of ordinary Jade Phosphor Serpents. Even he, as a Spirit Elder or even a Spirit Ancestor back then, might not necessarily have possessed such intense toxins.

Though at first he wished he could slap this unknown wild kid to death with one palm, after circling around Chen Ming like this and testing the strength of the toxins, Dugu Bo's anger dissipated by seventy or eighty percent.

Appearance, age, martial soul, and even the chosen path—Chen Ming satisfied Dugu Bo on every single count. His initial dislike gradually transformed into an appreciation for talent.

Yet, the moment he thought of his own aggressive stance earlier and his poison mist that had been gradually assimilated, Dugu Bo ultimately refused to drop his pride, his face maintaining a solemn expression.

"Boy, this old man is the Poison Douluo, Dugu Bo. The Heaven Dou Royal Academy is full of rumors about you and my granddaughter Dugu Yan. I went to ask your instructors just now and learned that this is indeed the case. What else do you have to say for yourself?"

"Senior Poison Douluo, actually there is more to this matter."

"Hmm?" Dugu Bo glared, unsure whether he was dissatisfied with Chen Ming's sophistry or his form of address.

"A while back, I was cultivating in the poison-type simulated cultivation ground. The weather was bad that day, with wind and rain howling outside, and Student Dugu..."

"Hmm?"

"Dugu Yan was attempting to break through to the thirtieth rank."

"Hmm..." Upon hearing the elements of bad weather outside and breaking through to the thirtieth rank, even without going back to ask his granddaughter what had happened, Dugu Bo immediately formed a guess in his mind.

"I don't know what exactly happened, but somehow, without any external interference, Dugu Yan's breakthrough failed, causing a backlash of soul power within her body, and she collapsed to the ground, falling into a state of chaos."

"I was cultivating at the time, and upon hearing the noise, I went over to check. I found that her internal soul power was in turmoil, and a toxin had backfired, torturing her body."

"I thought to myself, I couldn't just stand by and watch someone die. So I figured out a way to use my soul power to slightly stabilize Dugu Yan's soul power and suppress the toxin inside her body. Once her condition recovered a little bit, I took her to the school infirmary for treatment."

"Wait." Dugu Bo's eyes narrowed into slits, staring fixedly at Chen Ming like a poisonous snake, and the soul power on his body began to stir faintly, his martial soul poised on the verge of erupting.

"Boy, what did you just say?"

"I said I took her to the school infirmary..."

"I mean the sentence before that." A raw, hoarse undertone edged Dugu Bo's voice.

"I stabilized Dugu Yan's soul power and suppressed the toxin within her body."

"Follow me!"