Du Gu Bo: "Looks like I got attached too!"
Du Gu Yan took a far more open-minded view. Honestly, without Yun Yibai, she would never have changed or achieved so much. Without him, her third spirit ring would've been picked from whatever soul beast she found by chance, and her fourth spirit ring wouldn't have had a chance at a 6,000-year-old beast. Most soul masters only get around a 4,000-year beast for that ring.
The Fragrant Qiluo celestia herb spared them considerable trouble.
"Let's not dawdle—crush them now!" With that, Du Gu Bo—his energy aura like that of a Title Douluo—pressed down on the four Zhuqing Ice Toads.
Croak… Croak…
The four Ice Toads trembled under the pressure, their limbs buckling, eyes wide with panic. Yet, no matter how they struggled, they could not escape Du Gu Bo's grasp.
"Without its wild toxin, this 'terrifying' soul beast is just an ordinary ice toad."
Yun Yibai seized the moment: impervious to poison, he dashed in and snatched the 6,000-year-old Ice Toad with lightning speed.
Snap! With one motion, he flung it before Du Gu Yan's feet.
"Yan Yan!"
At Du Gu Bo's sign, Du Gu Yan drew her weapon and struck decisively. A purple spirit ring appeared—the 6,000-year one.
"Bao, with me and Highness here, you can absorb the ring in peace." Yang Wudi stood firmly by her side as her anchor.
Du Gu Yan wasted no time. She immersed herself in absorbing the ring, drawing it in with her energy. Soon she was fully in the spirit ring trance.
The other three toads, seeing their comrade's fate, thrashed wildly. Du Gu Bo's expression grew cold as he increased his control aura.
Everything was progressing well. The toads' toxins had backfired, isolating and protecting them—but also ensuring no other beasts dared approach the area.
When Du Gu Yan came out of trance, her eyes reflected a trace of ice-blue transformation.
"How do you feel?" The others watched in anticipation as she opened her eyes.
"Grandfather, my martial soul… It's changed!"
"Oh?"
No need to ask twice. Du Gu Yan activated her martial soul. Behind her, energy formed into a serpentine shape—but not just a snake. Scales glistened with frost, four limbs had appeared, the snake's head transformed into a dragon's, crowning her martial soul with a pair of horns.
"My martial soul… has evolved into… the Jade-Glazed Frost Jiao!" (
Du Gu Bo and others gasp)
Yun Yibai—initially surprised—quickly recovered.
He suspected a few factors:
The Love-Lotus herb had grown in the burial ground of the Ice–Fire Dragon King. Any dragon-blooded martial soul interacting with it would transform.
The soul beast sacrifice principle loosely applies here—evolution tied to consumption of the celestial-grade Love-Lotus and a newly acquired spirit ring.
It's a celestial-grade King of Herbs—of course, something extraordinary would happen.
Du Gu Bo, full of wonder: "Jade–Glazed Frost Jiao…"
He asked: "Yan Yan, what are its new attributes?"
Du Gu Yan: "Now I am an Ice-Poison dual-type sub-dragon martial soul. Attacks gain the Ice attribute, and my poison grows significantly, inheriting toxins from both the Emerald Snake and Zhuqing Ice Toad. In short, I now function as a strong-attacking soul master."
Du Gu Bo laughed delightfully: "Excellent! Excellent!"
Her martial soul's evolution from snake to sub-dragon brings not only top-tier quality but a richer toolkit—far superior to a purely poison Emerald Snake.
Du Gu Bo: "Yan Yan, is your fourth soul skill now the Frost Jiao Toxin from the Zhuqing Ice Toad?"
Du Gu Yan: "Yes. My fourth skill is now Frost Jiao Toxin—that alternating ice-fire poisonous toxin the Zhuqing Ice Toad had. The spirit ring has simplified the process: I can use it directly. Adding the ice attribute lets me transmit my toxin through ice."
Yang Wudi, curious: "Let's check your energy level—did the Love-Lotus raise your soul power by ten levels?"
After analysis, it showed—Du Gu Yan had indeed reached the threshold of level 50.
In just a month, her transformation was nothing short of epic. Yun Yibai himself felt even more overshadowed.
Du Gu Bo looked at the remaining three Zhuqing Ice Toads: "Yan Yan, do you want them too?"
Du Gu Yan met his gaze: "Grandfather—you know my poison still isn't extreme enough. Though my martial soul gained ice, my strongest weapon will always be poison. The ice element is just a support."
Yun Yibai understood: she was determined to pursue the ultimate poison path—one so powerful that even Tang San's Feng poison from another world might struggle.
"And the only thing that can resist ultimate poison—may only be ultimate toxin itself."
Du Gu Bo flicked his wrist back to business mode: "Get back to work."