After a long while, Ye Qinru finally came back to her senses.
She looked at Fang Xuan, her expression utterly serious.
"Can you tell me what made you say that?"
"Don't lie to me. I don't want to find hope, only to fall into despair again."
No one wanted to die. She was no different.
"From mortal to immortal, from ordinary to transcendent."
Fang Xuan had spoken just eight simple words, but they had struck a chord deep within Ye Qinru's heart.
"Transcendent?"
"Right. Transcendent. The fact that only two Nine Star Begonias can exist at a time is an inherent flaw. And if there's a flaw, that means this Martial Soul isn't perfect, which means there's room for improvement."
"Mom, you should know how the previous Spirit Hall Pope died, right?"
Ye Qinru nodded. After all, it was no secret by now.
"Blue Silver Grass is a Trash Martial Soul. But what about the Blue Silver Emperor?"
"The hundred-thousand-year transformed Soul Beast they hunted back then was the Blue Silver Emperor. If a little sprig of Blue Silver Grass could become a hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast, there's no reason a Nine Star Begonia can't do the same."
"And the solution I came up with is simple. Since your Martial Souls are Plant-type, use a stronger plant to elevate them."
Fang Xuan's idea was reckless. He couldn't be sure whether an Immortal Herb could fully elevate the Nine Star Begonia and fix its Martial Soul flaw.
But the Blue Silver Emperor definitely could. Its ability to thrive without end could perfectly solve the Nine Star Begonia's flaw.
As for the claim that only two could exist at a time, put simply, it meant there weren't enough nutrients.
If there were enough nutrients, there'd be no reason only two could exist.
Tang San was already his enemy, so he'd use the cruelest methods to deal with his enemies.
He wanted the Immortal Herbs, and he wanted the Blue Silver Emperor, too.
They were all tonics, after all. One more wouldn't hurt, but he absolutely couldn't afford to miss out on even one.
"Mom, please believe me. I won't let that tragedy happen again."
"I'm counting on you to help raise the children Lingling and I have."
Those final words were too much for Ye Qinru. She could no longer hold back her tears.
Ye Lingling was the same.
Losing family was always the most painful thing.
Especially when you were carrying a child and had to watch your loved one's life count down before your eyes. That despair and helplessness could make anyone break down.
"Good child. Mom believes you."
When Ye Qinru had entrusted Ye Lingling to Fang Xuan, she had already come to think of him as her own child.
Now, this child had given her hope of living. She was overjoyed.
"Mom, I need to visit my master. You and Lingling wait for me at home."
It was time to take care of Dugu Bo's situation. And it was time to wring a few Immortal Herbs out of him.
The Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well couldn't be wasted on trash like Tang San and his ilk.
Dugu Bo's residence was easy to find. After all, he was the only Titled Douluo living in the city.
And ever since learning that Fang Xuan had a way to deal with the Jade Scale Snake Poison, Dugu Bo had stopped tinkering with his herb garden and spent all his time waiting for Fang Xuan to show up.
He'd been waiting for nearly half a month. If it weren't such an important matter for Fang Xuan, he would've gone to drag him over himself long ago.
"That brat. Why hasn't he come yet? Didn't he say he'd come today?"
"Could some woman have kept him tied to the bed?"
Dugu Bo was lost in wild speculation when someone knocked on the door.
"Who is it?"
"Take a guess."
At the sound of that voice, Dugu Bo froze for a moment, then lit up with joy.
He opened the door, saw Fang Xuan standing there, and immediately pulled him inside without another word.
"Come on, kid. Tell me what you think of this old man's snake poison."
Dugu Bo didn't waste time. He got straight to the point.
The Jade Scale Snake Poison had tormented him his entire life. Now he'd finally found a way to deal with it, and he could hardly wait.
He had no idea how Fang Xuan planned to do it, but since his granddaughter trusted the young man so much, he figured it couldn't hurt to trust him once.
What if it worked? It was worth a gamble.
"I wouldn't call it an insight, but I can at least ease the pain caused by the poison."
"I've looked into the Jade Scale Snake Poison. They say it's incurable, but every poison has an antidote. There's no poison in this world that can't be dealt with. You should know that better than I do."
Dugu Bo was an expert in poison himself. He knew all about toxins.
"So what? I can't cure it myself, but you can? And how did you figure out that a Soul Bone could counter the poison?"
Dugu Bo had spent a lot of time thinking about it these past few days. He'd even tried to start with the Soul Bone and cure himself, since he had one in his own body. But he'd failed.
Still, he could confirm that the Jade Scale Snake Poison couldn't corrode the Soul Bone. He must've been going about it the wrong way.
"Have you heard of Bone-Scraping Poison Treatment?"
"What's that?"
Dugu Bo stared at him blankly. He had no idea what the other man was talking about. Bone-scraping? Poison treatment?
"It's simple. You scrape the poison that's settled in your bones out of them."
The idea came from Lord Guan, except Soul Masters didn't need to expose their bones and scrape them with a knife. They could just use Soul Power to force the poison out.
That was the method he'd been working on over the past few days. The poison had settled in the Soul Bone, but that didn't mean it had been eliminated. It had only been moved somewhere else.
As long as the poison was still there, it remained a hidden danger. He had to get rid of it completely to prevent future trouble.
Fang Xuan knew Tang San well enough to be certain that he understood this, too. Most likely, he'd kept this in reserve to guard against Dugu Bo.
After all, there was a huge gap between their strengths. Keeping a trump card was only natural.
But Fang Xuan was different. He knew exactly what kind of person Dugu Bo was.
He might have an odd personality, but he was a decent person. Doing him a favor could only benefit Fang Xuan.
What's more, with Ye Lingling and Dugu Yan connecting their families, Dugu Bo was practically part of his wife's family. Saving him was only right.
Most importantly, Fang Xuan still wanted to wring some Immortal Herbs out of him. He'd need to give Dugu Bo enough in return.
"Senior, you've probably investigated me and learned a few things about what happened in Suotuo City."
Fang Xuan had been in Heaven Dou City for several days now. If Dugu Bo had wanted to investigate him, he would've gathered most of the information by now.
He might not know everything, but he'd know enough. Fang Xuan had nothing to hide from him.
"I'm an orphan. I grew up with an old man who sold medicine, but he died after being bitten by a snake..."
That part of Fang Xuan's past had really happened. It wasn't a lie he'd made up to fob Dugu Bo off.
"I started researching snake poison back then. I also studied a few snake-type Martial Souls, and that led me to discover some problems."
"Flaws in Martial Souls."
That's right. Dugu Bo's poison and Ma Hongjun's Evil Fire were both examples of Martial Soul flaws, and they were extremely similar.
Ye Lingling's Nine Star Begonia and the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect were also examples, though they had to be distinguished from Dugu Bo's kind.
Dugu Bo's flaw was an ongoing condition, while Ye Lingling's Nine Star Begonia only became a problem when specific conditions were met. As for the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda, its flaw was permanent, but it didn't threaten the user's life.
He'd researched this extensively, but there was very little information available.
At first, he'd actually been researching it for his own sake. After all, his own Martial Soul was quite unusual.
"You want to patch the gaps?"
Dugu Bo had finally understood after listening for so long.
"That's an unusual idea. So how do you plan to patch them?"