As the saying goes, "He who strikes first gains the upper hand, he who strikes last suffers the consequences."
Although Dugu Bo didn't believe Shui Yun'er could match him, he still decided to take the initiative and launch an attack with lightning speed.
Dugu Bo took a deep breath, a cold glint in his eyes, and shouted, "Seventh Soul Skill, Azure Scale Serpent Emperor True Form!"
With his shout, the image of the giant serpent behind him became clearer and clearer, as if gradually solidifying from nothingness.
A powerful surge of soul power erupted from Dugu Bo, sweeping across the surroundings like a tsunami.
Terrifying poisonous gas rapidly spread, staining the surrounding air with a deadly hue.
Dugu Bo's body shot towards Shui Yun'er like an arrow released from a bow, his intention clear—to end the battle in the shortest possible time.
Dugu Bo's considerations were thorough.
He knew that the other three Soul Douluos from Tianshui Academy could return at any moment.
The Soul Fusion Technique of those two old guys from Tianshui Academy alone was already giving him a major headache, not to mention the equally powerful Shui Yun'er and her husband.
If surrounded by four powerful Soul Douluos, even Dugu Bo wouldn't fare well.
Therefore, Dugu Bo decided to adopt a swift and decisive strategy, eliminating Shui Yun'er, this variable, first.
He believed that with his veteran Title Douluo strength and the ability to instantly activate his Soul True Body, he had a 90% chance of taking down Shui Yun'er in one fell swoop.
After all, in his view, how could an ordinary Soul Douluo possibly have enough time to react to such a sudden and fierce attack?
However, his ideal was far from reality.
Just as Dugu Bo approached within a hundred meters of Shui Yun'er, he clearly felt an extremely terrifying chill permeating the air, as if it were freezing the surrounding space.
The air was filled with a bone-chilling cold, making even breathing extremely difficult, as if each inhale caused a freezing pain in his lungs.
A thin layer of frost began to appear on Dugu Bo's skin.
He could feel his blood flowing slowly, and even his heartbeat seemed to be affected.
Dugu Bo clearly felt that he had entered a special field.
After entering this field, the speed of his soul power circulation and even his reaction ability visibly slowed down.
Every movement he made was like struggling in water, and his originally fluid martial arts skills became clumsy and sluggish.
Most critically, the Azure Serpent King Poison in his body was completely suppressed.
The once invincible poison seemed to have lost all its power at this moment, unable to have any effect on the enemy.
"This is... a domain!"
Dugu Bo was startled, immediately realizing the situation he faced.
A domain was a skill that only a very few high-level Title Douluos could master.
It could create a special space independent of the outside world, within which the domain holder could unleash power far exceeding their usual strength and suppress their opponents.
For example, Sword Douluo's Seven Kill Domain and Haotian Douluo's Killing God Domain had similar effects.
However, Shui Yun'er in front of him was clearly not a Title Douluo yet, so how could she possess a domain?
Even he himself didn't have a domain skill!
What made Shui Yun'er so special!
Dugu Bo felt a chill run down his spine. He knew how terrifying domain skills were.
Facing a high-level Soul Douluo with their own domain, even Dugu Bo wasn't confident he could defeat them.
"As expected of Mr. Dugu, you were able to see through my domain at a glance.
Next, I'll have to properly experience Mr. Dugu's high skills."
Shui Yun'er's voice was as cold as ice, her eyes flashing with fighting spirit.
As her words fell, she unleashed her seventh soul skill, Phoenix True Form.
As a phoenix cry rang out, the ice phoenix behind Shui Yun'er gradually solidified, its magnificent feathers made of ice crystals radiating a terrifying chill.
The ice phoenix spread its wings, covering half the sky, each flap bringing forth gusts of icy wind, further lowering the surrounding temperature.
The ice phoenix's eyes, like two dazzling gems, emitted a chilling light.
Dugu Bo could feel that each breath of the ice phoenix seemed to draw heat from the surroundings, devouring all warmth.
Unbeknownst to her, Shui Yun'er's way of addressing Dugu Bo had subtly changed.
From the initial "Poison Douluo Your Majesty" to the current "Mr. Dugu," this shift was not merely a change in title, but a reflection of Shui Yun'er's understanding of her own strength.
She began to realize that this once unattainable Title Douluo in her eyes was no longer an invincible being before her.
Moreover, after mastering the power of ultimate ice, Shui Yun'er discovered that she possessed a natural suppressive force against Dugu Bo's Azure Serpent Emperor Poison.
Against other Title Douluos, Shui Yun'er wouldn't have been able to fight so easily; it was against Dugu Bo, whose attacks primarily relied on poison, that Shui Yun'er gained a decisive advantage.
However, even so, Shui Yun'er remained highly vigilant.
She knew that Dugu Bo, as a veteran Title Douluo, must have his own trump cards.
Dugu Bo also noticed the subtle change in Shui Yun'er's attitude.
This change infuriated him.
For the first time in many years, this was the first time Dugu Bo had been looked down upon by a junior.
If he didn't defeat Shui Yun'er today, Dugu Bo would be finished in the Soul Master world.
Driven by this pressure and anger, Dugu Bo decided to hold back all his strength.
Emerald light began to shine on his body, and his body underwent an astonishing transformation.
At this moment, Dugu Bo had completely transformed into his Martial Soul True Form, becoming a gigantic Azure Serpent King, over thirty meters long and thick enough for five people to encircle.
His gaze grew even colder, fixed intently on Shui Yun'er.
Shui Yun'er immediately responded, her entire body radiating a dazzling blue light, transforming into a gigantic Ice Phoenix with a wingspan of over thirty meters.
She soared into the sky, her enormous wings drawing icy trails in the air, freezing the surrounding air, even causing a thick layer of ice to form on the distant lake surface, with ice crystals falling with each flap of her wings.
Dugu Bo could no longer contain himself.
His giant azure serpent, its crimson forked tongue flicking, writhed and twisted its massive body across the mountaintop, bending countless trees in its path, before lunging fiercely at Shui Yun'er.
Nine dazzling spirit rings circled the serpent, radiating a brilliant light.
The sixth black spirit ring flashed with a blinding light, and then a deep green mist instantly enveloped Shui Yun'er.
This was Dugu Bo's sixth spirit skill, Azure Serpent King's Venom!
Wherever this poisonous mist reached, even the air seemed to be corroded, emitting a pungent odor.
The Azure Serpent King
was the king of venomous snakes, and the Azure Serpent King's venom released by Dugu Bo, with his cultivation level, was so powerful that it could completely corrode trees, the earth, and even rocks.
Under the corrosive influence of the poisonous mist, the surrounding flowers, trees, and shrubs withered rapidly, the earth was corroded into deep pits, and the rocks were pitted and scarred.
For living beings, this poisonous fog was an even more deadly threat.
Anyone who wasn't a Title Douluo-level expert would be instantly corroded upon contact, with no one escaping its grasp.
However, facing the Azure Serpent King Poison released by Dugu Bo in his Martial Soul True Form state, Shui Yun'er didn't flinch.
Her sixth spirit ring shone even brighter:
"Sixth Spirit Skill, Freeze a Thousand Miles!"
With Shui Yun'er's cry, the surrounding temperature plummeted, and frost spread from her feet, quickly covering the entire battlefield.
This was the first time Shui Yun'er had used extreme ice to unleash a spirit skill, and the power it generated far exceeded her expectations.
Wherever the frost passed, even Dugu Bo's Azure Serpent King Poison was instantly frozen, turning into ice crystals and losing its toxicity.
The surrounding temperature began to drop rapidly; the previously mere adjective "freeze a thousand miles" had now become a reality.
Snowflakes began to fall from the sky, dancing in the air, accumulating quickly on the ground, turning the entire world white.
Hundreds of meters away, the ice-attribute teachers and students of Tianshui Academy felt a chill creeping over them, as if even their martial spirits were trembling.
If ice-attribute soul masters were experiencing this hundreds of meters away, the situation was even more dire for Dugu Bo, who was at the center of the attack.
Dugu Bo was practically being subjected to near-absolute zero temperatures right in his face.
If he hadn't used his eighth soul skill—Time Freeze—at the crucial moment, imprisoning the space in front of him, he would probably be seeing his great-grandmother by now.
Dugu Bo was filled with shock.
He had traveled the continent for decades, witnessing countless ice-attribute soul masters, even those old guys from Tianshui Academy using their martial spirit fusion technique; none of their ice-attribute powers had ever impressed him so much.
Yet, Shui Yun'er's ice-attribute power seemed to transcend common sense, surpassing the power expected of a Soul Douluo.
But she wasn't a Title Douluo!
How could she so easily suppress him, a Title Douluo?
A Soul Douluo suppressing a Title Douluo in battle?
Had the world gone mad?
This was illogical!