Nine-Section Jadeite

"I can cure it!" Jiang Baiyu declared with complete confidence.

"It seems you're far more than I imagined." Dugu Bo slowly rose. The poisonous aura he had kept in check began to stir around him, and a bone-chilling toxicity filled the air.

"Very well. As the Medicine King's disciple, I trust your character. But I still need some assurance. I'll give you a chance. If you fail my test, I won't kill you. You'll only have to give me the Spirit Herb with the strongest aura in this courtyard as compensation. How does that sound?" Dugu Bo asked.

Jiang Baiyu was startled. He hadn't expected Dugu Bo to notice A-Lan's presence. Still, he bowed. "Thank you for trusting me, senior. But A-Lan isn't a wager. A-Lan is my companion."

"Hahaha, good!" Dugu Bo burst out laughing at Jiang Baiyu's reply. "I'd planned to test you three times and see just what you were capable of."

He fixed Jiang Baiyu with a cold stare. "But the wine you gave Yan'er yesterday truly can drive out serpent poison. You've already passed the first test."

"So the first round is yours. Now, the second!"

The moment he finished speaking, the second test began!

A faint wisp of colorless, odorless Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison slipped from Dugu Bo's fingertip and silently enveloped the courtyard. It was the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor's most insidious innate poison, capable of killing without a trace. Once it entered the body, an ordinary soul master's meridians would rot and their Soul Power would freeze in an instant. It was thousands upon thousands of times more virulent than Dugu Yan's Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison.

Jiang Baiyu looked at the spreading poison and summoned the Shennong Cauldron. His first Soul Ring flashed, and pale green medicinal light swept outward. Illusory Spirit Herbs swayed throughout the courtyard, while a gentle medicinal power enveloped him. His domain—Hundred Herbs! Immune to a hundred poisons!

The invisible poison Dugu Bo had sent at him dissolved the moment it came within three feet of Jiang Baiyu. The Hundred Herbs Domain purified and dispersed it without so much as a ripple.

Dugu Bo's pupils contracted. His astonishment deepened.

He had held back, but it was still his innate serpent poison. Even a Soul Ancestor, or a Soul King, would have been instantly corroded and perhaps gravely injured by it. Yet a nine-year-old child had dispelled it with a soul skill as though it were nothing.

"What is that?" Dugu Bo narrowed his vertical serpent pupils. "A domain?" The Dugu family had little in the way of inherited knowledge because of its poison, but he had traveled the continent for years and seen plenty. A nine-year-old with a domain, though? He would have to reassess Jiang Baiyu.

"Not bad, boy. You pass the second round too."

Dugu Bo's expression grew grave. He would hold back no longer.

"Next is the third round. The last."

He gave his sleeve a light flick.

A streak of jade-green light slid from it and coiled around his finger. It was a tiny snake, green from head to tail, with translucent scales like jadeite. Its body was as slender as a finger, and nine neat segments were clearly visible.

Dugu Bo gazed steadily at Jiang Baiyu. "This is a treasure I've spent half my life raising—the Nine-Section Jadeite!"

"In case you haven't heard of it, let me explain. It may be small, but its poison can slaughter a city. Its scales are hard, and its venom is vicious beyond measure. Even an ordinary Titled Douluo bitten by it would have his flesh dissolve into pus within half a cup of tea. Its fearsome reputation is known throughout the soul master world. Even I can't be sure I could cure myself if it bit me. So, do you still want to try the third round?"

As if agreeing with Dugu Bo, the Nine-Section Jadeite's green vertical pupils flashed with malice. Its scarlet tongue flicked rapidly, and visible dark-green poisonous mist spread from its body. The corrosive poison made the Spirit Herbs in the courtyard curl slightly. In an instant, the air turned cold and venomous.

"Go ahead," Jiang Baiyu said calmly.

"Good. Stay with the Nine-Section Jadeite for half a cup of tea, and you pass." Dugu Bo slowly set it on the ground. The moment it landed, the surrounding Spirit Herbs began to wilt, a testament to its venom. It shot toward Jiang Baiyu like a short green arrow.

Jiang Baiyu stood straight, without a trace of panic. His dark eyes remained calm.

The ancient, heavy Shennong Cauldron above his head gave a soft hum and trembled!

A pure, brilliant Five-Colored Medicine Flame flowed from its mouth. Sparks hovered around him. It lacked the violence of ordinary fire, carrying instead an ancient power that warded off corruption and suppressed poison.

The innate Shennong Medicine Flame was the bane of all poisons. Evil recoiled from it; it swept away malign forces and soothed the spirit!

The instant that flame appeared, the Nine-Section Jadeite, which had been poised to strike, stiffened and shook violently!

A primal terror, etched into the depths of its bloodline, swallowed every last bit of its ferocity. It sensed that the wisp of Medicine Flame before it was its ultimate nemesis, capable of countering its unstoppable venom and even extinguishing all its poisonous power!

The poisonous mist around it rapidly caught fire. Its once-taut body trembled, and it clamped its sharp fangs together, unable even to raise its head in defiance. Without a moment's hesitation, the snake turned and fled. It darted to Dugu Bo's feet and curled into a tight ball, burying its head as its jade-green scales quivered. Its courage was utterly broken.

A top-tier venomous spirit snake whose poison could slaughter a city had been stopped cold by a single wisp of Jiang Baiyu's Shennong Medicine Flame. It refused to move another inch.

The courtyard fell utterly silent.

Dugu Bo stood frozen. His pupils contracted sharply as disbelief overtook his grim expression. What he had just seen overturned everything decades of studying poison had taught him. He had raised the Nine-Section Jadeite for years. He knew how fierce and proud it was, how little it feared any poison. It had never shown the slightest cowardice, not even before the pressure of a Super Douluo.

Yet today, a peerless venomous snake capable of slaughtering a city had been frightened into trembling by a boy not yet ten years old and a single wisp of Medicine Flame. It did not even dare raise its head!

"What do you say now, Senior Dugu?" Jiang Baiyu stood amid the Five-Colored Medicine Flame. A rich vitality spread from him, swiftly dispersing the poison in the air. He looked like a child of life itself.

At that moment, Dugu Bo cast aside all disdain, suspicion, and hidden killing intent. He drew in every trace of his poisonous aura. With none of a Titled Douluo's arrogance left, he cupped his fists and said solemnly, "Please help the Dugu family rid itself of this poison, young friend."

Dugu Bo let out a long breath. His threatening aura had vanished completely. Only gravity and earnestness remained in his eyes.

He bowed slightly to Jiang Baiyu, putting aside all pride.

"Young friend, I, Dugu Bo, misjudged you."

"You can cure Yan'er's Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison? And you truly... can cure me too?"

The words weighed heavily on him.

The Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor Poison had plagued him for decades, sinking into his bones and blood and turning against him. It had been the nightmare of half his life. All he could do was suppress it by force and wait for his lifespan to run out—or for the poison to flare up and kill him.

Jiang Baiyu withdrew the Medicine Flame. The Shennong Cauldron descended and vanished into his body, and the Hundred Herbs Domain faded, leaving only a delicate medicinal fragrance in the courtyard. "To be blunt, senior, only your Soul Power is keeping the poison in check. If it erupted, it wouldn't merely be enough to slaughter a city. It could destroy a nation. I have a way to remove it, but your entire cultivation is bound to your poison. Cure it, and at best your cultivation would regress. At worst, you would die on the spot."

Dugu Bo knew that much. He looked at Jiang Baiyu. "Then what can you do?"

"The problem is that your body has nowhere to store the poison, so it can only remain in your blood," Jiang Baiyu said.

"You mean a Soul Bone?" Dugu Bo's eyes lit up. How had he never thought of that?

"No." Jiang Baiyu shook his head. "A Soul Bone could store it, but it would have a limit. I don't need to tell you what happens once it reaches that limit."

"My body would burst," Dugu Bo said.

"Right. An External Soul Bone might work, but those are far too rare. So you could seek a solution within yourself," Jiang Baiyu said.

"What?" Dugu Bo asked.

"I call it the Soul Core Method. Condense Soul Power into a solid Soul Core that resonates with heaven and earth. That would give you a place to store the poison," Jiang Baiyu said. "But for now, it's only a theory."

"You brat!" Dugu Bo's temper flared again. "You're playing games with me!"

"I'm offering you an idea. Sister Yanzi's poison is easy for me to cure. Yours has taken root in your marrow and wound around your meridians. Over time, it's thrown the yin and yang in your body out of balance. For now, the most I can do is strengthen your meridians and draw out the poison already inside you."

"What do you mean?" Dugu Bo stared at him, unable to grasp what Jiang Baiyu was saying.

"I mean I can remove the poison in your body without affecting your strength, but I can't cure you permanently. It will hold for ten years at most. Every time you cultivate, the poison will cling to your meridians again."

"That's enough!" Dugu Bo was overjoyed. If Jiang Baiyu could clear the lingering poison from his body, ten years would give him ample time to study the Soul Core Method.

Jiang Baiyu spoke without hesitation. "But my Shennong medicinal power alone is nowhere near enough to remove the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor Poison from your body. I need a rare place where the forces of heaven and earth can balance yin and yang, so I can cleanse your marrow and meridians. That's the main reason I came to help you."

"You mean... my Medicine Garden!" Hearing Jiang Baiyu's description, Dugu Bo finally understood what he wanted from him.

Deep in the Sunset Forest lay a peerless treasure known only to Dugu Bo. One side cold, the other hot; the two extremes nurtured each other as yin and yang came together in endless creation.

It was also why he had survived despite being poisoned so deeply.

Jiang Baiyu nodded.

"Exactly. The Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well has the medicinal ingredients I need."

"Your poison is sinister, cold, and virulent. Only the extreme yin and yang of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well can neutralize it and separate it from its roots. Then I can refine it layer by layer with the Shennong Cauldron's innate Medicine Flame and free you of it."

Dugu Bo had no time to wonder how Jiang Baiyu knew about his Medicine Garden. What mattered now was whether he could trust this boy, who was not yet ten.

Remembering the wonders he had just witnessed, Dugu Bo gritted his teeth and spoke with unprecedented seriousness.

"If you truly can cure Dugu Yan's poison and remove mine, young friend—"

"I, Dugu Bo, will give you full use of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well."

"Every Medicine Garden, poisonous herb, and spirit plant I have in the Sunset Forest will be at your disposal!"

"But once you perfect the Soul Core Method, you must tell me how it works so I can rid myself of this poison for good. Do we have a deal?"

Dugu Bo had offered him almost everything he owned. Jiang Baiyu smiled. "Trust me, Senior Dugu. This will be the deal you're most grateful you ever made."

"Then here's to our partnership!"