Shen Feng furrowed his brow, enduring the pain in his shoulder as he forced an extremely awkward grin.
"Old man, you're really strong. You almost crushed my bones."
Dugu Bo immediately let go and took two steps back. "I'm sorry, Xiao Feng. I didn't mean to. I was just so excited."
For a moment, the man in his seventies seemed like a child who'd done something wrong, at a loss as he tried to figure out how to apologize to Shen Feng.
Shen Feng smiled faintly. "It's only natural to get excited, but, old man, it really is a little too soon to celebrate."
"None of the three treatment plans I proposed will be easy to carry out."
Dugu Bo replied excitedly, "That's fine, that's fine. Just tell me. Whether or not I can do it is up to me."
"Though I'm not among the strongest Titled Douluo, even the weakest Titled Douluo is still one. If even I can't meet the conditions you describe, then I suppose it's just my fate."
Shen Feng shook his head slightly. "There's no need to be so pessimistic, old man. Hear my plans out before you decide."
"Detoxification, transfer, and reinforcement. From simplest to most difficult, those are the three treatment plans I came up with."
"As the name suggests, the Detoxification Method involves finding medicinal herbs that counter the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor's poison and dissolving the poison in your body."
"This is the simplest method, but it also has the biggest drawback."
"The poison in your body has already fused with your Soul Power. Dissolving it will also dissolve some of your Soul Power, which could lower your Soul Master rank, or even knock you down to the Soul Douluo level."
Dugu Bo furrowed his brow. "This method might work for treating Yanyan, but it probably won't work for me."
"But it could serve as a backup plan. I can try it as a last resort."
"Tell me about the Transfer Method and the Reinforcement Method instead."
Shen Feng nodded. "The idea behind the Transfer Method comes from Tool Soul Masters."
"The reason you're suffering backlash from your own Martial Soul's poison is that the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor is a Beast Martial Soul. Each time you use Martial Soul Possession, some of its potent poison enters your body."
"Over time, your body's ability to cleanse itself can't keep up with the accumulating poison. Naturally, the excess poison severely corrodes your body."
"But that doesn't happen with Tool Martial Souls. Tool Soul Masters force all the poison into their Martial Souls, letting them bear the risks. That solves the problem."
"So, if you want to retain the deadly poison inside you without letting it harm you, you need to find a host to store it in."
"For example, a Soul Bone."
Dugu Bo was an expert in poison himself. As soon as he heard Shen Feng's explanation, he understood, and a green glimmer flashed in his eyes.
But after thinking it over, Dugu Bo still shook his head.
"Xiao Feng, this method still treats the symptoms, not the root cause."
"If the first plan is a drastic, all-or-nothing approach, then the second is like tearing down the east wall to shore up the west. It only shifts the problem for a while."
"You might not know this, but I tried something similar more than ten years ago."
"I gathered all the poison in my body and condensed it into a Poison Core."
As he spoke, Dugu Bo even spat out the Poison Core from his dantian to show Shen Feng.
"But the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor produces poison faster than I can condense it into a Poison Core. And the Poison Core can't completely stop the poison from corroding my body."
"If I forced the poison into a Soul Bone, it would probably just become another kind of Poison Core. It might give me temporary relief, but it wouldn't last."
Shen Feng was taken aback, puzzled. In the original story, Tang San had proposed this method, and it had indeed cured Dugu Bo's illness. Why didn't it work when he suggested it now?
Right, by then Dugu Bo had already been terminally ill, desperate enough to try anything.
So as long as a plan could extend his life, he wouldn't care about its flaws.
But things were different now. He'd encountered the entirely new concept of chemistry and, with Shen Feng's help, had even made the remarkably effective Antitoxin Serum. Naturally, Dugu Bo wouldn't settle for flawed plans anymore.
At that thought, Shen Feng suddenly understood. He'd spoiled Dugu Bo.
Shaking his head helplessly, Shen Feng brought up the third treatment plan.
"Since you're not satisfied with the first two plans, old man, I'll have to bring out my trump card: the Reinforcement Method."
"The Reinforcement Method can also be called the Evolution Method. It's the only way to perfectly resolve the problem with your Martial Soul."
"Actually, there's nothing seriously wrong with your Martial Soul itself. Your illness is only because the poison produced after your Martial Soul evolved is too potent for your body's natural detoxification to keep up."
"If your Martial Soul were just an ordinary Jade Phosphorous Serpent, you probably wouldn't be in this situation."
Dugu Bo stared blankly, then nodded in agreement. "That's right. None of my ancestors had this problem."
"But without the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor Martial Soul, I probably wouldn't have reached the Titled Douluo level either. Maybe I wouldn't have suffered so much, either."
"Alas, the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor made me, and it ruined me."
Looking at the sighing Dugu Bo, Shen Feng didn't know what to say.
"Old man, it's all in the past. Things will surely get better."
"We have to look ahead and not let past sorrows affect who we are now. Otherwise, wouldn't that be unfair to our present selves?"
Dugu Bo laughed heartily. "Right, you're right. We can't let past sorrows affect who we are now."
"You really know how to talk, kid. I'm liking you more and more."
As he spoke, Dugu Bo seemed to think of something. His green eyes softened as he looked Shen Feng up and down, and a smile slowly spread across his face.
"Say, Xiao Feng, how about becoming my granddaughter's husband?"
"Huh?" Shen Feng was stunned. He stared at Dugu Bo, utterly baffled by his train of thought.
They'd been talking about treating an illness. How had he jumped to finding his granddaughter a partner?
Seeing Shen Feng's astonished expression, Dugu Bo was in an excellent mood.
Dugu Bo counted on his fingers, considering it carefully. "I've worked it out. My granddaughter is only seven years older than you, after all. That's not much."
"When you're eighteen, she'll only be twenty-five."
"Once you're married, you'll have a Titled Douluo protecting you and a beautiful young wife. You'll have it all at once."
"Tsk, you're one lucky kid."
Shen Feng grimaced, giving him a bitter smile. "Old man, I'm only ten. Isn't it a little early to be talking about this?"
"Besides, I haven't even met your granddaughter. Are you sure she'd take a liking to a poor country boy like me?"
"And your granddaughter is in the prime of her youth. Are you sure that in six months—"
"As the saying goes: black tiles, white walls, the slanting sun at the western window.
"Green leaves, yellow flowers, her flowing sleeves give off a faint scent.
"She takes a peach branch, hoping to fashion it into a hairpin.
"But it draws bees and butterflies, which buzz around her pale skirt.
"She circles the lane, bashful, one slender hand half-veiling her face.
"A lovely maiden in the bloom of youth, her finest years unfolding.
"Her brows and features just coming into bloom, as still waters and calm winds settle.
"Alone in her boudoir, she gazes at herself in the mirror and softly sings.
"In the bloom of her youth, who is the one her heart longs for?"
Shen Feng couldn't bring himself to spell out the rest. And since he couldn't reveal that he knew what happened in the original story, he could only hint at it with a doggerel poem.
Having someone support him sounded great, but Shen Feng really didn't want to be supported by Dugu Yan when her heart belonged to someone else.
Fun fact: "the bloom of youth" was also known as the age of first love.
Fortunately, Dugu Bo understood Shen Feng's hint and even made a connection of his own. His expression darkened at once. "Forget it, forget it. We'll talk about that another time."
"Tell me more about this Reinforcement Method of yours."
Shen Feng let out a long breath of relief. He'd narrowly escaped.
In his previous life, people only started urging him to get married after he turned twenty. Why had it started when he was ten after transmigrating?
This was terrifying.
"Old man, there's nothing seriously wrong with your Martial Soul. As I said earlier, your illness is only because the poison produced when your Martial Soul evolved into the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor is too potent for your body's natural detoxification to keep up."
"If we can find an Immortal Treasure suitable for you, I'm confident I can strengthen your body until it's immune to the poison—or stimulate your Martial Soul and make the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor evolve again."
"If you can evolve your Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor Martial Soul into a Poison Dragon Martial Soul, then none of your problems will be problems anymore."
Dugu Bo's pupils shrank. He drew in a sharp breath. "Hiss... You really dare to dream, kid. You're actually thinking of making my Martial Soul evolve again."
"My Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor Martial Soul may be a draconic species with dragon blood, but do you know how difficult it is to evolve from a lesser dragon into a true dragon?"
"Besides, I'm already a nine-ring Titled Douluo. I can't even use the method of absorbing a Soul Ring to evolve my Martial Soul."
"And I'm already in my seventies. Trying to evolve my Martial Soul now... It's difficult, difficult, difficult."
Seeing Dugu Bo sigh, Shen Feng felt a little uneasy deep down.
After half a year of careful planning, he'd finally led Dugu Bo to this crucial point.
Whether this worked or not came down to his final push.
If it worked, his future would be limitless.
If it didn't, his future would be bleak.
To be honest, Shen Feng didn't like gambling. Even if the odds were good, he still didn't like it.
He clearly remembered a big shot once saying, "A ninety-eight percent chance of success is no different from a death sentence."
But in this world, he had little choice. For the chance of a thousandfold return, sometimes you had to take a gamble.
At that thought, Shen Feng put on a bewildered expression and sighed. "That's why you have to go yourself, old man, and find an Immortal Treasure capable of defying the heavens and changing your fate."
"With your strength as a nine-ring Titled Douluo, if you can't find one, there's no chance the rest of us can."
Hearing Shen Feng mention Immortal Treasures again, and describe them as things capable of defying the heavens and changing one's fate, Dugu Bo furrowed his brow, momentarily puzzled.
"An Immortal Treasure capable of defying the heavens and changing one's fate? What is that?"
Shen Feng tilted his head up at a forty-five-degree angle and put on an air of mystery. "Born from the essence of heaven and earth, with the power to change one's fate."
"Grown in the garden of the gods, it's a treasure rarely seen in the mortal world."
At Shen Feng's description, a glimmer of hope suddenly appeared in Dugu Bo's green eyes.
He didn't know whether he had an Immortal Treasure capable of defying the heavens and changing one's fate, but he certainly did have a garden full of medicinal herbs capable of doing so.
His heart pounded and his hands trembled as Dugu Bo once again placed a hand on Shen Feng's shoulder, his expression grave.
"Xiao Feng, tell me this: a flower with snow-white petals, shaped like an octagon, with icy crystal stamens, and a chill that drives away anyone within ten meters. It has no fragrance."
"Do you recognize it?"
Shen Feng pretended to think for a moment, then answered excitedly, "I do. It's called the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass, an extremely cold flower that grows only in frigid places."
"Within ten meters, this grass radiates a bone-chilling cold that numbs the mind and body. If you stay too long, the cold poison will attack your heart, and there'll be no cure."
"And it really is an Immortal Treasure capable of defying the heavens and changing one's fate. However..."
Dugu Bo's heart clenched. "However what? Hurry up and tell me! You're killing me with suspense."
Shen Feng sighed. "However, this Immortal Treasure contains cold poison and has extremely strict conditions for use. It's also not suitable for curing your poison."
"If you use it rashly, the consequences could even be irreversible."
"Alas, it's useless to eat and a shame to discard."
After hearing Shen Feng's explanation, Dugu Bo's breathing grew heavy.
If this was an Immortal Treasure, what about the others?
Suppressing his excitement, Dugu Bo asked again, "A cabbage-shaped plant, bright red all over, with fire poison that burns anyone within ten meters. Do you recognize it?"
Shen Feng nodded again. "The Infernal Delicate Apricot. It only grows in scorching places and can even survive in magma. Its properties are the exact opposite of the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass."
"It's just as poisonous, has strict conditions for use, and isn't suitable for curing your poison."
"Good, good, good!" Dugu Bo suddenly burst into delight and patted Shen Feng's shoulder hard.
Before you continue