"Success..."
Bai Mu opened his eyes, a sharp glint flashing through them.
Perhaps his foundation had been too poor, or perhaps his constitution was unusual, but the effects of the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum far exceeded his expectations.
He felt that his current physical quality was absolutely no weaker than that of a Soul Grandmaster with the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon martial soul.
He could not say with certainty that he would be able to absorb a Thousand-Year Spirit Ring as his Second Spirit Ring, but it was now quite possible.
"I feel like I could beat my old self to death with three punches."
Bai Mu clenched his fist tightly, feeling the surging strength within his body.
Compared to the external changes, the internal changes were no less substantial.
The Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum had opened and broadened all the meridians throughout his body. His blood, qi, and Soul Power flowed with extreme smoothness, and his cultivation speed would rise once more in the future!
Moreover, his Soul Power Level had skyrocketed from level 11 to level 16.
He had risen five levels at once, and that was with the medicinal effects not yet fully absorbed.
He had a feeling that even without cultivating, he could easily reach level 20 within a year using the remaining medicinal power!
More importantly, Zygarde had also benefited from him and split off another five Z-Cells!
Setting aside the one cell left at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, there were now thirty-four Z-Cells in total!
Including the core itself, he only needed to gather another fifteen cells before he could transform into 50% Z-Snake Form himself!
If all went well, it would only take one or two years!
"Xiao Ruan, how do you feel?"
Bai Mu walked over and sat beside Zygarde, admiring the distant sunset.
"I split too many cells in a single day. I need to recuperate properly for a few days."
Zygarde lazily rested its head on Bai Mu's lap and rubbed against him.
"Then let's adapt and rest properly together for a few days."
His strength had increased too drastically all at once, and Bai Mu felt as though his entire body was floating.
Afterward, he dug a concealed cave nearby and cultivated in seclusion for three days, thoroughly consolidating his cultivation.
During that time, he monitored the Medicinal Garden through the Z-Cell he had left at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
That old bastard Dugu Bo never returned to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
"Looks like I was too cautious. Still, it's never wrong to be cautious when the time calls for it."
Bai Mu could not say he hated Dugu Bo all that much.
Given the situation at the time, even if the Poison Douluo had not stepped in, Prince Xue Xing would definitely have driven him away.
An eleven-level commoner genius with neither power nor influence, whose talent had yet to be realized, had no say at all before the Royal Family.
The original story was even more ridiculous—the Shrek Seven Devils had already gained some fame and defeated the Heaven Dou Royal Team, yet Xue Xing still drove the entire academy away because Xue Beng had been beaten.
But understanding was one thing, and being upset was another.
"Since you helped Xue Xing, then your antidote... is gone."
He viciously wrote Dugu Bo's name into the "little notebook" in his heart.
Several days passed in the blink of an eye, and Bai Mu had no choice but to face a new problem—
"Where should I go next?"
His original plan had been to join Heaven Dou Royal Academy, get close to Dugu Yan, find ways to learn about Dugu Bo, and then obtain Immortal Herbs.
Yet although there had been setbacks, he had already obtained one Immortal Herb and accomplished more than half his goal. For a moment, he instead felt somewhat lost.
Suddenly, Xue Beng's revolting face appeared in Bai Mu's mind at just the right moment.
"To avoid changing the plot too much, I can't kill you yet."
A cold glint flickered in Bai Mu's eyes. "But trash... can always be reused..."
He rose to his feet and walked toward the outskirts of Sunset Forest.
Heaven Dou Royal Academy.
"What? You drove away that junior student named Bai Mu?"
Dugu Yan had accidentally learned of this from her grandfather and froze on the spot.
"What? Is that boy important to you?"
Dugu Bo frowned—ever since his son's death, his granddaughter had been his only concern.
He was somewhat afraid that this matter would affect their relationship.
"Not really. I just thought he was rather special..."
Dugu Yan shook her head, regret in her voice. "Earlier, when I was within the range of his Healing Spirit Skill, my body felt incredibly comfortable. I was planning to find him and talk to him over the next few days, but I never expected him to withdraw from the academy..."
She sighed, failing to notice her grandfather's stiff expression.
"Yan Yan, you mean... his Healing Spirit Skill made you feel very comfortable?"
Dugu Bo's voice tightened slightly.
"Yeah. It was like soaking in a hot spring. Every bit of tension in my body relaxed."
Dugu Yan nodded.
Upon hearing that, Dugu Bo's heart sank.
The Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison was a hereditary Toxic poison. Both he and his granddaughter suffered greatly from it.
Over the years, he had searched everywhere for a way to detoxify it, yet had always come up empty-handed.
And Bai Mu's Healing Spirit Skill had actually made Dugu Yan feel "more comfortable than ever before."
This likely meant that Bai Mu's Spirit Skill had suppressive, Purify, or even healing effects on the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison!
He had personally driven away a possible hope...?
"No! We must find him!"
Dugu Bo abruptly stood up. After giving Dugu Yan a few instructions, he hurried off to find Prince Xue Xing and ask about Bai Mu's whereabouts.
However, Xue Xing's answer made him feel as though he had fallen into an ice cellar:
"Rest assured, Poison Douluo. I already sent people to 'deal with' him. But they searched for days and couldn't find him. Perhaps... he was eaten by some powerful nearby Spirit Beast."
The hope that had just ignited was extinguished.
Dugu Bo's expression instantly darkened like ink.
He felt as though a part of him had died.
"Damn it!"
He gritted his teeth and growled, "I want to see him if he's alive, and I want to see his corpse if he's dead. Help me find him immediately! Put out a bounty! No matter the cost, we must find him!"
"This... all right!"
Xue Xing's expression was somewhat complicated, but he soon nodded heavily.
Heaven Dou City.
"Tsk, tsk. What kind of madness has Dugu Bo fallen into? He actually put up a bounty of ten thousand Gold Soul Coins for me?"
Bai Mu looked at the wanted notice on the wall with interest, a faint smile at the corner of his lips.
After thinking for a moment, he had an answer—
"Could it be... that my Jungle Healing has a suppressive effect on the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison?"
"Sigh, if you'd known this would happen, why did you do it in the first place?"
He shook his head with a light laugh and casually wandered around the city.
After Zygarde consumed the Immortal Herb, aside from splitting Z-Cells, its greatest gain had been obtaining the Presence Concealment ability of the Lovesick Heartbreak Red.
Combined with Invisibility, as long as Bai Mu did not expose himself, ordinary people could not detect him at all.
Even a Title Douluo would find it difficult to discover him without deliberately searching.
Bai Mu wandered through the city and outside it, even secretly infiltrating Heaven Dou Royal Academy to observe it for several days.
Time slowly passed, and in the blink of an eye, three months had gone by!
Heaven Dou Royal Academy, a tree-lined path.
"A bunch of lowly Spirit Masters. They're only fit to be my lackeys!"
Xue Beng walked cheerfully along the path back to his private dormitory. Thinking about the flattery from those lackeys today, he could not help humming softly.
Suddenly, the ground vanished beneath his feet!
"Ah—!"
A hole had appeared in the ground at some unknown time. Caught completely off guard, Xue Beng plummeted straight down!
Before he could react, the back of his head was struck heavily. His vision went black, and he lost consciousness.
The ground trembled faintly, and the hole rapidly closed as though it had never existed.
Only several notes had appeared in the Office Building at some unknown time.
[The delicate Fourth Prince is in my hands. If you want him to live, prepare five hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins, along with ten pieces each of hundred-year, thousand-year, and Ten Thousand Year Whale Rubber, all placed inside a Storage Soul Tool capable of holding Living Creatures.
Otherwise... esteemed seniors, surely you do not wish for the empire's Fourth Prince to die young, do you?]
Before you continue