Chapter 5: Companion, Little Snake
Dugu Feng focused his mind on the dan pearl. It was mysterious—surely it served some purpose.
Suddenly, a surge of heat spread through his body, coursing along every limb.
The needle-like pain piercing his flesh subsided slightly.
Dugu Feng's heart leapt in joy.
As expected of the dan pearl, a treasure that could only form when a Jade Phosphor Serpent evolved into a Serpent Emperor.
Dugu Bo's own dan pearl contained half his lifetime of power, storing venom, soul force, and bodily energy.
His own pearl already had its form—it simply lacked poison, soul power, and internal energy.
During the poison flare, it had absorbed venom and the energy he'd replenished after eating earlier.
At this rate, resisting poison flare would become easier over time.
Dugu Feng's resolve grew stronger.
Half an hour later, the pain gradually faded.
Dugu Feng took up the short knife and sliced out the Bamboo Leaf Green Snake's gallbladder.
He swallowed it in one bite. Oddly enough, it didn't taste as foul as it had by daylight.
After that came the meat—and even the blood.
Though the poison flare lasted less than an hour, the energy in his body had been entirely consumed.
He needed replenishment, fast.
To Old Snake's shock, the young master devoured another full snake within minutes.
Dugu Feng patted his full belly with a satisfied burp.
"Old Snake, how come you don't suffer poison flare?"
"How do you know I don't?" Old Snake replied evenly. "I simply have more endurance than you, Young Master. The room to your left has your bedding—rest well."
He turned and left, calm as if venom didn't exist at all.
Tch, you really had to act all mysterious. I shouldn't even have asked.
Still, Dugu Feng was curious. To face poison flare so calmly, Old Snake must at least be a Soul King.
He set aside the thought and entered the room on the left, where his bedding and clothes were ready.
It seemed this would be his home from now on.
His path as a King of Poison began here.
Time passed like flowing water. Half a year slipped by.
Every day, Dugu Feng was bitten by snakes—then ate their galls, their meat, and drank their blood.
Each night brought a new poison flare. It was sheer torture.
Even with the dan pearl's help, there were times he felt despair. The daily agony was relentless.
Twice, it had rained—those nights were worse, an unbearable itching crawling beneath his ribs as though eaten alive by ants.
It was no wonder the Dugu Clan's line had always been so small. Who could endure such torment?
To come to the Douluo Continent, only to die before awakening a martial spirit—what a cruel fate.
Yet Dugu Feng persisted, clenching his teeth. No matter what, he would live to awaken his martial spirit.
Since his poison had flared so early, he was eager to know—how high would his innate soul power be when the time came?
His dan pearl, once a pure white like polished jade, now had one-fifth of its lower section colored bright green.
That green portion was his greatest satisfaction; watching it grow daily gave him a sense of fulfillment.
It proved he was getting stronger day by day.
He had a feeling—when the entire pearl turned green, something extraordinary would happen.
At dawn, as the first light of the sun peeked over the horizon, Dugu Feng had already finished three hours of meditation.
He didn't even practice true meditation. Old Snake called it "training the art of stillness"—three hours of utter motionlessness to strengthen the Jade Phosphor Serpent's nature.
It was supposed to teach him to be calm as a virgin, swift as thunder.
In Old Snake's case, he truly embodied a serpent's patience—sitting from sunrise to sunset, barely moving. If not for his occasional speech, Dugu Feng might have thought the man was dead.
Standing at his door, Dugu Feng let sunlight wash over him, eyes glimmering with expectation.
At last, a small shadow appeared. The short figure walked lightly, unhurried despite Dugu Feng's eagerness, sharp eyes scanning the surroundings for threats.
"Little Snake, you're finally here!"
"Young Master, this is your meal for today," the boy said politely.
The one Dugu Feng called Little Snake was a smaller replica of Old Snake—his son—and had been Dugu Feng's only training companion these past six months.
Little Snake had perfectly inherited his father's genes. Though already ten years old, he stood barely one meter tall—shorter than four-year-old Dugu Feng.
Dugu Feng suspected that when grown, he might even be shorter than his father.
Taking the food box from Little Snake's hands, they went inside together.
It was a three-tiered lunchbox. Dugu Feng quickly unpacked it, laying the plates and bowls neatly on the table.
Four dishes, two soups, and four white buns.
"Young Master, I bought them exactly as you requested," Little Snake said, struggling to swallow his saliva as the rich aroma filled the room.
Even Dugu Feng almost drooled.
After half a year of eating nothing but snake meat, his taste buds were desperate for change.
Today was his first truly free day in months.
Of course, he justified it to himself—it wasn't indulgence, merely nutritional balance and stress relief.
It had earned Old Snake's rare approval, which was how this feast came to be.
"Braised pork, spicy chicken, big carp, roasted duck… Five-grain soup and black-bone chicken soup..."
Now this is real life.
He picked up a piece of braised pork. The ruby-colored, glistening morsel melted almost instantly in his mouth, sliding down his throat like silk.
Exhaling softly, he tried to suppress his emotions before glancing at Little Snake. "Sit down and eat more, or you'll end up as short as your father."
Little Snake, who had been holding himself back, stiffened. "I won't eat much. A small frame makes it easier to hide when killing enemies."
Mid–chicken leg, Dugu Feng froze. This kid really had a way of ruining moods.
He frowned. "Who talks about killing while eating? Sit down and eat, that's an order."
"Yes, Young Master."
Little Snake sat obediently and began gnawing on a bun.
Dugu Feng sighed. As expected, Old Snake's teaching is thorough.
They ate quietly. Dugu Feng's pace seemed calm, but every bite disappeared fast.
He had always noticed something strange—his teeth seemed sharper than normal. Even tough meat shredded easily under a few bites.
Though it looked like he ate gracefully, the food vanished in minutes—the duck, gone; chicken, gone; fish, finished; and the braised pork long devoured.
In the end, Dugu Feng ate three buns, while Little Snake only managed one along with a chicken leg and a duck leg.
"Little Snake, what's your dream?" Dugu Feng asked, wiping his mouth.
"To surpass my father—and poison a Titled Douluo to death!" Little Snake said without hesitation.
"Oh? So Old Snake once poisoned a Contra?" Dugu Feng caught the hidden meaning immediately.
Admiration filled the boy's eyes.
"He did. That's Father's proudest achievement. He never goes three days without reminding me about it, telling me to follow his example.
"Years ago, when the Pope of Spirit Hall was assassinated, chaos erupted between Spirit Hall and the Clear Sky Clan. The entire soul master world was in turmoil.
My father lay in ambush for half a month and killed a great enemy of our clan—he was a Soul Douluo!"
Little Snake told the story with shining pride.
(END CHAPTER)
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