Chapter 222: The Assassination of Yu Yuanzhen
Yu Yuanzhen was deep in cultivation, attempting to heal his severe wounds. Most of his injuries came from Tang Hao's devastating counterattack during their fight.
"What a terrifying Grand Sumeru Hammer—truly the supreme art of the Clear Sky Sect," he muttered to himself.
As a leader of one of the Upper Three Sects, Yu Yuanzhen understood well the techniques of the Clear Sky Sect. He knew Tang Hao had executed the highest level of the Ring Explosion technique—the Grand Sumeru Hammer.
"The mighty Haotian Douluo will be nothing but a cripple now. Even if I failed to kill him, crippling Tang Hao makes this trip worthwhile."
He exhaled deeply, focusing his soul power to restore his body. Gradually, he felt his condition improving bit by bit.
Yu Yuanzhen's physique was formidable, and his life force abundant—his recovery would not be long. Within a month of healing, he could return to full strength.
"Hm? What's that sound?"
A faint disturbance drifted through the air several hundred meters away.
Peering through his spiritual sense, he spotted a small jade-green snake slithering closer.
He chuckled faintly. "A mere snake dares approach me?"
But something felt wrong. His Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Spirit had a natural bloodline suppression over serpents.
While cultivating, the aura of his martial spirit seeped through the surroundings. Under such pressure, this snake should have been cowering in terror—yet it was not.
Looking closer, it still appeared to be a normal serpent.
Then, in an instant, his smile vanished.
The snake shimmered, turning translucent before leaping forward like a mirage.
Yu Yuanzhen's expression shifted in shock.
"This—this is the same shadow that stole Tang San!"
He remembered it clearly: during his battle with Tang Hao, the hidden figure had swooped in at the perfect moment, abducting Tang San. That image had been burned into his memory.
Leaping to his feet, Yu Yuanzhen instinctively cast out a bolt of lightning.
However, the Emerald Dragon Serpent's concealment was too refined. Striking with calculated timing, it had already closed the distance before Yu Yuanzhen could react.
His attention locked fully onto it.
"You dare face me? Courting death!"
Waves of crackling electricity burst outward, enveloping him completely.
Experience bred caution—he prioritized defense instantly.
The serpent's speed was unnerving, and there could be more attackers hidden nearby. He had learned long ago to begin battles by surrounding himself with lightning.
A sizzling sound filled the air as the Emerald Dragon Serpent exhaled a dense violet mist.
Lightning and poison collided violently.
"The Nine-Segment Emerald? That's at least equivalent to forty-thousand years!" Yu Yuanzhen exclaimed.
He didn't know the serpent had evolved into an Emerald Dragon Serpent—its true age under thirty thousand years, yet with techniques that rivaled much older beasts.
Still, a creature of roughly forty-thousand-year strength was within his capability to handle.
With his opponent's level gauged, he decided to unleash full power and kill it outright.
"Wrath of Thunder!"
With a shout, his third soul ring flared. Power surged, his soul force rising by half, and his lightning by double.
Countless bolts of energy transformed into blue dragons swirling above him, merging into a roaring storm cloud.
It was an indiscriminate strike—everything within hundreds of meters would be destroyed by his thunderous assault.
Yu Yuanzhen's vigilance intensified.
He suspected other enemies. Why else would a spirit beast chase him this far from the Sunset Forest?
So he blanketed the area, ensuring nothing could approach unseen.
Yet even so, his focus was fixed primarily on the serpent before him—leaving his back unguarded.
Behind him, another Emerald Dragon Serpent surfaced close to the ground, carrying Dugu Feng upon its shimmering body.
They made no sound; even spiritual senses could not detect their approach.
Only the faint glimmer of multicolored light from the Domination Venom hinted at their presence.
When Dugu Feng closed to less than a hundred meters, Yu Yuanzhen finally sensed a flicker of change in the light around him.
He turned sharply—just in time to see a pigeon-egg-sized sphere of rainbow light hurtling straight toward him.
And the figure behind it.
"Dugu Feng!"
The moment recognition struck, Yu Yuanzhen's eyes widened in disbelief.
The prodigy of the Dugu Clan—he knew this youth.
After the Clear Sky Sect's withdrawal from the world, the six-faction alliance at the Great Spirit Arena had once tasked Dugu Shuo to secretly aid him in protecting convoys.
On that occasion, the Dugu Clan had slain the defectors of the Elephant Armored Sect, while Yu Yuanzhen had shielded them from Ghost Douluo's pursuit.
A single successful collaboration.
He remembered meeting the young Dugu Feng back then—never would he have imagined this same youth would one day attack him.
"You whelp! Still wet behind the ears—don't play tricks before me! Where are Dugu Shuo and Dugu Bo?"
Recognition brought both surprise and anger—but also a strange sense of relief.
No matter how venomous the Dugu's poisons were, his lightning power restrained them perfectly.
He would show these fools the might of the dragon.
Even as he snarled, Yu Yuanzhen unleashed a torrent of lightning toward the glowing orb before him.
The Domination Venom burst outward upon contact, dissolving instantly into a wide halo of prismatic light.
Yu Yuanzhen's attack hit nothing but air.
"Goodbye, Patriarch Yu," Dugu Feng said coldly, raising a hand in mock farewell.
The Emerald Dragon Serpent darted backward, retreating swiftly—leaving Yu Yuanzhen alone bathed in radiant light.
The Domination Venom had been released; now its effects only required time.
Yu Yuanzhen instantly sensed the malice in Dugu Feng's tone—the calm arrogance of someone certain of victory.
Enraged, thunder exploded across his body. Bolts cascaded from the clouds—crackling, blasting the ground around him in furious bursts.
But the rainbow mist remained untouched.
Then, suddenly, he felt his strength fading—his soul power draining away like sand through his fingers.
Recognition struck him like lightning.
Dugu poison!
He recalled vividly how Dugu Shuo had used similar methods against Hu Yanzhen, poisoning him without a trace.
Could it be… he too had been poisoned?
"Spirit Avatar!"
Panicking, Yu Yuanzhen triggered his seventh ring. Normally, the Full-Body Spirit Transformation would double his might—but this time, only partial dragonization occurred. His arms morphed into dragon claws, yet his true dragon form failed to emerge.
He could not manifest his full avatar again so soon—it required seven days of recovery between uses.
A chill sank into his heart.
The Dugu Clan was far more treacherous than he imagined.
It became clear—they had watched his battle with Tang Hao and Tang Xiao, waiting for the perfect moment when he was wounded and his Spirit Avatar spent.
Now they had struck.
Pain seared through his body, his energy ebbing faster by the second.
The poison intensified—its rainbow hues swirling beneath his skin.
"What kind of venom is this?"
He gathered lightning within, sparking currents violently through his body in an attempt to purge the toxin.
Flashes of blue light erupted—his figure like a man being struck by heaven's thunder.
"Dugu Clan…" he growled through clenched teeth, hatred boiling over, "I'll erase your entire bloodline!"
But even as he vowed vengeance, the poison continued its silent rampage within.
(END CHAPTER)
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