Dugu Bo returned once again at noon.
Zhao Liuyun had already dressed and was sitting by the shore, silently gnawing on a piece of Whale Glue. He had to save that twenty-thousand-year-old treasure, so he had brought some relatively common pieces to use as emergency rations. Aside from a sense of fullness, he didn't feel even a hint of physical growth or strengthening.
"Did Teacher manage to obtain a suitable soul bone?" Zhao Liuyun asked softly as a figure appeared before him.
Dugu Bo nodded. "I got it. A ten-thousand-year One-Horned Giant Viper left arm bone."
This was a soul bone the Heaven Dou Imperial Family had long prepared for him, their only Imperial Titled Guest Official. Dugu Bo had previously disdained its mediocre quality and refused to accept it, so it had remained sealed within the imperial treasury. Now, he had asked Prince Xue Xing to bring it out.
As he spoke, Dugu Bo began pulling out sets of medicine-making tools. Herb cutters, mortars, pestles, medicine grinders, a small stone mill, sieves—a dazzling array of equipment soon covered the ground.
"Take a look. Is this enough?"
"It's plenty." Zhao Liuyun helped categorize the tools, moving them to a spot relatively far from the spring.
"Disciple, do you intend to prepare the medicine now?" Dugu Bo inquired.
"There's no rush. I'll prepare it as needed," Zhao Liuyun shook his head.
Recalling what the boy had said earlier, a thought suddenly struck Dugu Bo. "What is the primary ingredient?"
"It is my blood, which contains the medicinal power of the Immortal Herbs. It cannot be preserved for long." Zhao Liuyun met his gaze and said firmly, "Teacher, you won't let Sister Dugu Yan go first; you will certainly try to neutralize your own poison first. You should focus on condensing your Soul Core first."
"I understand." Dugu Bo immediately prepared to head out in a flurry of activity.
"Wait." Zhao Liuyun stepped forward quickly to catch him.
Under Dugu Bo's puzzled gaze, he said, "Teacher, please take me with you. My external soul bone can peer directly into space; perhaps I can offer some small assistance while you condense your Soul Core."
"That makes sense—" Dugu Bo thought about it and found it quite logical. He scooped his disciple up. "Let's go!"
Transforming into a gust of wind once again, he carried the boy away from the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
Carrying his disciple, Dugu Bo arrived at a massive cavern deep within the Sunset Forest. Looking at the cave, a flicker of memory and sorrow flashed in his eyes as he spoke slowly, "Years ago, when I was searching everywhere for medicine, I once came across this place."
The entrance was a massive arch, thirty meters high and fifty meters wide. The interior was deep, yet the light was not dim. Sunlight poured through the entrance without obstruction, illuminating the cave clearly. The ceiling hung high above like a dome of massive stones. Standing inside, one could only feel their own insignificance.
He released his poison to drive away the minor soul beasts living there and spent half a day setting up a poison formation on the perimeter—one capable of killing an ordinary Soul Douluo.
Dugu Bo sat cross-legged. While recovering his soul power, he said solemnly, "Disciple, tell me everything regarding the Soul Core from that fragmented inheritance of yours."
"A Soul Core is a type of dynamic soul power core—" Zhao Liuyun repeated the explanation once more.
When he finished, Dugu Bo closed his eyes and contemplated for a long while, deducing every possible obstacle. Only then did he produce a glowing Jade Green Pearl from his mouth. This was something condensed by chance after he reached the Titled rank and his martial soul evolved; it was connected to his heart's blood. Half of Dugu Bo's strength resided in this pearl.
"Mmm—"
With a thought, the Jade Green Pearl floated above his palm, shimmering with an eerie light. Static and dynamic were two different states. The Jade Green Pearl was stable; if damaged, it would affect his mental power and soul power control, making it impossible to convert directly.
With a light sigh, he abandoned the idea of using the Jade Green Pearl as the foundation and focused his mind, preparing for his first attempt at condensing a Soul Core.
Zhao Liuyun retreated to the cave entrance, standing pressed against the rock wall. In case of an uncontrolled explosion, he wouldn't be hit directly by a soul power beam, allowing Dugu Bo to grab him and escape in time.
"Teacher, remember: if you feel you are losing control, output more mental power to stabilize it."
Dugu Bo nodded calmly and said no more.
Compressing soul power to the point where it could tear through space and absorb spatial energy required a staggering amount of soul power. He had to conserve every ounce of energy.
Dugu Bo pressed his palm into the air, and thick soul power surged out, rotating, accelerating, and compressing. This was the key to condensing a Soul Core that Zhao Liuyun had described. Dugu Bo kept it firmly in mind, making adjustments based on his own understanding.
As soul power was continuously poured in, an emerald-green vortex quickly took shape before him. A Titled Douluo's soul power existed in all three states: solid, liquid, and gas. Using the already solid soul power as a foundation, the originally viscous liquid soul power began to solidify further within the high-speed rotation. Crystalline light quickly appeared at the center of the vortex.
The Silver Eyed Demon Dragon pupil opened at the center of Zhao Liuyun's brow. The Demon Dragon's Eye reflected the subtle ripples in the surrounding space; the once-calm void began to shimmer with distorted patterns of light.
The rotation speed of the green vortex grew faster and faster as a massive amount of soul power was funneled in. As the vortex reached a fever pitch, fine spatial cracks began to spread like a spiderweb. Spatial energy was absorbed by the soul power core, becoming extremely unstable.
Dugu Bo was forced to inject a large amount of mental power to maintain stability. However, as a Titled Douluo, he lacked neither mental power nor soul power; up to this point, he had only consumed thirty percent of his soul power. Mental power was not the primary force for condensing the Soul Core; while it had a stabilizing effect, its consumption was naturally lower than that of soul power.
The surrounding spatial cracks slowly expanded, and more spatial energy continued to tear at the mental power used for stabilization.
Seeking a stable state—
This thought echoed in his mind as Dugu Bo calculated his limits. When only forty percent of his soul power remained, the surface of the solid light cluster was covered in spiderweb-thin spatial fissures. Countless black seams flickered into existence, only to be swallowed and absorbed by the condensed soul power. Gradually, the condensed soul power began to emit a brilliant light.
The rotation speed of the light cluster neared its limit, and the surrounding space was entirely distorted, warped by the immense condensing energy. Colorless, dark green, and deep black—the three colors intertwined. The soul power contained within was so vast it was heart-stopping; a mere touch would trigger world-ending destruction.
Even watching from a distance, Zhao Liuyun's [Combat Instinct] constantly sent him waves of alarm. Death was right before his eyes; he felt a sudden urge to flee.
Dugu Bo similarly felt the extreme danger, but thinking of Yan Yan, he suppressed the impulse to quit and continued to output massive amounts of mental power.
"Mental power can act as a stabilizer."
He remembered Zhao Liuyun's words clearly, but beyond this point, it was difficult to proceed. There was a constant feeling that it might collapse and annihilate everything.
"Next step: Collapse."
How to collapse it? By using external force to disrupt the current, seemingly stable operation!
Dugu Bo swallowed hard. If this step could blow him to bits, the disciple at the cave entrance observing the process with an external soul bone would certainly not escape either. Thus, he wasn't worried about being deceived.
However—now that he had come this far, how could he shrink back?
What was there to fear? Just do it!
With a gentle nudge of mental power, the rhythm of the light cluster's rotation was suddenly disrupted.
The light cluster, which had been spinning rapidly like a tornado and raging violently, was suddenly choked by an invisible hand. The rhythm of rotation shattered instantly.
In that moment, extreme motion and stillness met. The flow of light that had been whistling and spinning just a heartbeat ago froze completely in the blink of an eye. The flow of time itself seemed to freeze; all things went silent, leaving only that motionless cluster of light shimmering faintly in the void like a brilliant star forgotten by the universe.
After a moment of silence, a blinding light erupted, and the surrounding space collapsed in response. Countless invisible forces tore like giant hands, and the elemental energy between heaven and earth flooded in like a tide. Centered on the light cluster, a massive energy funnel formed, emitting a low, suppressed roar.
The soul power light cluster had completely collapsed, transforming into a soul-shaking dark vortex. At the edges of the vortex, fine green ripples undulated like living things—crawling like spirit snakes, leaping like emerald flames—carving treacherous and ethereal trails into the darkness.
In one day, he had succeeded on his first try. This was a method for breaking through to the Titled Douluo rank; trying to cultivate it after already becoming a Titled Douluo proved to be remarkably easy.