Immortal Herb Catalog in Hand

The next day, Dugu Yan woke up in bed. Sunlight shone across her somewhat pale face, illuminating two dried tear tracks.

She rubbed the corners of her eyes. Thinking of last night's dream, she felt inexplicably disappointed.

Remembering what Shi An had said last night, she decided that when she saw him today, she would ask whether there truly was a way to cure her.

Heaven Dou Imperial Academy.

"Yan Yan, how are you feeling? Any better?" Yu Tianheng asked when he saw Dugu Yan, his face full of concern.

Dugu Yan nodded slightly. "I'm mostly fine now."

Her gaze was not on Yu Tianheng, but on Shi An, who was training in the field.

She walked straight over. "Shi An, can we talk somewhere private?"

Everyone who was training turned to look at them, surprise in their eyes. They did not understand what had happened between the two, who normally had no interaction at all.

"Sure." Shi An nodded, said something to Zhu Zhuqing, and headed toward a nearby pavilion.

"What exactly did you mean by what you said yesterday?" Dugu Yan spoke first, staring intently at Shi An, her eyes filled with hope.

"You can feel it too, can't you? What you have isn't an illness at all." Rather than answer her question, Shi An asked one of his own.

"Yes." After a moment of silence, Dugu Yan said,

"Although I don't know what it is, and my grandfather has never told me, I'm certain it isn't the hereditary illness he claimed it was."

"That's right. It actually has to do with your martial soul." Looking at her, Shi An recalled the posts he had seen before and said,

"Your martial soul is the poison-attribute Jade Phosphor Serpent."

"But martial souls are different from real snakes. Snakes have venom sacs in their bodies to store poison, while humans simply cannot have such things."

"So the Jade Phosphor Serpent's poison seeped into every part of your body along with your soul power."

"Every time you cultivate, every time your soul power rises, more poison accumulates in your body."

"You don't have any hereditary illness. You've been poisoned."

Dugu Yan opened her mouth. She wanted to refute him, but could not find a single word of rebuttal.

"Then... what does the solution you mentioned have to do with soul bones?"

Remembering the hint Shi An had given her last night, Dugu Yan asked.

"I already said it just now. Humans are different from snakes. Snakes have venom sacs, while humans must find some other vessel to store the poison."

"Soul bones are different. They are independent objects within the human body, making them extremely suitable vessels."

"As long as you force the poison mixed into your soul power into a soul bone, then regulate your body and clear out the poison that has accumulated throughout your limbs and organs, you will no longer suffer from the poison's corrosion."

Dugu Yan fell silent. Shi An's solution sounded highly credible.

But... soul bones were incredibly rare. Even her grandfather, Dugu Bo, a Title Douluo, had only obtained a ten-thousand-year head soul bone.

Seeing Dugu Yan fall silent, Shi An said,

"You should discuss this with your grandfather. Since you've already been poisoned, I doubt your grandfather escaped it either."

Dugu Yan abruptly raised her head. Right, even she had been corroded by her martial soul's poison. Could her grandfather also be...

She did not dare think any further. Her eyes had already turned slightly red.

In this world, her grandfather was her only remaining family. If something happened to him...

"Alright, I'll be leaving first. You can think it over some more. After all, I can't be completely sure whether this method will work."

Shi An had already laid the bait. All he needed to do now was wait for Qian Renxue to give him the Immortal Herb Catalog, then sit back and wait for Dugu Bo to come knocking.

He only hoped nothing went wrong.

After leaving the pavilion, Shi An resumed training.

Zhu Zhuqing was somewhat curious about their conversation, but she did not ask anything.

That was one of the reasons Shi An liked her. She never pried too deeply into things.

The matter seemed to have been put on hold. More than a month passed without any movement from Dugu Yan's side, nor was there any news from Qian Renxue.

Shi An was becoming somewhat anxious. What troubled him was not that Dugu Bo had yet to seek him out, but that Qian Renxue kept stringing him along.

Obtaining an Immortal Herb Catalog was not difficult at all. Could it be that after more than a month, Qian Renxue still had not gotten it?

Clearly, Qian Renxue was deliberately stringing him along.

As for her purpose, he could more or less guess it.

Since Qian Renxue had chosen to do this, he could only obediently go ask for it himself.

As for owing her a favor...

Heh. I won't acknowledge it. What can you do about that?

Of course, unless it became necessary, he did not want to completely fall out with Qian Renxue either.

After all, Martial Soul Hall was immensely powerful. Unless Shi An wanted to completely conceal his identity and hide from Martial Soul Hall forever.

Crown Prince's Residence.

Led by a maid, Shi An walked toward the courtyard.

Qian Renxue was still waiting in the pavilion, with tea and pastries laid out on the table as before.

"Brother Shi, we truly are kindred spirits. I had just prepared the herb catalog you wanted and was about to send someone to inform you, yet you came here yourself."

Shi An sneered inwardly, but his expression remained calm.

"Really? Then I must thank Brother Xue. Consider this a favor I owe you, Brother Xue. Should you ever need anything in the future, I will certainly do everything in my power!"

Hearing what she wanted to hear, Qian Renxue was in an excellent mood. Smiling, she took a thick book from her storage soul tool.

Nothing was written on its cover, and it looked utterly ordinary. Yet in Shi An's eyes, this book was priceless.

After chatting for a while, Shi An took his leave.

The moment he returned home, he eagerly opened the book.

The first illustration he saw confirmed that this was the herb catalog compiled by Chrysanthemum Pass.

The first picture depicted a large purple flower. Every petal was covered in fine, soft fuzz, the petals tightly arranged, the entire flower appearing as one seamless whole.

Below it were the flower's name and effects.

[Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum: Greatly tempers the user's muscles, bones, and meridians, causing a tremendous increase in strength and physical defense. It greatly strengthens the foundation of the physique while significantly improving compatibility with the martial soul.

It is exceptionally beneficial for assault-type and defense-type martial souls. It has no violent side effects of bodily explosion and is a steady, stable immortal-grade herb.]

The second illustration was Lovesick Heartbroken Red. The third, fourth, and those after them were all immortal herbs that had either appeared in the original work or had never been recorded.

He knew that beyond that point, the catalog mostly contained rare medicinal herbs of little value.

Shi An was ecstatic. The Immortal Herb Catalog was finally in his hands, and he had also found an immortal herb suitable for himself within it.

—Earth Crystal Fruit!

Though it was not of the same quality as Lovesick Heartbroken Red or Narcissus Jade Muscle Bone, it was the immortal herb best suited to Shi An's attributes.