Chapter 51: Second Soul Skill, Poison Explosion Technique
"Young Master, how did the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion's pincers grow onto your body?"
Just as Dugu Feng was preparing to continue sensing the attached external soul bone, Old Scorpion rushed in with a shocked expression.
He had been guarding outside. Dugu Feng's physical strength had already been tested, so the process of absorbing the soul ring posed no danger.
What he needed to guard against were the soul beasts of the Ice Jade Scorpion tribe.
Originally, once Dugu Feng finished absorbing the ring, Old Scorpion had breathed a sigh of relief—this was the most important goal of their training.
But now, such a bizarre scene had appeared.
Even with all his experience, he had never seen anything like this. Even a mutated martial soul wouldn't look like that!
"Could it be that legendary..."
Old Scorpion suddenly became excited. That kind of treasure was only spoken of in legends—he had never known of anyone who actually possessed one.
Could the Young Master have obtained it by absorbing the soul ring?
"Old Scorpion, you guessed right. This is the legendary external soul bone—the rarest among all soul bones. It can grow together with its host!"
While Dugu Feng spoke, he channeled his soul power into the twin pincers.
The three-meter-long pincers began slowly retracting into his body.
Until finally, they completely disappeared, transforming into a strange energy that adhered to his shoulder bones.
With a thought, Dugu Feng circulated his soul power, making the twin pincers shoot out again, instantly clamping toward Old Scorpion.
It was as if he had retracted his fists only to strike again—no different from having two extra arms.
He could attack freely according to his will.
Moreover, he could control the length of the pincers. This time, rather than stretching the full three meters, he only extended them to a little over one meter—just enough to reach Old Scorpion.
Startled, Old Scorpion released soul power into his hands and grabbed the pincers' tips directly.
But the next moment, he regretted it.
With his level of strength, even an external soul bone shouldn't be able to budge him once he'd grabbed it.
However, the tips of Dugu Feng's pincers were extremely sharp, covered in serrated ridges like a saw. Old Scorpion immediately felt his palms being cut open.
"Old Scorpion, don't move. This external soul bone will be invaluable to the Dugu family. Let me try if it can absorb poison!"
Dugu Feng spoke quickly.
He had a reason—after all, the Eight Spider Spears could absorb soul power, life force, and even toxins within a soul master's body.
Inside the pincers, those specks of jade-green light were traces of the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion's poison.
When Dugu Feng activated the external soul bone, his own poison flowed through his meridians into the pincers' tips, ready for attack at any time.
But aside from attacking, could it also absorb the toxins from others?
Could it draw out stubborn poisons from another person's body?
Dugu Feng's mind sank completely into focus, sensing every detail.
Seeing this, Old Scorpion naturally cooperated.
The poison within his body was scorpion venom, something that had been in his bloodline since birth and deepened through cultivation.
The toxin had already fused completely with his soul power, bloodline, and flesh.
Now, hearing that there was a chance to resolve this poison, his hopes rose.
But was Dugu Feng truly using only the external soul bone?
Indeed, he was—but he was also using the Dan Pearl, his greatest trump card.
He had no intention of letting anyone else know about it.
The Dan Pearl's ability to absorb toxins was much stronger.
Working together with the external soul bone, it slowly drew a wisp of gray-green poison from Old Scorpion's body.
The greatest difficulty in detoxification was that toxins had become part of one's strength—if they were completely removed, so too would the power vanish.
Dugu Feng's plan, therefore, was to first extract old, lingering poisons, easing the pain caused during bouts of poisoning.
By repeating the process periodically, he could greatly reduce the mortality rate of Dugu family soul masters from poison flare-ups.
After the Dan Pearl's evolution, much of the poison that Dugu Feng was born with had already been absorbed. Though he would still occasionally suffer poison attacks, the pain was almost imperceptible.
Now, using the external soul bone as an excuse, he could solve the family's poison curse.
Moments later, joy appeared on Old Scorpion's face. "Young Master, this external soul bone of yours is miraculous! I can feel the poison in my body loosening!"
Old Scorpion's heart raced. Could the family's curse truly be solved this way?
Dugu Feng slowly withdrew the external soul bone, his face pale.
The method worked—but the soul power consumption was too heavy. Maintaining both the Dan Pearl and the soul bone drained his power in mere minutes.
Moreover, Old Scorpion's poison was deeply fused into his body; separating it was an arduous process.
"It seems I'll need to raise my strength further before I can fully detoxify," Dugu Feng said.
Old Scorpion was filled with emotion. "No rush, Young Master. With your talent, your strength will grow soon enough!"
Dugu Feng nodded. Though it wasn't a full cure, reaching the Soul Elder or Soul Master level would at least solve part of the problem.
Once he cultivated the Seven-Colored Poison Pill—the poison-type soul core—perhaps he could completely resolve it.
"There's movement—we should retreat, Young Master!"
Old Scorpion immediately backed toward their previous route.
At the edge of the ice pool, Dugu Feng sensed the disturbance too. The disappearance of the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion's aura must have alerted its clan.
"Young Master, follow me!"
Dugu Feng instantly activated his martial soul and followed closely behind Old Scorpion, crossing through the glaciers.
After a long while, they finally exited the icy region and left the mountains. Their speed gradually slowed.
"Young Master, how powerful is your second soul skill?" Old Scorpion rubbed his hands curiously now that they were safe.
The second soul ring was purple; he wanted to see how strong it was.
With a confident smile, Dugu Feng chose to demonstrate.
He glanced around and aimed at a withering old tree nearby.
As his second soul ring shone, a ring of jade-green soul power shot out, instantly enveloping the tree.
Old Scorpion frowned in confusion. That green aura was clearly a mix of poison and soul power, similar in color to the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion's toxin.
But if it was just poison, wasn't that too simple?
As he pondered, a loud boom echoed.
The old tree in the distance exploded instantly.
"My second soul skill is called Poison Explosion Technique. It's derived from the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion's innate Ice Explosion. The poison invades the enemy's body, condenses, and then detonates—causing a secondary explosion beyond poison corrosion. If the opponent's body isn't strong enough, the explosion will shatter them to pieces!"
Dugu Feng's eyes gleamed coldly. This soul skill was indeed ruthless—its purpose was pure killing.
Truly worthy of a soul ring absorbed beyond his level.
For now, the toxin used by the soul ring came from its own condensation.
If he combined it later with his mixed poisons, even he couldn't imagine its destructive power.
Even soul masters one or two ranks higher might die instantly if they couldn't purge the poison in time.
(END CHAPTER)
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