Douluo: Emerald Poison Emperor

In the beginning, Dugu Bo was mostly testing the waters. However, as Chen Ming gradually adapted to his current state and effortlessly switched between and fused attributes like Ice, Fire, Poison, and Death, the situation quickly became dangerous for Dugu Bo. Ultimate Ice countered poison, Ultimate Fire countered poison, the Death attribute countered poison, and even Chen Ming's poison attribute suppressed Dugu Bo's poison attribute.

The more Dugu Bo fought, the more frustrated he became. None of his poisons worked on Chen Ming at all. Only pure soul power could barely threaten him, but even then, Chen Ming was wearing a thick suit of armor that neutralized most of the soul power attacks.

The main issue was that Chen Ming's recovery ability was stronger than Dugu Bo's, even though Dugu Bo was a Title Douluo. One of Chen Ming's soul cores provided him with an almost infinite recovery rate for his soul power. While the life force soul core recovered soul power slower than the first, it could convert soul power into life force to heal Chen Ming's injuries.

At first, Dugu Bo could still rely on his immense soul power to leave some injuries on Chen Ming. Occasionally, he could deplete Chen Ming's soul power significantly with a sudden explosive move.

But as the fight went on, Dugu Bo's soul power began to run low, and his body started to sustain injuries. On the other hand, Chen Ming remained energetic, his soul power nearly full, and every wound Dugu Bo painstakingly inflicted on him was healed.

Dugu Bo had already used his first six soul skills multiple times, but they had no effect.

Even his Medusa's Gaze, a skull soul skill, was used in the battle but only managed to immobilize Chen Ming for about two seconds.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Dugu Bo unleashed the Thunder Dragon Claw, a soul skill granted by a right arm bone sent by the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan. He struck Chen Ming hard, driving him to the ground and breaking several bones.

And yet? Chen Ming got up after a brief moment, adjusted his bones manually, and used the life force converted by his soul core to heal all his injuries.

What's more, because the attack had hurt him quite a bit, Chen Ming became even more energized. In the subsequent battle, he fought even more ferociously.

Dugu Bo couldn't understand how soul cores could be so ridiculously powerful.

In truth, while soul cores were indeed formidable, they weren't usually as exaggerated as Chen Ming's.

Chen Ming's soul cores were unique.

The Star Luo Holy Pearl Soul Core was purely soul-power-based. After fusing with the metallic properties of the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum, its quality had already reached a higher level. After further tempering in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, it now resembled a golden core, with its quality advancing toward the level of a divine core.

As for the Dragon Core, it had partially absorbed the characteristics of the Life Gold and mutated under the tribulation lightning, granting it the ability to convert soul power into life force.

During its refinement in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, it was further enhanced by traces of residual power left by the Ice-Fire Dragon King.

Not only was it repaired, but it also inherited some of the Ice-Fire Dragon King's traits, further improving its quality.

Essentially, it was a divine core without divinity.

Either one of these two unique soul cores was something that even an Ultimate-level Rank 99 Douluo might not possess. The gap between them and ordinary soul cores was as vast as a chasm.

When the two special soul cores worked together, they gave Chen Ming his abnormal endurance.

In this battle, Chen Ming and Dugu Bo had already consumed a total amount of soul power equivalent to that of twenty Rank 51 Soul Kings combined.

The life force Chen Ming used to heal his injuries was enough to leave an ordinary Soul Sage bedridden for half a year, unable to recover their soul power for the rest of their life.

After fighting for so long, the battle had become completely one-sided. Chen Ming attacked, and Dugu Bo took the hits. Poor Dugu Bo's once-proud poison techniques were utterly ineffective against the combined power of Ultimate Ice and Ultimate Fire.

If Chen Ming unleashed his Ice-Fire Soul Power fully and made direct physical contact with Dugu Bo's poison, Dugu Bo would realize that Chen Ming, with his Ice-Fire Alchemy Body, was now essentially immune to toxins.

During the battle, Chen Ming even touched Dugu Bo a few times with his Cold Poison. Despite Dugu Bo's best efforts to evade and counter, he couldn't stop a portion of his soul power and upper limits from being sealed by the Cold Poison. The extremely low temperatures of the poison continued to spread through his body, freezing his soul power.

Even though Dugu Bo was a Title Douluo and a poison expert, he was helpless against this strange combination of Ultimate Ice and poison. No matter how hard he tried, he could only slow the spread of the Cold Poison.

As for the portions of his soul power and life force that were frozen, Dugu Bo had no way to restore them.

If this had been a life-or-death battle instead of a sparring match between family members, Dugu Bo might have considered cutting off the parts of his body affected by the Cold Poison to save himself. Under Chen Ming's relentless attacks and the erosion of the Cold Poison, Dugu Bo's condition rapidly deteriorated. His soul power dropped to less than 30% of its peak, his body stiffened, and some of his limbs became uncontrollable. Even his movements in battle became clumsy.

In this state, Dugu Bo could only raise his hand in surrender and forcefully end the fight.

"I'm done, I'm done. In your current state, I can't even use half of my poison techniques. I'm fighting with my hands tied—this is just pointless."

Dugu Bo still had his Martial Soul Avatar and his eighth and ninth soul skills as trump cards, but he didn't intend to use them. They wouldn't make a difference and would only embarrass him further.

A Rank 94 Title Douluo losing to a quasi-Soul King—if word got out, people across the continent would laugh themselves to death.

"Grandpa, how's my strength?"

Hearing Dugu Bo's words, Chen Ming withdrew his Ice-Fire Soul Power, walked over to Dugu Bo, and used his Dragon Core to convert soul power into a life force to heal Dugu Bo's injuries.

"Well, your strength... when it comes to fighting me, you're truly incredible. I can't even use half my poison techniques. Those two soul cores of yours give you a recovery ability stronger than mine as a Title Douluo. Your physical attributes are flawless, and I even feel like your spiritual power might be slightly higher than mine."

Suppressing his mixed feelings, Dugu Bo analyzed the situation as calmly as possible.

"Right now, your strength is roughly equivalent to that of a top-tier Soul Douluo, and you can exchange a few blows with a Title Douluo. If the attributes are favorable, such as facing an Ice or Fire-type Title Douluo, you might defeat them using your attribute advantage."

The primary reason Dugu Bo struggled against Chen Ming was that his poison was completely ineffective. His physical strength was on par with Chen Ming's at best.

Chen Ming's series of Ice-Fire Poison attacks posed a huge threat to Dugu Bo. On the other hand, no matter how hard Dugu Bo struck, he couldn't incapacitate Chen Ming in one blow.

Against other Title Douluo, the fight might not have been so one-sided.

"You now need to be cautious of those Title Douluo and top-tier Soul Douluo who specialize in explosive pure strength. If you can't deal with them quickly and get hit by their burst soul skills, you'll still face significant danger."

Dugu Bo originally wanted to say life-threatening danger, but after considering Chen Ming's recovery ability, he changed it to significant danger.

"Your Poison Explosion Technique is an unlimited soul skill. With your current total soul power and recovery speed, when fighting strong opponents, you can release a large area of poison mist and then detonate it with your second soul skill, Poison Explosion Technique. If the conditions are right, it's entirely possible to kill a Title Douluo."

"That Cold Poison of yours is truly bizarre. Even I can't remove it—I can only slow its spread. In the future, it'll undoubtedly become one of your trump cards in battle. Soul Masters without expertise in poison, even those with Ice attributes, won't be able to resist your terrifying Cold Poison."

"However, you must remember never to misuse your third soul skill, the Deathly Poison Domain. Although your soul power level is lower than a Title Douluo, your physical and spiritual attributes are already on par. Once the Deathly Poison Domain is unleashed, it will lead to devastation in the surrounding area."

"If you ever face a genuine threat, don't hesitate to use the Deathly Poison Domain. But if there's no real danger, do your best to avoid using it."

As a Title Douluo known for group battles, Dugu Bo sighed deeply.

"Otherwise, the slaughter would simply be too great."

"You have a bright future ahead of you. You should aim to stand at the pinnacle of the continent, perhaps even become a god revered by all, like the Angel God of ten thousand years ago. Don't let impulsive decisions lead to regret."

PS: Third skill update: Domain Expansion: Deathly Poison Realm!