At this moment, Xu Yang and Dugu Yan were besieged by a group of Spirit Ancestors and Spirit Kings, while Ning Haiyan was holding off several Spirit Sages and more than a dozen Spirit Emperors all on his own. Neither side held the advantage—especially Ning Haiyan's, who had already sustained serious injuries.
Xu Yang could only place his hopes on Dugu Bo and that Ghost Douluo hadn't arrived yet. If the gadgets he had given Dugu Bo were effective enough to catch Yue Guan off guard—even just partially—then Dugu Bo might be able to break free and come help them.
Hearing Xu Yang's reminder, Dugu Yan nodded with calm eyes. This was already the second assassination attempt on Xu Yang she had experienced—she no longer panicked like before.
She skillfully took two pills from her storage-type soul tool and swallowed them. Her Wind Chime Wings unfurled at full power, allowing her to weave through enemy attacks. Meanwhile, she reloaded both of her soul tool pistols with practiced efficiency.
The pills had been refined by Dugu Bo using herbs from the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, combined with his own medical expertise. They could rapidly restore spirit power for Soul Masters below the Spirit Sage level.
Having experienced multiple assassination attempts, both Xu Yang and Dugu Yan had long prepared an ample stock of magazines in their storage tools. Even with continuous usage, they could fight for half a day. With the pills replenishing their spirit power, they could hold out for quite a while.
At the same time, Yue Guan had already engaged in battle with Dugu Bo.
Wary of Dugu Bo's deadly poisonous mist wiping out Spirit Hall's forces in one breath, Yue Guan had been keeping him away from the main battlefield, carefully containing the fight to the outskirts. This way, Dugu Bo wouldn't panic and lash out—and more importantly, he wouldn't be able to lend support elsewhere.
"Third Soul Skill: Aura Barrier!"
"Sixth Soul Skill: Golden Stamen Mist Petal!"
Yue Guan activated his Spirit Avatar, and a swirl of petals burst forth, forming a defensive barrier around him. At the same time, the petals sharpened into countless blades, shooting toward Dugu Bo like a torrential floral storm. Just looking at it could make an ordinary Soul Master's scalp go numb—the attack was so dense, it was nearly impossible to dodge.
"Yue Guan, how many times have you used this move? It doesn't work on me!"
Dugu Bo remained expressionless. Beneath him, the Horned Emerald Serpent Dragon opened its maw and unleashed wave after wave of Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor Poison. The evolved venom had terrifying corrosive power—within seconds, all incoming petal blades were dissolved completely.
But as the venom beams approached Yue Guan, they seemed to encounter resistance. Their speed sharply decreased, eventually crawling slower than a bird in flight.
This was the effect of Yue Guan's third soul skill—a domain-type ability involving time restriction. Within its range, any movement or attack experienced powerful resistance, and only overwhelming spirit power could force through.
Yue Guan easily twisted his body and evaded the incoming poison beam.
Yet Dugu Bo acted as if he hadn't noticed. His first six soul rings glowed in rotation, and the breath of toxic mist continued to pour from his Martial Soul's mouth—an unrelenting barrage, hitting or missing, it didn't matter.
In no time, the forest around them had turned into a death zone. Poisonous fog filled the air. Plants wilted, birds and insects dropped dead, even soul beasts that failed to flee in time perished.
And yet Yue Guan remained entirely unaffected. In fact, he looked at Dugu Bo with a puzzled expression, unable to grasp why he would waste so much spirit power turning the battlefield into a poisonous wasteland.
Poison-type Soul Masters were most powerful before reaching the Spirit Sage realm. Once a Soul Master became a Sage, their Martial Soul fully fused with their body, and their spirit power underwent a qualitative transformation. The resulting energy density was extremely high—if a Soul Master wished, they could easily seal off their pores and respiratory system, or form a layer of soul power membrane around their internal organs. Under such conditions, it became almost impossible for poison to invade.
And even if one were poisoned, it could usually be expelled with spirit power.
In short, poisons had increasingly little effect on Soul Masters at or above the Spirit Sage level.
This weakening effect made poison-type cultivators far less viable at higher levels. Unlike other elements, poison didn't enhance physique or mental resilience effectively. If you couldn't kill your opponent instantly, you were likely to be counter-killed.
This was also why Dugu Bo had once been mocked as the weakest Titled Douluo.
"Just about ready."
"Eighth Soul Skill: Temporal Freeze!"
A satisfied smile crept onto Dugu Bo's face as he surveyed the toxic battlefield. He activated his eighth soul skill. His dragon avatar's eyes flashed with radiant white light, beams shooting directly at Yue Guan.
Yue Guan's expression shifted dramatically. Spirit power burst from his feet as he fled at full speed, trying to escape the beam's range. He knew this skill—Temporal Freeze. If struck, time itself would lock around him. Even as a Titled Douluo, breaking free would be near-impossible. It was practically a divine technique.
But Dugu Bo gave him no chance. He continued adjusting the dragon's head, keeping the white beams locked on Yue Guan's position.
"You old freak—you forced me!"
"Ninth Soul Skill: Chrysanthemum Withers, Petals of Despair!"
Sensing mortal danger, Yue Guan unleashed his ninth soul skill. His soul power surged like a tidal wave, erupting into a storm of petal blades that formed a colossal tornado before him.
The white light of Temporal Freeze couldn't penetrate the petal storm. Whenever it froze one section of blades, the tornado simply shifted the petals elsewhere before the freeze could take hold.
Everything the floral tornado touched was shredded—utterly annihilated.
And now, even Dugu Bo was in danger.
"You finally used it."
Dugu Bo wasn't afraid. Instead, he grinned like a hunter closing his trap. His ninth soul ring lit up, and the once-contained white light suddenly expanded, enveloping the entire petal tornado in an instant—freezing it in place.
Yue Guan, being behind the storm, wasn't directly affected.
But his instincts told him something had gone very wrong.
"Yue Guan—prepare to die!"
"Medusa's Gaze!"
Dugu Bo's dragon avatar lashed out with its enormous tail, smashing the frozen tornado apart. Then, its enormous vertical pupils unleashed two thick white rays, aimed straight at Yue Guan. As he dodged frantically, every place he had stepped turned to solid stone.
"Fifth Soul Skill: Frost Essence Bloom!"
"Sixth Soul Skill: Golden Stamen Mist Petal!"
Yue Guan hastily reinforced his defenses, forming a petal-blade shield to block the attack. Just then, Dugu Bo produced two iron spheres—one large, one small—and infused them with spirit power.
With a flick, he launched the spheres like lightning.
In an instant, they were right in front of Yue Guan.
"Such tiny trinkets? You think they can—"
"Argh!"
Yue Guan sneered, channeling spirit power into his hand and striking forward with golden adamantine force.
But before his palm landed, the two spheres veered toward each other, colliding midair. The impact caused them to unleash countless fine spikes, which pierced his arms and body, leaving dozens of bloody holes.