After a simple dinner, the two discussed taking turns keeping watch for the night. They finally decided that Dugu Yan would take the first half, and Lin Yang the second half.
Even so, neither of them was relaxed enough to actually sleep. For soul masters, cultivation was the best form of rest.
The first half of the night passed without incident.
But during the second half, the one on watch—Lin Yang—suddenly opened his eyes. The moment they opened, his Clear World ability had already activated. A cluster of light and shadow was moving at high speed, heading straight toward their location.
Whoosh!
Just as Lin Yang prepared to stand, a fierce gust of wind rushed in from behind, sharp fangs aimed directly at Dugu Yan's neck.
Lin Yang didn't even blink. He didn't summon his martial soul either. With a flash of his figure, he was already standing behind Dugu Yan. Clenching his fist, he threw a straight punch right into that blood-filled maw.
Bang—!
"Aw—!"
A dull thud of flesh colliding rang out. The soul beast let out a miserable shriek. Its entire head was smashed backward, and it flew out like a cannonball.
After knocking down several large trees in succession, it finally slammed heavily onto the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Lin Yang retracted his fist and only then got a clear look at the creature—it was a Gale Leopard. Judging by its size, it was around three thousand years old.
At this moment, however, the Gale Leopard looked quite miserable. A fist-sized depression had appeared on its face, blood gushing out continuously. Two dagger-sharp canine teeth had snapped halfway off and hung crookedly from its mouth.
Just as Lin Yang prepared to finish off this uninvited guest, Dugu Yan's voice sounded from the side.
"Little Brother Lin Yang, let me handle it!"
Lin Yang paused, turned to look at Dugu Yan, and raised an eyebrow in reminder. "Senior Sister, this soul beast already has three thousand years of cultivation."
Although he had punched it half to death with one strike, that didn't mean the Gale Leopard posed no threat.
The corner of Dugu Yan's lips curled into a cold smile, a dangerous glint flashing in her eyes.
"Hmph, so what? I, Dugu Yan, am not just a pretty vase."
She paused, her gaze shifting as a hint of coquettish complaint entered her voice. "Besides, don't I still have Little Brother Lin watching from the side?"
Lin Yang shrugged and naturally didn't stop her. He took two steps back, clearing the space.
Dugu Yan leaped into the air, completing her martial soul possession mid-jump. A slender snake tail flicked, and two yellow soul rings slowly rotated around her.
Dugu Yan's eyes glowed faintly in the darkness—the gaze of a predator.
The Gale Leopard struggled to its feet, shook its head, and a large amount of blood poured from its wounds, covering half its face. Even so, it still let out a low, deep roar when facing Dugu Yan.
At this moment, the Gale Leopard was already thinking of retreating, and its intention was seen through by Dugu Yan.
"Want to run? Not that easy!"
With those words, Dugu Yan took the initiative to attack.
However, the moment she clashed with the Gale Leopard, Dugu Yan's heart sank.
She had originally thought that a soul beast sent flying by a single punch from Lin Yang couldn't be that strong. But when she actually faced it, she suddenly realized that it wasn't that the Gale Leopard was weak—it was that Lin Yang was simply too strong.
Even heavily injured, the Gale Leopard's speed was still difficult for her to handle. Sharp claws tore through the air, slashing past her side again and again, forcing her to retreat repeatedly.
Fortunately, her Jade Phosphor Poison Dragon martial soul greatly enhanced her close-combat ability. Although she was at a disadvantage, she didn't collapse right away, and her poison had some effect on the Gale Leopard.
Lin Yang naturally noticed Dugu Yan's weakness as well.
Her two soul skills—Jade Phosphor Red Poison and Jade Phosphor Blue Poison—were both control-type abilities that could eliminate pain and boost her own attack power and speed. These soul rings had probably been specially chosen by Dugu Bo to slow the erosion of the poison on Dugu Yan.
Such a ring configuration was decent for arena fights, but in real life-and-death battles, it couldn't fully display the power a poison-type soul master should have.
Take Old Poison for example. Though jokingly called the weakest Title Douluo, when it came to large-scale destruction, which Title Douluo could compare to him? Slaughtering an entire city with one person wasn't just talk.
At that moment, the Gale Leopard also realized that the woman opposite it didn't seem all that impressive. With a roar, it turned into a residual shadow and pounced straight at Dugu Yan.
Its speed was astonishing; under the moonlight, only a blurry gray shadow could be seen.
Facing the gray shadow, Dugu Yan neither dodged nor retreated. She directly raised her arms in front of her chest, intending to block the strike with her scales.
Bang!
Dugu Yan's body trembled violently as she staggered back several steps. The sharp claws scraped across her arms, tearing off several pieces of emerald-green scales. Blood seeped out, but Dugu Yan didn't even frown.
Instead, she seized the opportunity to spit a ball of deep green poisonous mist from her small mouth.
This was Dugu Yan's martial soul origin poison, which she had always regarded as her final trump card. After her martial soul evolved, the power of this origin poison was even greater than before.
When the poisonous mist touched the wound on the Gale Leopard's face, it reacted like a chemical reaction. The bright red blood instantly turned black, carrying a foul stench. The skin around the wound began to fester and rot, spreading at a visible speed.
The Gale Leopard let out a miserable shriek.
Dugu Yan took the chance to retreat several steps, avoiding a desperate counterattack from the dying beast. The shrieking only lasted a dozen breaths before, with a thud, the Gale Leopard's body collapsed heavily to the ground. Dark red blood flowed from its seven orifices, and it died from the poison.
A purple soul ring slowly condensed above the corpse.
She won!
Dugu Yan looked at her hand, her expression somewhat complicated.
She had won—defeating a three-thousand-year-old Gale Leopard with thirty-level soul power. For a Soul Elder who had yet to obtain her third soul ring, this was already quite an exaggerated achievement.
But she didn't feel the joy she had imagined. Instead, she felt somewhat empty.
Lin Yang had used only one punch—and hadn't even summoned his martial soul—to beat the Gale Leopard half to death. In contrast, she had been forced to use her origin poison against a Gale Leopard that was already on its last legs, grinding it to death by taking advantage of the wound Lin Yang left behind.
The gap was too big!
She raised her head and looked at the calm-faced youth not far away. An indescribable feeling welled up in her heart.
"So I'm not that strong after all!"
From childhood to adulthood, she had always lived under the halo of a "genius." Her grandfather was a Title Douluo, and she herself had outstanding talent. Wherever she went, people looked up to her. Over time, she had truly come to believe she was very powerful.
But only now did she see clearly that between her and a true genius lay a visible chasm.
A casual punch from Lin Yang was something she could only achieve by going all out.
In the shadows, Dugu Bo quietly watched everything. When he noticed the blood flowing down his granddaughter's arm, a flash of heartache appeared in his eyes, but he forced it down.
In the past, he would have charged out immediately. Whoever dared to hurt his granddaughter, he would repay a hundredfold.
But things were different now. Before, he had no way to resolve the poison backlash on Dugu Yan, so he could only spoil her desperately, wanting to give his granddaughter the best of everything. Back then, he thought that as long as Yan Yan was happy, that was enough. With him supporting her from behind, what was there to fear about strength?
But now, the poison had been cured. He also had to consider Yan Yan's future. He couldn't let her hide behind his old bones for the rest of her life.
This soul hunt was originally meant to let Yan Yan witness the gap between her and Lin Yang with her own eyes. It wasn't scary to be a little weak in strength. What was scary was sinking into a false dream and never waking up.
"Kid, I'm counting on you…!"
Dugu Bo withdrew his gaze and turned to disappear into the darkness. The road ahead would have to be walked by Yan Yan herself.