Chapter 96: Zu Zong vs. Dugu Bo
"Senior may be a Titled Douluo, but this junior will not be slaughtered without resistance. Whether Yan Zi is poisoned or not, I believe Senior knows better than I. In that case, forgive my offense."
A faint blue glow began to emerge from behind Zu Zong. His entire spine seemed to press outward, emitting a dim violet light. Eight protrusions formed along his back where his ribs ended, swelling rapidly.
With a sound like fabric tearing, the bulges burst open, and eight thick, purple, pillar-like limbs extended at high speed from his back, growing longer in an instant.
"Eight Spider Lances."
In a moment, Zu Zong had fully released the Eight Spider Lances. At once, he felt his offensive power increase dramatically—by about fifty percent.
Dugu Bo's eyes narrowed, a flash of greed appearing in them. "So this is the external spirit bone Yan Yan mentioned?" he thought.
He beckoned. "Boy, Yan Yan says you're quite skilled—that you could counter her snake venom. Today, let this old man see for himself."
Zu Zong did not answer. Instead, he activated his Blue Silver Emperor martial soul, unveiling a form he had never shown before—Extreme Flame Blue Silver Emperor.
Two yellow and one purple ring rose from beneath his feet, spiraling upward.
His first ring lit up. "First Soul Skill—Poison Dragon Bind!"
Complex hand seals formed in his grasp. The ground cracked beneath his feet as dozens, even hundreds, of thick Blue Silver Emperor vines shot out toward Dugu Bo.
As the vines moved, their scales flushed red. Where they touched earth or vegetation, white smoke rose and the smell of burning filled the air—the searing heat from the vine's armored surface scorching everything it touched.
This was no ordinary Blue Silver Emperor—it was Extreme Flame Blue Silver Emperor.
Zu Zong pushed the temperature to its maximum.
Dugu Bo had intended to let the vines wrap around him, confident that the skill of a boy not yet at level forty could never touch a Titled Douluo. But the sudden surge of heat made him feel a flicker of danger.
He instinctively released soul power to shield himself. With a casual wave, a ring of vivid green flame burst into life around him.
Green flame met Extreme Flame Blue Silver Emperor. The vines shriveled and burned away on contact.
Zu Zong smirked. "Poison Devour."
At his command, the remaining vines exuded a red, molten liquid from their heated scales. It flowed like magma, but instead of solidifying, it remained fluid and corrosive.
Upon touching Dugu Bo's green flame, it consumed it in seconds—though the vines were spent in the process.
The first exchange ended in a draw.
Surprise flickered in Dugu Bo's eyes. His green flame was no simple fire, but a deadly poison. Even without his martial soul, a casual strike like that could cripple most Soul Emperors or Sages.
A glint of curiosity lit his gaze. "That red, high-temperature liquid from your martial soul—it's a poison, isn't it? A plant-type martial soul, infused with high-temperature venom. Interesting."
Zu Zong's voice was calm. "You could call it a poison. I named it Fire Poison."
"Fire Poison… intriguing. This old man has never heard of such a thing," Dugu Bo replied. Folding his arms, he leaned casually against a tree. "Then show me more."
In the blink of an eye, Dugu Bo vanished and reappeared before Zu Zong, driving forward with a heavy, soul power-laden punch.
Zu Zong's pupils contracted. Instant Step was too slow to evade in time, and his untested Substitution Technique required preparation.
Instead, he poured soul power into his legs, employing the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track footwork, even as the Eight Spider Lances lashed out reflexively, venom at full potency.
"Hmm—" Dugu Bo made a sound of surprise. Even without making direct contact, his aura sensed the Eight Spider Lances' dangerous force.
A green light flared around him; the lances struck it, sending ripples through the emerald barrier, but could not pierce it.
The Eight Spider Lances failed to pierce Dugu Bo's defenses, but their strike was not in vain. They bought Zu Zong a precious heartbeat to act, just enough for him to react before the killing blow landed.
In that instant, he twisted with every ounce of agility he could muster, his body blurring as he slipped just beyond the arc of Dugu Bo's soul power-laden fist. The wind of the strike slammed into his chest like a physical force, threatening to crush the breath from his lungs and hurling him backward.
The eight limbs of the Eight Spider Lances struck the ground hard, anchoring and bracing against the momentum. Their segmented strength absorbed much of the impact, sparing his body from worse damage. Even so, the violent shock rattled his frame, and warm coppery blood crept from the corner of his mouth as his organs protested the force.
Dugu Bo's eyes, glowing with eerie green light, locked onto him with the patient malice of a predator sizing up rare prey. Greed danced in those depths, as though weighing the worth of a rare treasure he might seize.
"I must admit, Yan Yan was right," he said slowly, his voice carrying a mix of grudging admiration and threat. "You're stronger than she is, perhaps even stronger than that Yu Tianheng boy. Not yet thirteen, already nearing the Soul Ancestor realm, with an external spirit bone, high-temperature venom, and a powerful variant plant martial soul. A pity… truly a pity."
His tone hardened, the admiration sharpening into danger. "Yan Yan says your external spirit bone has fully fused. That must be true—otherwise I might have taken it for myself. Still, for her sake, if you retract your words about her being poisoned, I'll let you leave alive."
Zu Zong slowly shook his head, his voice steady despite the ache in his chest. "Before, I only suspected for a teammate's sake. But now, after meeting you, I'm certain. Not only Yan Zi—you as well. And your poison has sunk so deep it has reached your very bones."
The Titled Douluo's eyes narrowed to venomous slits, the gleam in them cold and serpentine. "Are you provoking me to kill you now? Ending you would be like crushing an ant. But I won't be hasty. A spirit bone from a Human-Faced Demon Spider… interesting. I'll strip every trace of toxin from it before killing you slowly."
Zu Zong felt a flicker of discomfort at having the source of his Eight Spider Lances recognized so precisely. Thankfully, he had long claimed it came from a thousand-year spider-type soul beast, keeping the truth obscured.
Recalling a tactic from Tang San's tale, he steadied his breathing and voice. "You're not poisoned? Then answer me this—when it rains or the sky is overcast, do you feel an itching along both ribs that intensifies until it strikes at noon and again at midnight, each episode lasting no less than an hour?
And late at night, around the third watch, do stabbing pains seize your head and chest, followed by convulsions that wrack your entire body for half an hour or more? If that isn't poisoning, then what is? It has eaten into your bones. The only thing strange is that you're still alive, because this poison… it's something no amount of soul power can ever fully suppress."
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