Reading settings
Chapter 114: Medicine King? Poison King?
[Hmm, the content of this Q&A is quite tricky.]
[The Soul Master most proficient with poison—this shouldn't refer to strength, right?]
[Otherwise, the answer would directly be Option One.]
[The key question is, does "most proficient with poison" refer to the most potent poison, or the most skilled methods of application?]
[If it refers to the most potent poison, it's undoubtedly Poison Douluo. But if it's about the methods of application, then it's not necessarily so.]
[This Q&A didn't even give a hint.]
[It's clearly designed to trick people...]
A string of bullet comments streaked across the screen.
Dugu Bo watched the bullet comments, growing increasingly annoyed. He simply closed his eyes, refusing to let them disrupt his train of thought. Then, he began to carefully ponder the five options, wondering which was the most likely answer.
[Option One: Poison Douluo - Dugu Bo!]
This option was himself. Dugu Bo knew his own capabilities; his poison was indeed very potent, but was he the most proficient with it? That was uncertain. After all, the methods of application sometimes had little to do with strength.
Furthermore, even when it came to sheer toxicity, Dugu Bo wouldn't dare guarantee his poison was the strongest. It wasn't impossible for another Soul Master's Martial Soul to produce toxins more powerful than his own.
Therefore, Dugu Bo was truly uncertain whether Option One was the correct answer.
[Option Two: Snake King - Ye Zhanqing.]
Dugu Bo knew of this person. He was a renowned poison expert in the Soul Master world. Although his strength wasn't as great as Dugu Bo's—he was only a level 79 Soul Saint—his Martial Soul was a rare, mutated venomous snake! The fierce toxicity it contained, even compared to Dugu Bo's own Jade Scale Snake Emperor, was probably not far behind.
If this person's strength had since improved, breaking through to level 80 and becoming a Soul Douluo, his poison might have become even more intense. In that case, it wouldn't be incomprehensible for Dugu Bo to be inferior to him purely in terms of "poison."
So, this option was also a possibility.
[Option Three: Jade-Eyed Poison Toad - Luo Feilong.]
Dugu Bo had only heard of this person. Apparently, he was quite formidable with poison, but Dugu Bo had never actually met him, so it was difficult to judge. He set this option aside for now.
[Option Four: Medicine King - Sun Zhongjing.]
Dugu Bo had never even heard of this person, who was probably from some small, rural place. Besides, he was called the Medicine King—how could he possibly be related to poison?
[Option Five: Life-taking Scorpion - Lavend.]
This option was similar to the third. Dugu Bo had only heard his name, knowing that his Martial Soul was some kind of incredibly venomous scorpion! He had never met the man in person, so it was hard to judge.
After carefully analyzing the five options, Dugu Bo helplessly realized that both the first and second were possibilities. The other three were uncertain.
Currently, it seemed that the most likely was Option One, himself.
But it wasn't a sure thing. After all, based on past experience with the Q&A, the options that seemed most correct on the surface were often wrong. Conversely, the options that seemed most unlikely were sometimes the right ones.
In short, trying to rely on some pattern of right or wrong to guess the answer was futile.
When the answer was unknown, one could only make a blind guess and rely entirely on luck.
This made Dugu Bo's expression darken, but the Q&A didn't care how conflicted he was. The countdown had begun. If he didn't choose an answer before it ended, he would automatically forfeit, which would be judged as an incorrect answer!
So, answering at least offered a chance to guess correctly. Not answering would be an automatic failure.
The choice was obvious.
"Huu..."
Letting out a long breath, Dugu Bo watched as the countdown on the screen ticked down to three seconds. Finally, he gritted his teeth and said fiercely, "I choose one!"
The moment he spoke.
[...]
The screen fell into a brief silence.
Soon, the Q&A space announced the answer.
[Answer... Incorrect!]
[Punishment: Randomly strip away one soul ring!]
The next moment, Dugu Bo felt as if a great hand had burst from the void and forcefully seized his soul. Then, it yanked hard!
*Rip!*
Dugu Bo thought he heard a sound like tearing cloth as a part of his soul was ripped away. Immediately after, a pitch-black soul ring floated out from his body and vanished into the void.
Having lost a soul ring, his Soul Power dropped directly from level 91 to level 90, a significant decrease.
To Dugu Bo's relief, although the suppressed potent poison within his body grew restless from the drop in Soul Power, it wasn't enough to kill him on the spot.
However, the memory of his lost soul ring brought an intense pain to his chest, so sharp it was hard to breathe!
He knew that after a soul ring was stripped away, even though his Soul Power remained at level 90, from now on he would only have eight soul rings and eight soul skills. He would be unable to acquire another soul ring to compensate; otherwise, this wouldn't be a Punishment, but a Reward.
After all, if he could acquire another soul ring, then the Punishment of having one stripped away would lose its meaning.
In previous Q&A sessions, others had also been punished by having a soul ring stripped away. They had tried to hunt a soul beast to absorb a new ring, but the result was, of course, a complete failure. Otherwise, with this public answering format, many people would likely risk answering questions just for the chance to receive the Punishment of having a soul ring stripped away, allowing them to replace one they were dissatisfied with.
The Q&A clearly wouldn't allow such a massive loophole.
Therefore, the Q&A's punishment didn't just strip the soul ring itself. It directly stripped away the "slot" for that soul ring as well. It was as if he originally had nine boxes to hold nine soul rings, but the Q&A had taken one box away. Now, even if his Soul Power met the conditions for absorption, he no longer had a slot in his body to place a new soul ring.
[Tragic! So tragic!]
[From a lofty Titled Douluo, he fell to a Soul Douluo...]
[A dignified Titled Douluo of his generation, actually reduced to this... Alas!]
[Haha, I'd like to call Dugu Bo the most tragic Titled Douluo in history!]
[Hahaha, I don't know why, but I feel so happy seeing others suffer misfortune?]
[Dying of laughter...]
[Serves him right! This is retribution!]
[Hahahaha......]
A string of bullet comments streaked across, some gloating, some sighing with pity. However, the majority were from people saying he "served him right" and mocking him. This made it clear that Dugu Bo's usual reputation wasn't very good; the moment he suffered misfortune, a crowd of people popped out, ready to kick him while he was down.
Dugu Bo watched the string of anonymous bullet comments, trembling with rage, his eyebrows twitching. He nearly passed out from anger. Thankfully, his rationality allowed him to forcibly suppress this impulse. Gritting his teeth, he said, "I want to know the answer!"
Now that things had come to this, even if he died, he had to know why. Who exactly was the Soul Master most proficient with poison?
(end of chapter)
[Hmm, the content of this Q&A is quite tricky.]
[The Soul Master most proficient with poison—this shouldn't refer to strength, right?]
[Otherwise, the answer would directly be Option One.]
[The key question is, does "most proficient with poison" refer to the most potent poison, or the most skilled methods of application?]
[If it refers to the most potent poison, it's undoubtedly Poison Douluo. But if it's about the methods of application, then it's not necessarily so.]
[This Q&A didn't even give a hint.]
[It's clearly designed to trick people...]
A string of bullet comments streaked across the screen.
Dugu Bo watched the bullet comments, growing increasingly annoyed. He simply closed his eyes, refusing to let them disrupt his train of thought. Then, he began to carefully ponder the five options, wondering which was the most likely answer.
[Option One: Poison Douluo - Dugu Bo!]
This option was himself. Dugu Bo knew his own capabilities; his poison was indeed very potent, but was he the most proficient with it? That was uncertain. After all, the methods of application sometimes had little to do with strength.
Furthermore, even when it came to sheer toxicity, Dugu Bo wouldn't dare guarantee his poison was the strongest. It wasn't impossible for another Soul Master's Martial Soul to produce toxins more powerful than his own.
Therefore, Dugu Bo was truly uncertain whether Option One was the correct answer.
[Option Two: Snake King - Ye Zhanqing.]
Dugu Bo knew of this person. He was a renowned poison expert in the Soul Master world. Although his strength wasn't as great as Dugu Bo's—he was only a level 79 Soul Saint—his Martial Soul was a rare, mutated venomous snake! The fierce toxicity it contained, even compared to Dugu Bo's own Jade Scale Snake Emperor, was probably not far behind.
If this person's strength had since improved, breaking through to level 80 and becoming a Soul Douluo, his poison might have become even more intense. In that case, it wouldn't be incomprehensible for Dugu Bo to be inferior to him purely in terms of "poison."
So, this option was also a possibility.
[Option Three: Jade-Eyed Poison Toad - Luo Feilong.]
Dugu Bo had only heard of this person. Apparently, he was quite formidable with poison, but Dugu Bo had never actually met him, so it was difficult to judge. He set this option aside for now.
[Option Four: Medicine King - Sun Zhongjing.]
Dugu Bo had never even heard of this person, who was probably from some small, rural place. Besides, he was called the Medicine King—how could he possibly be related to poison?
[Option Five: Life-taking Scorpion - Lavend.]
This option was similar to the third. Dugu Bo had only heard his name, knowing that his Martial Soul was some kind of incredibly venomous scorpion! He had never met the man in person, so it was hard to judge.
After carefully analyzing the five options, Dugu Bo helplessly realized that both the first and second were possibilities. The other three were uncertain.
Currently, it seemed that the most likely was Option One, himself.
But it wasn't a sure thing. After all, based on past experience with the Q&A, the options that seemed most correct on the surface were often wrong. Conversely, the options that seemed most unlikely were sometimes the right ones.
In short, trying to rely on some pattern of right or wrong to guess the answer was futile.
When the answer was unknown, one could only make a blind guess and rely entirely on luck.
This made Dugu Bo's expression darken, but the Q&A didn't care how conflicted he was. The countdown had begun. If he didn't choose an answer before it ended, he would automatically forfeit, which would be judged as an incorrect answer!
So, answering at least offered a chance to guess correctly. Not answering would be an automatic failure.
The choice was obvious.
"Huu..."
Letting out a long breath, Dugu Bo watched as the countdown on the screen ticked down to three seconds. Finally, he gritted his teeth and said fiercely, "I choose one!"
The moment he spoke.
[...]
The screen fell into a brief silence.
Soon, the Q&A space announced the answer.
[Answer... Incorrect!]
[Punishment: Randomly strip away one soul ring!]
The next moment, Dugu Bo felt as if a great hand had burst from the void and forcefully seized his soul. Then, it yanked hard!
*Rip!*
Dugu Bo thought he heard a sound like tearing cloth as a part of his soul was ripped away. Immediately after, a pitch-black soul ring floated out from his body and vanished into the void.
Having lost a soul ring, his Soul Power dropped directly from level 91 to level 90, a significant decrease.
To Dugu Bo's relief, although the suppressed potent poison within his body grew restless from the drop in Soul Power, it wasn't enough to kill him on the spot.
However, the memory of his lost soul ring brought an intense pain to his chest, so sharp it was hard to breathe!
He knew that after a soul ring was stripped away, even though his Soul Power remained at level 90, from now on he would only have eight soul rings and eight soul skills. He would be unable to acquire another soul ring to compensate; otherwise, this wouldn't be a Punishment, but a Reward.
After all, if he could acquire another soul ring, then the Punishment of having one stripped away would lose its meaning.
In previous Q&A sessions, others had also been punished by having a soul ring stripped away. They had tried to hunt a soul beast to absorb a new ring, but the result was, of course, a complete failure. Otherwise, with this public answering format, many people would likely risk answering questions just for the chance to receive the Punishment of having a soul ring stripped away, allowing them to replace one they were dissatisfied with.
The Q&A clearly wouldn't allow such a massive loophole.
Therefore, the Q&A's punishment didn't just strip the soul ring itself. It directly stripped away the "slot" for that soul ring as well. It was as if he originally had nine boxes to hold nine soul rings, but the Q&A had taken one box away. Now, even if his Soul Power met the conditions for absorption, he no longer had a slot in his body to place a new soul ring.
[Tragic! So tragic!]
[From a lofty Titled Douluo, he fell to a Soul Douluo...]
[A dignified Titled Douluo of his generation, actually reduced to this... Alas!]
[Haha, I'd like to call Dugu Bo the most tragic Titled Douluo in history!]
[Hahaha, I don't know why, but I feel so happy seeing others suffer misfortune?]
[Dying of laughter...]
[Serves him right! This is retribution!]
[Hahahaha......]
A string of bullet comments streaked across, some gloating, some sighing with pity. However, the majority were from people saying he "served him right" and mocking him. This made it clear that Dugu Bo's usual reputation wasn't very good; the moment he suffered misfortune, a crowd of people popped out, ready to kick him while he was down.
Dugu Bo watched the string of anonymous bullet comments, trembling with rage, his eyebrows twitching. He nearly passed out from anger. Thankfully, his rationality allowed him to forcibly suppress this impulse. Gritting his teeth, he said, "I want to know the answer!"
Now that things had come to this, even if he died, he had to know why. Who exactly was the Soul Master most proficient with poison?
(end of chapter)
