Seeing this, Dugu Yan immediately sat up straight and listened attentively. Beside her, Dugu Bo's face had been cold as a corpse's, but now it slowly softened into a faint smile.
"Your Jade Phosphorous Serpent Martial Soul has a flaw. It lacks any object or organ for storing poison."
"There are several ways to solve this."
"First, you could stop cultivating poison. With no poison, the problem would naturally be solved."
"Second, you could find a Soul Bone to store the poison." At this, Dugu Bo slapped his thigh and muttered regretfully, "That's right! How had I not thought of that? If we'd had this method back then, Yanyan's parents wouldn't have died."
"Senior Dugu, don't celebrate too soon. Storing poison in a Soul Bone is certainly viable, but the method still has its limits. The space inside a Soul Bone is finite. Still, it can serve as a backup plan."
A bucket of cold water doused Dugu Bo's excitement, bringing him back to his senses.
"Little friend, I apologize for offending you earlier."
"From the sound of it, you have other methods too?"
Su Ming was quite pleased to hear Dugu Bo apologize. After all, when it came down to it, the old fellow really did step up.
"Fine, I forgive you, Senior Dugu. You could say we've become friends through a fight."
"I wanted to warn Dugu Yan because I saw that she was poisoned, but more importantly, I noticed that her Martial Soul has a flaw—and a great deal of room and potential for evolution."
Hearing that her Martial Soul could evolve, Dugu Yan looked stunned. Dugu Bo wasn't surprised, since his own Martial Soul had evolved before.
Seeing their surprise, Su Ming began to explain.
"Martial Souls really can evolve. I've already tested this. Based on my experiments, the weaker a Martial Soul's quality, the better the results when it absorbs a Soul Ring from a corresponding Soul Beast—and the easier it is to evolve."
"Take Senior Dugu, for example. His Jade Phosphorous Serpent evolved into the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor after his ninth Soul Ring. He must have hunted a high-quality Soul Beast suited to the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Martial Soul, allowing it to evolve."
Su Ming continued, "Senior Dugu's Martial Soul did evolve, but it didn't complete its evolution. If it had, the poison problem would surely have been solved. So unless your Martial Soul evolves again, or you complete the evolution that was left unfinished, I can't help you."
Dugu Bo quickly retorted, "Something that can make a Martial Soul evolve is even rarer than a Soul Bone. That's even less likely."
"So I'm not very confident about Senior Dugu's Martial Soul. But if Dugu Yan follows my guidance in her future cultivation, including which Soul Beasts to hunt and which Soul Rings to absorb, there's still a very good chance we can solve her problem."
Dugu Bo thought for a while before saying, "If my problem can't be solved, then so be it. As long as Yanyan's Martial Soul poison is dealt with and doesn't harm her, that's enough."
Looking at Dugu Bo as he pondered, Su Ming chuckled.
"Senior Dugu, I think you may have misunderstood. We mean different things by 'solved.' I mean helping Dugu Yan completely rid herself of the poison from her Jade Phosphorous Serpent Martial Soul. Once that's done, even if her descendants awaken the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Martial Soul, they won't die young from inherited poison."
"That's also why I warned Dugu Yan. Those who awaken the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Martial Soul usually have Innate Soul Power between six and nine ranks. It's unquestionably a high-tier Martial Soul, close to the top tier."
"And when the Martial Soul first awakens, the poison is relatively weak. That means poison makes up only a tiny part of your Martial Soul's essence, while your own essence is powerful. With the right approach, evolution should be easy. I'm right, Senior Dugu?"
After hearing Su Ming's explanation, Dugu Bo thought it over and realized it was true. Whether it was his own Innate Soul Power of rank nine or Xin'er's rank seven, the poison had indeed been weak when their Martial Souls first awakened. He replied, "That's true. When I awakened Yanyan's Martial Soul, her Innate Soul Power was rank eight. The poison was indeed very weak, while her Soul Power was quite high."
At this point, Dugu Bo suddenly recalled Su Ming's words about how evolution would be "easy." His expression changed. Clearly intending to scare Su Ming, he glared fiercely at him and said, "Are you planning to use Yanyan as a test subject? Aren't you afraid I'll kill you?"
Su Ming could tell from Dugu Bo's expression that he was bluffing, so he said, "Yes. So, shall we start now? And Senior Dugu, I can't cure the poison in your body completely at the moment. But if you can find some rare medicinal herbs, I have several ways to suppress it and reduce the damage and pain it causes."
At this point, Su Ming chuckled again.
"Honestly, if I hadn't observed you up close and compared your condition with Dugu Yan's, I wouldn't have realized that poison had seeped into your bones and spread into every corner of your body. Anyone else with deep Soul Power would surely think it was the result of cultivating poison, since you're the only Titled Douluo who cultivates poison."
Hearing the first half of Su Ming's words, Dugu Bo felt his ears ringing.
What did he mean, it was difficult to cure completely? What did he mean, there were several methods that could only barely suppress it, provided he had the right medicinal herbs?
Then he heard the second half, and blood rushed to Dugu Bo's face. He turned red with fury, and he could barely keep the poison in his body under control.
What did he mean, anyone else could tell at a glance that I'm poisoned?
Poet?! I'll eat the poet!
After he finished speaking, Su Ming simply watched Dugu Bo, waiting for him to lose his temper. But instead, Dugu Bo turned bright red.
Su Ming realized something was wrong. I just wanted you to lose your temper. You scared me earlier, so I wanted to get back at you—but I didn't want you turning red with rage! If you can't keep the poison under control and it fully erupts, damn it, the whole school will suffer. No, the whole of Heaven Dou City will suffer!
Su Ming hurriedly said, "Senior Dugu, calm down! You can't let the poison erupt. Think of Dugu Yan."
As he spoke, Su Ming hurriedly nudged Dugu Yan, signaling for her to help calm Dugu Bo too.
"That's right, Grandpa. Think of my parents. They both died because of this Jade Phosphorous Serpent Martial Soul. Now there's a way to solve the problem—you can't fall apart now."
After the two of them repeatedly reassured him, and Su Ming promised that he could help Dugu Yan's Martial Soul evolve completely, Dugu Bo's complexion finally returned to normal.
Seeing Dugu Bo's color return to normal, Su Ming finally breathed a sigh of relief. At least I managed to keep it under control. I may not be a good person, but if the poison really got out of hand because of me, how many people would die? And Heaven Dou City is full of powerful figures. The major forces across the continent would surely hunt me down. Just thinking about it is terrifying.
After suppressing the poison in his body and calming himself, Dugu Bo turned to Su Ming and said, "Didn't you say I needed herbs to suppress my poison? That's easy. I have a medicinal garden in Sunset Forest, where all kinds of herbs grow. I'm sure you'll find what you need there."
The Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well—finally, we're getting to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
Before you continue