Although Yu Yuanzhen's explanation sounded somewhat like he was simply brushing Dugu Bo off, the old poison master ultimately chose to believe him.
After all, once they entered the Sunset Forest, Yu Yuanzhen and the others would be the ones protecting Yu Xiaogang. Dugu Bo himself was merely a Spirit Saint. If something truly went wrong, he wouldn't be able to save anyone anyway.
With that in mind, the group quickly departed for the Sunset Forest once more.
As for Yu Xiaogang, who had practically been dragged along against his will, he was feeling rather dissatisfied.
At the moment, he possessed a pile of Spirit Bones and was completely absorbed in studying their mysteries. Yet before he could make further progress, his father had forcibly brought him here to verify some vague idea about "luck."
In Yu Xiaogang's opinion, it was completely meaningless.
So throughout the journey, he kept his eyes closed and focused entirely on cultivation.
His spirit power had already reached Rank 35.
With just a little more effort, he would soon break through to Rank 40.
Most importantly, he still wanted to catch up to Bibi Dong as soon as possible.
Yu Xiaogang's diligence naturally caught Dugu Bo's attention.
Even while traveling, the boy refused to waste a single moment and continued meditating.
No wonder he was so monstrously talented.
Dugu Bo silently nodded to himself, becoming increasingly convinced that Yu Xiaogang's future achievements would be terrifying.
Before long, the group arrived at the Sunset Forest once again.
After entering the forest, Yu Yuanzhen followed the same route as before and led everyone directly toward Medusa's territory.
This time, however, they were fortunate enough not to encounter the Crimson Flame Tiger along the way, saving them a considerable amount of trouble.
Soon, they reached the outskirts of Medusa's lair.
The surrounding area was filled with dense poisonous mist.
Dugu Bo stepped forward carefully, narrowing his eyes as he examined the strange poison lingering in the air.
"Interesting…"
"This poison is unlike anything I've ever encountered before."
"It seems Sect Master Yu was right. This Medusa truly possesses extraordinary toxicity."
A sharp gleam appeared in Dugu Bo's eyes.
As one of the greatest poison masters on the continent, he was already imagining how much stronger his poison techniques would become if he could integrate Medusa's venom into his own abilities.
Hisssss!!
Just as Dugu Bo prepared to study the poisonous mist further, a sharp hissing sound echoed through the forest.
The emerald-green Medusa slowly emerged from within the mist.
Its cold snake eyes stared directly at the group while its tongue flicked repeatedly through the air.
Its posture made one thing very clear—
It was prepared to attack at any moment.
"It really is a sixty-thousand-year Medusa!"
"Hahaha!"
"With this spirit ring, my strength will definitely rise again!"
Dugu Bo's face filled with excitement.
Then he quickly turned toward Yu Yuanzhen and the others and bowed solemnly.
"Sect Master, Grand Elder, Elder Lin…"
"I'll leave the rest to you."
Yu Yuanzhen waved his hand confidently.
"Relax. We've all hunted soul beasts countless times before."
"There won't be any problems."
The Grand Elder nodded as well.
"That's right. Elder Dugu, you can absorb your spirit ring peacefully afterward."
Meanwhile, Lin Lang silently moved closer to Yu Xiaogang's side.
The battle plan was already very simple.
Yu Yuanzhen would act as the main attacker.
The Grand Elder would prevent Medusa from escaping.
Lin Lang's responsibility was to protect Yu Xiaogang in case the soul beast went berserk and attempted to attack him.
At the same time, Medusa's cold gaze locked firmly onto Yu Yuanzhen.
Its eyes instantly filled with murderous intent.
It still remembered him clearly.
Not long ago, this very same human had intruded into its territory and been forced to retreat by its overwhelming poison.
And now—
He dared to come back again?
This time, Medusa decided it would never allow him to leave alive.
HISSSSS!! (▼皿▼#)
The battle began instantly.
And then…
Well…
There was barely anything worth calling a battle afterward.
Medusa originally intended to repeat the previous confrontation.
But after only a few exchanges, it was completely dumbfounded.
Wait.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
The human standing before it now was clearly not the same opponent from several days ago.
Back then, Yu Yuanzhen's attacks hadn't been anywhere near this terrifying!
At this moment, Medusa felt completely bewildered.
Meanwhile, Yu Yuanzhen himself was feeling incredibly refreshed.
A few days ago, his spirit power had only been Rank 93.
But now—
He had already reached Rank 96.
Although a three-rank increase might not seem particularly shocking at lower levels, the situation was entirely different for Titled Douluo.
Once a Spirit Master entered the Titled Douluo realm, every increase in rank became extraordinarily difficult.
Generally speaking, Spirit Masters reached Rank 91 immediately after absorbing their ninth spirit ring.
Between Rank 91 and Rank 95, those with exceptional martial spirits or extremely powerful spirit abilities could occasionally fight opponents above their own rank.
For example, Sword Douluo Chen Xin had once defeated a veteran Rank 93 Titled Douluo while only being Rank 91 himself.
However—
Everything changed after Rank 95.
Once a Titled Douluo reached Rank 95, every single rank increase represented a qualitative transformation.
Take spirit power alone as an example.
Compared to a Rank 95 Titled Douluo, a Rank 96 Titled Douluo possessed roughly twenty percent more total spirit power.
And that twenty percent increase referred to the total reserves of a Rank 95 expert.
More importantly, the spirit power consumption required for spirit abilities did not increase proportionally.
This meant the gap between Rank 95 and Rank 96 became absurdly enormous.
That was precisely why experts between Rank 96 and Rank 99 were collectively referred to as Peak Douluo.
And spirit power wasn't the only thing improving.
Physical ability.
Reaction speed.
Attack power.
Defensive capability.
Everything increased drastically.
In other words—
The Medusa standing here today was absolutely not facing the same Yu Yuanzhen from before.
So naturally, the outcome became completely one-sided.
Without any suspense whatsoever, Yu Yuanzhen beat the massive snake into utter submission and smashed it directly onto the ground in front of Dugu Bo.
BOOM!
The enormous body collapsed heavily, stirring up dust everywhere.
"Good!"
"Excellent!"
"Wonderful!"
The Grand Elder's face flushed red with excitement as he repeatedly praised Yu Yuanzhen.
"The Sect Master's strength has truly reached such a level!"
"With the Sect Master and Xiaogang together, our Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect will not only possess two Douluo in the future…"
"But two peak-level Douluo!"
"Our sect will remain prosperous for at least another hundred years!"
As someone who devoted his entire life to the sect, nothing made the Grand Elder happier than seeing its future become increasingly glorious.
Standing nearby, Dugu Bo also stared at the defeated Medusa with astonishment.
"The Sect Master's strength definitely surpasses ordinary Titled Douluo."
"There's no way a normal Titled Douluo could suppress a sixty-thousand-year Medusa this easily."
He was absolutely certain of it.
Of course, none of that was important right now.
The most important thing—
Was his spirit ring.
Dugu Bo rubbed his hands excitedly.
Then he summoned his martial spirit and struck the dying Medusa with a final attack.
The massive serpent let out one final hiss before collapsing lifelessly onto the ground.
Soon afterward, a deep black spirit ring slowly rose from the corpse.
Dugu Bo swallowed nervously.
Then he bowed respectfully toward Yu Yuanzhen and the others once more before sitting cross-legged on the ground.
The black spirit ring gradually floated toward him.
Finally—
It settled onto his body.
Watching Dugu Bo begin the absorption process, Yu Yuanzhen and the others quickly took several tents from their storage soul tools and set them up nearby.
Absorbing spirit rings at the Spirit Saint or Spirit Douluo level often required an extremely long time.
Sometimes it could even take several days and nights.
And Dugu Bo clearly belonged to the troublesome category.
One entire day passed in the blink of an eye.
The group rested nearby quietly while maintaining vigilance.
Then suddenly—
A powerful fluctuation of spirit power erupted from Dugu Bo's direction.
Everyone immediately turned to look.
And then they saw an extremely familiar scene.
Dense green energy continuously gathered around Dugu Bo's body.
The energy slowly wrapped around him layer by layer until it formed a massive cocoon-like sphere resembling an eggshell.
Seeing this sight, Yu Yuanzhen, the Grand Elder, and Lin Lang subconsciously turned their heads toward Yu Xiaogang.
After all—
Not long ago, they had witnessed almost the exact same phenomenon from him.
Advance Chapters avilable on patreon (Obito_uchiha)