Inscribing One's Name on the Pagoda and Raiding the Herb Garden

[Black World]

The scene flashed by.

At this point in time, Dugu Bo of the Black World was suffering unbearably from his poison backlash. How could he have had the mood to tend the Herb Garden?

This incomparably rare treasure land was currently growing wild.

Weeds ran rampant, and Immortal Herbs lay covered in dust.

They bloomed in loneliness and withered in loneliness.

They waited for a youth named Tang San to arrive six years later and sweep the place clean like a swarm of locusts.

That bandit-like attitude of "I want it all" might have felt satisfying, but it destroyed the foundation of this treasure land.

[White World]

Bai Tang San held a specially made parchment booklet and was assigning numbers and records to every Immortal Herb.

"This is the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum. Consuming it can cultivate an Indestructible Vajra Body."

"This is the Eight-Petaled Immortal Orchid. Its medicinal nature is mild, and it strengthens one's foundation and replenishes vitality."

"This is the Cockscomb Phoenix Sunflower, a pure-yang tonic..."

Dugu Bo followed behind him, listening like a primary school student, utterly dumbfounded.

He had guarded this treasure land for decades, yet he had never known these "weeds" possessed such heaven-defying effects!

"Little monster, according to you, if we sold these herbs..."

Dugu Bo swallowed, the green light in his eyes practically spilling out.

"Sell them?"

Bai Tang San stopped writing and glanced back at him, disappointment flashing in his eyes.

"Like killing the goose that lays the golden eggs."

"Every one of these Immortal Herbs condensed the essence of heaven and earth over hundreds or thousands of years."

"Pick one, and there is one less."

"Only by knowing how to cultivate them, preserve their seeds, and use this place's special environment for 'sustainable development'..."

"Can this place become our inexhaustible source of wealth."

After saying that.

Bai Tang San walked over to an Immortal Herb that gave off a faint fragrance and resembled a dewdrop.

"Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew."

He carefully plucked it without damaging its roots, even dripping several drops of specially formulated Growth-Inducing Liquid onto the cut.

"This one is mine."

"It can help my Purple Demon Eye break through its bottleneck and reach the Vast Realm."

Immediately afterward.

He walked toward another Immortal Herb that carried the fragrance of tulips.

"Aromatic Silk Beauty."

"I'm reserving this one as well."

Dugu Bo was somewhat curious. "Are you using this one yourself?"

"No."

Bai Tang San placed the Aromatic Silk Beauty into a Jade Box and sealed it away.

A calculating curve rose at the corner of his lips.

"This is a bargaining chip."

"It is for that little witch from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect."

"If I want to bind that mountain of gold completely to my chariot, the Divided Mind Control Method alone will not be enough."

"I also need to help them fulfill a dream... the dream of the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda."

Dugu Bo's scalp went numb.

This kid...

He took one step and planned ten steps ahead.

He had even plotted against the Ning family's little princess before ever meeting her!

"Alright, I've taken my payment."

Bai Tang San clapped his hands, his expression turning serious.

"Next."

"It's time to handle the real matter."

"Dugu Bo, sit down."

He did not call him Senior, instead addressing him directly by name.

Yet Dugu Bo did not feel the slightest displeasure and obediently sat cross-legged.

Because he knew the crucial moment had arrived.

Bai Tang San took out several silver needles. Soul Power surged around his fingertips—the ultimate Soul Power tempered by ice and fire.

"Your poison has already seeped into your bones and marrow."

"There is only one way to remove it completely."

"Force the poison into your bones."

"Force all that uncontrollable Poison Technique into your Soul Bones and refine it into your origin weapon."

"The process will hurt."

"Endure it."

Before his words had even faded.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Several silver needles flashed with cold light as they pierced Dugu Bo's vital points with precision.

"Ugh—!!!"

Dugu Bo grunted, his entire body trembling violently.

It was pain like scraping poison from his bones.

But he clenched his teeth until they nearly shattered and did not make a sound.

Compared to the agony of countless ants gnawing at his heart every rainy day, what the hell was this little pain?

Time passed second by second.

The green aura around Dugu Bo gradually faded, and his formerly sinister, terrifying presence slowly receded.

In its place.

Was a deep, restrained, yet even more dangerous emerald radiance.

At last.

All the poison gathered within his Head Soul Bone.

Boom!

An incomparably powerful aura erupted from Dugu Bo's body.

Ninety-second rank!

The bottleneck that had plagued him for years shattered the instant the poison backlash was removed!

"Haa..."

Dugu Bo opened his eyes.

The old eyes that had once been murky and sinister were now incomparably clear, gleaming with sharp brilliance.

He felt the Soul Power coursing smoothly through his body.

He felt a lightness he had never experienced before.

It was like casting off shackles he had carried for an entire lifetime.

"Ha ha ha ha!"

"I... I'm cured!"

"I'm really cured!"

Dugu Bo threw back his head and howled with laughter. His voice shook the mountains and forests, filled with boundless exhilaration and release.

He abruptly rose to his feet.

He looked at the youth before him, whose face was slightly pale.

Without the slightest hesitation.

He cupped his hands.

He bowed.

He gave him a salute between equals.

"Little monster."

"No words can repay this great kindness."

"From today onward, you can swagger through Sunset Forest."

"Whoever dares touch even a hair on your head."

"I'll poison his entire family to death!"

This was not empty politeness.

It was the most solemn promise a Titled Douluo could make.

And it was the absolute backing Bai Tang San had gained through an open scheme.

[Real World]

Black World, within a dark cave.

The real Dugu Bo stared fixedly at the Sky Curtain.

He watched that spirited, rosy-faced version of himself.

Then he touched the ribs that still ached faintly.

Two streams of tears slid down his wrinkled cheeks.

That was envy.

And jealousy.

"Why..."

"Why couldn't I meet a little monster like that?"

"Why could my Herb Garden only end up benefiting that bandit who knew nothing but pulling weeds?"

Dugu Bo recalled the future Hei Tang San stripping his Herb Garden so bare it looked like a dog had chewed through it, not even leaving him a single root.

He had even taken the Snowy Swan Kiss, the herb most important to him, and used it to wreak havoc in the City of Slaughter.

His heart ached!

"Hmph."

Dugu Bo suddenly turned and looked toward Shrek Academy in the Black World.

A dangerous chill flashed through his gleaming green eyes.

"Tang San, is it..."

"Since you knew how to cure poison, yet kept it hidden in the original world and insisted on waiting until I was nearly dead before acting..."

"It seems."

"I should find an opportunity to pay you a visit."

"If you cannot give me a satisfactory explanation..."

"Hmph hmph!"

At this moment, Hei Tang San was still worrying over a few copper coins. He had no idea that an enormous black pot had already crossed time and space and landed squarely on his head.

Time flew by, slipping quietly through one's fingers.

The images on the Sky Curtain began accelerating wildly, and the previously clear movements turned into layers of afterimages.

These were the golden six years of a Soul Master's growth.

[Black World]

Nuoding City Junior Soul Master Academy, outside the gates.

The sunlight was somewhat dazzling.

Twelve-year-old Hei Tang San carried a simple cloth bag on his back and held the travel rations Teacher Yu Xiaogang had prepared for him.

After six years of blacksmithing, his body was sturdy, but because he had long lacked high-grade nutritional supplements, his complexion was somewhat sallow and he was not particularly tall.

"Xiao San, once you get to Shrek Academy, listen carefully to Headmaster Flender."

Yu Xiaogang stood beneath the setting sun. His face was still pale, and he looked even more dispirited than he had six years ago.

Over these six years, his Ten Core Competencies had been criticized to the point of utter worthlessness by the Sky Curtain, leaving him on the verge of a mental breakdown.

"Remember, keep a low profile, be obedient, and do not cause trouble carelessly."

Yu Xiaogang instructed him.

His theories had already gone bankrupt. His only remaining hope was for Tang San to continue down the path of the "pure control type" as he had envisioned.

For that reason, the Second Soul Ring he chose for Tang San remained mediocre—it came from a six-hundred-year-old Datura Snake and granted an extremely rigid Entanglement skill.