Joy of Reaching the Titled Realm

Ignoring Old Song's horrified expression, he reached out and placed a hand on the man's neck. The gradually strengthening pulse made his expression change again and again.

"How is he, doctor? What's happened to my child?"

Though they had initially known the child might be beyond saving, Old Song's shocked appearance gave the others a few more slivers of hope.

"Th-this... He looks much better now. Next, we only need to tend to the wound a little more. Little Lin, go help me fetch a basin of water."

"Alright, alright, I'll go right away."

Moving his short little legs, Lin Yue quickly brought over a basin of water.

Old Song carefully examined the injured area and wiped away the blood around it. He saw that tender pink flesh had already grown over the originally gruesome wound. More than half of it had healed, and the bleeding had long been completely stopped by scabs.

"At this rate, he only needs to have the wound bandaged again, take some medicine to prevent infection, and eat nourishing foods to recover. Then he'll be completely fine."

Feeling the increasingly steady pulse, Old Song's face grew ever more astonished. His eyes remained fixed on the vial Lin Yue had handed over.

Such miraculous medicine was simply unheard of!

"Is... is that true?"

Watching a dying man get saved by Old Song, the hunters were overjoyed. The woman who had collapsed earlier tightly clutched Old Song's hand, her eyes bursting with boundless hope.

"That's right. He's already much better. What remains is to let him recover from his injuries."

Though he found it hard to believe, Old Song understood that the effects of Lin Yue's potion were even better than he had expected.

[Ding, the patient's family's commissioned mission has been completed]

[Received 500 points. Remaining points: 710]

"Little sir, how much does that medicine cost?"

Though her face was covered in tears, the woman now looked delighted. As she wiped them away, she tightly held Lin Yue's hand, her eyes filled with gratitude.

She was not foolish. She knew her child had originally been at death's door, and even Old Song had been helpless. Yet after drinking the potion given by this little boy, everything had turned around!

"Well... Since the ingredients used in the medicine are rather expensive, the price might be a little high..."

Seeing the shocked expressions on everyone's faces, Lin Yue knew he had to price the medicine higher...

"How much? It's fine. I'll pay whatever it costs."

The woman's face went pale for a moment upon hearing that it was expensive, but thinking of its miraculous effects, she gritted her teeth and pulled out her wallet.

"Ten Silver Soul Coins."

"Ten Gold Soul Coins. Alright, even if we have to sell everything we own, we'll scrape together enough for you, little sir... Hm?"

The panic on the woman's face froze slightly. She stood there in a daze, seemingly trying to process the information that had far exceeded her expectations.

How much?!

Ten Silver Soul Coins?!!

"Little sir, did you just say ten Silver Soul Coins? Not Gold Soul Coins?"

The hunters exchanged looks and stared at Lin Yue in disbelief.

Ten Silver Soul Coins were not exactly cheap.

A skilled blacksmith only earned one Silver Soul Coin a month. Ten Silver Soul Coins were nearly all the savings an ordinary adult man could accumulate in a year.

Even so, compared to Healing-type Soul Masters, who casually charged several Gold Soul Coins, ten Silver Soul Coins were probably not even a fraction of their price...

Yet the effects of this medicine... were terrifyingly immediate!

"Yes. That shouldn't be a problem, right?"

Lin Yue revealed a faint smile. It had to be expensive, yet still affordable for everyone.

Perhaps because the patient's family was overwhelmed by emotion and desire, this anxious mother and the flustered hunters had directly provided him with a full five hundred points. Compared to Gold Soul Coins, this was what Lin Yue wanted more.

Although no one knew it, the actual material cost of the Healing Potion was merely a few mushrooms and a few spoonfuls of honey. Altogether, it probably did not even cost several Copper Soul Coins.

"The only thing to watch out for is that it can only be used on ordinary people. It absolutely must not be used on Soul Masters..."

He muttered softly in a voice no one could hear. Having seen the patient's terrifying recovery speed after taking the medicine, a deep wariness flashed through Lin Yue's eyes.

He did not know whether the percentage-based recovery effect would weaken for high-level Soul Masters... But regardless, he could not truly hand the potion over to those high-level Soul Masters. It could only be used by ordinary people.

After all, such a powerful recovery effect was far too shocking. Even if it only worked on Soul Masters and Soul Grandmasters, once exposed, it would bring him nothing but harm. It would be best if its reputation only spread among ordinary people.

In the public's understanding, this medicine had to only work on ordinary people! At least until he possessed the strength to fear no schemers!

"No problem. Ten Silver Soul Coins. I'll give them to you right now."

The women hurried forward and quickly gathered ten Soul Coins, handing them to Lin Yue with endless thanks.

The boy accepted the silver coins, delight rising in his heart.

The price of this one vial of medicine was enough for Xiao San to miserably swing a hammer in the blacksmith shop for several months.

Heaven Dou Empire, Heaven Dou Imperial City.

Within a remote and spacious residence, a green-haired old man sat in the center of the main hall, his face filled with sorrow.

His eyes were slightly closed, and his aura fluctuated unstably over and over. Like a lit ember, he continuously radiated the presence and pressure of a Titled Douluo, warping the air around him.

Today, he had found that treasured place in Sunset Forest and killed the Medusa guarding it. Not only had he obtained a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring, he had also acquired a Ten Thousand Year Head Soul Bone, officially entering the Titled Realm.

Yet not a trace of joy stirred within him.

Because today, he would face the most painful farewell of his life.

"Xin, has it truly come to this?"

Tears filled the old man's eyes. His trembling voice choked with sobs as he looked toward the man completely wrapped in a black cloak, whose appearance could not be seen.

"Father, please forgive my willfulness."

A hoarse voice came from beneath the black robe, carrying pain and deep remorse.

"I have already failed Ling'er too much. In the final days of her life, I want to go out with her and see the world, to visit the places we once went together."

As he spoke, the man reached out and held the hand of his wife beside him, whose face was equally pale and whose vitality had been drained to the extreme.

"..."

In the silent hall, Dugu Bo raised his head, doing everything he could to stop the tears in his eyes from falling.

"I am the one who has failed you."

The Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor, the martial soul that had allowed Dugu Bo to dominate the path of poison, had also brought the curse of Bone-Eroding Poison upon his family.

His only biological son had nearly rotted away because of that damned poison. The damage had accumulated beyond remedy...

And his pitiful daughter-in-law, in order to bear an heir for the Dugu Family, had exhausted herself. In the end, she too had been afflicted by the poison, with barely any life left.

Dugu Bo called himself a master of poison, yet after playing with poison his entire life, he could not even protect his own flesh and blood. He could only watch helplessly as his child's body was gradually destroyed and corroded by that damned poison...

Even he himself was only barely holding on, resisting the poison's assault on his body...

"Father, there is no need to say any more. You have already done enough. For the days ahead, please forgive your child's selfishness and let us go out and see the world."

Holding his wife's hand and feeling the tenderness in her gaze, Dugu Xin endured the bone-deep agony within him and forced out a faint smile.

The poison in both their bodies could no longer be cured. They did not want to waste their final days because of it, nor did they want to waste Dugu Bo's Soul Power...

In these final moments, Dugu Xin wanted to be willful once. He wanted to cast aside the identities of son and father, and simply be a husband, accompanying the wife he owed so much to as they experienced the last traces of beauty in life.

"Go... I will take care of Yan. I am the one who has failed you."

He understood that the two children no longer wanted to waste his Soul Power or burden him in the slightest... lest the poison of the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor within him backlash even further...

Dugu Bo closed his eyes in despair, and several tears rolled down his cheeks.

He vaguely remembered how adorable Xin had been as an infant, when he was just learning to speak and his little hand would grasp Dugu Bo's finger.

At that time, all he wished for was for his child to live safely and smoothly, spending his life happily...

But after his martial soul awakened, everything changed...

The adorable child from his memories had slowly been eroded by poison, eventually becoming so tragic and pitiful...

And the root of it all... was him...

If he had been stronger, if the poison of this martial soul had not backlashed against its wielder, if he had reached the Titled Realm sooner and made it in time when Xin needed help most...

A long time later, when the old man opened his eyes again, his son and daughter-in-law were already gone from his blurred vision.

On this day, Dugu Bo found the treasured place, broke through completely, and entered the Titled Realm.

It was also on this day that Dugu Bo understood that the two who had left home at life's end were like worker bees that left the hive when they sensed their lives nearing their end, doing so only to preserve the purest possible environment for the children who had not yet grown.

They would never return...

"Grandpa, where are Father and Mother?"

Wearing pajamas, the girl walked into the living room with a confused expression.

She searched the entire house, yet could not find those two familiar and beloved figures.

"They're gone, Yan. From now on, it will only be the two of us, grandfather and granddaughter."

Dugu Bo tightly embraced his bewildered granddaughter, his voice trembling.

After that day, all of Heaven Dou City learned that the Dugu Family had gained a Titled Douluo.

But everyone in Heaven Dou City was also informed that Dugu Bo's son and daughter-in-law had both passed away. From then on, the Dugu Family had only one descendant left: his granddaughter, Dugu Yan.

Outside Heaven Dou City, a group of jujube-red horses trotted along the main road. Amid the clopping of hooves, a carriage swayed as it headed toward the border.

"Ling'er, where do you want to go?"

His voice carried a hint of pain, but also a trace of relief and acceptance.

"Let's go to the places we once traveled together, Brother Xin. As long as I'm with you, anywhere is fine."

"Alright..."

Leaning against each other, the two drove the carriage and began their final journey...