Persuading Dugu Bo and Entering the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well

Lin Hao rolled his eyes at Dugu Bo, showing no fear at all.

"Come on, Senior Dugu. Miss Dugu Yan has purple hair and green eyes. Aren't those classic signs of poisoning?"

"Anyone who knows a little about medicine and poison could see that."

As he spoke, Lin Hao took another close look at Dugu Bo's face.

"Senior Poison Douluo, I originally thought Miss Dugu Yan's symptoms were a prerequisite for cultivating some special poison art.

But judging by the same symptoms on your face, both of you are poisoned."

"And the poison must come from your Jade Phosphorous Serpent. In short, your family is suffering a backlash from its Jade Phosphorous Serpent Martial Soul. No wonder there are so few of you."

Stung where it hurt, Dugu Bo instantly conjured a Jade Phosphorous Serpent from Soul Power above his right hand. It carried enough poison to reduce a Soul Douluo to a puddle of venom.

"Hey! Hey! Hey!"

"Let's talk this out! I never said I couldn't cure you. Let me describe your condition first, then you can decide."

"You get an itchy, numb feeling along both sides of your ribs, don't you? And it grows steadily worse.

It flares up once at noon and once at midnight. Given your current condition, each episode must last over two hours.

And late every night, around the third watch, you feel stabbing pain at the crown of your head and the Baihui point. Your whole body convulses for at least an hour. I don't need to tell you how unbearable that is."

"How... how do you know?" Dugu Bo could no longer contain his shock. The words slipped out before he could stop them.

Lin Hao's description was so precise it was as though he had seen it himself. This was Dugu Bo's deepest secret.

Killing intent surged in Dugu Bo's eyes. His icy gaze seemed ready to pierce Lin Hao, and the poison in the serpent coiled above his hand grew denser still.

Seeing the look in Dugu Bo's eyes and the movement of his hand, Lin Hao hurriedly spoke.

"Hey, wait! After everything I've told you, you still want to attack?"

"Then kill me. Kill me, and you can watch your precious granddaughter suffer from the poison and die young. You can watch your family line end with you."

Lin Hao met Dugu Bo's gaze calmly. Dugu Bo had not attacked Tang San in the original story; now that Lin Hao had already said he could treat the poison, he was even less likely to strike.

Sure enough, as they stared each other down, the Jade Phosphorous Serpent above Dugu Bo's right hand dissipated.

Dugu Bo put his hands behind his back and gave a cold snort.

"Hmph! You win, boy!"

"Now tell me how you plan to deal with the poison backlash from our Jade Phosphorous Serpent Martial Soul!"

At Dugu Bo's agreement, Lin Hao broke into a brilliant smile. The immortal herbs of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well were almost within reach.

"Gladly! But I don't have the herbs needed to treat you right now. Senior, please take me to the place that suppresses your poison and, by a stroke of luck, brought about your Martial Soul Evolution."

Dugu Bo's eyes narrowed.

"Boy, how did you know I had a place like that?"

"Isn't it obvious? Since your green hair and eyes aren't a prerequisite for cultivating some special poison art, the poison must have reached your organs, perhaps even your bone marrow.

A Soul Master with the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Martial Soul would suffer a sharp increase in poison after reaching the Soul Saint level. Poison constantly drains the life from the body.

Most people with that Martial Soul die young."

"But Senior Dugu, not only did you become a Titled Douluo, your Jade Phosphorous Serpent Martial Soul evolved into the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor. You must have found a place that suppresses your poison."

"And if that place can suppress your poison, it must be rich in natural energy and full of medicinal herbs."

After hearing this explanation, Dugu Bo snorted, tacitly admitting Lin Hao was right. Then he grabbed Lin Hao by the back of his collar and flew toward the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well in Sunset Forest, carrying him like a chick.

"Senior, come on! You could at least carry me under your arm!"

Half an hour later, Dugu Bo brought Lin Hao to a valley.

It was a bowl-shaped valley with a small floor. At its center lay a spring about twenty meters across, and it was a strange one.

The water in the oval pool was divided between milky white and vermilion. Stranger still, though the two colors shared the same pool, they remained sharply separated, neither crossing into the other's half.

All around the spring, precious herbs grew as thickly as weeds. Ice and fire energies clashed and churned, giving rise to a special vitality that nourished the land and every living thing on it.

"Holy shit!"

"Senior Dugu, with the ice and fire forces from the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well suppressing your poison, and all this life-rich natural energy around you, it's no wonder you managed to become a Titled Douluo despite the poison reaching your bones."

Dugu Bo stood with his hands behind his back.

"Well? Are the herbs growing here enough for you to prepare a cure?"

"And 'Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well'—is that what you call this place? It's a good name."

Lin Hao nodded vigorously.

"Yes. I even know how to remove your poison completely now, but doing that would also destroy the poison arts you've cultivated.

I can, however, keep the poison from spreading through your body and extend your life."

"As for Miss Dugu Yan, with the herbs here, I can help her complete a Martial Soul Evolution and evolve her Jade Phosphorous Serpent Martial Soul into the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor."

"But before I treat you and help Miss Dugu Yan evolve her Martial Soul, you must swear a Martial Soul Oath never to harm Lin Hao in any way. If you break it, your Martial Soul will shatter, you will die, and your family line will end."

At the mention of his family line ending, Dugu Bo's eye twitched sharply.

"Fine! But I have a request too. You said you could use the herbs here to evolve Yan's Martial Soul, didn't you?"

"If it can evolve, can you steer it in another direction? Even with the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor, she wouldn't be able to fully control the poison at the Martial Soul's core."

Lin Hao nodded.

"Yes. Serpents are descended from dragons, so we can guide Miss Dugu Yan's evolution toward a dragon. Ice- and fire-aspected herbs are the most abundant here, so those are the two possible directions. Senior Dugu, you can discuss them with Miss Dugu Yan."

Dugu Bo nodded at Lin Hao's suggestion for Dugu Yan's Martial Soul Evolution.

"Good!"

"I, Dugu Bo, swear upon my Martial Soul that if I break..."

Once he had sworn the Martial Soul Oath, Dugu Bo opened his mouth and spat out a flash of green light. It was an emerald-green pearl.