Chapter 6: Becoming More Like a Snake
A Soul Douluo was already an elite expert—yet Old Snake had killed one in an ambush?
Dugu Feng was shocked.
"Not a bad ambition. Keep training—just stay alive, that's what matters most," Dugu Feng encouraged.
Little Snake's face remained steady. In the Dugu Clan, simply surviving was the highest honor.
If you could live long enough, you were guaranteed to be powerful.
"I'm off to train. I haven't experienced poison flare yet, but I need to be ready," Little Snake announced, packing up the lunchbox and slipping out swiftly.
Dugu Feng followed him.
One of his pleasures during this half-year was watching Little Snake train.
He trailed Little Snake to the clan's training ground.
The training ground was more like a courtyard, filled with all sorts of flora and trees—a carefully crafted mimicry of a wild environment.
The flowers were vibrant, the trees twisted and strange, clearly all highly poisonous plants.
Upon entering, Little Snake immediately activated his martial spirit—the Jade Phosphor Serpent.
His already short frame became slimmer, green eyes sharpening and emitting a chilling aura.
But the most startling change was on his face: two diamond-shaped green scales appeared on his cheeks and jaw, like a mask.
This was different from Dugu Yan's martial spirit possession, which turned her legs into a serpent tail.
"Jade Phosphor Violet Poison!" Little Snake's emerald eyes instantly turned purple; the scales on his cheeks glowed with faint violet light.
"Pff!"
A thick purple mist jetted from his mouth, rapidly dispersing in the air, blanketing the whole training ground.
As the colored fog faded, it grew more subtle and harder to detect.
Little Snake's gaze sharpened, fixing on his target, using soul power to manipulate the toxic cloud.
Dugu Feng's senses stayed focused on the courtyard; even as the fog faded, its fishy stench almost made him retch.
He could still sense its presence.
The poison mist moved like a barrier, spreading over every inch of the courtyard.
If an enemy were present, it would cover every hiding place—they'd be caught no matter what.
Such was the Jade Phosphor Serpent's fighting style at low levels.
There was no fine-tuned poison control—just a blanket attack over the entire battlefield.
It was the entry-level version of Jade Phosphor Violet Poison: sprayed from the mouth and manipulated by soul power.
Little Snake was just over ten and already had achieved soul power rank seventeen—an impressive pace.
A perfect example of the assault system's relentless progress, and his first soul skill was Jade Phosphor Violet Poison.
In contrast, Dugu Yan's branch was the control system: her first two skills were amplifications, only her third was the Jade Phosphor Violet Poison attack. For poison cultivators, however, it was the very first skill.
Little Snake was honing different methods for releasing his Violet Poison.
After controlling it for a while, he tried channeling it through his hands.
This was the breakthrough he'd always wanted: the second stage of control, where poison could shoot from the hands, swift as swords.
Unfortunately, he hadn't managed it yet.
Still, his perseverance was impressive; he practiced until all his soul power was spent.
"Young Master, Old Snake says persistence brings success. If I can master this, I'll truly be strong.
Our line is all about offense. The first soul ring is always Jade Phosphor Serpent, enhancing the built-in poison. Mastering the second stage—hand-released poison, sharp as blades, killing without a trace—is what makes us true powerhouses!"
As he sat cross-legged to recover, Little Snake explained his understanding of the martial spirit to Dugu Feng.
Dugu Feng couldn't help but notice Little Snake's obsession with killing.
He also recalled from memory the clan's "Tyrant Poison"—the skill Dugu Shuo believed could restore the Poison Branch's former glory.
In his memories, Dugu Shuo had never mastered Tyrant Poison.
Its creation required the fusion of five poisonous soul beast rings. Each stage boosted its power dramatically, but even surviving each fusion was a challenge.
"Little Snake, what beast will you hunt for your second soul ring?" Dugu Feng asked, struck by inspiration.
"Jade Phosphor Serpent. My first three rings will all be Jade Phosphor. That way, I'll evolve my venom to Jade Phosphor Crimson Poison, which can attack the enemy's mind.
I'll only pick soul beasts for range or support skills for the fourth ring—maybe even flight." Little Snake's thinking was clear and logical.
Dugu Feng understood: only the clan leader's line practiced Tyrant Poison. For everyone else, mastering Violet and Crimson Poison was already powerful enough; the focus past that was boosting offensive power.
Since Dugu Shuo wanted him training with Old Snake and Little Snake, his first soul ring would likely also be Jade Phosphor Serpent.
His second ring would probably be a different poisonous beast to create toxic mixtures, boosting his power even further.
Dugu Feng couldn't help but feel excited. Just how strong was this legendary Tyrant Poison for Dugu Shuo to place such hope in it?
Dugu Bo, with only the Serpent Emperor's venom, could wipe out whole cities. What would Tyrant Poison do in the hands of a Titled Douluo?
It would be an invisible death—control over others' lives and deaths.
But before that, he needed to perfect his dan pearl. Only then would he have the confidence to survive compounded poisons.
He decided—he'd double his food intake to two snakes a day, giving the pearl even more energy.
In half a year, he'd gathered a fifth. With a year and a half before spirit awakening, he was determined to fill the pearl to the brim.
Thinking this, Dugu Feng sat in meditation, breathing steady and rhythmic, body completely relaxed.
His mind focused inward on the dan pearl, drawing out waves of warmth that cycled through his entire being, then back to the pearl.
The dan pearl was like a soul beast's core, strengthening him every day.
Awakening a beast spirit was all about unleashing one's animal instincts—Dugu Feng vowed to become even more snake-like.
So, in the eyes of Old Snake and Little Snake, Dugu Feng ate twice as much as an adult, but barely exercised.
He never moved on his own.
Like a true snake, he'd hunt for food, then retreat to his lair and meditate.
He could sit still for an entire day, saving all his energy for the pearl.
Only during poison flare would he eat again.
Even Dugu Shuo came to watch—Dugu Feng was too unusual.
After several days' observation, he and Old Snake chalked it up to Dugu Feng's unprecedented pre–spirit awakening poison flare. The Jade Phosphor Serpent's bloodline was just too strong, already transforming his spirit and body.
His body grew at a remarkable speed—by age five, he was already 130 centimeters tall.
Still, his figure screamed "Dugu clan"—tall but slender.
Old Snake marveled at his powerful bloodline, but in truth, it was all thanks to the dan pearl, which kept his body healthy and ever-growing.
Close to turning six, Old Snake conducted a test—feeding a hundred-year-old Mandrake Snake soul beast with Dugu Feng's blood.
The Mandrake Snake died instantly.
That proved the strength of the poison in his veins. Old Snake now eagerly anticipated Dugu Feng's martial spirit awakening.
(END CHAPTER)
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