Chapter 31 – Poison Beauty, Provoking Dugu Bo

Yun Yibai's question hung heavily in the room. Dugu Bo's face had turned stone‑pale upon hearing about Dugu Yan's hair changing color, and he seemed deeply troubled. Seconds ticked by in tense silence.

Finally, he snorted, "You stay out of it, kid!" Without another word, he swept aside his sleeve and left. Yun Yibai wasn't surprised—after all, to the Dugu clan, he was still an outsider. He calmly waited, confident that either Dugu Yan or Dugu Bo would reach out again.

Dugu Bo, after storming off from Yun Yibai, found Dugu Yan. "Grandpa?" she asked, surprised at how swiftly he'd ended his conversation with Yun Yibai.

"Come with me." He didn't wait—he took her by the hand and brought her to his residence in Tiandou City. She calmly poured him tea. He took a sip, then asked, "Where's your hourglass?"

"This one?" Dugu Yan reached into her spirit conduit storage and pulled out the green‑sand hourglass made from Biling‑Snake-Emperor blood—designed to detect poison within her veins.

"It's six‑sixteenths down!" Dugu Bo's face turned dark. When she reached Soul‑King rank, it had only dropped to a quarter. He realized something was off. She was stronger… faster than she should be.

"Grandpa, what's that?" Dugu Yan asked innocently. She didn't know she was slowly poisoning herself.

"Just a gadget." Dugu Bo brushed it off and returned the hourglass to her. He'd raised her strictly after her father passed and now as a Soul Master, protected her fiercely.

He asked about her training—she replied that training with Yun Yibai had pushed her to her 39th rank. He nodded approvingly, adding quietly, "That brat isn't useless after all…"

Later, Dugu Bo returned to Yun Yibai's place.

"Kid!" he called. Yun Yibai stood respectfully. "Tell me—what do you really know?" He sat firmly on the sofa, eyes cold.

Yun Yibai answered calmly, "Given Yan'er's spirit beast—she's serpent-based—and the color shifting, the only explanation I can think of is poison."

Dugu Bo glared. "Are you questioning me, child?"

Yun Yibai bowed his head quickly. "I would never dare."

The tension held—until Dugu Bo sighed and broke.

"You were right." With a single sentence, he admitted Yun Yibai's insight—and then fell silent. As a prestigious Soul Lord, he owed no one explanations; Yun Yibai was still just a Soul Master. Silence descended again.

"Very few in this world truly understand pharmacology… but there is one group who study poisons deeply." Yun Yibai ventured on: "Have you considered working with them?"

"Ha!" Dugu Bo snorted. "Do you take me for a fool? I am the Poison Sovereign—what help could they offer me?"

Yun Yibai replied quietly, "Maybe you should. Have you heard of the Po Zhi Clan? One of Hào Tiān Sect's four single-attribute clans—they were eliminated after the Táng Hào Qianxun incident."

"You mean those pitiful dogs!" Dugu Bo spat. He knew well—after the incident, the Sect acted decisively, crushing the clans, with the Po Zhi Clan suffering near-extinction. They retreated far from the center of power.

"They were skilled in alchemy…and poison." Yun Yibai suggested carefully: "Perhaps with your strength, they'd be too intimidated to refuse."

Dugu Bo looked skeptical. "You're dressing them up far too highly."

Yun Yibai smiled slightly, "Maybe. But you—being from the Blue-Electric Overlord Dragon Clan—might know secrets. Secrets they don't."

Dugu Bo paused. A flash of curiosity crossed his eyes. Could Yun Yibai truly know something hidden?