Pharmacist Cooks Dugu Bo, Refines Medicinal Properties!

"Oh, right, big sister."

Qin Mu leaned closer, his large eyes fixed on Hu Liena.

"Didn't you ask me last night whether any outsiders had come to our village?"

"I just remembered. Grandpa Pharmacist caught a weird old man by the river yesterday. I think he came from outside the Great Ruins too."

"That old man had nine shiny rings under his feet too, but the colors were really ugly. Do you want to come with me to the pharmacy and take a look at him?"

Hearing Qin Mu's words, Hu Liena's heart suddenly clenched.

A weird old man in the pharmacy? Nine rings?

Wasn't that Poison Douluo, Dugu Bo, who had been missing for a day and a night?!

"H-he... how is he now?" Hu Liena forced down the panic in her heart and asked haltingly.

"We'll know if we go take a look."

Qin Mu stood up, patted the dirt off his trouser legs, grabbed Hu Liena's hand, and without any room for argument, ran toward the thatched hut behind the village that gave off a strong medicinal smell.

Hu Liena did not dare resist. She could only steel herself and follow behind Qin Mu.

They passed through a narrow dirt alley.

Before they even got close to the pharmacy, an extremely pungent, bizarre smell that made one dizzy with just a single sniff drifted over on the wind.

Mixed into that smell was the bitterness of medicinal herbs, as well as the fishy stench given off by all kinds of poisonous insects.

"Grandpa Pharmacist!"

Qin Mu reached the pharmacy entrance, lifted the somewhat shabby door curtain, stuck half his body inside, and called out.

Standing behind Qin Mu, Hu Liena finally saw the scene inside the pharmacy by the sunlight outside the door.

With just one look, Hu Liena felt her stomach churn violently, and she covered her mouth, nearly vomiting on the spot.

And outside the light screen, the audience across the entire Douluo Continent collectively sucked in a breath the instant they saw the scene clearly.

In the center of that dim pharmacy, there stood a huge bronze cauldron half as tall as a person.

Beneath the huge cauldron, no firewood was burning.

Instead, a circle of yellow, purple, and black glowing rings had been set beneath it, hissing as they sent up ghostly green poisonous flames.

Those rings being used to start the fire were none other than Dugu Bo's spirit rings!

Inside the huge cauldron, a pot of thick medicinal soup, black in color and bubbling away, was boiling.

And the dignified level ninety-two Titled Douluo, the Heaven Dou Empire's guest elder, Dugu Bo, had at this moment been stripped until only a pair of underpants remained.

His hands and feet were tightly bound by several thick dark-red centipedes, and his entire body was suspended from the roof beam like this, with most of him soaked in that pot of boiling black medicinal soup.

Dugu Bo's old face, originally gloomy and unruly, had now been smoked black.

His eyes were closed, and white foam was leaking from his mouth as he breathed in more than he breathed out.

And on the edge of the huge cauldron, more than a dozen plump, colorful poisonous toads were sprawled.

They had their mouths open, absorbing the Jade Phosphorus Snake Emperor Poison fumes drifting from Dugu Bo's body with great enjoyment.

"Oh, Mu'er is here."

Beside the huge cauldron, Pharmacist, wearing a demon mask, held a large iron ladle in his hand.

As he unhurriedly stirred the pot of black soup in the cauldron, he turned his head.

The deep eyes beneath the mask passed over Qin Mu and landed directly on Hu Liena, whose face was deathly pale behind him.

Under Pharmacist's deep gaze, Hu Liena felt her legs go weak. Her whole body retreated a step out of control, and her back struck the doorframe.

The light inside the thatched hut was very dim.

Beneath the waist-high bronze cauldron, the yellow, purple, and black rings pulsed rhythmically, giving off ghostly green flames that lit the demon mask on Pharmacist's face in flickering patches of light and shadow.

"Grandpa Pharmacist, this pot of soup is so black."

Qin Mu, however, was not afraid in the slightest. He walked over to the huge cauldron and stood on tiptoe to peer inside.

A pungent medicinal smell mixed with a fishy reek rushed into his face, making Qin Mu cough twice in succession. He hurriedly reached up and pinched his nose.

Pharmacist stopped the iron ladle in his hand, and a low chuckle came from beneath the mask.

"This soup isn't for you to drink."

Pharmacist turned around and pointed with the iron ladle in his hand at Dugu Bo, who was hanging from the roof beam.

"This outsider's poison techniques are extremely crude. He can't even be considered a beginner."

"But he's accumulated quite a mess of toxins inside him, and with these glowing rings under his feet, there's a very peculiar kind of energy circuit contained within them."

"I'll simmer him over a slow fire and force the toxins out of his body bit by bit, then supplement it with a few strong medicines. It'll be perfect for tempering those new Gu worms I've been raising."

At this point, Pharmacist turned his head again and looked at Hu Liena, who stood frozen in the doorway, not daring to move.

"Mu'er, is this girl an outsider too?"

Pharmacist's gaze swept over Hu Liena twice, his tone carrying a touch of careless indifference.

"She looks like a fine medicinal catalyst. Tender skin, delicate flesh, and her blood vitality is decent enough."

"If you've got nothing else for her, leave her here. I happen to need someone to test medicine on."

Hearing the words "test medicine," every hair on Hu Liena's body stood on end.

She had watched with her own eyes as a mighty Titled Douluo had his spirit rings pulled off and burned like firewood, while he himself was thrown into a pot to be stewed. If she ended up like that too, it would be ten thousand times more terrifying than being devoured by the darkness.

"No..."

Hu Liena shook her head again and again, her beautiful eyes filled with terror and a plea for help as she stared straight at Qin Mu.

Qin Mu hurriedly spread his arms and blocked in front of Hu Liena like he was protecting a chick.

"Grandpa Pharmacist, Big Sister is a good person. Yesterday at the village entrance, she even told me to run."

"Granny said Big Sister has to stay in the village and help with work, so you can't use her to test medicine."

When Pharmacist heard that, he shook his head in boredom and casually tossed the iron ladle into the great cauldron.

"Fine. Since Old Lady Si has spoken, then let her be."

Pharmacist walked over to a water basin nearby and washed his hands, muttering casually as he washed.

"But the cultivation path of these outsiders really is hard to understand."

"They forcibly seal the souls and power of all kinds of wild beasts into these glowing rings, then put the rings on themselves."

"This kind of method relies entirely on external power and completely locks away their own potential."

Pharmacist picked up a rag and wiped his hands, then turned to look in a certain direction in midair, as if talking to himself.

"One's own body is the greatest treasure in the world."

"Instead of developing their own Spirit Fetus and Divine Treasury, they chase after this inferior external energy. It's simply picking up sesame seeds and throwing away a watermelon. Utterly foolish."

These casual words from Pharmacist might have been nothing more than an offhand complaint in Crippled Old Village.

But when they reached Douluo Continent outside the light screen, they were no less than a magnitude-twelve earthquake.

Spirit City, inside the Elder Hall.

Grand Worship Qian Daoliu suddenly opened his eyes, his long golden hair moving without any wind.

At that moment, his weathered face was filled with unconcealable shock and confusion.

"Relying on external power, locking away potential, utterly foolish..."

Qian Daoliu murmured to himself, chewing over those words again and again.

For ten thousand years, the iron law of Douluo Continent had been that a spirit master's cultivation required hunting spirit beasts, absorbing spirit rings, and obtaining spirit skills.

In their eyes, this system was the most perfect law between heaven and earth.

But now, this mysterious Pharmacist from a higher-dimensional world had mercilessly belittled that system as worthless!

And it was not just Qian Daoliu.

In the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect in Heaven Dou Imperial City, Ning Fengzhi, Sword Douluo, and the others were also looking at one another, unable to speak for a long time.

"Sect Master, this..." Sword Douluo opened his mouth, but had no idea how to express the turmoil churning inside him.

Ning Fengzhi took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

"Senior's words may be harsh, but if one thinks carefully, they reveal the truth that the great Dao is simplicity itself."

A sharp light flickered in Ning Fengzhi's eyes as the image of Qin Mu shattering a barren mountain with one punch replayed endlessly in his mind.

"That cowherd boy has no martial soul and no spirit rings. Merely by tempering his physical body and opening the so-called Spirit Fetus, he can possess such terrifying strength."

"This shows that a cultivation method relying on oneself truly stands far above our system of absorbing spirit rings!"

Meanwhile, on the training field of Shrek Academy.

Yu Xiaogang had already fallen into an almost frenzied state of enlightenment.

The pen in his hand scratched wildly across the paper, even tearing through the pages.

"Wrong! It's all wrong!"

Yu Xiaogang's eyes were bloodshot as he somewhat neurotically clutched at his own hair.

"Our Douluo Continent's cultivation direction for tens of thousands of years was wrong from the very beginning!"

"Instead of developing the treasures of the body, we went and plundered the power of spirit beasts. This is why even if we cultivate to level ninety-nine, our lifespan is only a mere few hundred years!"

Hearing Grandmaster's wild roar, the surrounding students were all scared silly.

Tang San stood off to the side, and stormy waves were surging through his heart as well.

The Mysterious Heaven Skill he cultivated was, in a sense, about excavating his own potential. It shared the same ingenious principle as the ideals of Crippled Old Village.

The moment he thought of this, Tang San's heart burned hot.

If he could obtain the true method to open the Divine Treasury in this world and combine it with the Tang Sect's secret arts, then he, Tang San, would absolutely be able to become the lord of all worlds!

Inside the Sky Screen.

Seeing that Pharmacist was no longer trying to get ideas about Hu Liena, Qin Mu tugged on the corner of Hu Liena's clothes and hurriedly slipped out of the medicine room.

As they walked along the village path, Hu Liena gulped down mouthfuls of fresh air, feeling as if she had just taken a trip through the gates of hell.

"Little brother, thank you."

Hu Liena crouched down and, with great gratitude, helped Qin Mu straighten his slightly wrinkled collar.

"It's nothing, big sister. Grandpa Pharmacist is actually a pretty good person. His temper is just a little strange."

Qin Mu grinned, showing a mouthful of white teeth.

"Come on, I'll take you to watch Grandpa Mute forge iron."

Qin Mu took Hu Liena's hand and ran toward the blacksmith shop at the front of the village.

Inside the blacksmith shop, the furnace fire was burning fiercely.

Bare-chested, Mute was swinging a large iron hammer, repeatedly striking a red-hot lump of iron on the anvil.

"Ding! Dang!"

The crisp sounds of forging echoed through the village.

Hu Liena stood outside the shop, originally only watching with some curiosity.

But after watching for a while, the expression on her face slowly changed.

She discovered that Mute's forging movements seemed simple and crude, but they carried an extremely wondrous rhythm.

Every time the hammer fell, Mute's chest would swell high with it. Then, as the hammer rose, a stream of white air visible to the naked eye would spray from his mouth and nose.

Between each breath in and out, the air around the blacksmith shop seemed to twist along with it.

Standing several meters away, Hu Liena felt a scalding wave of heat rush toward her face.

But within that heat wave, she actually sensed a trace of extremely pure energy.

This energy was completely different from the soul power on Douluo Continent. It was heavier, more violent, and also purer.

"This... is this breathing in and out the vital energy between heaven and earth?"

Hu Liena's heart gave a fierce jump as a thought flashed through her mind.

Although she had lost her soul power, as the Holy Maiden of Spirit Hall, her comprehension was extremely high.

Watching the rhythm of Mute's breathing, Hu Liena subconsciously closed her eyes and began trying to adjust her own breathing, imitating Mute's frequency.

Inhale, exhale...

At first, Hu Liena found it extremely difficult. Her chest felt stifled and panicked, as if her lungs were about to burst.

But she gritted her teeth and forced herself to persist.

After trying dozens of times in a row, she finally grasped a hint of the method.

With one long, deep breath, Hu Liena felt that pure energy around her slowly flow into her body through her mouth and nose.

This energy traveled along her meridians. Her originally dried-up meridians were like land that had finally met sweet rain after a long drought, greedily absorbing this strange power.

"Buzz..."

Hu Liena's body trembled slightly.

She could clearly feel that the soul power in her body, which had originally been stuck at the bottleneck of rank fifty, had actually begun to loosen, however slowly, after absorbing this external vital energy!

Not only that, but her soul power was undergoing some kind of qualitative change, becoming more condensed and more domineering than before.

"An opportunity! This is a heaven-sent opportunity!"

Hu Liena suddenly opened her eyes, her face filled with wild joy.

She had never expected that merely standing to the side and watching a mute blacksmith forge iron, then imitating his breathing technique a little, would actually allow her to break through her cultivation bottleneck, and even make her soul power transform.

The energy contained in the air of the Great Ruins was simply the perfect tonic!

Meanwhile, outside the light screen at this moment.

All the Douluo powerhouses, after seeing Hu Liena close her eyes to imitate the breathing and then witnessing the change in her aura, collectively boiled over.

"Quick! All of you, watch that mute's breathing movements carefully!"

In Spirit City, Bibi Dong stood up and loudly issued an order to the elders and knights below the great hall.

"Breathe according to his frequency! Hurry!"

For a moment, inside and outside Spirit Hall, tens of thousands of people all shut their mouths and began following Mute on the Sky Screen, huffing and puffing as they practiced deep breathing.

And not just Spirit Hall.

Heaven Dou Empire, Star Luo Empire, the major sects...

Across the entire Douluo Continent, on this early morning, a scene appeared that was both laughable and utterly magnificent.

Countless soul masters, men and women, old and young alike, all stopped what they were doing and faced the Sky Screen in midair, moving in perfect unison as they inhaled and exhaled.

Some held their breath for so long that their faces swelled to the color of pig liver; others used too much force and collapsed to the ground, coughing.

On the training field of Shrek Academy.

Ma Hongjun wheezed for breath, clutching his stomach as he complained.

"Ow, no, no more. Why does my stomach hurt so much? Did I get a stitch?"

Tang San was also drenched in sweat at this point. He had tried to coordinate this breathing method with the Mysterious Heaven Skill, only to discover that there seemed to be some kind of conflict between the two. They simply could not be merged.

"This breathing method is only suited to absorbing the special vital energy of that higher-dimensional world."

Tang San stopped moving and shook his head with some regret.

"In the air of our Douluo Continent, there's only ordinary soul power, not that pure, heavy energy. Even if we learn the movements, we won't be able to absorb anything."

Hearing Tang San's words, the students around him stopped one after another, their faces filled with disappointment.

Yu Xiaogang also sighed and crossed out the breathing diagrams he had written down in his notebook.

"It seems that if we want to obtain a true transformation, we'll still have to enter that Great Ruins ourselves."

Everyone's gazes turned back to the Sky Screen, the longing in their eyes growing even stronger.

If casually stealing even a little superficial knowledge brought such huge benefits, then if they could receive personal guidance from those old monsters, wouldn't they ascend in broad daylight on the spot?

On the Sky Screen.

Qin Mu did not know that Hu Liena beside him had just experienced a small moment of enlightenment.

After watching Mute finish forging a piece of iron, he pulled Hu Liena along and continued wandering around the village.

The two of them arrived at an open space behind the village. Blind Man was leaning on his bamboo staff, sitting on a large rock and basking in the sun.

"Grandpa Blind Man, what are you doing?"