Chapter 25: Facing Dugu Bo’s Palm Strike Head-on! Perhaps I Can Cure the Jade Phosphor Serpent Venom

In the courtyard.

Li Zhexian took out a tea cup.

"Are we just going to spit it out, or should we go through the proper process?"

Dugu Yan furrowed her delicate brows and said, "Of course we go through the process."

"If you don't beat me..."

Halfway through the sentence, Dugu Yan immediately corrected herself.

"If you don't defeat me, how could you possibly expect to get my snake venom?"

She looked at Li Zhexian with deep displeasure. Honestly, wanting something without giving anything in return—he really wanted to have his cake and eat it too.

"Sigh..." Li Zhexian shook his head and sighed. "Fine, let's do it then."

Dugu Yan watched Li Zhexian standing there empty-handed, looking indifferent and lazy, and she bared her fangs between her red lips.

"Li Zhexian, fix your attitude! I want you to fight me seriously!"

With that, she rushed toward him, trailing a scent of cloying sweetness.

Whoosh!

In the blink of an eye, Dugu Yan was right in front of him. She lifted her leg, twisted her waist, and delivered a fierce, whirlwind kick. Her loose casual pants stretched taut like steel, aimed straight at his face.

Li Zhexian raised his arms in a cross-block.

Boom!

A massive force slammed into him. Li Zhexian slid back several meters, his arms tingling with pain. A hint of irritation flickered across his handsome face.

"Dugu Yan, I really need to straighten you out!"

With a flick of his wrist, the Azure Lotus Sword appeared in his hand, and the chilling light it emitted caused the temperature in the courtyard to plummet.

"Come on then, I'm begging you to straighten me out!"

Dugu Yan’s trembling voice could not hide her excitement. She stared at Li Zhexian, who stood holding his azure blade, licked her red lips, and charged again.

Swish—! Swish—!

Within the courtyard, sword light flashed, and poisonous mist permeated the air.

A few minutes later, Li Zhexian had pinned down a bruised and battered Dugu Yan.

"You lost. Give me the snake venom."

Looking at the familiar tea cup in front of her, Dugu Yan shook her head. "No!"

"We agreed that if I beat you, you’d give me the venom."

"No!"

Dugu Yan turned her head away, baring her teeth at him in defiance. Li Zhexian was so frustrated he laughed.

"If you won't accept a toast, you'll be forced to drink a forfeit!"

"Fine, fine, fine!"

Immediately, he gripped the back of Dugu Yan's neck and pressed her red lips against the rim of the cup. "Spit the venom for me!"

Dugu Yan’s face flushed red, and she opened her mouth to comply.

However, just at that moment—

BOOM!!!

The courtyard gate suddenly exploded open.

Startled, Li Zhexian and Dugu Yan immediately looked toward the entrance. An old man in grey robes stood there, his eyes wide with rage, his dark green hair bristling in his fury.

"Grandfather!" Dugu Yan cried out in shock.

"Dugu Bo?!"

Li Zhexian reacted with lightning speed, immediately releasing Dugu Yan and leaping out of the yard.

"Boy, how dare you insult the granddaughter of Dugu Bo!"

Dugu Bo was enveloped in a sickly green toxic aura, and a foul, pungent wind suddenly whipped through the yard. To think his own granddaughter had been goaded into such a state!

"Die, you brat!"

Dugu Bo was so fast he was practically teleporting. In an instant, he was behind Li Zhexian. He struck out with a withered palm, causing the air to groan under the sheer pressure.

Hearing the roar of wind behind him, Li Zhexian’s eyes turned fierce. He swallowed the wine he had been holding in his mouth.

Whoosh!

A purple soul ring rose from beneath his feet. His entire body’s soul power surged like boiling water. Li Zhexian swung the Azure Lotus Sword and slashed backward.

"Second Soul Skill—Three Swords of Fragrance!"

"Azure Lotus Sword Song, First Style—Yaoguang Sword!"

Even though it was broad daylight, a strand of starlight seemed to descend from above, attaching itself to the blade. The sword, already honed to the ultimate edge, erupted with a brilliant and terrifying light, forcing even Dugu Bo to squint his emerald eyes.

Clang—!

Boom—!

Palm and sword collided violently. Dugu Bo did not budge an inch. Li Zhexian’s cheeks flushed a sudden red, and he forcefully swallowed the metallic sweetness rising in his throat. He retreated rapidly.

At that moment, a tall figure rushed behind him. The two of them collided and slammed hard against the courtyard wall. Li Zhexian was fortunate, as he had a soft cushion behind him, but Dugu Yan, who had rushed over, bore the full brunt of the impact.

She immediately coughed up a mouthful of blood.

"Yan'er!" Dugu Bo’s aged face changed slightly. "What are you doing?!"

Dugu Yan staggered in front of Li Zhexian, spreading her arms to shield him. "Grandfather, don't do this. Li Zhexian didn't force me. It was... it was me who sought him out."

Hearing this, Dugu Bo narrowed his aged eyes, looking past his granddaughter to the white-clad youth who had risen to his feet like a drawn sword.

"Li Zhexian... So young, yet able to wield such a sharp blade. You must be that 'Sword Wine' who became the fastest to earn a Gold Badge in the Great Soul Arena."

As he spoke, his hand was hidden inside his wide sleeve. A deep wound was visible on his palm. Dugu Bo appeared indifferent, but his heart was in turmoil. A titled Douluo, injured by a mere boy. Although he hadn't used his soul skills, it was still unheard of.

Li Zhexian bowed neither subserviently nor arrogantly. "Greetings, Senior Dugu Bo."

Dugu Bo nodded indifferently, glancing at his granddaughter who still stood in front of the boy. He waved his large sleeve, and a medicine bottle flew toward Li Zhexian.

Li Zhexian caught it and looked at Dugu Bo, puzzled.

"You boy, you're quite strange. I don't know why you weren't affected by my poison, but you still sustained some internal injuries. This is medicine for healing."

Li Zhexian smiled. "Thank you, Senior Dugu."

Truth be told, he didn't hold a grudge against Dugu Bo for that palm strike. Regardless of whether Dugu Yan had initiated it, it was a fact that he had forced the old man's granddaughter to spit out her venom. That "way of taking death" philosophy was not his style.

Besides... Li Zhexian looked at the blood dripping from his sword. He hadn't come out worse for wear; Dugu Bo had been injured too.

"Good boy, interesting, very interesting." Dugu Bo was an old fox. He saw through to the boy's open and honest heart at a glance. People said he was eccentric and moody, but nobody could dislike a young man with such a magnanimous spirit.

"Li Zhexian, I'm leaving." Dugu Yan, who had been silent, suddenly said in a low voice.

Without waiting for a response, she didn't even look at Dugu Bo, but instead turned and stumbled out of the yard.

Dugu Bo opened his mouth, but in the end, he could only shake his head bitterly. After witnessing what had just happened, how could he not know that his granddaughter, tortured by the snake venom, was suffering from psychological distress?

"Green Phosphor Snake Venom... Is there really no cure..."

Dugu Bo turned and began to walk away. His formerly tall, spear-like figure seemed to have slumped slightly.

"Sigh." Li Zhexian sighed. He finally understood why Dugu Yan had sought him out repeatedly. It turned out that the torture of the snake venom had twisted her mind.

Watching her desolate back, especially the large abrasion on her fair arm from where she had blocked that strike for him, Li Zhexian suddenly spoke up.

"Perhaps... I can cure the Green Phosphor Snake Venom."

—

Dugu Yan stopped in her tracks.

Whoosh!

A foul wind blew suddenly. Dugu Bo appeared in front of Li Zhexian in an instant, his withered hand gripping the boy's shoulder. With his emerald eyes glowing, he asked urgently, "Boy! What did you just say?! You can cure the Green Phosphor Snake Venom?!"

If anyone else had said this, Dugu Bo would have sneered. But Li Zhexian was different! From the very beginning, he had discovered that this boy was immune to his poison!

Perhaps... perhaps there really was a glimmer of hope!