"What?!"
Shi Mo and Shi Yan were dumbfounded; they had missed such a great opportunity, potentially their only chance to defeat Xu Yang.
"You fools! He's just a Great Soul Master; how could he have that much soul power?!" Yu Tianheng's expression was extremely grim, wishing he could teach these two idiots a lesson for not even understanding their opponent's condition before surrendering.
"You're no better! If you hadn't been distracted by Lingling, and had held out a bit longer, Xu Yang's soul power might have been exhausted by now. How could he have had the chance to knock you and Yu Feng off the stage?"
At this moment, Dugu Yan, having released her martial spirit, jumped down from the arena and disdainfully said to Yu Tianheng.
Hearing this, Yu Tianheng's face darkened. He hadn't expected to be so easily distracted by such a lowly tactic, which gave Xu Yang the opportunity to defeat him. Ultimately, it was due to his lack of combat experience that he faltered at a critical moment.
"Tianheng, it seems you've realized your problem: it's your lack of combat experience. You were too eager to win on the stage that you lost some judgment!" Qin Ming approached and looked at Yu Tianheng.
"Is wanting to win a mistake?!" Yu Tianheng retorted indignantly.
"Wanting to win is not wrong, but you only saw Xu Yang in your eyes. That's why you were led around by him several times—first being eliminated by Yan, then Xu Yang using the last of his soul power to knock you and Yu Feng out."
"Finally, you forced Shi Mo and Shi Yan to surrender while they were still in shock. Don't you think all of this indicates a problem?"
After speaking, Qin Ming looked seriously at Yu Tianheng. He had observed the entire battle and could say that Yu Tianheng's team had been completely manipulated by Xu Yang; they had basically no chance of winning.
Of course, this was also due to Dugu Yan's cooperation and Xu Yang's hidden tactics; with even a slight mistake on Xu Yang's part, he wouldn't have won.
After listening to Qin Ming's words, Yu Tianheng fell silent.
"Alright, this training session ends here. Go back and reflect on the gains and losses from this battle."
"Team battles differ from individual battles; there are more aspects to consider—not just pure combat strength but also formations, how to arrange your strength for maximum effect with minimal cost... Think about it carefully!"
"Yes, Teacher!"
Everyone responded in unison. Then Yu Tianheng and Yu Feng went to find a healer for their injuries while the rest returned to their Royal Fighting Team's quarters.
Xu Yang remained seated on the balcony, summoning his martial spirit to absorb solar energy and recover his soul power. The others also returned to their rooms to meditate and restore their soul power; everyone had expended considerable energy in this battle.
Not long after!
In a relatively simple bedroom, Dugu Yan, who was originally meditating with her legs crossed, suddenly turned pale with a bluish tint. She felt sharp pains like needles in her head and soles of her feet as her body convulsed on the ground, unable to stop moaning softly.
"Mm~mm..."
At that moment, Xu Yang passed by Dugu Yan's door after recovering his soul power and heard the sounds inside. He hurriedly pushed the door open.
Upon entering, he saw Dugu Yan curled up on the bed, her body convulsing; she had clearly lost consciousness.
"This is a sign of poison outbreak; could it be due to today's martial spirit manifestation?"
Xu Yang's expression changed drastically as he quickly understood Dugu Yan's condition was exactly as described in the books he had read.
He rushed over, helped Dugu Yan sit up, placed his hands on her back, and activated his powerful solar soul power to perform healing techniques aimed at suppressing the toxins within her body.
With solar soul power at his disposal, Xu Yang was essentially a nemesis to poisons; any potent toxin would dissipate under the supreme yang force.
As solar energy flowed into Dugu Yan's body, she felt a warm current surge from her back throughout her body—a sensation she had never experienced before. It was incredibly soothing and made her feel unprecedentedly light. Just as she began to inquire about this familiar feeling, she heard Xu Yang's voice beside her.
"Don't move; your poison is very strong. I can't afford any distractions!"
Upon hearing this, Dugu Yan tensed up and closed her eyes in meditation to help Xu Yang guide the soul power entering her body. In no time at all, the remnants of potent toxins in her meridians were cleared away.
However, the poison within Dugu Yan was inherited from her mother even before she was born; it had penetrated deep into her marrow and blood—almost becoming one with her.
Even though solar soul power could eliminate potent toxins, Xu Yang's cultivation level was too low for complete eradication. Moreover, as long as there was no way to evade the poison from the Green Scale Snake martial spirit, Dugu Yan's internal toxins could not be fully removed and would increase as her cultivation grew.
After sensing that there were no abnormalities in Dugu Yan's body, Xu Yang slowly withdrew his hands.
"Xu Yang, can you please not tell anyone about my poisoning?!" Dugu Yan hesitated for a moment before turning to look at Xu Yang with an anxious expression—completely different from her usual demeanor.
Seeing Dugu Yan display such rare vulnerability made Xu Yang chuckle internally; however, he maintained an unusually serious expression. "Yanzi, this is your martial spirit's own toxin, right?!"
"Isn't it ridiculous? A dignified Green Scale Snake master actually suffers from their own martial spirit's poison! Every time I manifest my martial spirit, the toxins within me worsen. If it weren't for my grandfather's medicine, I probably would have died long ago." Dugu Yan self-deprecatingly laughed as she revealed her situation.
"This kind of situation exists for all beast martial spirit poison masters. I once saw related information in the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile School's collection. Haven't you or your grandfather thought about solving it?!" Xu Yang prompted gently.
"We've thought about it! How could we not?!" Dugu Yan's voice rose slightly as she became agitated. "But there's nothing we can do! My grandfather has asked other Green Scale Snake masters and poison masters but got no results!"
"But this contradicts what I read in the book! I remember there were solutions mentioned!"
"What do you mean?!" Dugu Yan became very excited as she grabbed Xu Yang's shoulders and shook him. "What solutions?!"
"According to what was recorded in the book, there are three solutions for beast martial spirit poison masters: The first is to break through to Title Douluo before dying so that there will be a Poison Dan within them that carries the potent toxin—this way they can avoid its effects."
Upon hearing this solution, Dugu Yan nodded thoughtfully. If she remembered correctly, after her grandfather broke through to Title Douluo, he indeed developed a Poison Dan within him that he once showed her. However, its effectiveness wasn't as good as what Xu Yang claimed—it couldn't completely immunize against toxins' existence.
She wanted to ask more but decided against it for now since there were still two more solutions left to hear about.
(End of Chapter)