Chapter 27: Ranking of Hidden Weapons
The valley of the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well was as quiet as ever. Only the strange flowers and plants—some of which had grown for countless years—radiated a captivating glow.
From time to time, bubbles rose from the clearly divided red and blue waters at the center. Along with the unknown creatures darting among the vegetation, they added a bit of life to this otherwise tranquil place.
The arrival of two figures—one tall, one small—from outside the valley broke the silence.
The man, with his iconic long green hair, was accompanied by a young girl. Other than Dugu Bo and Dugu Yan, who else could it be?
"Phew~ finally back!"
"It's been so long since we came home—there's really no place like it!"
The moment she arrived at the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well, Dugu Yan hopped around excitedly like a little rabbit, looking everywhere.
Dugu Bo watched her back and smiled silently.
She had been brought here when she was very young. To the two of them, the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well was not just a treasure land that suppressed the poison in their bodies—
It was their home for over ten years.
By the shore stood a stone table, with a set of tea utensils placed on top.
This was where Dugu Bo would drink tea to pass the time when bored.
He walked over, waved his hand, and a pile of finely crafted metal components appeared out of thin air on the table, clinking crisply.
These were hidden weapons he had selected from the Hundred Interpretations of Hidden Weapons, chosen for being relatively easy to craft.
The Tang Sect's hidden weapons were vast in number, but they could generally be divided into two categories:
Mechanical-type and hand-thrown type.
Hand-Thrown Hidden Weapons
These were the ones Tang San used most often.
The Dragon Beard Needle, forged from the rare metal he bought from Flender, was one such weapon. It directly pierced Zhao Wuji's defenses—its power was remarkable.
Another example was the Mother-and-Child Soul-Chasing Death Ball Tang San gave to Dugu Bo.
It only needed to be thrown—the two spheres would collide and explode, releasing poison, making it almost impossible to guard against.
The stronger the user's soul power, the greater its power.
Among hand-thrown hidden weapons:
Rank 1: Guanyin's Tear
It required mastering Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, Xuantian Skill, Mysterious Jade Hands, and Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon to their limits before it could be used.
Its power could be described in eight words:
"Ignores defense, never misses."
Legend says that even Guanyin would weep before such an attack—hence its name.
Rank 2: Bodhi Blood
Said to be so powerful that even the Bodhi Patriarch would bleed from it.
In the original story, Tang San used this technique to kill the nearly million-year Deep Sea Demon Whale King.
Rank 3: Yama's Invitation
A single-target hidden weapon.
Only an inch long, pitch black, refined from forty-nine kinds of herbs.
One strike, double kill—its poison has no cure.
Even the user must handle it carefully, because once poisoned, death comes before any antidote can be taken.
This was exactly the hidden weapon Dugu Bo intended to refine this time. The components had already been prepared—only the poison infusion remained.
As for forty-nine kinds of poison… that was no difficulty for him.
However, most hand-thrown weapons required specialized techniques, demanding deep mastery to ensure accuracy.
Mechanical Hidden Weapons
Compared to hand-thrown types, mechanical hidden weapons were much easier to use.
However, many of them were extremely difficult to craft and required special materials.
Among them:
Rank 1: Buddha's Fury Tang Lotus
The pinnacle creation of the Tang Sect.
A large-scale explosive weapon capable of devastating group attacks.
It resembled a blooming golden lotus. During the Battle of Jialing Pass, Tang San used it to kill 76 Soul Saints and over 30 Soul Douluo.
Rank 2: Rainstorm Pear Blossom Needles
Inferior in group attacks, but even more terrifying in single-target power.
It could fire 27 needles in rapid succession.
It required deep-sea heavy silver as its core, activated with human blood essence during forging.
Rank 3: Peacock Plume
When fired, it resembled a peacock spreading its tail—brilliant and dazzling.
It contained 365 hidden weapons, divided into twelve categories:
Bone-Piercing Needle, Thunderfire Needle, Armor-Piercing Needle, Blade-Splitting Needle, Demon-Suppressing Needle, Tyrant Needle, Nether Needle, Dragon-Severing Needle, Desire-Destroying Needle, Dragon Beard Needle, Oblivion Needle, and Seven-Kill Needle.
Hidden weapons like the Buddha's Fury Tang Lotus were so complex that even Tang San in the original story could hardly create them without the help of the divine craftsman Lou Gao.
However, weapons like the Silent Sleeve Arrow, Zhuge Repeating Crossbow, Shadowless Sand Shooter, and Flying Sky Claw were powerful yet not overly complicated.
With blueprints, even ordinary craftsmen in the Douluo Continent could forge them.
Dugu Bo casually picked up a hidden weapon—it was a sleeve arrow.
This was the most basic mechanical hidden weapon recorded in the Hundred Interpretations of Hidden Weapons.
Its effectiveness depended on the strength of its spring mechanism and the precision of its design. It also had a safety mechanism, ensuring no accidental injury.
A typical set consisted of three arrows and one sleeve casing.
Dugu Bo picked up an arrow, loaded it into the groove, aimed at a tree not far away, and activated the mechanism.
Whoosh!
The short arrow shot out and struck a tree ten meters away with perfect accuracy.
For someone like Dugu Bo, this weapon wasn't very useful—
But for Dugu Yan, it was just right.
And if the arrowhead were coated with his Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor poison, even a Soul Douluo would lose combat ability shortly after being hit.
Next, Dugu Bo picked up the components on the table and began assembling them according to the diagrams.
Soon, several hidden weapons took shape:
A crossbow-like weapon — the Zhuge Repeating Crossbow
A rectangular box — the Shadowless Sand Shooter
Both were powerful and easy to operate, making them perfect for Dugu Yan's self-defense.
There were also two walnut-sized iron spheres—
The Mother-and-Child Soul-Chasing Death Balls.
And finally, a small needle only about an inch long—
The base form of Yama's Invitation, which only needed to be refined with poison.
These were all the hidden weapons Dugu Bo had crafted during this trip.
Once infused with his poison, they would possess terrifying lethality.
As long as they struck their target—
Even a Titled Douluo could be injured.