Just as Dugu Shuo stepped closer—
With a thud, one of the Elephant Sect men beside Hu Yan Hong collapsed, veins bulging, face pale, mouth gaping like a fish on land.
"Hu YanMing? Why are you poisoned too?!"
Hu Yanzhen froze. What the hell? I only told Hu Yanhong to fake it. Who told you to play along?
This fellow always liked to act smart. Now he was improv-ing? His performance was a little too convincing. (T/N - Improv as in improv performance and not improve as in better.)
"Good. Very good!" Dugu Shuo's eyes bulged, veins crawling across his face. "To poison someone right under my nose again? Truly, you think nothing of the Dugu Clan! With me here, none of you will die of poison tonight!"
Seven spirit rings rose around him. Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black. A Soul Sage's aura. The ideal ring configuration.
He strode toward Hu Yanhong's prone body.
Around him, the Elephant Sect disciples grew excited.
Now. Now's the chance. When Dugu Shuo bends to heal Hu Yanhong, his guard will be down. That's when Yanhong strikes, and we all follow, one blow to wipe them out!
The Dugu Clan had only ten people in total. Aside from Dugu Shuo and Old Snake, there were no other Soul Sages.
The one Soul Emperor they had, he had gone to help Thunderclap Academy. The rest? They were even weaker, and one was just a one-ring Soul Master.
Pathetic.
One soul skill from each of them would be enough to annihilate the whole clan.
But then—
"…Eh? What's going on? Dugu Shuo's within range already. Why hasn't Yanhong attacked? That's the perfect chance for a close-range strike!"
Hu Yanzhen clenched his fists, barely restraining himself.
And then—
Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud!
Four more meat-mountains toppled, crashing like falling boulders. Four Elephant Sect powerhouses, fully possessed and glowing with spirit rings, collapsed as one.
"Who dares play such tricks before the Dugu Clan?!"
A roar split the sky. An enormous dark-green serpent soared upward, soul rings gleaming—yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black. Following it was a Soul Sage's complete might!
Old Snake bellowed furiously from the heavens: "To keep striking in secret, to scorn us so, you coward! Come fight me head-on, three hundred rounds if you dare!"
Dugu Feng couldn't help but roll his eyes. Enough with the theatrics already…
Hu Yanzhen was stunned. What the hell? Four more down?! Are they all trying to "act" now? You idiots don't need to pretend too!
"Hu Yanhong! Hu Yanming! You four—strike now!" His voice hissed like steel, transmitted directly to their ears.
But—
From the Dugu Clan's side came another voice, sharp and loud.
"Shameless! My second uncle is the Title Douluo, Poison Douluo Dugu Bo! To strike again and again before us, who the hell do you think you are !?!
If you've got guts, then strike one more time and let me see!"
The voice was Dugu Feng's.
He was the weakest present and yet his voice cut through the night, louder than all others.
And as if answering his words—
Every Elephant Sect man still standing, save for Hu Yanzhen himself, convulsed and fell.
Seven enormous bodies crashed down, spitting black blood, the earth shuddering like an earthquake beneath their weight.
Only Hu Yanzhen remained on his feet.
Dugu Feng froze, face slack with mock terror. "S-Sect Master Hu Yan...zhen… that wasn't me. I-I was just bluffing to scare the one in the shadows…"
He shrank toward his father, trembling.
"You—!"
Hu Yanzhen's eyes bulged like copper bells. Even a fool could see it now.
His men weren't acting. They were truly poisoned.
The antidote pills?
They had been useless!
Desperate, he bit down, shattering the two hidden pills in his teeth, swallowing the powder.
"Dugu Shuo—it's you. It must be you!" His roar shook the night. His eyes, round as gongs, were bloodshot with rage.
Yes. To poison Ge Ying—that was Spirit Hall's arrangement. They would never strike their own Elephant Sect.
Then the one who poisoned his men could only be—Dugu Shuo!
Grief, fury, vengeance roared in his chest.
Three Soul Sages, four Soul Emperors—dead in moments?
No!
Hu Yanzhen bellowed. His eight spirit rings surged up, body swelling, muscles bulging until his already-massive frame loomed even larger.
Bang! Bang!
Cloth tore apart. His shirt exploded from his body, revealing a torso of diamond-shaped muscles glittering like crystal facets.
"Diamond Body!"
A blast of golden light surged skyward.
He charged, like a mountain falling, straight at Dugu Shuo.
Dugu Feng's eyes narrowed coldly. So what if you're a Soul Douluo? Father's been at your side long enough...long enough that the poison is already in your blood. The more soul power you unleash, the faster it spreads. The quicker you die.
"Hu Yanzhen! To repay kindness with treachery! Patriarch sought to cure you, and you accuse him of poisoning you? I can't stand it! I can't stand it anymore!
Die!!"
Old Snake's titanic tail whipped down from the sky...
But froze in midair.
Because Hu Yanzhen's eyes bulged wider, veins blackened, his diamond-hard body reeking with a foul stench.
"You… it's you… it really was you…!"
Boom!
His voice cut off.
His colossal form crashed to the earth, dead eyes wide with disbelief and regret.
If I had known your poison was this deadly… why did I provoke you at all?
The Soul Douluo of the Elephant Sect was in an instant.
In the blink of an eye, fourteen Elephant Sect elites lay lifeless.
Silence blanketed the convoy.
Dugu Shuo stood dazed, murmuring: "I hadn't even begun detoxifying… and they're already dead? This poison...it is too fierce. Just who is the hidden hand, to wield venom even greater than my clan's?"
For the first time, Dugu Feng realized that his father could act too.
So much to learn… he sighed inwardly.
Around them, the soul masters of Thunderclap Academy, the Ge Clan, even Yu Luomian and Ge Long, they all bore twisted, uneasy expressions.
Too strange.
Too absurd.
So many dead, yet the true culprit was still unknown.
The Dugu Clan had the greatest suspicion...but watching them snarl with such righteous fury, who could truly say it was them?
The air was thick with unease. No one dared move.
Yu Luomian swallowed hard, eyes fixed on the massive corpses of the Elephant Sect, already decaying into bone.
Dugu Shuo was holding back, he was controlling the rate. Otherwise, they would have melted into puddles of black water already.
For the first time, Yu Luomian's arrogance faltered.
Hu Yanzhen had been a genuine Soul Douluo, close to Title Douluo. In defense, he was peerless.
And yet, he had died like a fly.
If this poison touched him… he would die just the same.
Big brother… is this why you made me come? Were you trying to kill me?
Bitter fear filled Yu Luomian's heart.