Chapter 128: The "Transaction" with Dugu Bo, Dan Beads, and Soul Cores
"Greetings, Your Excellency Dugu."
Tang Shan and Xue Qinghe came to the front of the mansion to welcome Dugu Bo, who had come alone.
"Greetings, Your Highness."
Dugu Bo nodded slightly in acknowledgment, and under Xue Qinghe's guidance, the three of them entered a side hall specially used for receiving guests.
Maidservants filed in, carrying plates of refreshments.
Xue Qinghe fetched a purple clay tea set, pinched a tea cake with his fingertips and gently crushed it, letting the broken tea fall into a white porcelain gaiwan. The water had just reached a boil, and mist was swirling. Raising the pot high, he poured the hot water down along the wall of the bowl in a swirling current. The tea leaves unfolded and bobbed up and down in the water, giving off a tender green luster.
The movements were smooth and flowing like clouds and water, and the curling fragrance of tea slowly permeated the entire side hall.
With the tea and refreshments ready, the maidservants silently withdrew, leaving only Tang Shan, Xue Qinghe, and Dugu Bo in the entire side hall.
After a moment of silence, Dugu Bo spoke first. His gloomy gaze swept over Tang Shan and Xue Qinghe, "I would like to ask the two of you, do you know the Grandmaster?"
His final gaze landed on Tang Shan: "I wonder what relationship the little friend has with the Grandmaster? Since you possess a Body Martial Soul and have achieved thousand-year first and second Soul Rings, I simply cannot believe that you and the Grandmaster have no connection at all."
Xue Qinghe furrowed his brows; he very much disliked Dugu Bo's tone, which faintly carried a sense of interrogation. If he truly were purely the First Prince of Heaven Dou, then so be it; after all, the Poison Douluo's deterrent force was right there. Unfortunately, he was not.
Just as he was about to speak, Xue Qinghe's thigh was secretly pressed down by Tang Shan, signaling to him that there was no need for a direct conflict.
Xue Qinghe's body suddenly stiffened. The temperature transmitted from Tang Shan's large hand plunged his entire mind into a blank state, leaving only a single thought in his brain: Did he just touch me?
Tang Shan did not think much about it at all. After holding down Xue Qinghe and stopping him from rebutting, Tang Shan looked at Dugu Bo. Since some identities had already been guessed by others, there was nothing left to hide.
"My teacher is the Grandmaster."
As soon as these words were spoken, Dugu Bo's eyes lit up. Completely ignoring Xue Qinghe, who was still in a lagging state, Dugu Bo asked rather impatiently, "I wonder where your esteemed teacher is? I wish to see him."
He had already used honorifics when addressing the Grandmaster.
"Apologies, Senior Dugu. Teacher said he was going into seclusion for a period of time, and then there was no news of him. I don't know where he is either."
"Is that so?"
Dugu Bo's expression was extremely complex, containing malevolence, regret, entanglement, and a hysteria hidden deep within.
"Senior, you are looking for my teacher because you want to resolve the hidden dangers in your Martial Soul, right?"
Tang Shan's words temporarily dispelled Dugu Bo's thought of forcibly striking and compelling the Grandmaster to show himself.
Although he himself was not sure whether the Grandmaster would actually appear if he truly forced it, he had no other choice—he could die, but his granddaughter Dugu Yan must absolutely not die.
When Dugu Yan was born, Dugu Bo discovered that she was afflicted with a potent poison. If it weren't for him relying on the abundant herbal resources in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well to suppress the poison for her, she probably would have already perished long ago.
"What do you mean?"
Tang Shan's words made Dugu Bo temporarily suppress the restless Soul Power within his body. This also caused Gold Crocodile Douluo, who was lying on a recliner under the large banyan tree beside the side hall, to put down his half-raised palm.
He had confidence that the moment Dugu Bo was about to strike, a single slap could repel him, and a second slap could pat him to death.
Had Tang Shan and Xue Qinghe not been right beside them, a single slap would have been enough for him to deal with Dugu Bo.
Dugu Bo, who was completely unaware that he had already walked before the gates of King Yama, looked at Tang Shan with some shock and uncertainty.
"Senior, since you want to solve the problem, it is better for both sides to be more honest. My teacher told me before that although the Dugu family's Jade Phosphor Serpent Martial Soul is powerful, and can even evolve into the Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor after reaching a certain cultivation, there has always been a hidden danger in cultivation that has not been resolved."
Tang Shan was somewhat speechless. Since he had already come looking for the "Grandmaster," it was obvious he was asking for a favor. There was really no need to be so vague and ambiguous now.
It was as if, unless a certain job required a physical examination report, why would an ordinary person go to the hospital for no reason? People who went to the hospital either had problems with their bodies or suspected that their bodies had problems; there were no other possibilities.
Dugu Bo was silent for a moment, and the malevolence in his eyes grew a bit heavier. His cold, gloomy, viper-like gaze looked Tang Shan up and down, and he said, "You seem to know quite a lot of things."
"It should be said that my teacher knows quite a lot of things; these are all knowledge imparted to me by Teacher. Perhaps in cultivation I am not as good as Teacher, but in the attainments of Soul Master cultivation theory, I believe I have inherited seventy to eighty percent of Teacher's."
Tang Shan's reply was very tough. Regardless of whether the Grandmaster actually existed or not, he had completely figured out the trick of wrapping himself in the banner of a powerful figure.
He also had the capital to be tough: Gold Crocodile Douluo was no joke. If you, Dugu Bo, dared to mess around, he guaranteed the commotion wouldn't be too big, and would directly make you vanish into thin air on the Douluo Continent.
"Very well, this old man indeed has some hidden dangers in my Martial Soul cultivation, causing my Soul Power to remain stuck at Level 91 all these years with no progress whatsoever. If you can solve the problem, this old man will consider it owing you a favor. As long as it is not an excessively outrageous request, I can basically help you accomplish it. However, this old man will say the ugly words upfront: if you cannot help this old man, your life will be forfeit."
"Senior Dugu, Tang Shan is my person. Isn't it a bit too much for you to say that?"
Miss Angel had already snapped out of her previous lagging state. Hearing Dugu Bo's such unkind words, her whole person bristled with anger. What a joke, what did a Level 91 Titled Douluo count for? If Tang Shan needed it, she could entirely go and invite her grandfather, who had reached the limit of the mortal world, to take action.
Could it be that mere Poison Douluo thought to bully him, Xue Qinghe, as having no one behind him?
"Your Highness, calm down. It's better for me to communicate with Senior Dugu."
Tang Shan's brows also furrowed slightly, feeling somewhat disgusted by Dugu Bo's attitude. No wonder in the original work he ended up with a reputation of having a strange personality; he was indeed not very easy to get along with.
"Senior, let's speak clearly; there's no need to threaten each other. I might be able to solve the problem on you, but you'd better also maintain the due courtesy toward me. This is not to uphold my dignity, but for your own sake—would you dare to wholeheartedly entrust your core problem to be solved by someone you have a poor impression of? If you give enough trust, what if the other party harms you in return? If you don't trust enough, yet the other party sincerely assists, and in the end all your efforts fall short due to your lack of trust, what then? Rather than threatening the other party's life, it's better to lure them with sufficient benefits."
Tang Shan's words plunged Dugu Bo into a long silence. After a long while, the gloominess in his eyes dissipated slightly: "Alright, since you've said so, I believe you sincerely want to help this old man."
"This old man has a special herb garden, which contains many rare exotic flowers and plants seldom seen in the world."
"I won't hide it from you; the reason this old man was able to achieve Titled Douluo status is that herb garden played a huge role."
"As long as you can solve the problem on this old man, that herb garden will be yours to pluck at will."
As soon as these words were spoken, Tang Shan felt a burst of joy in his heart. Originally, he thought he would have to prevaricate with Dugu Bo for a period of time and establish a certain foundation of trust before learning of the existence of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. He didn't expect that after only initial communication, the other party would reveal that treasured land.
"Then it's a deal, Senior."
Tang Shan agreed very readily.
Ha!
Dugu Bo did not speak again, but instead opened his mouth and spat out a Dan bead.
That bead was about the size of a dragon's eye, its entire body congealed with an emerald-like deep greenish hue. Its surface circulated a fine serpent-patterned halo, the green light restrained yet not dim, crystal clear and translucent like a heavily poisoned emerald;
The pure Soul Power fluctuations slowly spread outward like tides.
He handed the bead to Tang Shan and said in a deep voice, "Swallow it. This is the condensation of my lifelong cultivation, connected to my life. If you treat me to death during the treatment process, it will explode immediately—its true power is equivalent to the self-detonation of a Titled Douluo-rank powerhouse, and moreover it explodes inside your body. I don't need to say much about the consequences."
"Of course, as long as I don't die, it won't have any problems. On the contrary, it will be of great benefit to your cultivation, able to elevate your physical constitution and purify the Soul Power within your body. This is an insurance. Not to mention whether it can truly solve this old man's problem, as long as you have no intention of plotting against this old man's life, it will only benefit you endlessly."
Tang Shan's heart beat wildly: The basic Dan bead for researching soul cores, isn't it right here? This was truly effortless to obtain.
Beside them, Xue Qinghe furrowed his brows and was just about to speak, while Tang Shan also intended to feign reluctance.
At this moment, Gold Crocodile Douluo's voice transmission sounded in the ears of both simultaneously: "Xiaoxue, don't worry, Grandpa can solve this thing."
"Brat, don't stand on ceremony with this little venomous fellow. With such a big gift, just accept it; this old man is confident in removing the hidden dangers on it."
Since the backing behind them had spoken, Tang Shan no longer beat about the bush.
"Things have come to this, so I won't decline. Rest assured, I will do my best to help Senior solve the Martial Soul problem, and even if it cannot be solved, I will never cause any harm to Senior."
Having said that, Tang Shan picked up the Dan bead and wiped it on his body. Actually, there wasn't really any saliva on it; the Dan bead was stored within Dugu Bo's Dantian, but after all, on the surface it looked like it was spat out from the mouth, so it was still somewhat disgusting.
Taking a deep breath, Tang Shan swallowed the Dan bead in one gulp.
After the Dan bead entered the mouth, it did not go down along the esophagus, but instead turned into a slightly cool greenish stream of light, directly merging into Tang Shan's Meridians. Following the trajectory of Soul Power circulation, it steadily fell into the Soul Power within the Dantian.
Sure enough, the Dan bead was not a pure solid, nor would it stay in the body for digestion. Otherwise, relying on the control over my body reaching the Seeing God level in parts when I activated my First Soul Skill, wouldn't I be able to spit it back out little by little?
The Dan bead in the Dantian floated quietly, emitting wisps of silk-thin warm currents that spread from the Dantian to all four limbs and hundreds of bones. The touch was warm yet not scorching, like a stream gently flowing through the Meridians. These warm currents attempted to penetrate the flesh and temper the tendons and bones, but were easily blocked by Tang Shan's Physique, which far exceeded those of the same rank, causing only a trace of faint warmth to ripple on the surface, and even the rate of Qi and blood circulation only quickened imperceptibly for a split second.
Feeling it for a moment, Tang Shan couldn't help but shake his head: "Senior, your Dan bead doesn't seem very good. The effect of enhancing physical constitution is only so-so."
"How is that possible?"
Dugu Bo instinctively retorted, but when he grabbed Tang Shan's hand and split off a strand of Soul Power to probe, he instantly fell into silence—this motherfucker was a Physique that a Great Soul Master could possess? If you said it was the Physique of a Spirit Emperor, he would believe it!
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