Tang Qinghe slapped the water with his right hand and pushed himself high into the air. After flipping through the air, he landed on the ground in a half-crouch.
At that moment, his Spirit Power still relied on his twenty-three levels, but the improvement to his physical strength and the increase in his Spirit Power had given him an astonishing boost in speed.
(P.S. The Blazing Apricot and the Eight-Cornered Mysterious Ice Grass wouldn't directly increase Spirit Power. Their effect was to greatly improve physical strength and speed up cultivation.)
Tang Qinghe had just acquired the Ninth Heaven Divine Art, and the White Tiger he summoned had changed.
After fusing with the Ninth Heaven Divine Art, the tiger's ash-white fur had turned jet black. It no longer looked like a White Tiger, and even its shape was different.
The dark, demonic tiger that appeared after the fusion of Tang Qinghe's martial soul and the Ninth Heaven Divine Art seemed to have nothing in common with a White Tiger.
Tang Qinghe could clearly feel that his Battle Tiger martial soul had officially completed its evolution.
His first martial soul was no longer a Battle Tiger. Instead, it had transformed into a completely new martial soul.
"From now on, I'll just call you Dark Tiger."
Putting away the Dark Tiger martial soul, Tang Qinghe raised his left hand and summoned Sky Net. He then released his second martial soul.
The purple light fused with Sky Net. Its color remained purple, but its size increased several times. It was no longer a small bone only a few inches long, but a long, purple object resembling a dragon's bone. It was a striking transformation, and its imposing appearance gave people a sense of awe.
A faint golden glow seemed to appear on the surface of each bone, adding a special beauty to it.
Tang Qinghe urged Sky Net, pouring Spirit Power into the bones. He tried to control them with his mental power and shape them into dragon bones.
Although he had failed, all thirteen purple bones had moved slightly.
Tang Qinghe reached out and grabbed one of the bones. Using the technique for drawing a dragon's bone, he flung it out. It struck a boulder several times his size and shattered it, leaving a long, narrow crack through its center. A small, pitch-black hole lay at the heart of the crack, and a faint golden light glimmered inside. It was clear that the bone had sunk deep into the stone.
"I wonder whether my second martial soul will eventually evolve into a Frost Bone or a Skyfire Golden Bone."
Tang Qinghe couldn't help feeling excited.
After getting dressed, he thought about refining the two Immortal Herbs. It would definitely take quite a while.
He quickly took out the food and water he had stored in his spirit tool. After eating the buns and drinking some water, he began to refine the antidote.
The formula he needed was very simple: an antidote for the poison in Li A Dou's body.
Unlike the formula he had used before to treat the venom of the Man-Faced Demon Spider, this one was gentler.
The formula required a medicinal herb with powerful detoxifying properties.
As long as he had a potent enough antidote, he could neutralize almost any poison.
And the blood from the herbs he had taken was enough to make it.
Unfortunately, refining it took a long time.
Compared with the original Tang San's method of detoxification, his own approach wasn't as good. Tang San had possessed incredible knowledge and wisdom.
This would inevitably cause some distance between Tang Qinghe and Gu, and might even lead to unnecessary misunderstandings.
But what if he went to King of Pirates and put his feelings on full display? He still needed Gu to restrain Yin Chen.
After some thought, he chose a type of poisonous insect said to be among the weakest in the world: the Ghost Moth Immortal.
The Immortal Herbs were not only potent but could also repel countless poisons.
However, they couldn't cure poison. They would instead destroy Gu's poison ability.
On the contrary, they could also make him immune to all poisons, which would conveniently solve his chronic ailment.
Time flowed by, and before he knew it, another day had passed.
The day Tang Qinghe and Gu had agreed on had arrived.
But when Gu finally met Tang Qinghe, he froze. "Little friend Tang, you..."
"What happened to me?" Tang Qinghe asked, puzzled.
"Look at what you look like." Gu walked up to him, reached into his spirit tool, and took out a mirror.
Tang Qinghe was startled. His current appearance? He lowered his head and looked himself over. Aside from being a little taller and having a more slender build, he didn't notice anything particularly different. But his body was filled with a strength he couldn't quite describe, and he looked better than before.
He took the mirror and looked at his reflection. For a moment, he was completely stunned.
His skin was much fairer than before, and his whole appearance had changed. It was the result of refining the Ninth Heaven Divine Art and transforming his martial soul into a Dark Tiger. Though he still had his original features, they had improved considerably. By ordinary standards, he was handsome; by extraordinary ones, he could even be called heroic.
"Little friend Tang, what exactly happened to you?"
Gu asked in confusion.
"You can understand that my martial soul evolved, and that changed my appearance. It's nothing important. Let's talk about the antidote I prepared for you."
Tang Qinghe opened the pouch at his waist and took out a jade bottle.
"Ah, that's wonderful." Gu accepted the bottle and opened it. A rich medicinal fragrance wafted from within.
Tang Qinghe explained, "This is a seven-part antidote. Take one portion every day, then refine it with your Spirit Power. Based on my calculations, after seven days, the poison in your bones should be completely removed. The remaining poison won't cause you any harm. It might even bring you an unexpected benefit."
Tang Qinghe had prepared nine portions of the antidote. He kept eight for himself, in case he was poisoned by a toxin that couldn't be avoided, and handed the rest to Gu.
Gu remained silent for a long time. In the end, he didn't simply accept it. Instead, he opened his mouth and spat out a flash of light: his Poison Emperor pill.
This was something the two of them had agreed on beforehand.
Tang Qinghe smiled and took out a small bag. After cleaning it, he put it away too, without a hint of greed.
Gu finally smiled again. "All right, little fellow. I'll take you upstairs first. Then I'll need to refine the antidote."
Tang Qinghe waved him off. "No need. I'll be fine here. I plan to gather the medicinal herbs nearby. You just have to remember to bring me food at the usual time each day. I've been eating buns for days, and I'm getting sick of them."
Gu was very diligent. After making sure to bring Tang Qinghe meals each day, he hurried back to his room to refine the antidote.
Tang Qinghe turned and walked toward the herbs growing around the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
Even if some of the herbs weren't useful to him, it was better to gather them and keep them for emergencies. That way, Tang San wouldn't take them away when he came here in the future.
By the time he had finished gathering the herbs, it was already evening.
Gu came to deliver Tang Qinghe's food. Seeing him, his mood seemed poor, and his eyes even looked a little red. Tang Qinghe had been so focused on refining the antidote for Gu that he hadn't noticed anything wrong. Instead, he swallowed the pill Gu had given him and secretly apologized for having doubted him before.
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