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Hearing Senior Dugu's words, Tang Chuan's brows furrowed. He was about to explain when he felt another fierce wave of oppression. In an instant, Dugu Bo grabbed his throat and slowly lifted him into the air.
Tang Chuan immediately felt his throat tighten. His breathing became rapid, and he couldn't make a sound. His vision blurred, and the world spun. Just as he felt he could barely hold on, a blue-gold light flashed from his body as his self-created soul skill activated.
The next second, a straw figure that looked exactly like Tang Chuan appeared in Dugu Bo's hand. The straw figure's eyes were hollow and lifeless, and it held the same posture as when it was lifted.
"What… what kind of soul skill is this?!" Looking at the scene, Dugu Bo was stunned. A hint of surprise and doubt flashed in his usually calm eyes. He couldn't believe that the young man in front of him had managed to escape his grasp so quickly and even made him grab the wrong target.
As Dugu Bo was wondering, a clear voice came from not far away. "Senior Dugu, you might have misunderstood me. Why would I harm your granddaughter? What reason would I have?"
Dugu Bo suddenly looked up and saw Tang Chuan standing in the shadows at the end of the path, just a dozen steps away. The soul skill Tang Chuan had just used was his self-created Blue Silver • Wood Substitute, which allowed him to replace himself with a straw figure made of Blue Silver Grass the moment he was attacked.
"Heh heh." Hearing this, Dugu Bo's eyes remained cold. He sneered, and a low voice came from his throat. "Why should I believe you?"
Tang Chuan frowned slightly, remained silent for a moment, then smiled calmly. "Senior, if you don't believe me, why don't you stand by my side personally when I detoxify your granddaughter? If I try any tricks, you can kill me at any time."
A green light flashed in Dugu Bo's eyes. He gave Tang Chuan a cold look and said in a deep voice, "Kid, even I have no way to deal with the poison on our Dugu family. How can you, a teenager, detoxify it? You don't have some ulterior motive, do you?"
An ulterior motive? Of course, he did! However, Tang Chuan couldn't possibly tell Dugu Bo his real reason. If it weren't for the immortal-grade medicinal herbs from the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, he really wouldn't want to be a good Samaritan, trying every possible way to help others with their poison.
A hint of displeasure flashed in Tang Chuan's eyes, but his expression remained calm as he spoke. "You can choose to believe that I can detoxify your granddaughter, or you can choose not to. Either way, it's not me who suffers, but your granddaughter and yourself."
"You're courting death!" Dugu Bo's face suddenly changed. The oppressive aura on his body erupted again, and the powerful spirit power fluctuations instantly solidified the surrounding air. He was about to attack Tang Chuan again.
However, Tang Chuan continued in a calm tone. "Senior Dugu, when it's cloudy and rainy, do you feel numbness in your ribs on both sides? And does it gradually intensify? Does it act up once at noon and once at midnight? Given your current condition, it should last for at least an hour each time, right? Also, every deep night, around the third watch, you will feel a needle-like stinging pain on the top of your head and the soles of your feet, with full-body spasms, lasting at least half an hour. I don't need to describe this agonizing process in too much detail, do I?"
All these symptoms came from Tang San's description of Dugu Bo in the original work. As a transmigration, Tang Chuan naturally knew them perfectly.
"You... how do you know all this?" Dugu Bo instantly froze.
"I said I can detoxify your granddaughter, and even the poison on your body. Do you believe me now?" Tang Chuan smiled slightly, completely unperturbed.
"Kid, you do seem to have some tricks up your sleeve." Dugu Bo had calmed down by this time, and the killing intent on his body gradually subsided. He looked at Tang Chuan, a complex light flashing in his eyes, and snorted coldly.
"Since that's the case, I'll choose to believe you this once. However, you'd better not play any tricks. Otherwise, this old man has ten thousand ways to make you wish for death but unable to die."
Tang Chuan said nothing more, just nodded gently.
"Kid, I'll be waiting for you at the herb garden in Sunset Forest. I hope you don't disappoint me." His gaze swept coldly over Tang Chuan once more. Dugu Bo's expression finally softened a little. His figure flickered, a ripple appeared in the air, and he instantly vanished from the spot.
"This old fellow is finally gone." Tang Chuan looked in the direction Dugu Bo had disappeared, finally letting out a sigh of relief. The situation just now was too tense; he could almost feel the beads of sweat slowly dripping from his forehead. At this moment, his clothes were completely soaked with cold sweat.
Tang Chuan had never expected Dugu Bo to come looking for him at this time. Recalling their conversation, he couldn't help but feel a lingering fear. Dugu Bo belonged to Prince Xue Xing and Xue Beng's faction, and this faction had always been at odds with Xue Qinghe.
Since he was introduced into the Heaven Dou Royal Academy by Xue Qinghe, didn't that mean he was on the side of Dugu Bo's opposing forces? This relationship made Tang Chuan's scalp tingle. With his current strength, if a Titled Douluo truly wanted to kill him, he would have no room to resist. Therefore, every step he took next had to be extremely careful.
"I must quickly bring that old poisoner over to my side. I absolutely cannot let him continue to be with Xue Beng and his group like this," Tang Chuan exhaled slowly, thinking to himself.
The next morning, the eastern sky was faintly lit by the dawn, and sunlight pierced through the treetops, scattering onto an open space outside Shrek Academy.
Tang San sat cross-legged, his eyes slightly closed, concentrating on operating the Mysterious Heaven Skill, while also cultivating the Purple Demon Eye.
A subtle purple light flickered in his eyes, and a faint glint of essence gathered. His aura was restrained and deep, and his spirit power flowed smoothly. At this moment, his figure was even more upright than usual.
The subtly raised spinal curve between his shoulders and back was no longer the naive appearance of a new Spirit Master from years ago.
Tang San had now successfully obtained his third spirit ring, and just like in the original work, he had also accidentally absorbed an external Spirit Bone, the Eight Spider Lances, causing his strength to skyrocket.
Just as he was fully focused on his cultivation, someone suddenly patted him lightly on the shoulder. Tang San sharply opened his eyes, purple light flickering, and turned to look. He saw a middle-aged man standing quietly behind him, with a gentle and relieved smile on his face.
"Yu Xiaogang?!" Tang San immediately stood up, overjoyed, and said with a slight tremor in his voice, "When did you arrive?"
The Yu Xiaogang raised his hand and stroked Tang San's head, a habitual gesture of his. "Little San, I told you in my previous letter that I would come to Shrek Academy to find you, and I certainly would. You truly didn't disappoint me; you chose a poisonous spirit beast for your third spirit ring."
"Yu Xiaogang, isn't that thanks to your excellent guidance?" Tang San chuckled.
However, just then, the Yu Xiaogang's face suddenly darkened, and his voice became low and suppressed. "Little San, tell me, why did you arbitrarily absorb a spirit beast whose age you couldn't even determine?"
Hearing this, Tang San was stunned, a hint of hesitation and regret flashing across his face. He then spoke in a low voice. "Yu Xiaogang… that day, Xiao Wu was captured, and I was panicking. I couldn't think of anything else. I… I was afraid I wouldn't be able to save her in time, so I…"
"So you risked your life to absorb a spirit beast of unknown age?!" The Yu Xiaogang's voice instantly rose, his eyes almost spewing with fury, and he gasped for breath. Immediately after, he suddenly raised his hand, grabbed Tang San's shoulder, and shook him forcefully.
His eyes were slightly red, and his emotions completely spiraled out of control. "Little San, don't you know! I promised your father that I would take good care of you! If you die, how am I supposed to explain it to him?! Have you ever thought about it?! If something happened to you, who would prove everything I've insisted on all these years, my spirit theories?!"