The two of them wandered aimlessly around the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
Dugu Bo still hadn't obtained a Ten Thousand Year Soul Bone, so the treatment couldn't begin yet.
Ten Thousand Year Soul Bones were incredibly rare. Their appearance on the mainland was enough to make Soul Masters fight tooth and nail for them, Titled Douluo included.
Trying to trade with an empire or one of the major sects for a Ten Thousand Year Soul Bone would undoubtedly come at a steep price.
Dugu Bo pondered how he might obtain one.
Lin Chuan, meanwhile, watched the show lazily from the side.
Dugu Bo and Chrysanthemum Pass were practically enemies. They'd clashed in the past, and neither could stand the sight of the other now.
Besides, Spirit Hall had invited Dugu Bo to join time and again, only to be rejected every time. It was clear he didn't like Spirit Hall—he even resented it.
His initial condition had simply been for the other party to follow him for three years. He hadn't expected Dugu Bo to join Spirit Hall.
No one was willing to invest in something that offered no return and whose prospects were impossible to see.
After walking for who knew how long, they neared the bamboo hut, and Lin Chuan spoke first:
"The deal will proceed as agreed. You can't restrict my freedom, but you don't need to worry about me running away, either."
"Go find a Spirit Bone first. I'll stay here for one or two months."
"If you still haven't found one by then, I'll have to leave. But you can look for me at the courtyard by the west gate of Suotuo City."
Suddenly, the overwhelming pressure of a Titled Douluo descended, spreading in every direction.
Lin Chuan felt a weight press down on him, but the aura he released quickly held back the Titled Douluo's pressure.
To put it bluntly:
Dugu Bo no longer had the standing to negotiate with him as an equal.
By now, he'd basically claimed all the opportunities at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. He could leave whenever he wanted, and Dugu Bo couldn't stop him.
Nor would things play out like in the original story, where Tang San cured Dugu Bo and his granddaughter of their poison in exchange for only three promises.
He didn't care for the service of a Titled Douluo for three years.
The fact that he hadn't taken everything and run already showed considerable generosity.
Although Lin Chuan hadn't said anything harsh aloud, his actions had made everything clear.
Feeling the other man steadily resist his pressure, Dugu Bo understood his own predicament.
His advantage was being stripped away bit by bit. Letting things turn sour would only hurt him.
But he was still furious!
That shameless little bastard beside him had him so angry he could barely breathe.
If urging his Soul Power wouldn't accelerate the poison's spread through his body, he would have loved to Intimidate the other man and defend his own dignity.
With no other choice, he could only watch as the other man danced on his face.
"Hmph!"
Dugu Bo snorted in anger and stormed off, flinging his sleeves.
Lin Chuan simply stood where he was, a carefree smile on his face.
Dugu Bo had lost this clash by a clear margin. From now on, the two of them would be on equal footing.
The days that followed settled into a peaceful cycle.
Day after day, Lin Chuan sat cross-legged beside the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, shrouded in rising mist until he was barely visible.
Over the past month and a half, Lin Chuan had selected the supplementary herbs needed to purge the poison from Dugu Bo's body.
He kept the essential Nine-Grade Purple Mushroom, Lovesick Heartbreak Red, Aromatic Silk Beauty, Blood Swan Kiss, Eight-Petal Immortal Orchid, Cockscomb Phoenix Sunflower, Mystic Night Frost Grass, Cave Underworld Grass...
He stuffed all the remaining Immortal Herbs and spirit herbs to Giratina, having it refine them.
Some of the herbs he kept were Immortal Herbs from the original story; others were only spirit herbs.
They all strengthened the body and consolidated one's foundation. He had no use for them himself, so he kept them to cultivate others.
Fortunately, Giratina refined them, returning pure energy to him in ample supply over the course of just one month.
His Soul Power, which had originally been at level seventy-five, rose to level seventy-seven in that month.
As Lin Chuan continued cultivating, the last trace of restraint within him began to waver under the absorption of the pure energy.
Sensing that his stable Soul Power was on the verge of breaking through again, Lin Chuan frantically urged his Soul Core.
A vortex appeared in his dantian, unleashing a tremendous suction force that devoured all the surrounding energy of heaven and earth.
The fluctuations in his Soul Power grew stronger and stronger, accompanied by the pure energy Giratina sent back to him.
In an instant, with Lin Chuan at its center, the previously calm, motionless space around him rippled as though a drop of water had fallen into it.
"Clang—!"
A powerful, mighty sword cry rang beside his ear.
A long sword, crimson as blood, of bizarre design and exuding a terrifying aura of slaughter, tore through the void and shot straight into Lin Chuan's mind.
The entire sequence of events unfolded in the blink of an eye.
Nearby, Giratina, which had been sleeping peacefully, suddenly opened its eyes. Its gaze was grim, its aura savage, and it let out a roar.
At that moment, within the Sea of Consciousness.
A pair of terrifying scarlet eyes appeared in the chaotic heavens above, staring without blinking at the boy gazing up at them, his expression grave.
"Very good."
The voice seemed to come from time immemorial. It was solemn and majestic, with a trace of hoarseness.
"To be a Spirit Saint at such a young age—your talent is nothing short of terrifying."
"I am Asura God, God Realm Enforcer. You are worthy of becoming my successor!"
Lin Chuan calmly gazed at the scarlet longsword floating before him and said lightly:
"Then I suppose I'll graciously agree to become your successor."
Hearing this, Asura God laughed, as if Lin Chuan had amused him.
"Very good. I like that defiant nature of yours."
As God Realm Enforcer, he liked Lin Chuan's bold, decisive, yet level-headed nature.
He'd observed Lin Chuan for months, and the boy's talent suited him perfectly.
More than that, there was the upheaval in the fortunes of Douluo Planet.
From what he'd observed, the person responsible for the change in fortune was the boy standing before him.
The fortune that the world's will had originally bestowed upon its chosen child of destiny had even been stripped away.
The means of succession he'd prepared for that child of destiny had likewise been seized first by the boy before him, drawing his attention.
As it happened, he liked this sort of thing. He liked seeing someone seize what belonged to others and use it to grow stronger!
Asura God wasn't one to waste words. His tone turned decisive:
"Since you've agreed, I shall bestow the Asura succession upon you!"
His grand voice echoed through the Sea of Consciousness.
As soon as his words fell, the Asura Sword before Lin Chuan seemed to activate some sort of formation. Red light suddenly flared within it, only to be replaced by purplish-black the very next moment.
"Oh?" Asura God exclaimed in surprise. "You're a reincarnated being from the Divine Realm?!"
"No, that's not right. What kind of divine office is this? It actually possesses the laws of the world!"
Hearing this, Lin Chuan also looked at the Asura Sword before him, perplexed.
The formation it had activated was now tightly enveloped by another force.
At Asura God's curious prompting, the formation on the Asura Sword was suddenly surrounded by a semi-transparent, murky sphere.
The Asura Sword was sealed by countless chains of the world's laws, while a strange, black, viscous substance began to creep across the entire blade.
The substance and laws within it were tainting the Asura succession. Asura God, who'd been watching the spectacle with amusement, grew startled and panicked.
He could sense his succession being assimilated, about to become someone else's dowry.
"I've never seen a divine office like this before."
After taking a closer look, Asura God murmured in surprise. But he quickly composed himself and said:
"Might you come out and speak with me? A dual god succession isn't necessarily out of the question."