Poison Garden

He had his own plans.

In the original story, Dugu Bo's medicinal garden was merely an auxiliary cultivation ground for the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well. Though it lacked the Well's uniquely favorable conditions for nurturing Immortal Herbs, it gathered half the poisonous medicinal materials and healing herbs on the Douluo Continent.

More importantly, a full two years remained before Tang San arrived and stripped Dugu Bo's garden bare, then claimed the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well!

This was a one-of-a-kind head start.

Two years later, when Tang San arrived, he would pick every last one of the Eight-Petal Immortal Orchid, Aromatic Silk Beauty, Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew, and other Immortal Herbs, using them to transform his Martial Soul and strengthen his foundation. All that would remain for Dugu Bo was a desolate garden. But by getting involved early, Luo Qiusheng could temper himself with the herbs, deepen his knowledge of poison, and seize the opportunities from the original story ahead of time. He might even use the poisonous plants to explore the medicinal principles of the Douluo World and the fundamental laws governing Soul Power.

On top of that, he carried the dragon-bone essence of the King of Bronze and Fire. His fire attribute was supremely domineering, rendering him immune to all poisons. Ordinary toxins could not harm him; instead, they could be refined and absorbed by the essence of his fire, becoming part of his own strength. That was the greatest reason he dared to enter the poison garden alone and study its myriad poisons.

Dugu Bo gave Luo Qiusheng a long look. Seeing his open expression and clear eyes, he didn't seem like a deceitful, grasping sort. Some of Dugu Bo's wariness faded, and after weighing the pros and cons, he replied in a low voice, "All right."

"But let me make one thing clear. I'll give you only three days. If you can't cure the poison in my Jade Phosphor bloodline within that time, I'll make you pay a price worse than death for prying into my secrets and threatening me today!"

As a Titled Douluo, being held by the throat by an unknown youth was already a great humiliation. If it all came to nothing in the end, he would show no mercy.

"Rest assured, senior. I won't break my word." Luo Qiusheng cupped his hands slightly.

"Come with me."

Dugu Bo said no more. He turned and led Luo Qiusheng through the courtyard, out of the inner residence in Heaven Dou City, and to a secluded valley outside the city.

The valley was shrouded in layers of poisonous miasma, with concealment arrays set around its perimeter. Even if ordinary Soul Masters happened to pass by, they would think it was an untrodden wasteland and never notice what lay within.

The instant they entered the valley, an intense blend of herbal vitality and biting poison swept over them, seeping into their nostrils. An ordinary Soul Master would suffer a disruption of Soul Power and be poisoned after only a short while here.

But a faint red glow flowed around Luo Qiusheng. Any poison that drew near was instantly vaporized and purified by an invisible heat, leaving only pure herbal essence to pour into his body and nourish his meridians and flesh.

Dugu Bo took in the sight, his doubts deepening. He found the youth's background more and more unfathomable.

"This entire valley is my medicinal garden. You can do whatever you like with the herbs. I want results in three days!"

With those words, Dugu Bo turned and left, leaving Luo Qiusheng alone amid a garden filled with rare treasures.

The garden was laid out in orderly sections, each distinct from the next.

On the left, a patch of black earth was covered in Nether Bone-Eroding Grass, its leaves wreathed in faint purple poisonous mist. Around the spirit spring in the middle grew several Millennium Soul-Condensing Flowers, their petals translucent and pure white, brimming with refined spiritual energy. They were top-tier herbs for nourishing the spirit and stabilizing the foundation of a Martial Soul, and were extremely rare. In a shadowy corner on the right, a cluster of Seven-Orifice Heartbreak Vine wound across the ground, its emerald vines streaked with red. Its sap was lethally poisonous; once inside the body, it severed meridians and sealed Soul Power. Dugu Bo had obtained the rare poisonous vine during his early travels across the continent.

At the very center of the garden, within a small plot protected by layers of barriers, grew several Immortal Herbs in the making, transplanted from the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well.

Luo Qiusheng walked forward slowly, scanning the herbs one by one as understanding dawned.

Just as the original story described, there were no fully mature Immortal Herbs here, but plenty of herbs on the verge of becoming one, along with countless poisonous plants unique to the Douluo Continent. It was a treasure trove seldom seen in a hundred years.

He didn't rush to pick the most precious herbs. Instead, following the principle of taking things step by step, he crouched down to study the properties of the various poisonous plants.

His fingertips brushed the Nether Bone-Eroding Grass, and the fire essence of his dragon bone stirred quietly. In an instant, he sensed the corrosive toxins and the chill of yin energy from the earth within it.

Combining what he knew of the art of poison with his observations of the herbs' properties, Luo Qiusheng rapidly expanded his knowledge of poison and worked out how Douluo Soul Power blended with the toxins in plants.

For half a day, he immersed himself in the garden, recording the growth habits, potency, and compatibility with Soul Power of each herb while harvesting mature, ordinary medicinal plants and refining their toxic essences.

By the end of the half-day, Luo Qiusheng had gained a great deal.

He harvested two complete Millennium Soul-Condensing Flowers to nourish his spiritual power. Though his spiritual power had far surpassed ordinary people's after crossing into this world, he had never had any resources specifically suited to nourishing it. With the flowers, he could further strengthen his spiritual foundation and pave the way for controlling greater power and deriving secret arts of poison.

He transplanted more than a dozen Seven-Orifice Heartbreak Vine seedlings, preparing to cultivate them himself and make them a trump card of his own.

His greatest gain, however, came from the garden's central area, where the barriers stood.

Luo Qiusheng avoided the mature herbs on the outskirts and selected three Immortal Herbs that had not yet fully matured:

A Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew that had begun to take shape, an Eight-Petal Immortal Orchid just beginning to bloom, and an Aromatic Silk Beauty that was still unripe.

These three herbs had not yet fully matured. Their medicinal properties were still contained within them, and their auras were faint. Dugu Bo had spent years absorbed in the art of poison. He knew they were precious, but not what made Immortal Herbs truly wondrous, and had simply cultivated them as rare medicinal plants without trying to refine or use them.

But Luo Qiusheng knew their heaven-defying effects.

Once mature, the Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew could refine the eyes to the utmost, allowing one to see through illusions, perceive the flow of Soul Power, and see through any disguise or concealment. It was a top-tier Immortal Herb for detection and perception.

The Eight-Petal Immortal Orchid carried a life-renewing medicinal property. It could strengthen the body, root out hidden ailments, and cleanse impurities from the flesh. It was especially good at neutralizing all kinds of chronic poisons, making it the perfect counter to the poison in Dugu Bo's Jade Phosphor bloodline.

The Aromatic Silk Beauty could harmonize the compatibility between a Martial Soul and the body, resolve rejection between them, and optimize one's natural foundation. It was a wondrous herb for transforming a Martial Soul and breaking through the limits of cultivation.

If they waited until Tang San arrived two years later, all three Immortal Herbs would be fully mature, and he would take and use every one of them.

Now Luo Qiusheng had claimed the three before their time, while they were still incomplete. Though their medicinal properties were only sixty percent as potent as those of fully mature herbs, they still had heaven-defying effects—and taking them would not damage the garden's foundations, so they could be cultivated again afterward.

Luo Qiusheng memorized the locations of the three Immortal Herbs in the making.

Besides those, deep in the garden, he found some surviving pages from a set of notes on the art of poison that Dugu Bo had left behind.

The pages were yellowed and old. They recorded the essence of the art of poison across the Douluo Continent, distilled from Dugu Bo's travels and experience over half a lifetime, the weaknesses and shortcomings of various poison techniques, and his deductions about the bloodline curse of the Jade Phosphor Serpent poison. They even mentioned the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well in passing. Dugu Bo knew where it was, but had not grasped its true nature. He didn't realize it was an unparalleled treasure land and thought it was merely a secret realm overgrown with poisonous plants.

For Luo Qiusheng, this was a priceless find, worth far more than any medicinal herb.

With the notes, he fully understood the underlying logic of poison in the Douluo World and the root of Dugu Bo's bloodline illness. It wasn't simply a case of his Martial Soul backfiring. The Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor Martial Soul was inherently at odds with the laws governing plants in the Douluo Plane. The conflict accumulated over generations, ultimately becoming an incurable bloodline poison. It was also the core reason Dugu Bo had never been able to break through level 95.

At last, a plan to cure Dugu Bo's hidden ailment had fully taken shape in his mind.

The sun sank in the west, and the evening glow spilled across the valley garden.

Luo Qiusheng reined in all his auras. Looking at the ample harvest in his hands, a faint light flashed in his eyes.

The herbs had nourished his foundation, his understanding of poison had come full circle, and he had uncovered the trail leading to the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well. He had seized the opportunities from the original story ahead of time.

These three days in the garden had been worth it!

At the valley entrance in the distance, a green figure stood motionless.

Dugu Bo had returned at some point. He silently watched the youth calmly pick herbs and deduce their properties. Seeing him resist every poison and wield toxins with ease, Dugu Bo felt a glimmer of hope for the first time.

Perhaps... this youth really could unravel the incurable poison that had plagued him for decades.