Soul Bone, Second Stage

Chen Ming's Martial Soul quality and its further applications had now been greatly strengthened, and the effect of the second Spirit Skill he had gained was quite good as well.

Chen Ming's second Spirit Skill, Dragon Transformation, partially transformed his body into that of a dragon, producing an effect similar to a partial Martial Soul Avatar. It also enhanced all attributes by thirty percent and strengthened all his skills to a certain degree.

While an all-attribute enhancement was certainly valuable, for Chen Ming, changing his own state and causing parts of his body to take on a Martial Soul Avatar-like form was even more valuable than a simple attribute increase.

As for his Soul Power, it had very naturally reached level twenty-three—a very "normal" level.

After demonstrating for quite a while and having Beast Soul Tool-ification switch between forms such as a hammer, long staff, shield, and armor, Chen Ming and Dugu Bo were finally somewhat satisfied.

Looking at the corpse of the dead Heavy Armored Earth Dragon, Chen Ming felt that he could not waste it and began thinking of a way to remove suitable materials.

However, even after summoning claws and scratching away for half the day, then spending some time constructing a model to turn the weapon created by Beast Soul Tool-ification into a large cleaver, Chen Ming still had little success dissecting the Heavy Armored Earth Dragon.

This thing's hide was far too thick, and its body far too large. Not only did the scales on its surface contain metallic components, but this Spirit Beast's bones were even harder than metal. After laboring away for half the day and getting himself covered in blood, Chen Ming finally managed to cut the Heavy Armored Earth Dragon into eight pieces and began selecting materials.

When removing the Heavy Armored Earth Dragon's right paw, Chen Ming sensed a peculiar Soul Power fluctuation within its right forelimb. After digging for a long time, what entered his sight was a dark yellow bone roughly the size of a baby's arm.

"A Spirit Bone? Your luck is truly excellent. The chance of a Ten-Thousand-Year Spirit Beast dropping a Spirit Bone is already extremely low. A Thousand-Year Spirit Beast's chances of dropping one are even lower. Although it only has a little over a thousand years of cultivation, this Spirit Bone is still quite good."

Dugu Bo stepped closer. He was somewhat surprised as he looked at the Spirit Bone in Chen Ming's hand, but there was no greed in his eyes.

"However, let me offer you a piece of advice. Your talent is greater than mine. This Thousand-Year Spirit Bone may be a tremendous opportunity for ordinary people, but for you, it would only become a burden—even if this Spirit Bone came from the same source as your Spirit Ring."

"Don't be fooled by the considerable help it can give you now. Once you reach the Spirit Emperor or Spirit Saint realm, even with all kinds of boosts, this Spirit Bone will still prove inadequate. By the time you become a Soul Douluo, it will be completely obsolete. When you reach the Title Douluo realm, you will only regret absorbing such a low-age Spirit Bone."

"You are right, Senior. I understand that well. This Spirit Bone's age is too low, and it is an extremely important arm bone. Naturally, I would not abandon my future for temporary benefits. But this is my first time seeing a Spirit Bone. I want to study what exactly it is."

Chen Ming appeared very humble. After all, Dugu Bo was only saying this because he had Chen Ming's best interests at heart.

"Studying Spirit Bones... well, that makes sense. With your talent, you can find a path in whatever you study. But if you want to study Spirit Bones, I truly have no way to help. I cannot even find such good things myself, so you can only research it on your own."

"Just be careful not to accidentally absorb the Spirit Bone. Otherwise, Spirit Bones cannot be replaced, and you will suffer for the rest of your life."

"Yes." Chen Ming nodded and put away the Spirit Bone. He then continued dismantling the various materials, separating out the useful parts, storing and packing them before placing them into his Soul Tool.

Soul Tools of this era were truly too limited in size. Although the Ruyi Hundred Treasure Pouch could store living creatures, its capacity was actually only a little over ten cubic meters, smaller than the Soul Tool the academy had given him before.

To make the best use of space, he had to carefully control every inch occupied by each item.

Sometimes, Chen Ming wondered whether, if he could collect more Soul Tools, he might be able to reverse-engineer their manufacturing methods.

Even if he could not reproduce Soul Tools with offensive or defensive capabilities, deriving a method to make Storage Soul Tools by reverse-engineering Storage Soul Tools should not be too difficult. It was simply that the process required rare metals and Storage Soul Tools for dismantling.

And that was something Dugu Bo truly could not provide.

After packing up the Heavy Armored Earth Dragon and stuffing it into his Soul Tool, Chen Ming searched its nest again. Aside from discovering that it was a decent mineral vein, he found nothing else.

In the end, the two returned to the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well with their spoils. Seeing Dugu Bo's current condition, Chen Ming planned to continue treating him, but before that, he needed to ask Dugu Bo something.

"After the adjustments over this period, your condition has improved greatly, Senior. You will no longer suffer backlash so easily, and the toxins are no longer as violent, so we can proceed to the next stage."

"Senior, do you want to completely control your toxins, stop your body from producing them, and ensure that your descendants will no longer be harmed by them? Or do you want to control the toxins and tame this double-edged sword that harms others?"

"Can I choose both? I want to tame the toxins and ensure my descendants will not be harmed by them." Dugu Bo's mind was clearly much sharper than it had been some time ago.

At his age, he had no plans to have more children. Even if it affected his bloodline, it did not matter. As long as he could control the toxins and prevent them from infecting his descendants, would that not be the best of both worlds?

"Then we will need two approaches. However, based on what you said, Senior Dugu Bo, Dugu Yan's current condition is still far from the point where toxins threaten her."

"I will first prepare some medicine for you to send to her, so she can take it on schedule and adjust her condition, temporarily suppressing the growth of the toxins. Then I will begin considering a solution for your condition, Senior."

"Your toxins can potentially be controlled, Senior, but doing so will not be easy. Newly produced toxins can still be refined and controlled through methods and restrictions, but most of the old toxins accumulated in your body over the years cannot be controlled because they have built up excessively. They must be removed."

"If we use strong medicine, the medicine itself will not be a problem, but Senior Dugu Bo's strength will inevitably fluctuate for a period of time. Can you truly bear such a price?"

"A period of time? How long exactly, and how much will my strength fluctuate?" Dugu Bo did not find it strange for treatment to have side effects. Instead, he believed that severe illness required strong medicine.

"At the shortest, three months. At the longest, a year. During that time, Senior Dugu Bo's poison cultivation will be affected and its power will weaken. Frequent use of Soul Power will also cause the toxins to proliferate."

"During that period, Senior will likely only be able to display the strength of a Soul Douluo... perhaps even less. After all, Senior relies on toxins. Without them, and with your strength weakened further..."

Chen Ming spoke tactfully. Poison was Dugu Bo's life, especially since Dugu Bo himself was already the weakest Title Douluo. Without poison, he might not even possess the combat strength of a Soul Douluo.

"After all, this is a problem rooted in your origin that has lain dormant for decades. The toxins have already seeped deep into your marrow. There are only two possibilities for treating it without affecting your origin."

"Either one only stabilizes the surface without addressing the root, or the healer possesses methods and strength far beyond the ordinary, while also being able to complement the patient perfectly. Otherwise, it is absolutely impossible."

"This stage is essentially scraping the bone—scraping away the decayed parts, then allowing new flesh to grow."

"Is there any additional way to make up for it?" Dugu Bo asked after a long silence.

"Yes, but it is not medicine. Or rather, the medicinal herbs in your garden, Senior, are more than sufficient. What I lack is a method of using medicine that can quickly and gently replenish your origin. If there were such a subtle method, Senior's treatment time could be cut in half."

"But such medical skill can only be developed by great medical families with long-standing inheritances, through experience accumulated from treating all kinds of people. Even if an ordinary person practiced medicine for a lifetime, they might not be able to learn such methods."

"Ultimately, methods that directly treat one's origin already count as miraculous arts in this world. Quickly and gently replenishing one's origin through a subtle approach places even higher demands on medical skill. Without inheritance or talent, one might study for a lifetime and still fail to even enter the door."

"If I were to summarize and extract the experience myself, I would need at least several months, perhaps more than a year, to observe and study all kinds of different patients. In that case, even if I learned it, the time spent might end up becoming even longer."