Dugu Bo, Come to My Bowl

Unaware of Qian Renxue's inner thoughts, Ye Kai was considering how to improve her combat ability.

Qian Renxue was the typical bookish academic type.

Because of the Kingdom Usurpation Plan, although Qian Renxue had been able to cultivate while undercover, she lacked the combat experience that came from fighting for her life.

Even after becoming a god, her lack of combat experience had allowed Tang San, who was still a mortal, to suppress her.

Yet with Xue Qinghe's identity, there was almost no way for her to gain sufficiently extensive combat experience. She also could not constantly disappear or leave the city.

After thinking it over, Ye Kai concluded that brute force was the only path left. He would simply stack Soul Power and crush everything with it; combat experience could wait until later.

Since Soul Saints had proven ineffective during the Kingdom Usurpation Plan in the original story, would a Soul Douluo work better?

And if that still did not work, weren't there Immortal Herbs?

His martial soul could communicate with plants as well, so selecting a few suitable herbs for Qian Renxue should not be a problem.

Having reached that point, Ye Kai simply stopped thinking about it. When in doubt, plot around Bi Lin—there would always be a solution at the Mandarin Duck Hot Pot.

"Ding—A new mission has been triggered. Please check it."

Hearing the system prompt, Ye Kai opened the mission menu—

"Poison Douluo Dugu Bo has long been affected by the toxins of his martial soul. Furthermore, due to his son's slightly inferior talent and insufficient cultivation, the toxins have already entered his body, and he does not have long to live."

"The host must treat Dugu Bo and his family members. Reward: Healer Points earned from this treatment ×2."

"If the host can propose a permanent solution, the Healer Points earned from this treatment ×5."

"If a permanent solution cannot be achieved this time, members of the Dugu Family will no longer provide Healer Points."

"If a permanent solution is achieved later, the reward will be 100,000 Healer Points."

"Damn! You did that on purpose, didn't you?"

The system's previous missions had mostly required him to treat a certain number of people within a set time, and the rewards had not been particularly generous.

This time, it had suddenly offered a multiplier. Dugu Bo was a Titled Douluo; judging by his current condition, even if Ye Kai could not solve the problem in one go, he would probably earn 40,000 points. Doubling that would make him rich.

Ye Kai had originally considered taking the sustainable route to earn more, but the system had blocked that path entirely.

As for a permanent solution, hadn't Tang San already provided one in the original story? He could just use it directly.

"Ding—Please note, host: Tang San's solution from the original story cannot completely solve the Dugu Family's problem. The subsequent issues simply did not surface due to the short timeframe."

Hearing the system say that, Ye Kai fell into deep thought.

That makes sense. There is ultimately a limit to how much poison a Soul Bone can absorb. Once a Poison Snake's poison sac is full, it will no longer produce venom.

But Soul Masters are different. In pursuit of higher realms, they will continue cultivating. Dugu Bo might be fine, since he is already a Titled Douluo.

Even if he cannot find high-age Soul Bones, finding several low-age ones should let him hold on for a while longer.

But once the poison stored in the Soul Bones reaches its limit, he cannot cut them off and attach new ones. If it all erupts at once in the end, he will probably be dead for sure.

Forget it. There is no use thinking so much. I should find Dugu Bo first and figure it out from there.

"Ding—Because the toxins in his son's body have erupted, Dugu Bo has returned to Heaven Dou City to seek temporary suppression from the Nine Heart Begonia Ye Family."

Negative effects like poison could be directly purified by the Purification Domain, and it might even work faster than the Nine Heart Begonia's healing.

As for a solution, Ye Kai already had an idea in mind.

At that moment, someone suddenly knocked on the Secret Chamber's door. A trace of annoyance flashed across Qian Renxue's face. She had clearly instructed them not to disturb her unless it was something important.

She had finally gotten some time alone with Xiao Kai. Why did an urgent matter have to be reported now of all times?

After opening the door, Snake Lance Douluo entered and reported to Qian Renxue, "Young Mistress, Poison Douluo Dugu Bo has returned to Heaven Dou City and gone directly to the Ye Family. I heard that his son has been seriously injured."

A grave look flashed through Qian Renxue's eyes. "Dugu Bo?"

As an Imperial Supporter of the royal family, if she could win Dugu Bo's support, her Crown Prince Position would become even more secure.

Ye Kai had been worrying over how to bring up Dugu Bo to Qian Renxue, but before he had even finished yawning, the pillow had been delivered right to him.

"I can help him with this—" Before Ye Kai could finish, Qian Renxue urgently interrupted him.

"No. Dugu Bo is temperamental, solitary by nature, narrow-minded, and utterly shameless. Xiao Kai, you could be in danger."

Ye Kai took Qian Renxue's jade-like hand and reassured her, "Don't worry, Xue'er Jie. If this succeeds, we can also secretly draw Dugu Bo over to your side."

"But you cannot show yourself right now, for the same reason as Ning Fengzhi. So I plan to go under Spirit Hall's name, with Salas accompanying me."

"Then give me one of your tokens. I will use it to show that I am a Spy you planted in Spirit Hall. As an Imperial Supporter of the royal family, he should understand that Heaven Dou only maintains a surface peace with Spirit Hall because it needs something from them."

The more Ye Kai said, the less Qian Renxue wanted him to negotiate with Dugu Bo for her sake.

"But what if he attacks you directly? Salas cannot stop him."

"Don't worry. He might attack directly out in the wilderness, but he would not dare do so inside Heaven Dou City."

Yet seeing the determination in Ye Kai's eyes and the gentle smile on his face, she ultimately agreed to his plan.

"You must be careful. If anything happens to you, I will have Grandfather personally kill Dugu Bo." A trace of killing intent flashed through Qian Renxue's eyes.

"Don't worry." Ye Kai squeezed Qian Renxue's little hand again, accepted a token bearing the word "Qinghe" from her, and Teleported back to the Martial Soul Saint Hall before her face could turn flushed.

After finding Salas, Ye Kai got straight to the point. "I heard Dugu Bo has returned to Heaven Dou City?"

Salas was startled. He had only just received the intelligence himself, yet Ye Kai already knew?

It seemed there were other Spirit Hall forces secretly lurking within Heaven Dou City.

"Yes, I only just received the news as well. It seems Dugu Bo's son encountered a problem during cultivation and was poisoned by his own toxins. The Ye Family has already gone over."

"In that case, I'll have to trouble Bishop Salas to take me there. My martial soul should be able to help him resolve the problem as well."

"This... Your Highness, Dugu Bo is far too dangerous. Perhaps it would be better to forget it."

At the thought that something might happen to Ye Kai at Dugu Bo's hands, His Majesty the Pope would probably dispose of both him and Dugu Bo and send them off to keep Ye Kai company in death.

"There won't be a problem. I'm confident."

After his repeated attempts at persuasion proved futile, Salas could only lead Ye Kai to Dugu Bo's residence in Heaven Dou City.

By the time the two arrived at Dugu Bo's doorstep, the Ye Family members had already left. It seemed they had barely managed to suppress the poison.

After being announced, Ye Kai and Salas met Dugu Bo.

I forgot to set the scheduled release today. Sorry for the late update.