In the Name of the Clan

Dugu Bo was certain that Zhu Zhuqing had not lied.

Someone like her would not deign to lie. Besides, once she knew about his Weakness Period, killing him would have been easy with her strength.

She had no need to go through all these twists and turns to harm him.

So he believed that Zhu Zhuqing genuinely wanted to save him.

"There isn't no way to completely solve the poison problem of your Jade Phosphor Family!"

Zhu Zhuqing looked up at Dugu Bo.

Good heavens, there was more!

Dugu Bo's eyes lit up. Ahem, he knew Zhu Zhuqing would not disappoint him.

"What method? So long as it works, I can owe you three favors in return!"

Green light had already begun flickering in Dugu Bo's eyes.

"Mm."

Zhu Zhuqing nodded lightly, accepting the offer.

The third solution she had for Dugu Bo was...

"Compared to other Poison Martial Souls, the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Martial Soul's poison is simply too potent. It is so powerful that even the Martial Soul itself cannot fully contain it. This is a flaw that other Martial Souls do not have!"

Zhu Zhuqing explained why Jade Phosphorous Serpent soul masters became poisoned.

The attributes possessed by ordinary Martial Souls were generally things the Martial Souls themselves could control.

Even her Extreme Darkness and Extreme Light were within her Martial Soul's control.

Yet the Jade Phosphorous Serpent could not control its own Jade Phosphor Poison. Although it was powerful, it was also a fatal flaw.

Even though Dugu Bo's Martial Soul had evolved into the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor, he still could not control it perfectly.

"That's right. The poison produced by the Martial Soul cannot be fully controlled by the Martial Soul itself. You could call it a little joke heaven played on my Jade Phosphor Family. Why don't other soul masters have this problem?"

Dugu Bo was somewhat dejected.

He had completely treated Zhu Zhuqing as someone to vent his frustrations to.

"When the Martial Soul cannot bear it, it naturally injects it into the soul master's body. Soul masters do have a certain degree of resistance, but that resistance comes from your Martial Souls. If even the Martial Soul cannot withstand it, what hope do you have?

"But the Martial Soul is fine because it has a place to store venom within itself. You, however, do not.

"Otherwise, if your Martial Souls and bodies could both bear the Jade Phosphorous Serpent's poison, it would be entirely possible!"

Too lazy to pay attention to Dugu Bo's muttering, Zhu Zhuqing continued.

"Venom glands? But even if we had them, we could only rely on Soul Bones. And just as you said before, Soul Bones have limits to how much they can store!"

Dugu Bo said with a slight frown.

"Not Soul Bones, but something a soul master condenses themselves. Like that Inner Core you used to store your ice and fire Soul Power that day!"

"Good heavens, you even know about that?!"

Zhu Zhuqing's calm tone gave Dugu Bo a fright.

That Inner Core was equivalent to half his strength. If Zhu Zhuqing had struck it back then, good heavens, he would have truly been done for.

Just when had this girl snuck in? He had not noticed at all?!

Every time he released his Inner Core, he had thoroughly checked his surroundings and only begun after confirming it was safe.

Where exactly had she been hiding?

"I saw it. Your Inner Core was very impressive!"

Zhu Zhuqing nodded and praised it sincerely.

"You mean using my Inner Core to store poison?"

Dugu Bo's Inner Core had condensed when his Martial Soul evolved into the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor. But at the time, he had not known what it was for. He only knew that it could store half his Soul Power.

"That Inner Core should have appeared when your Martial Soul evolved, right?"

Zhu Zhuqing asked, and Dugu Bo hurriedly nodded.

"Then that's right. Everything has a sliver of hope. Though Jade Phosphor Poison is tyrannical, your Martial Soul gave you the most direct solution—it helped you condense an Inner Core.

"And according to my research, your Inner Core can already be called the most basic Nascent Soul Core. Using it as a venom gland to store the excessive poison in your body will not be a problem at all!"

What Zhu Zhuqing said was very simple, but Dugu Bo was practically a primitive.

He had treasures, but no one had ever told him what they were or what they did. All he could do was fumble around blindly.

"You're saying this thing can serve as a venom gland inside my body?!"

Dugu Bo opened his mouth and spat out his Inner Core, then stared at it in disbelief.

He did not care what a Soul Core was, but he cared very much whether this poison core was real.

"What else would it be? Why do you think you condensed a bead that has little use and steals half your Soul Power on a daily basis?"

Zhu Zhuqing's words left Dugu Bo completely embarrassed.

He really had never considered that question. He had thought it was some aftereffect of his Martial Soul Evolution.

"So..."

Dugu Bo looked at the poison core in his hand. Oh, it should be called an Inner Core.

"So long as you have a method to condense Inner Cores, the Jade Phosphor Family's problem will no longer be a problem!"

Zhu Zhuqing answered for Dugu Bo.

"But when I condensed my poison—Inner Core—I somehow just condensed it without understanding how. If you ask me how to condense one now, I don't know either!"

Dugu Bo was basically saying, I'm just a poor student. Don't ask me about profound knowledge. Even if you do, I won't know.

"Hiss!"

Zhu Zhuqing could not help drawing in a sharp breath. She truly began to doubt Dugu Bo's standing as a Titled Douluo.

As a Poison Master, he could not recognize medicinal herbs. As a Titled Douluo, he did not even know how he had condensed his own Inner Core.

Was this Titled Douluo a fake?

Fortunately, Zhu Zhuqing did know.

She even had a method for condensing a Soul Core, let alone an Inner Core.

All she needed to do was simplify the Soul Core condensation method and remove the latter portion, and it would become a method for condensing Inner Cores.

But though it was merely a simplified version, once someone had the method for condensing Inner Cores, a little optimization would turn it into a method for condensing Soul Cores.

There was no need to mention how precious a Soul Core condensation method was. Once one condensed a Soul Core, there would be no bottlenecks in cultivation before Level 99.

If she used that to repay a debt, she would be taking a huge loss.

Fortunately, Dugu Bo had added another three favors afterward. Otherwise, she would never trade it, even if beaten to death.

Though those three favors would probably be used on the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

"It's fine. I have one!"

Zhu Zhuqing said, rubbing her forehead.

"Really? Then thank you so much! Rest assured, my promise still stands. My Jade Phosphor Family owes you three favors and will never go back on our word. So long as you speak, whether we must climb mountains of blades or descend into seas of fire, the Jade Phosphor Clan will not hesitate in the slightest!"

Dugu Bo was so happy he nearly jumped up. He immediately sat upright and made his assurance to Zhu Zhuqing.

Zhu Zhuqing trusted Dugu Bo's promise quite a bit.

"I'll pass the Inner Core method on to you, but you must ensure that your clansmen do not spread it around. Understand?"

Zhu Zhuqing was no great philanthropist. Why should a method she had created be passed around?

She had no intention of benefiting the entire continent. Wasn't it better for her alone to become strong?

If it spread, it might even nurture her enemies. What a loss that would be.

"I, Dugu Bo, swear in the name of Jade Phosphor that I will strictly restrain the clan and never allow the method of condensing Inner Cores to spread. Otherwise, the Martial Souls of the Jade Phosphor Clan shall shatter, and we shall die!"

Zhu Zhuqing had dared to give him a method to save lives. He had heard it was even the prototype of a Soul Core. Though he did not know what a Soul Core was, anything even he had never heard of had to be extraordinary.

Since she dared to give it to him, could he not give her an answer in return?

Dugu Bo's word was his bond. If he was going to give an answer, it had to be one that satisfied her.