"But, the Royal Academy requires a noble status to join," Dugu Bo stroked his chin, a cunning smile at the corner of his mouth.
"This old man is a guest elder of the Heaven Dou Imperial Family. How about this: you call this old man 'grandfather', and this old man will open a backdoor for you. How about it?"
Lu Feng looked at Dugu Bo with a blank expression, slowly extended his hands, and said, "Give it back."
"Hmph, you kid, you have no sense of humor at all."
Dugu Bo poured the pill into his palm and said, "Are there any special instructions for taking this pill?"
Lu Feng crossed his arms and said with a faint smile, "The two main ingredients used to refine this pill gather the spiritual energy of the heavens and the earth and absorb the essence of the sun and the moon. It would not be an exaggeration to call them immortal herbs."
"However, high-end pills often only require the simplest method of consumption. Just swallow it directly. If you want, you can also have it with some soy sauce or a dip of vinegar."
"Smack!" Dugu Bo slapped Lu Feng on the back of the head. "You brat, you're never serious."
"Hiss," Lu Feng rubbed his head, a hint of 'resentment' in his eyes.
Humorous or serious, it doesn't matter. Was this old geezer just looking for an excuse to hit me?
Dugu Bo put the pill into his mouth, chewed a few times, and swallowed it. Then he sat down cross-legged and began to meditate.
Time passed minute by minute, and in the blink of an eye, half an hour had gone by.
Dugu Bo sat there quietly, his posture relaxed yet steady. A faint golden light covered his body, shimmering with a mysterious and noble radiance.
A faint white mist emerged from his skin, swirling around his body.
The white mist and the golden light faintly intertwined in the air. Coupled with his unique youthful face and green hair, he looked quite like a transcendent, enlightened master.
The next moment, Dugu Bo suddenly opened his eyes, and an emerald-green light burst forth from his body.
Immediately after, his tall, thin body, amidst the jade-green light, soared straight up, directly breaking through the stone house.
His body unfurled in the wind. Two yellow, two purple, and five black—a total of nine soul rings—suddenly rose, floating slowly around him.
"Kid, this old man has broken through to level ninety-two, jie jie jie!"
Dugu Bo laughed with a hint of arrogance.
His laughter echoed through the valley. 'Flap, flap, flap,' a flock of birds was startled and quickly fled the area.
Ten years!
Dugu Bo had been stuck at level ninety-one for a full ten years!
Now that he had finally broken through the bottleneck, how could he not be happy?
"Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey!" A head popped out from the ruins, and Lu Feng spat out the dirt in his mouth.
"You old geezer, I'll remember you!" Lu Feng silently chanted 'viciously' in his heart.
"Hahaha!" Dugu Bo reined in his aura, slowly descended to the ground, and couldn't help but burst out laughing when he saw Lu Feng's miserable state.
For him, breaking through to level ninety-two and also making Lu Feng look so pathetic was simply a double happiness!
"You damn old geezer, you must have done it on purpose!" Lu Feng complained inwardly.
"Senior Dugu, congratulations, congratulations!" Lu Feng cupped his hands at Dugu Bo perfunctorily.
At this moment, Dugu Bo said seriously, "Kid Tang, this pill of yours is truly divine! Just now, this old man felt a special spiritual energy in my body. When my poison met it, it would actually take the initiative to avoid it."
"I originally thought this body of poison would be purified, but I didn't expect this spiritual energy to only nourish my body and soul. Not only was my poison not weakened, but it was actually strengthened by thirty percent."
Lu Feng nodded. It was no exaggeration to describe the Exquisite Silk Tulip as noble.
Poison, a low-level attribute, would naturally avoid it.
However, when the Exquisite Silk Tulip met the Eight Petal Immortal Orchid, it was like a fairy descending to the mortal world.
A noble young lady falling in love with an ordinary farm boy.
The magnificence of the tulip combined with the elegance of the orchid, the two complemented each other and could have an effect on any soul master, bringing about the purest enhancement of one's own essence, qi, and spirit.
Dugu Bo moved his body. The berserk poison in his body had settled down.
Dugu Bo felt that this was the most relaxed he had been in decades.
"Kid Tang, this old man's poison can be considered cured. For this matter, this old man owes you a favor. Feel free to make any request you have. This old man keeps his word," Dugu Bo said proudly.
"Hmph, it's still too early to talk about a complete cure. If senior is willing to owe me another favor, I don't mind," Lu Feng snorted lightly and said teasingly.
"Kid, what do you mean by that?"
"Senior is only suppressing your poison now because your own soul power has increased. The poison in your body is produced continuously and will eventually erupt again one day."
Dugu Bo's eyes flickered. "Kid, are there more of these herbs elsewhere? If one pill isn't enough, then refine ten; if ten isn't enough, then refine a hundred."
Lu Feng crossed his arms and shook his head. "This item should only exist in the heavens; how can it be found so often in the mortal world."
"This..."
Hearing this, Dugu Bo immediately frowned.
He also knew that this herb was precious, but to have him give up just like that, Dugu Bo was really unwilling.
He was not willing to experience that feeling of wishing for death again.
"Senior, do you still remember the 'soul core' hypothesis I mentioned to you?" Lu Feng said lightly.
"You mean this old man's inner core?" Dugu Bo asked, puzzled.
"Correct. I once read in an ancient text that if soul power is compressed from a liquid state to a solid state and immersed in a soul master's dantian, this is the soul power core."
"The speed at which a soul core absorbs soul power is much faster than a martial soul. Therefore, in ancient times, soul masters who had condensed a soul core were also much stronger than ordinary soul masters."
"Senior's inner core already has the foundation of a soul core. If you can fuse the poison with your soul power and achieve a state of free control, then the poison will instead become a great asset to senior," Lu Feng said confidently.
"Why have I never heard of what you're saying? Kid, how confident are you in this method?" Dugu Bo asked in a deep voice.
Regardless of whether it could increase his strength, as long as it could solve his own poison problem, even if there was only a fifty percent chance, Dugu Bo was willing to try.
Lu Feng's expression darkened, and he held up three fingers. "I have at most a thirty percent certainty. On this path, senior is the first of this era."
If it were just detoxification, Lu Feng had other methods.
There were still a few immortal herbs in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well that were suitable for Dugu Bo. If he was unwilling to try condensing a soul core, Lu Feng could just refine a few other kinds of pills to help him detoxify.
Lu Feng and Dugu Bo had gotten along quite well. This person was clear about his grievances and valued his promises.
If he were to give Dugu Bo a hand when he was at his 'weakest', it would naturally be a very profitable business!
"Thirty percent is thirty percent, I'll risk it! Kid, if this old man fails to condense it, what will happen?" Dugu Bo said in a loud voice.
"Death without a burial place!" Lu Feng said in a deep voice.
"Hiss~!"
Dugu Bo immediately took a sharp breath.
Soon, that arrogant expression returned to his face. "Hahaha, this old man should have fallen to his death from a cliff thirty years ago. But the old man Death just wouldn't take me."
As he spoke, Dugu Bo looked at Lu Feng seriously. "Kid, if anything happens to this old man, Yan Yan is yours."
The Heaven Dou Royal Academy held the title of the number one academy in the Heaven Dou Empire.
Of course, this did not refer to its strength.
The sun was setting, and the sky was filled with rosy clouds. Against the backdrop of the red clouds, the lake at the foot of the mountain and the mountain, up to a thousand meters high, gave a feeling of a paradise on earth.
This entire mountain was the domain of the Royal Academy.
At the foot of the mountain, a man and a woman were walking on a road paved with white jade.
Lu Feng was dressed in a light blue tight-fitting outfit, his long black hair tied up, his aura awe-inspiring. His face was slightly childish, but at a height of 1.6 or 1.7 meters, he already had the appearance of a young man.
Dugu Yan was in a light green outfit, which, paired with her short, deep purple hair, made her look very heroic.
The two walked side by side, looking like a golden boy and a jade girl.
"What do you think? Our academy is beautiful, right?" Dugu Yan said with a smile.
Lu Feng nodded and took a deep breath of the fresh air. "As expected of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy. The mountains are beautiful, and the water is good."
He turned to look at Dugu Yan and said with a faint smile, "Of course, the people are good too."
"Hmph!" Dugu Yan snorted lightly, and her two thin eyebrows quirked up playfully. She swung her small hands cheerfully and walked in small steps in front of Lu Feng.
Seeing this, the corner of Lu Feng's mouth rose slightly, and he followed her pace unhurriedly.
"Huh? Isn't that sister-in-law?" not far away, a young man in a light yellow school uniform pointed at Dugu Yan and said.
The fact that Yu Tianheng was pursuing Dugu Yan had spread throughout the entire Royal Academy.
Since Yu Tianheng was the academy's top student, the students privately called Dugu Yan 'sister-in-law'. Of course, Dugu Yan had never acknowledged this.
"Who's that guy? He doesn't look like he's from our academy."
"Holy crap! Boss Yu's house is being robbed!"