Meeting Dugu Bo

Upon hearing Dugu Yan's words, Duan Yu's eyes instantly lit up.

At last, he was going to meet his Immortal Herbs.

For the past three years, he had thought of the Immortal Herbs constantly. Now that he was finally about to see them, he could not suppress the excitement in his eyes.

He also knew why Dugu Bo wanted to see him: Dugu Bo wanted him to cure the Jade-Scaled Serpent poison.

Over the past three years, he had built a good relationship with Dugu Yan. From time to time, he would discuss poisons with her in front of Dugu Bo, creating the image of someone deeply knowledgeable about toxins.

But that alone was indeed not enough to make Dugu Bo believe that a Four-Ring Soul Ancestor could cure poison.

So he needed an opportunity.

After breaking through to the fourth ring, he had deliberately told Dugu Yan that he could draw poison out of a poisoned person's body.

Dugu Bo himself did not believe that a Four-Ring Soul Ancestor could draw out the poison of a Title Douluo.

But Yan Yan was different. Her poisoning was not severe, and her soul power was only at three rings. Perhaps he really could cure Yan Yan's poison.

With the intention of giving it a try, Dugu Bo planned to first test Duan Yu and gauge his abilities.

Although Duan Yu understood everything perfectly well, he still put on an ignorant expression and asked in confusion,

"Senior Dugu, why is he looking for me?"

Dugu Yan shook her head. "I don't know. Grandpa didn't say. Maybe he thinks you know a little about poisons and wants to talk with you."

Duan Yu smiled, nodded, and said nothing.

Heh, with Dugu Bo's temperament—someone who feared neither heaven nor earth and could mock Bibi Dong to her face—

If their conversation went badly, he might just ascend to heaven on the spot.

Everyone had gathered here today to celebrate Duan Yu's consecutive victories and his earning of purple gold.

Duan Yu simply stopped thinking about it and raised his wine cup to drink with everyone else.

After three rounds of drinks.

Cup after cup of wine went down, and everyone became dead drunk and unconscious. Even Duan Yu closed his eyes, appearing to have fallen asleep like the others.

Suddenly.

Duan Yu, who was leaning against the sofa, abruptly opened his eyes. A flash of silver glinted in them as he looked outside the private room.

Someone was heading this way, and their soul power was not weak.

Duan Yu stood up, put on the mask that symbolized Kong Ming, and vanished in a flash of silver light, appearing outside the private room.

Duan Yu had originally thought the visitor would be one of the people he had offended at the Soul Arena over the years.

After all, during the past three years, there had always been people at the Soul Arena who lacked the sense to provoke him. He had not held back either, killing every one of those who challenged him.

But to his surprise, this was no enemy attack. The person who appeared was none other than Xue Qinghe, the crown prince of the Heaven Dou Empire.

Seeing that it was Xue Qinghe, Duan Yu froze for a moment. "Qinghe, why are you here?"

Xue Qinghe stared directly at Duan Yu and said irritably, "What, am I not allowed to come?"

"Heh, Qinghe, what are you saying?"

"The entire Heaven Dou City will be yours in the future. You can go wherever you want."

Duan Yu smiled, reached out to take Xue Qinghe's hand, and transported her in a flash of silver light to another private room on the third floor.

Before Xue Qinghe could react, Duan Yu had grabbed her and teleported her into the private room.

She looked at Duan Yu in shock. Had his comprehension of the laws of space already reached such a level?

"Qinghe, what's wrong?"

Noticing Xue Qinghe's gaze, Duan Yu asked in confusion.

Xue Qinghe shook her head. "Nothing. I'm just shocked that your comprehension of the laws of space has already become so profound."

The corners of Duan Yu's lips rose. He leaned closer to Xue Qinghe and whispered,

"Then I have Qinghe to thank for that. If Qinghe hadn't brought me good things from the palace every so often, I really might not have comprehended it this quickly."

Xue Qinghe had never had anyone come so close to her. With Duan Yu suddenly leaning in, her face immediately reddened, and she stammered,

"Th-then how are you going to repay this crown prince?"

"How would Your Highness like me to repay you?" Duan Yu asked in return.

"I want you to pledge loyalty to me."

Duan Yu shook his head at those words.

"You're unwilling?" Xue Qinghe asked in shock.

"No."

Duan Yu shook his head and explained, "Your Highness and I are kindred spirits, friends. Even if you were no longer the crown prince, you would still be the friend of Duan Yu."

Xue Qinghe had never expected Duan Yu to say such a thing. She stood frozen for a long while before finally turning her head and saying,

"Do as you please. I only came today to see whether you were injured in your final Soul Arena match."

"Since you're fine, I'll be leaving first."

With that, Xue Qinghe got up to leave.

Watching her retreating figure, Duan Yu called out to her,

"Qinghe, I'll come find you at noon the day after tomorrow. The usual place."

"And no matter what, you're my friend, Duan Yu's friend. If anyone dares bully you, they'll be making an enemy of me. I, Duan Yu, will protect you for the rest of my life."

Xue Qinghe, who had already gone some distance away, paused upon hearing those words.

You'll protect me, little friend?

The next day.

Led by Dugu Yan, Duan Yu followed her to Dugu Bo's medicinal garden.

It was not the Icefire Yin Yang Well, but it was still near Sunset Forest, neither too close nor too far from the Heaven Dou Empire.

That way, Dugu Bo could rush back in time whenever his poison flared up.

The moment he entered Dugu Bo's medicinal garden, Duan Yu was stunned by the dense array of poisonous creatures within.

There was a small poisonous creature every three steps and a large one every five.

Dugu Bo must have been driven mad by poison to keep so many poisonous creatures in his own medicinal garden.

The two entered the house, only to find it completely empty.

Duan Yu frowned and asked, "Sister Yan, where is Senior Dugu?"

"I'm not sure either."

Dugu Yan shook her head. "Grandpa only told us to come in the morning. Maybe we came too early, and he happened to go out."

Duan Yu nodded. That was possible.

"Then let's wait here for a while."

About half an hour later, Duan Yu was the first to hear the sound of the medicinal garden being opened outside.

An extremely subtle ripple of space spread around Duan Yu. Through the synchronized resonance of countless overlapping spaces, his perception was extraordinarily terrifying.

In an instant, he sensed the immensely powerful aura outside the medicinal garden. Dugu Bo had returned.

"Sister Yan, Senior Dugu is back," Duan Yu said softly.

"What?"

Dugu Yan froze. "Grandpa is back? Where?"

Before Duan Yu could answer, Dugu Yan heard a voice coming from outside.

"Yan Yan, Grandpa is back."

He really was back?!

Dugu Yan gave Duan Yu a surprised look. Though she had no idea how he had done it, there was no time to worry about that. She needed to quickly bring Duan Yu before her grandfather.

Otherwise, given how her grandfather would disappear for stretches of time now and then, who knew when they would next see him?

With that in mind, Dugu Yan grabbed Duan Yu's wrist and pulled him outside with a bright smile.

"Grandpa, we're back too. This is the Duan Yu I told you about."

As she spoke, Dugu Yan pushed Duan Yu in front of Dugu Bo so that Dugu Bo could examine him more closely.

Dugu Bo looked at Duan Yu. Green light flashed in his eyes as he examined Duan Yu from head to toe.

And after inspecting him thoroughly, he discovered in surprise that this youth, who was even younger than Yan Yan,

was actually a Four-Ring Soul Ancestor!