Still, with Old Scorpion, who had spent his entire life studying venomous scorpions, Dugu Feng wasn't worried in the least.
It wasn't until nightfall that Old Scorpion returned, his face filled with exhaustion.
"Young master, this ice mountain is far too vast, not easy to search. It looks like we'll have to stay here a few days."
The mountain's range was enormous. After an entire day, Old Scorpion had only managed to scout a small portion.
Yet the more difficult it was, the more certain he became that an Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion was hidden here.
Dugu Feng naturally understood as well. He knew clearly that haste would not yield success.
And so, half a month passed in waiting.
During this time, they had indeed discovered a few Ice Jade Emperor Scorpions, but all of them were ten-thousand-year beasts, their age unsuitable.
Until one day, Old Scorpion returned with joy lighting his face. "I've found it—an Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion of the thousand-year level!"
Dugu Feng was overjoyed as well. Without hesitation, he entered Martial Spirit Possession and followed Old Scorpion deep into the glacier.
Winding their way through seven or eight turns, they finally entered an ice cavern.
After half an hour's trek, they emerged from a narrow passage.
Before them lay an icy pool.
"This Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion hid too deep. Its age is close to one thousand eight hundred years. It's inside the pool. To prevent its escape, I've already gravely injured it. Young master, finish it quickly and absorb its ring!"
Old Scorpion was vigilant. An Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion was the hope of its entire species, so no wonder it would hide so deep!
At any moment, other spirit beasts might arrive.
Hearing this, Dugu Feng didn't hesitate. He slipped into the pool through a crack of ice.
At the bottom of the icy pool, a massive scorpion more than one meter seventy long came into view.
Around it, chunks of cold ice glistened. Clearly, this Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion had been cultivating within the ice before Old Scorpion discovered and heavily wounded it.
Its entire body gleamed with a mirror-like silver-white luster. Whether its six long legs or the shell on its back, all looked as though carved from diamond.
The brightest of all were its two pincer-like foreclaws. They were like crystalline silver, exuding an aura of nobility.
Worthy indeed of the name "Emperor."
Of course, what Dugu Feng cared about most was its poison. Through the icy chill covering its body, he could see the faint emerald specks within.
He immediately understood. Unlike the ordinary Ice Jade Scorpions, this Emperor could unleash poison not only from its stinger but also through its pincers.
Its combat potential was terrifying!
Ice and poison—dual attributes.
"Come then, my second spirit ring!"
With a blast of spirit power, Dugu Feng ended the scorpion's life.
At once, a thick surge of violet-green energy condensed above the corpse.
Gradually, it formed into a purple spirit ring.
Seeing the moment was right, Dugu Feng sat down cross-legged, Martial Spirit Possession activated. His purple spirit power summoned the ring.
Boom!!
A loud crash echoed in his mind, his entire body shuddering under the impact of the energy.
For his second spirit ring, he was absorbing a spirit beast of nearly eighteen hundred years.
Normally, that was the level of a third ring.
The energy was simply overwhelming.
It filled his body almost instantly.
But Dugu Feng's strength lay in the body tempered by the power of the ten-thousand-year whale serpent and his pearls.
His meridians and bones were extraordinary.
Though battered by the force, he endured.
Compared to the agony of poison flare-ups, the pain of absorbing a spirit ring was almost nothing!
Yet now, he truly grew tense.
Absorbing a poison-attribute spirit ring—the critical part had come. He had spent an entire year eating fried scorpions, all to adapt to the fusion of scorpion venom and serpent venom.
Now, the venom within the scorpion's energy seeped into every part of his body.
The Jade Phosphor Serpent poison within his bloodline erupted in full.
The two poisons merged into one.
"Fusion poison—my first fusion poison! With my strength, I will definitely endure this!"
Dugu Feng's eyes blazed with light. Fusion poison was the true path of a poison master, the road to the ultimate poison!
The feeling of poison flare-up struck again.
Absorbing a poison-attribute ring, before even experiencing its soul skill or unleashing its venom on enemies—he had to taste the venom himself first.
Agonizing pain racked his body, dizziness clouded his spirit.
His bones felt as if they were being shattered.
But at the same time, the immense energy within the spirit ring rebuilt them, making his body tougher and stronger.
After a long struggle, Dugu Feng regained clarity.
This was the power of fusion poison. Fortunately, he had grown up under the torment of toxins, and only thus could he endure.
He hadn't used the pearls to help absorb right away. He wanted the spirit ring's reforging of his body to be pushed to its fullest.
Every wave of pain was a step toward greater strength.
Half an hour later, the turbulence of spirit power slowly faded.
One yellow, one purple, the two rings circled around his body, showing that the absorption was complete.
"Spirit power, level twenty-two. And within my spirit power… that trace of violet-blue must be the fusion of Jade Phosphor Serpent venom and Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion venom."
The leap in spirit power was expected, the reward for absorbing beyond his level.
"Hm?"
Suddenly, Dugu Feng realized there was still energy lingering above the corpse, flowing into his body.
Normally, once the ring was absorbed and spirit power stabilized, there should be nothing left. Why was there more?
"What is going on?"
"Ah!"
Bang!
Dugu Feng let out a sharp cry. His clothes at the shoulders burst apart.
With spiritual sense, he looked inward…and saw two thick protrusions rising from his shoulders.
"Could it be… a spirit bone?"
Pain wracked him, yet his spirit surged with excitement.
No—this wasn't an ordinary spirit bone.
This was an external spirit bone!
His eyes widened.
From the protrusions, silvery crystalline structures burst forth, growing at astonishing speed.
Now the pain ebbed.
He could even see them taking shape.
"These… these are the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion's foreclaws! This… this is unbelievable!"
He moved his shoulders. The foreclaws had sprouted exactly where his shoulders met his arms.
Each was nearly three meters long.
From afar, it would look as though he had four arms.
Except the extra two were longer.
At their tips were massive pincers, each more than forty centimeters across, ridged with jagged serrations, gleaming with silver light. (T/N : For the Americans out there, that is 1.23 Ft or 15.74 inches.)
Dugu Feng suspected they could snap a man in half with one strike.
Only then was the last of the scorpion's energy consumed.
He tested a swing and the pincers moved with uncanny ease.
Each clack radiated a savage, tearing aura, as though capable of ripping apart anything!
Tang San's Eight Spider Lances had given him eight arachnid legs.
And now, by chance, he had obtained two scorpion pincers. The similarity was uncanny.
But as for whether Tang San would still gain his Eight Spider Lances now that Dugu Feng had crossed over… that was another matter entirely.