"The superior method is an extremely precious inheritance, Senior," Zhao Liuyun emphasized.
"What else do you want?" Dugu Bo's eyebrows twitched, knowing the boy was about to raise the price again.
"I'd like to trouble you to check with the Imperial Family. If there is Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Glue in the royal treasury, please bring it to me."
Zhao Liuyun shifted a sliver of his attention to his status panel.
[Physique: 38]
Over the past four months, he had practiced body tempering relentlessly, supplemented by high-level medicinal baths and the consumption of Thousand-Year Whale Glue. Yet, his Physique had only barely increased by 1 point, making it equivalent to an average Rank 38 Soul Elder. The risk of consuming the Ice and Fire immortal herbs was still too high; he needed more assistance.
"An aphrodisiac? How could such a vulgar thing be kept in the Imperial treasury? How much do you need?" Dugu Bo didn't pry too deeply. As the only Titled Guest Elder of the Heaven Dou Imperial Family, procuring a bit of Whale Glue was a trivial matter. He wondered if this boy, having obtained an ancient inheritance, knew of a unique use for it.
"Take whatever they have."
"Fine!"
Dugu Bo was clever enough not to leave the boy alone at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. He hoisted Zhao Liuyun up and, in an instant, arrived at a secluded rocky cave at the foot of the mountain. He knew that the extreme elemental forces of Ice and Fire could destroy a person.
Setting him down, Dugu Bo warned, "I have laid a poison formation here. Soul beasts won't dare approach. Wait here and do not wander."
Zhao Liuyun complied, sitting cross-legged in place.
About an hour later, Dugu Bo returned and tossed him a silver-white ring. A star-blue sapphire the size of a fingernail was inlaid in the center, shimmering with a brilliant, flowing light.
"There were only two pieces. The smaller one is seventy thousand years old, and the larger one is twenty thousand."
"That's enough!" Zhao Liuyun took the ring. Inside were two pieces of deep yellow Whale Glue. The seventy-thousand-year piece was so dark it was nearly black.
"Do you still want the ring?"
"?" Dugu Bo was silent for a moment, glancing at the old, shabby ring on the boy's finger. "Throw that trash away. This one has a capacity of twelve cubic meters. Consider it a gift from me."
It was just a storage soul tool; he could easily get another one later.
"Thank you, Senior."
Zhao Liuyun was delighted as he slipped the ring—worth at least hundreds of thousands, if not a million gold coins—onto his middle finger. He didn't throw away the inconspicuous old ring, however; he stored it inside the new one as a keepsake. The Douluo Continent was convenient in that regard; there was no spatial paradox, and soul tools could be stored within soul tools.
Seeing the joy on the youth's face, Dugu Bo couldn't help but ask, "What use is Whale Glue?"
"It is a gentle body-tempering treasure. It can rapidly increase one's Physique with no side effects and significantly raise the age limit for absorbing soul rings."
"Significantly... by how much?" Recalling that this boy had proposed three detoxification methods, Dugu Bo knew that "significantly" was likely an understatement.
Zhao Liuyun lightly brushed the surface of the ring. "Eating a ten-thousand-year piece allows one to absorb a ring at least five hundred years older."
Dugu Bo sucked in a breath of cold air and asked in shock, "If one eats enough as a child, could their first soul ring be a thousand-year ring?"
Zhao Liuyun thought of the Great God-King Tang's "half-daughter" and how Wang Dong had one yellow and one purple ring during the Soul Grandmaster stage. He shook his head. "It's not possible. A thousand-year ring doesn't have the soul shock of a ten-thousand-year ring, but its violent instincts far exceed those of a hundred-year ring. Forcing the absorption would truly cost one's life."
"As for this seventy-thousand-year piece... I suspect it might only raise the limit by about two thousand years?" Zhao Liuyun guessed. Though harmless, consuming too much would lead to drug resistance. Once the age passed a certain threshold, the effects would diminish. Still, even if the effect was reduced, it should still give him at least a thousand-year boost, right? Having consumed so much Thousand-Year Whale Glue before, it was hard to estimate the remaining effectiveness.
He planned to take the twenty-thousand-year piece back to Ye Lengleng.
"Senior, please don't speak of this. Aside from me, the Patriarch, and a few Ye family elders, no one knows the true efficacy of this item. The Ye family is secretly collecting it," Zhao Liuyun cautioned Dugu Bo. "Later, I can process it into medicine for you to quietly give to Sister Dugu Yan."
"I understand," Dugu Bo nodded solemnly, becoming increasingly impatient. "What is the superior method?"
At Zhao Liuyun's request, Dugu Bo brought him back to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
"The superior method is a way to condense a soul power core, derived from my own deductions."
Zhao Liuyun placed the seventy-thousand-year Whale Glue near the Yang Spring, using the extreme fire energy to roast it. Once the glue softened into a creamy consistency, he slowly chewed and swallowed it.
"Deductions?" Dugu Bo suddenly felt that this superior method sounded unreliable.
"Indeed. It originates from that fragmented ancient inheritance and is supported by my external soul bone," Zhao Liuyun said, opening the third eye at the center of his brow.
He couldn't remember the exact steps for condensing a Soul Core from ten thousand years in the future. Originally, this was a shortcut for Soul Masters to break through the Rank 89 bottleneck. Having a Titled Douluo like Dugu Bo try it first was not dangerous and would blaze a stable path.
Rank 95 was the limit of the human body; going higher required another way to carry more soul power. There were two paths: the Soul Core method prevalent in the future, and the method mentioned by the Sword Douluo of attaining Rank 96 through comprehending the essence of the martial soul. These were two different roads. The former only required mastery over spatial power—the first Soul Core could even be condensed through sheer force, provided the basic stats were high enough. The latter required profound enlightenment and was much harder, but it could cause the martial soul to evolve.
With his profession panel, Zhao Liuyun planned to take both paths. He wanted both hands to be strong!
The brilliant silver dragon eye at his brow, emitting a faint draconic majesty, gazed quietly at Dugu Bo.
"An external soul bone!" Dugu Bo exclaimed.
"Correct. The external soul bone, Demon Dragon Silver Pupil, originates from a six-hundred-and-fifty-year-old Ghost-Eyed Demon Dragon Spider." Zhao Liuyun's lips curled slightly, a hint of craftiness flashing in his eyes. "Well, Senior? Are you tempted?"
"Unfortunately... it has fused deeply." Dugu Bo could clearly sense that the third eye was inextricably linked to Zhao Liuyun's aura, and he sighed softly.
"It's not a pity. It is connected to the Sea of Spirit. If it hadn't fused deeply, it couldn't be used to contain the toxin."
Allowing toxin into the Sea of Spirit was a death wish; if it seeped into the soul, it meant instant death, and only a god could save him then. Zhao Liuyun dismissed the thought and swallowed the last of the seventy-thousand-year Whale Glue. "Back to the topic."
"The Demon Dragon Silver Pupil grants me the ability to look directly at space and energy."
This was no lie. Originating from the Silver Dragon lineage, the eye could indeed perceive spatial structures and energy trajectories. For instance, the waters of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well were the most concentrated accumulation of heaven and earth essence Zhao Liuyun had ever seen.
Dugu Bo held his breath, listening intently to this "precious inheritance."
Zhao Liuyun continued slowly, "I once obtained a fragmented inheritance that mentioned a shortcut for a peak Soul Douluo to break through to a Titled Douluo, called a Soul Core."
"If one rotates soul power at high speed, refining it to the extreme and compressing it to the limit, one can tear space and draw spatial power into the soul power vortex."
"When the spatial power reaches its limit, or when you feel you can no longer maintain it, cause it to collapse suddenly. This will form a stable energy core."
"By incorporating this core into the dantian, it can grow alongside the Soul Master. I believe this is the most suitable vessel for containing your toxin."
Zhao Liuyun released "All Phenomena to Ruin" into the air, signaling Dugu Bo to watch closely.
"Look, my external soul bone skill is a spiritual blast formed by guiding spatial power with mental energy. Mental energy can stabilize space, which proves the feasibility of the Soul Core method to a certain extent."
Watching the dissipating spatial ripples, Dugu Bo's brow remained furrowed.
"You want me to help you complete this Soul Core method?" He was a Titled Douluo; how could he not see through Zhao Liuyun's intentions?
Zhao Liuyun laughed, his tone indifferent. "This is a secret technique for a Soul Douluo to become a Titled Douluo. You are already a Titled Douluo; even if the attempt fails, how hard could it be for you to retreat unscathed?"
"Besides, this is a method that can be passed down and will grow with the person. Or do you expect your granddaughter's Jade Phosphor Serpent to suddenly mutate its own poison sac?"
Dugu Bo exhaled a breath of turbid air. The suppressed memories of his past flooded back like a tide. He thought of his granddaughter, the future inheritance of his clan... and especially his son and daughter-in-law, who had died from the hereditary poison.
Must the clan be bound forever by this unsolvable toxin? Did their deaths only buy a future that was so easily seen to its end?
A look of determination suddenly flashed in his eyes. "Prepare the medicine..."
He was going to take a gamble for his granddaughter.