Chapter 136: Hand-Rolled Pills
April 4, 2023 Author: Fu Hejun
Dugu Bo sat cross-legged beside the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. Here, the two types of energy were at their most concentrated, and their conflict was also at its most severe. He could feel the activity of the potent poison within him had been greatly reduced. However, even though it was significantly suppressed, the toxins still felt difficult to control.
He tossed the pill hand-rolled by Sun Zhongjing into his mouth. The moment the pill entered, it dissolved into a clear fluid, instantly spreading throughout his entire body!
Dugu Bo could clearly feel the burden on his body continuously fading; he had never felt so good. The damage caused by the potent poison to his body over the years was rapidly repaired under the nourishment of this clear liquid! At the same time, the activity of the toxins was suppressed to an extremely low level.
Feeling his state had reached its peak, he closed his eyes and began to silently circulate the Poison Core Heart Art, attempting to mobilize the toxins within his body...
Initially, these toxins did not respond, but soon, under his persistent efforts, the sluggish poisons finally began to flow slowly...
Threads and wisps... the toxins hidden in his bone marrow, muscles, and bloodline were slowly extracted, gradually condensing towards his dantian in the abdomen.
During this period, influenced by the external environment and the pill's efficacy, these previously unruly toxins became docile, showing no signs of agitation.
Meanwhile, Sun Zhongjing quietly watched Dugu Bo condense the Poison Core. In truth, the principle of this so-called Poison Core was similar to condensing a soul core; one could even say they were the exact same thing. It was just that one was based on soul power, while the other was based on poison.
To put it bluntly, the so-called Poison Core was a process for Dugu Bo to use the poison within his body as a foundation, fusing it with soul power to form a special Poison Soul Core. As long as this could successfully form, he would not only be able to advance his soul power cultivation by absorbing the potent poison derived from his martial soul, but also significantly increase his control over poison. It was equivalent to a simplified version of the Plague God Body.
The Plague God Body could absorb any virus, whereas the Poison Core was limited to the soul power-based poison derived from a martial soul. The difference in quality was immediately apparent.
Although the upper limit of the Poison Core wasn't as high as the Plague God Body, it excelled in its safety and low cultivation difficulty. It could be cultivated as long as one possessed soul power at the Soul Venerate level. It was a cultivation technique that could be passed down as an inheritance.
After some time, Dugu Bo finally gathered all the potent poison within his body at his dantian. He then began to control it, using a unique cultivation method to make the toxins interweave regularly and fuse with his soul power... Finally, a verdant green Poison Core appeared in his dantian.
On a side note, when Dugu Bo had first broken through to the Titled Douluo realm, a "core pearl" had naturally formed within his body as well. However, this core pearl did not have the function of containing all the potent poison; it was merely the condensation of most of his soul power. It was fundamentally different from the Poison Core he had now condensed.
So, seeing that this thing was no longer useful, Dugu Bo simply fused this core pearl as well, integrating it into the Poison Core in his dantian. From now on, only this one Poison Core would exist within his body.
For him, this Poison Core was both the crystallization of his life's cultivation and the culmination of his poison arts.
After the Poison Core completely took form, Dugu Bo opened his eyes. His entire appearance had been renewed. Originally, his whole body was verdant green—his hair, his eyes, and even his fingernails. One look was enough to tell he was deeply poisoned!
But now, after all the potent poison within his body had been condensed into a Poison Core, his fingernails, eyes, and hair had all returned to their original colors. Even his previously aged appearance had become much younger as his body healed.
He went from looking like a decrepit old man in his eighties or nineties to an elder in his sixties or seventies. It wasn't that he couldn't become even younger. In fact, at the Titled Douluo realm, a Soul Master could freely adjust their appearance to look old or young.
For example, Bibi Dong, the Pontiff of Spirit Hall, was already in her fifties or sixties, yet her appearance was still as young as a girl in her twenties. This was due to a woman's innate love for beauty, which was why she maintained a youthful appearance.
Dugu Bo, however, was different. The main reason he didn't become younger was a matter of mindset. After all, his granddaughter was already grown; would it be appropriate if he still looked like a young man? If the grandfather and granddaughter stood together, they might be mistaken for siblings.
Therefore, to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings, and because he didn't care about his appearance and wasn't planning on having a "second spring," Dugu Bo maintained an elderly appearance appropriate for his age.
Furthermore, now that he had gathered and absorbed the long-afflicting potent poison within his body, his soul power not only recovered the level he had lost, but it even increased by an additional level. He was now a level 92 Titled Douluo.
Ever since he broke through to Titled Douluo and his soul power reached level 91, his rank had not advanced for who knew how long. He had been stuck at level 91, unable to take even half a step forward. Now that he had finally broken through, one can imagine his joy.
"Sect Master, I succeeded."
Dugu Bo felt an unprecedented sense of comfort. Looking at the elder before him, he was incredibly grateful for the gift of this technique. If his original loyalty was 60 points, then his current loyalty was a perfect 100.
No one who hadn't experienced it personally could understand the pain of being afflicted by a potent poison. Moreover, only after truly creating the Poison Core did Dugu Bo realize that his previous assumptions had completely underestimated this secret technique.
The effects of the Poison Core technique were far more extraordinary than he had imagined!
The benefits to himself were far greater than what he had initially anticipated.
He gently raised his hand and, with a thought, a light-green poison mist immediately condensed into form. As he controlled it with his mind, the light-green poison mist seemed to have a life of its own, continuously twisting and transforming.
It morphed from a venomous snake to a scorpion, then to a toad... constantly and endlessly changing its form.
Such intricate and precise manipulation would have been utterly impossible for his former self. To exert such fine control over the poison mist was something he couldn't have even imagined before.
But after condensing the Poison Core, it all came naturally. He felt his previously scattered control become incredibly focused, and his command over the toxins in his body reached an unbelievable level.
Moreover, these were merely the superficial effects. Dugu Bo had a premonition that the benefits from the Poison Core would likely extend far beyond this. He was sure that as he explored it further in the future, he would discover even more surprises.
This made him even more grateful to Sun Zhongjing, who had imparted the Poison Core technique to him.
(end of chapter)