Douluo: Martial Soul Iron-Eating Beast, Never a Slave

"There's a reason? What reason could there be?" Dugu Bo asked in a low voice.

"Then listen to me make one up... I mean, explain."

"The Dan Pearl was condensed from the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor, and the poison in your body also came from your Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor Martial Soul. Although the Dan Pearl contained nearly half your strength, it also contained far more than half of the Jade Phosphorous Serpent poison. The reason you wanted me to swallow the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor Dan Pearl was to use its poison to keep me in check, leaving yourself a backup plan."

"If you lost the Dan Pearl, you would lose half your strength, but seventy or eighty percent of the poison in your body would also be cleared away. That would be very helpful for your subsequent treatment."

Dugu Bo glanced at Zhao Mu, seemingly trying to judge whether Zhao Mu was telling the truth.

Seeing Zhao Mu's clear eyes and thinking of his age, how could a child of seven or eight possibly lie?

"So you did this to treat the poison in my body? Should I be thanking you? But swallowing the Dan Pearl was my suggestion," Dugu Bo said.

Without blushing or skipping a beat, Zhao Mu continued making things up. "Actually, even if Senior Dugu hadn't given us the Dan Pearl, we would have found an excuse to ask for it later, weakening the poison in your body that way."

"It just so happened that you took the initiative to suggest that I swallow the Dan Pearl, so Heibai and I simply went along with it."

"If I swallowed the Dan Pearl, there would have been no way for me to do anything to it, and you definitely would have taken it back eventually. But if Heibai swallowed it, it could rely on its powerful stomach to digest the Dan Pearl and completely eliminate the deadly poison. That was why I insisted on finding an excuse to make Heibai swallow it."

After finishing his fabrication, Zhao Mu repeatedly considered whether there were any holes in it.

Zhao Mu did not say much else. He had explained himself, and the rest depended on what Dugu Bo made of it. He gave the man plenty of room to use his imagination.

Then Dugu Bo spoke. "So you were afraid I would be reluctant to part with the Dan Pearl, which was why you wanted to act first and report later, tricking me into letting you refine it?"

"Uh... yes, that's what I meant."

Hearing Zhao Mu admit it, Dugu Bo recalled Zhao Mu's previous behavior.

His stubborn firmness when he refused to prove that he could detoxify poison.

His easy agreement when offered the Dan Pearl.

His hesitation when he himself was supposed to swallow the Dan Pearl.

His resolute decision when making this beast swallow it...

It did seem to make a little bit of sense, but it also felt a billion times too unreal.

That was half his strength, after all!

"Even if I believe what you just said, how do you plan to treat the remaining poison in my body?" Dugu Bo asked.

Zhao Mu could hear the change in Dugu Bo's tone. The man had not completely calmed down, but he was no longer as furious as before.

"Next..."

Just as Zhao Mu was about to speak, he suddenly felt a familiar swelling sensation rise within his body.

Zhao Mu had broken through!

Zhao Mu's Soul Power Level had broken through from level twenty-nine to level thirty.

Reaching level thirty meant that he could try to obtain his third Soul Ring.

"Next, I need to obtain a Soul Ring first! The treatment afterward will require Heibai. The stronger Heibai and I become, the greater the chance of successfully curing you," Zhao Mu told Dugu Bo, feeling the swelling sensation in his body while suppressing his longing and urgency for a third Soul Ring.

Dugu Bo could naturally sense the change in Zhao Mu. Zhao Mu really had broken through to level thirty, and Dugu Bo knew the reason for the breakthrough all too well.

The Dan Pearl. It was all because of his Dan Pearl!

The Dan Pearl contained nearly half of Dugu Bo's strength. Once Heibai digested the thing, pushing Zhao Mu's Soul Power Level from twenty-nine to thirty was effortless.

Moreover, Zhao Mu could clearly feel an endless stream of energy continuing to transfer into his body.

"So you mean I still have to accompany you to hunt your third Soul Ring? You refined my Dan Pearl and broke through to level thirty, and now I have to help you obtain a Soul Ring too? Do you really take me, Dugu Bo, for some fool..." Dugu Bo looked displeased, his tone icy.

Zhao Mu smiled and waved his hand. "There's no need to trouble Senior Dugu over the Soul Ring. As long as Senior Dugu is willing to let me take any Immortal Herbs here, that will be enough."

Dugu Bo swept his gaze over the Immortal Herbs, many of which he could not even identify, then looked back at Zhao Mu. His voice was cold and full of threat. "You and this stupid bear may use the Immortal Herbs here as you please. I can even let the matter of the Dan Pearl slide. But the prerequisite is that you cure the Martial Soul Poison in both Yan Yan and me. If you cannot do it, then I'll settle both the old and new debts with you together!"

"Having received such a great favor from Senior, this junior will certainly do his utmost." Absorbing Dugu Bo's Dan Pearl had not been Zhao Mu's intention; it had been entirely accidental. But it was still half of Dugu Bo's cultivation, which truly counted as a great favor. Besides, Dugu Bo's character was not beyond befriending.

Dugu Bo could not be bothered to listen to Zhao Mu's empty pleasantries. He only cared about the final result.

After that, he stopped paying attention to Zhao Mu and Heibai, turning to leave with Dugu Yan at his side.

After taking only a few steps, Dugu Bo still could not help but sigh.

He said he would not pursue the matter, but how could he let it go so quickly?

That was half his strength!

If he ran into that chrysanthemum from Spirit Hall in the future, how was he supposed to fight?

After Dugu Bo left, Heibai finally removed its paw from over its mouth and let out a long breath.

Then it began howling at Zhao Mu.

"Stop yelling. I'll treat you to a feast today!"

Awooo, awooo~

Heibai had originally raised both arms in protest at Zhao Mu, but upon hearing the words "feast," its arms dropped weakly.

An Iron-Eating Beast would never yield, unless there was a feast involved.

Because of the unexpected Dan Pearl, Zhao Mu's breakthrough to level thirty had come rather suddenly, so he could not decide on his third Soul Ring for a long time.

The reason he could not decide was that he did not know any of the Immortal Herbs here.

So should he open a blind box?

Have Heibai randomly eat an Immortal Herb and see what happened?

Zhao Mu quickly shook his head, rejecting the idea.

It would be fine if he happened to get a good one, but if Heibai ate some relatively ordinary Immortal Herb, that would feel like a loss.

Although the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well was filled with Immortal Herbs, Immortal Herbs came in different grades. Some were better, and some were worse.

Looking at the surrounding Immortal Herbs, Zhao Mu felt a headache coming on. He had not done enough homework. Dugu Bo did not recognize these herbs, and Zhao Mu, an outsider, knew even less.

It seemed that only Yang Wudi of the Breaking Clan, that chrysanthemum from Spirit Hall, and Tang San knew them. But Zhao Mu could not possibly seek advice from any of those three right now. That was unrealistic.

Zhao Mu looked troubledly at the distinctly red-and-white pool. After a long while, a flash of insight suddenly crossed his mind.

His gaze then shifted from the icy Ice Spring, cold to the extreme, to the blazing Fire Spring, hot to the extreme.

Zhao Mu truly could not identify the Immortal Herbs of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. After all, there were differences between descriptions in the original story and the actual objects.

However, even if he did not recognize most of the Immortal Herbs at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, there were two that were extremely recognizable.

They were the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass growing at the central edge of the Ice Spring and the Infernal Delicate Apricot growing at the central edge of the Fire Spring.

These two Immortal Herbs stood apart from the others, proudly growing at the center edges of the Ice Spring and Fire Spring. He should not be mistaken, right?

And it seemed that these two Immortal Herbs had to be eaten together, so...

Should he give Heibai an extra meal tonight?

"Heibai, I'm giving you an extra meal this time! You get to eat two Immortal Herbs at once!" Zhao Mu said to Heibai with a smile.

Hearing there would be extra food, Heibai instinctively revealed a half-blooming smile. But it quickly frowned again.

Because Zhao Mu had that ill-intentioned smile on his face again.

And Zhao Mother had said that if someone treated you well for no reason at all, they definitely wanted something from you.

This Martial Soul Master who did not act like a human must be plotting something again.

Although Zhao Mu could communicate with Heibai, he did not know the little thoughts going through its mind.

At this moment, Zhao Mu simply dragged Heibai toward the Infernal Delicate Apricot in the central area of the Fire Spring.

Although Dugu Bo had left, he had not completely lowered his guard around Zhao Mu. Seeing Zhao Mu walk toward the scorching Immortal Herb that even he did not dare approach, he still warned him out of goodwill. "Kid, if you don't want to die, stay farther away from that scorching Immortal Herb!"

Dugu Bo still hoped Zhao Mu could remove the poison from his body, so Zhao Mu could not die yet. Besides, he had already invested a Dan Pearl!

If Zhao Mu died, would he not lose both the Dan Pearl and the Immortal Herbs? Only once Zhao Mu cured the Martial Soul Poison in his body could Dugu Bo barely be considered to have recouped his losses.

"But this is the key to curing the Martial Soul Poison in you and your granddaughter," Zhao Mu replied.

Dugu Bo was startled. He had not expected the scorching Immortal Herb Zhao Mu was approaching to be used to treat the Martial Soul Poison in his body.

Dugu Bo did not doubt the truth of those words. The greatest peculiarity of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well was its opposing ice and fire. Since this place could suppress the poison in his body, it was only reasonable that the Immortal Herbs growing around its two springs could resolve his Martial Soul Poison.

"The area within several meters of that thing is unbearably hot. Other Immortal Herbs cannot survive there. Are you confident you can safely approach it?" Dugu Bo asked.

"I'm trying, aren't I?" Zhao Mu replied, then continued approaching the Infernal Delicate Apricot with Heibai, though his steps became much slower and smaller.

As they drew closer and closer to the Infernal Delicate Apricot, Zhao Mu could feel the temperature around him constantly rising. Waves of heat periodically rushed into his face, quickly soaking him in sweat before baking him dry again.

Strangely, Heibai seemed barely affected. Not only was it not sweating, but its fur did not burn or scorch beneath the intense heat.

One man and one beast continued forward, steadily closing the distance to the Infernal Delicate Apricot.

Five meters, four meters, three meters, two meters...

By the time Zhao Mu stood directly before the Infernal Delicate Apricot, his face had been baked a dark red by its heat.

Fortunately, Zhao Mu and Heibai had finally successfully approached the Infernal Delicate Apricot.

How was he supposed to dig this thing up again?