Chapter 106

Tonight's dinner is very simple, congee paired with a pickled vegetable.

Shu Yan couldn't say how many years it had been since he last had such a plain dinner; even during his time in the far north, it had at least been flavorful, but now…

Du Guoyan seemed to notice something odd; she pursed her red lips and then softly said, "Sorry, I had originally planned to go to Tiandou City this afternoon to gather supplies, but… now we only have these edibles left at home."

Shu Yan didn't mind either; the congee Du Guoyan cooked contained many beneficial herbs, giving it a faint herbal aroma. Though he was used to eating meat and fish, occasionally having something light was quite nice.

"Have you always lived like this before?"

Shu Yan asked casually.

"I've been on my own since I was eight, and it's been ten years now, but life has been manageable."

Du Guoyan stared for a moment, but then answered truthfully.

"Eighteen years old… forty‑eighth rank soul power, considering the toxin trouble, that's not bad."

Shu Yan said softly.

Xu Jiu Jiu and the three girls silently drank their congee without saying a word; needless to say, Du Guoyan's cooking skill is quite excellent—at least the congee has a unique flavor, leaving the four usually picky eaters quite satisfied.

Du Guoyan silently set down her bowl, her voice a little hoarse as she said:

"The ten‑thousand‑year legacy, the bitter phosphorous snake toxin in our family line has grown ever worse; when my martial soul awakened, the bitter phosphorous snake martial soul fortunately underwent atavistic reversion to become the Bitter Phosphorous Snake Emperor; otherwise, in my generation, a pure bitter phosphorous snake soul master would hardly live past twenty‑five."

Shu Yan swallowed the last mouthful of congee, and he understood everything Du Guoyan had said.

"You don't need to worry about this; we've just come out of the Ice‑Fire Yin‑Yang Well, gaining quite a lot, so solving your problem isn't difficult. But I'd like to know, once you gain strength, what you most want to do…"

Shu Yan's gaze fixed directly on Du Guoyan, waiting for her answer.

Du Guoyan lowered her brows and eyes; her delicate face was full of meekness—whether genuine or feigned—but her answer still startled the four of us.

"If possible…"

"I want to slaughter all descendants of the Tang Sect and fill Shrek City with…"

……

After a brief silence, Shu Yan let out a light chuckle, feigning surprise as he said, "Slaughter the Tang Sect and Shrek City? Just like your ancestor Du Guobo?"

"Aren't you afraid of heavenly retribution? Moreover, Shrek City has millions of inhabitants, many of them innocent—don't you fear harming the innocent?"

Du Guoyan shook her head decisively, without the slightest hesitation.

"I don't care; perhaps the strong have no right to dictate the lives of the weak, but if that strong one is me, I don't care whether such a right exists—when I am the dominant side, the victor, it's simply a matter of what I want."

"I have to say, those evil soul masters finding you was indeed picking the right person."

Shu Yan murmured a sigh; he could tell. Du Guoyan this woman definitely has some psychological issues—he could see she wasn't bluffing; on the contrary, when she spoke of these things, the anticipation and longing in her eyes were genuine.

It's hard to imagine; judging by her appearance, Du Guoyan doesn't look like someone who could say such things, but in reality this girl is completely a lunatic, or rather a lunatic hiding beneath a gentle sheep's skin…

……

Afterward, the conversation became much more casual; Du Guoyan basically answered Shu Yan's questions truthfully. After a round of questioning, the four of us came to understand her background and experiences over the years pretty well, and the Snow Emperor constantly observed her spiritual fluctuations, proving she wasn't lying.

After swearing an oath on her martial soul and spirit, she appeared indeed overly obedient.

Shu Yan also couldn't be bothered to say more; he gave part of the "Swan's Kiss" produced by the hundred‑thousand‑year snow‑colored swan to the Ice Emperor, thereby fully stimulating the bitter phosphorous snake toxin accumulated in Du Guoyan's body, then supplemented with the Bitter Phosphorous Snake Emperor martial soul's unique inner‑core method, helping Du Guoyan force all her bodily toxins into the not‑yet‑fully‑formed inner core to turn them into a poison pill.

Once this poison pill forms, even if Du Guoyan's body later suffers another invasion of snake toxin, the pill's presence allows it to be absorbed and controlled in the shortest time, thereby reducing the toxin's harm to her body to the minimum possible level.

Of course, the Ice Emperor's role in this process is to guide and suppress; the method of forming a poison pill has been studied in the Du Gu lineage, but no one has ever actually achieved it.

To condense a poison pill, relying solely on one's own strength is clearly insufficient; aside from the extremely high demands on soul power and mental power to clear and guide the toxin, one also needs someone to control the situation, for bitter phosphorous snake toxin is among the deadliest poisons in the world, and its full outbreak is horrifying beyond comparison—even ordinary Titled Douluo dare not touch it too much, otherwise the all‑pervading violent toxin would surely give them a most real and brutal lesson.

As for these toxins, to the Ice Emperor they are obviously nothing—unless it is an ultimate toxin, Shu Yan really can't think of any other toxin that could break through the defense of ultimate ice after that.

Hey hey hey! Don't underestimate the Ice Emperor, Your Majesty!

Of course, the Ice Emperor himself is extremely dissatisfied with "working overtime," but unable to resist Shu Yan and the Snow Emperor's "lascivious might," he finally had to glumly agree.

Du Guoyan seemingly didn't expect Shu Yan's proposed action to come so quickly, but just as she had previously told Shu Yan:

"A poisonous snake that has lost its fangs is, to humans, nothing more than a pet…"

As she is merely a "pet," there's naturally nothing much to say; since the other party is willing to resolve her problem this early, it shows they have absolute confidence, and they needn't worry about her being ungrateful—though she herself wouldn't dare entertain such a thought.

……

Night fell.

The Ice Emperor took Du Guoyan deeper into the Sunset Forest to condense the poison pill, while the Snow Emperor was sensing and absorbing the energy obtained from the Water Dragon King's corpse two days prior.

Shu Yan and Xu Jiu Jiu lay on the hut's roof, gazing up at the star‑filled sky while chatting softly.

"Yan, keeping Du Guoyan by my side—will there really be no mishap?"

Xu Jiu Jiu still felt uneasy; after all, Du Guoyan looks docile and lovable, but her actual personality is quite a contrast.

Shu Yan let Xu Jiu Jiu lean against his chest and simply said softly, "A tamed poisonous snake remains deadly to outsiders, but to its owner it is merely a plaything to be toyed with at will."

"Does its owner not know it carries deadly poison? No, it's simply because its owner isn't afraid of it even though it still bears deadly poison."

Xu Jiu Jiu let out a soft sigh; Du Guoyan's obedient face appeared in her mind—needless to say, this poisonous snake is indeed a great beauty with a striking contrast, women like her often possess a deadly allure for men…

(End of chapter)