Three Years of Secluded Cultivation

As the sun and moon traded places, a new day began.

Having finished his morning cultivation, Dugu Chen ate breakfast with Dugu Yan, who had come to find him early in the morning.

They were eating the Golden Crocodile King. The meat of a top-tier Soul Beast truly was exceptional—not only was it satisfyingly chewy, but after eating it, Dugu Chen could feel a warm energy slowly being absorbed by his body.

Though the amount was small, accumulated over time, the improvement to his physique would be considerable. No wonder people said that scholars could be poor, but martial artists could not.

Just then, Dugu Bo returned.

Upon entering the room and seeing the leftover dishes on the table, he said nothing. He casually pulled over a chair and sat down, poured himself a cup of tea, then held out two bracelets.

"These are the gains from this trip to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. That Ning Fengzhi really was just as you said. At first, he didn't believe this old man, but after using it, he became exceedingly polite toward me. I saw Soul Power overflowing from his entire body—he must have broken through Level 80. The Soul Bone is already in hand, and these two Soul Tools are bonuses."

With a flash of green light, a long black wooden box resembling a sword case appeared in Dugu Bo's right hand. He placed it directly on the dining table.

Dugu Chen took the two Soul Tools. One was red and the other purple, both adorned with exquisite patterns. At a glance, they were clearly the work of a master craftsman. Each bracelet was evenly set with six gemstones of the same color as the bracelet, every one perfectly round. Their luster was warm and lustrous; they were clearly rare and precious jade.

When Dugu Chen sent his Soul Power into them, he found that each gemstone held roughly two cubic meters of storage space. One Soul Tool thus had twelve cubic meters of capacity. These colors had clearly been carefully selected.

He handed one to Dugu Yan and put the other on his wrist. Soul Tools truly were miraculous things—they automatically adjusted to fit the wearer's size. After playing with it for a while, Dugu Chen said, "Teacher, it seems Ning Fengzhi has already broken through Level 80. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect is about to become the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile School. These two bracelets are their gift of goodwill."

Dugu Bo nodded. It seemed he had still underestimated his herb garden. The Nine-Rank Purple Ganoderma, which was not even considered precious there, could actually allow the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect to break through its limit. If word of his herb garden got out, the consequences...

The thought alone sent a chill down Dugu Bo's spine.

"Yan Yan, Chen'er, neither of you may speak of the immortal herbs in the future. You may reveal that your second soul rings of a thousand years came from Whale Rubber, but if others learn that we possess so many supreme treasures, we may never know peace for the rest of our lives."

Dugu Chen and Dugu Yan solemnly nodded. In the end, their strength was still insufficient. If he possessed the strength of Level 99, who would dare trouble him?

Dugu Chen reached for the box on the table and weighed it in both hands, discovering that it was even heavier than he had expected.

He opened the black wooden box with both hands. The moment it revealed the slightest crack, Dugu Chen was greatly startled. A surging aura burst forth from that narrow gap, seemingly freezing even the surrounding space.

Inside the wooden box lay a shrunken Left Arm Bone. It was entirely black, its light restrained, yet the aura it emitted was enough to make anyone's heart tremble.

Soul Bones were also ranked in quality. Generally speaking, the more complete a Soul Bone was and the greater its energy fluctuations, the higher its quality proved to be, and the more powerful the Soul Beast it had come from.

This Soul Bone consisted only of a forearm and was incomplete. Clearly, it was not a top-grade Soul Bone.

Though its quality was poor, Dugu Chen's heart still burned when he saw it, and he wanted to absorb it immediately. Suppressing that urge, he closed the lid and handed it back to Dugu Bo, then laughed at himself.

"As expected of a treasure bought with blood. This disciple nearly couldn't resist claiming it for himself just now. It seems my state of mind is still lacking."

Dugu Bo did not take Dugu Chen's words to heart.

"Hehe, forget you, brat. When this old man first got it, I wanted nothing more than to grab it and run."

"This Soul Bone came from a Night Leopard over twelve thousand years old. Although its attributes do not match my martial soul, it is temporarily sufficient as a vessel for the poison."

As the capital of the Heaven Dou Empire, Heaven Dou City possessed an exceedingly long history.

Whether in its architectural style or its local customs, everything revealed its profound historical heritage.

Dugu Chen had been in Heaven Dou City for nearly half a year, yet he had spent all that time cultivating and had never properly explored the city. This time, they were going to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Eye to detoxify Dugu Bo, and he did not know how long they would remain there. Thus, under the pretext of purchasing supplies, Dugu Chen had Dugu Bo take him and Dugu Yan out to properly look around.

Of course, Dugu Chen and Dugu Yan were the ones shopping, while Dugu Bo was merely the guardian—or, more accurately, the bodyguard.

At that moment, Dugu Yan was holding Dugu Chen's hand as she wandered here and looked there, while her other hand held a skewer of candied hawthorn. Her excitement was like that of a husky tearing apart a house.

Poor Dugu Chen had to endure the suffering of accompanying a girl on a shopping trip at such a young age. Fortunately, Douluo Continent had Soul Tools as a local specialty; otherwise, Dugu Chen's misery would have been doubled and then some.

The streets bustled with people, filled with vendors' cries and the endless murmur of conversation. Watching the crowds passing back and forth, Dugu Chen fell slightly into a daze as an unfamiliar emotion welled up within him.

"Junior Brother, what's wrong? Aren't you happy shopping with your Senior Sister?" Dugu Yan, who had been keeping an eye on Dugu Chen, immediately noticed something off about him and asked in confusion.

"Of course not. I just didn't expect shopping with Senior Sister to be this fun. It's much more interesting than cultivating." Dugu Chen hurriedly denied it, his survival instincts fully engaged as he forced a smile.

"Exactly! Exactly! That's what I think too. Then once we get back, let's come out shopping every day!" Dugu Yan said excitedly. She had not expected her Junior Brother to enjoy shopping so much. Sure enough, she and her Junior Brother were truly in sync.

At those words, Dugu Chen felt as if his life had gone dark. He hurriedly stopped her.

"No, Teacher doesn't have that much time to accompany us. And Teacher is getting old, Senior Sister. You don't want Teacher to be so exhausted, do you?"

Hearing Dugu Chen's words, Dugu Yan turned to look at Dugu Bo behind them. He did not look tired at all, and she was somewhat puzzled, but she still felt sorry for her grandfather.

"Fine! Then once we're strong enough to go out on our own, we can come out and have fun by ourselves."

Hearing that, Dugu Chen nodded repeatedly, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, and let out a long breath. Seeing the teasing look in Dugu Bo's eyes, he gave an awkward smile.

As evening fell, the three of them returned home after a day of shopping for supplies and rested for the night. They would set off for the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Eye early the next morning.

Before leaving, Dugu Chen summoned the steward to his room and instructed him to go to the Balak Kingdom, focusing on villages near Suotuo City to find two people.

Ice and Fire Yin Yang Eye.

On a hill not far from the spring, Dugu Bo had carved out a cave to serve as their future residence.

Inside the cave, Dugu Bo had already absorbed the Soul Bone. He was still Level 91, since the energy within that Soul Bone was not enough for Dugu Bo to rise another level.

Dugu Bo personally prepared some medicine to relax the sinews and promote blood circulation, mixed it into Dugu Yan's blood, and took it. Afterward, he could clearly feel the poison in his body being suppressed. The pain caused by the poison's backlash had noticeably lessened. Using his profound Soul Power, he slowly guided the poison into his Soul Bone. Not only had his strength not weakened, but even the bottleneck at the newly attained Level 91 showed signs of cracking.

After Level 90, every single level was an enormous bottleneck. He had not expected this treatment to bring such an unexpected surprise.

Over these past few days, Dugu Bo's mood had visibly improved. The pain that had plagued him all this time was finally about to be resolved, and his entire person seemed much younger.

Once Dugu Chen confirmed that Dugu Bo's poison was slowly being transferred into the Soul Bone, he finally relaxed. Though the process was slow, it was effective.

The Ice and Fire Yin Yang Eye might not be a mimicry cultivation environment like those found in advanced academies, but the vital energy here was abundant—perhaps no worse than a mimicry environment.

They had both consumed the Immortal Herbs from the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Eye, so its extreme cold and blazing heat no longer affected them. Dugu Bo was also quite reassured about their safety.

Beside a massive ganoderma, Dugu Chen sat cross-legged in cultivation. The entire ganoderma was golden, with Dragon Scales faintly visible across its surface. It was a Nine-Rank Dragon Ganoderma, a rare immortal-grade treasure for dragon-type Martial Souls.

This was also the spot with the densest dragon aura in the entire Ice and Fire Yin Yang Eye. Dugu Chen cultivated here to nourish his Martial Soul with dragon aura while using the abundant energy to further open the meridians within his body and strengthen his foundation.

His Kirin Martial Soul had come from a mutation. Though it had now evolved to near perfection, it still contained dragon bloodline within it, as was evident from those Dragon Claws.

On Douluo Continent, anything associated with dragons was invariably powerful. Since he possessed such favorable conditions, naturally he would use them to reinforce his foundation.

Dugu Yan, meanwhile, cultivated at the central spring, soaking her body in the water. The Ice and Fire Yin Yang Eye continuously helped Dugu Yan absorb the medicinal effects of the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and Infernal Delicate Apricot within her body, transforming her physique. It also allowed her to absorb the poisons of extreme cold and blazing heat, strengthening the two poisons of her Martial Soul and accelerating her cultivation speed.

In the days that followed, Dugu Chen and Dugu Yan devoted themselves to secluded cultivation within the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Eye. With Dugu Bo, a Titled Douluo, serving as their sparring partner, their combat experience grew by the day.

Dugu Chen also taught Dugu Bo and Dugu Yan the cultivation method of Sovereign's Descent. Unfortunately, neither possessed the talent for it and could not learn it. Still, Dugu Bo's experience as a Titled Douluo gave Dugu Chen much guidance, allowing him to avoid many detours.

Once people immersed themselves in something, time always passed swiftly. Dugu Chen, Dugu Yan, and Dugu Bo lived in seclusion at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Eye.

While cultivating and growing stronger, they also absorbed Dugu Bo's decades of Martial Soul cultivation experience, as well as his skills in identifying poisons and concocting medicine. Every day was fulfilling.

Everything in the outside world seemed to have nothing to do with them, and time itself became blurred. The only change Dugu Chen felt was that his formerly rather "scrawny" body was rapidly filling out.

At this time, storms were brewing in the outside world. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's promotion into the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile School had thrown the Soul Master world, which had only just calmed down, into turmoil.

In Holy Spirit Village, an ordinary little boy was cooking at home for his lazy father. Bibi Dong's position on the Pope's throne was steadily solidifying, while Xue Qinghe was also consolidating his newly acquired position as Crown Prince.

Everything appeared so peaceful.