Dugu Bo Recruitment Plan

Heaven Dou City, Crown Prince's Estate, secret chamber, Qian Renxue's bedroom.

"How much longer until Zhu Qing wakes up?"

Qian Renxue frowned. "She'll naturally wake up once you leave. What are you worried about? It's not like I'm some villain who would harm you two."

Ling Qianyue shrugged and smiled faintly. "When we used the Martial Soul Fusion Skill, I sensed someone's dark side and certain twisted thoughts as well. A holy angel?"

"Hmph." Qian Renxue snorted and turned away, though her cheeks flushed slightly. She really wanted to form chains from the power of Angel Judgment and bind this fellow who had angered her.

As she imagined Ling Qianyue's limbs fastened by chains, pinned to the bed and left at her mercy, Qian Renxue's heartbeat quickened for a moment, and the blush on her face deepened.

"Why are you blushing?"

"Ahem, it's nothing." Qian Renxue coughed lightly to hide her embarrassment. "The air in this secret chamber just doesn't circulate well. It's a little stuffy."

What a terrible excuse.

"Dugu Bo has been poisoned," Ling Qianyue said.

"Poisoned?" Qian Renxue raised a brow. "Are you sure? Isn't Dugu Bo the Poison Douluo? He's spent his entire life playing with poison. On Douluo Continent, it could be said that no one understands poison better than he does. His body should be immune to all poisons. How could he have been poisoned?"

"What if the poison came from his Martial Soul itself?"

Qian Renxue froze. "That is rather unusual."

Ling Qianyue sighed and said slowly, "That's how strange it is. While cultivating, Dugu Bo seemed to have triggered some taboo within his Martial Soul, causing it to backlash against him and poison to invade his body. This poison cannot be easily removed, and it can even be inherited, lying dormant in his descendants. Haven't you noticed how old Dugu Bo looks? And how awful his hair color is? What normal person would dye that thing green? Dugu Yan's hair and eye colors aren't common on Douluo Continent either. They're manifestations of the poison within her body."

"Indeed." Qian Renxue nodded. Dugu Bo was a guest adviser of the Heaven Dou Imperial Family, invited by Prince Xue Xing, and she had met him several times.

His aged appearance truly did not match the title of Titled Douluo.

The Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan from Spirit Hall, who had a grudge against Dugu Bo and might start a fight whenever they met, was about the same age as Dugu Bo—perhaps even much older.

Yet his appearance was far, far more attractive than Dugu Bo's.

With skin as tender as an infant's and a bewitching face, he was practically a man with a woman's features. One could not discern Yue Guan's true age from his looks at all.

Soul Power naturally nourished a Soul Master's body. Upon reaching rank 90, one could live to three hundred years old, and every additional rank granted another hundred years of lifespan. A rank 99 Peerless Douluo could live for as long as twelve hundred years.

Sea God Poseidon had once gathered a thousand years' worth of faith from the ocean and Become a God.

Therefore, unless their lifespan was nearly at its end, Titled Douluos were almost never decrepit with age.

Even from appearance alone, one could already spot certain problems.

"So what is the point of telling me this?" Qian Renxue looked at Ling Qianyue, a thoughtful glint flashing through her eyes.

The Shattered Star Sword appeared out of thin air and was gripped in Ling Qianyue's hand.

Ling Qianyue ran his fingertips over the blade of the Shattered Star Sword. Luminous white starlight poured onto the table like flowing sand, forming a microscopic projection of the poison source within Dugu Bo's body.

Within the phantom meridians shrouded in green mist, star power devoured the poison throughout his body.

"My Martial Soul's purification ability can gradually eliminate the poison source in his body, but it cannot be done overnight. Dugu Bo's poison has already seeped deep into his bones. Even I would need to spend a great deal of time on it, and I don't have the time or energy to suppress his poison source whenever it erupts. Besides, you don't want no one to practice Martial Soul Fusion Skills with you, do you? Therefore, I need the help of someone knowledgeable in medicinal herbs—namely the Chrysanthemum Douluo, who is famous for his love of flowers and plants."

Qian Renxue had already understood. "You became Dugu Bo's Registered Disciple because you had planned this all along? You intend to use our power to cure him, then win him over and bring him under our control?"

Qian Renxue chuckled as she looked Ling Qianyue up and down. "When you entered the city, you sensed my Martial Soul and guessed my identity. You cut off the Martial Soul Resonance to prevent my identity from being exposed, then decisively chose to join Spirit Hall. After meeting Dugu Bo, you chose to become his Registered Disciple and secretly began plotting to recruit him. You're becoming more and more to my liking."

"However," Qian Renxue said after lowering her gaze in thought, "if he has been poisoned for so long, ordinary herbal knowledge probably won't be of much use, will it? He should have studied herbs himself."

"You're overthinking it. From what I observed yesterday, his research into herbs isn't actually that profound. In his Medicine Garden, poisonous plants and ordinary medicinal herbs are grown together. He's naturally proud and unruly, and he can't bring himself to ask others for help. Over the years, he probably only researched herbs by himself. He may even have personally tasted each plant and observed the changes in the poison inside his body. It's a miracle he hasn't died. Yesterday, I suppressed the poison source within his body, and after taking me as a Registered Disciple, he was in such high spirits that he privately told me about a secret natural Medicine Garden of his. It contains many precious medicinal herbs that he cannot identify. With the Chrysanthemum Douluo's botanical texts, helping Dugu Bo should become much easier. Then, over the next few years, I can take the opportunity to draw him into Spirit Hall. Even Spirit Hall could not turn down the addition of a Titled Douluo, could it?"

Qian Renxue nodded. She suddenly recalled that the Chrysanthemum Douluo and the Poison Douluo were bitter rivals. Even if the Chrysanthemum Douluo possessed texts on herbal research, Dugu Bo would likely never ask him for them, much less reveal that he had been poisoned.

"I'll send word back to Spirit Hall immediately and have the Chrysanthemum Douluo send over a copy of his research. I remember that his family also passed down a botanical text. I'll have him make a copy of that as well. He cannot come in person, so you won't have the chance to meet him. The current Chrysanthemum Douluo belongs to the Papal Palace and cannot easily be dispatched by me, but copying a text is a simple matter."

Qian Renxue continued, "There is actually a reason Dugu Bo pledged himself to Heaven Dou. Prince Xue Xing once aided Dugu Bo when he was in danger. After finishing his travels across the continent, Dugu Bo settled down here. He also gave Xue Xing a promise: he would join the Heaven Dou Imperial Family as a guest adviser and save his life several times whenever he was in danger. Though eccentric, he values loyalty and promises alike. Once that promise and favor have been used up, little will remain of the relationship between Dugu Bo and Prince Xue Xing. After all, in ordinary times, theirs is merely a relationship of mutual wariness and exploitation. At that point, whether he will continue to remain with the Heaven Dou Imperial Family will be uncertain. We can start from there."

"A black-hearted angel." Ling Qianyue curled his lip.

"You're not much different." Qian Renxue raised a brow.

The two looked at each other, then both laughed.