Dugu Yan finished absorbing the fifty-thousand-year-old Ice Snow Lotus and the fifty-thousand-year-old Purple-Patterned White Jade Ginseng.
Her Martial Soul completed its evolution, transforming from the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Martial Soul into the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor Martial Soul.
The moment her Martial Soul evolved, the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison in her body surged.
Fortunately, Dugu Bo had kept watch at Lin Hao's warning. He acted at once, using his immense Soul Power to suppress the poison.
Once Dugu Bo had forced down the sudden surge of poison in Dugu Yan's body, Heaven and Earth Origin Power began gathering at her dantian, along with the toxins throughout her limbs and bones.
"Sister Yan, don't move. Focus on how the Poison Core forms in your dantian."
After that reminder, Lin Hao quickly enveloped Dugu Yan's entire body with his spiritual power. He paid particular attention to her dantian, not daring to relax for an instant.
As the Poison Core in Dugu Yan's dantian neared completion, Lin Hao figured out how it formed.
A vast amount of Soul Power combined with the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor Martial Soul's own poison. Under the Martial Soul's unconscious direction, they formed a solid Poison Core.
Why would the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor Martial Soul form a Poison Core on its own, without conscious direction?
Lin Hao had a theory. Every venomous snake in the Soul Master World had somewhere to store its venom: a snake core, which could also be called a Poison Core.
That was likely why, after Dugu Yan's Martial Soul evolved, its suddenly increased poison had nowhere to go. The Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor Martial Soul had begun forming a Poison Core on its own.
Still, the Poison Core in Dugu Yan's body could not yet be called a Soul Core. It was only a precursor.
A Soul Core could spin at high speed to accelerate cultivation, restore Soul Power faster, and improve endurance in battle.
Dugu Yan's Poison Core, however, only gave her complete control over her poison. It could not speed up her cultivation.
Even so, it was a good start. Once Lin Hao developed a method for forming Soul Cores, Dugu Yan could use this Poison Core to quickly form her first poison-attribute Soul Core.
Lin Hao gained a great deal from closely watching the entire process of the Poison Core forming in Dugu Yan's dantian.
Dugu Bo, who had also watched the whole process closely, gained even more.
After Dugu Yan finished forming her Poison Core, Dugu Bo gave a few brief instructions and hurried off to cultivate in seclusion.
He did set a limit, though: his seclusion would last no more than ten days.
Once Dugu Bo left, only Dugu Yan and Lin Hao remained, staring at each other. The atmosphere turned awkward.
"Sister Yan, your Poison Core has only just formed. You should stabilize it while you can."
"Ah! Right!"
Dugu Yan sat cross-legged to stabilize her newly formed Poison Core. Lin Hao, meanwhile, began creating a Clone that could last a month.
His current Clone had already existed for twenty-five days and would dissipate in five more.
When the new Clone was ready, Lin Hao transferred his consciousness into it. The twenty-five-day-old Clone returned to his original body.
With that done, Lin Hao saw that Dugu Yan was still stabilizing her Poison Core. He took out the tools he had bought in Heaven Dou City that morning for gathering and storing Immortal Herbs, then began collecting Immortal Herbs and medicinal plants and making a sachet that could conceal his aura.
More than twenty days had passed since Lin Hao, Xiao Wu, and Tang San discussed going to Blue Tyrant Academy in Heaven Dou City at the Shrek Academy cafeteria. Dai Mubai's fiancée, Zhu Zhuqing, had also arrived at Shrek Academy.
With Zhu Zhuqing's arrival, Shrek Academy now had seven students. That meant they could enter team Soul Fighting matches at the arena in Suotuo City.
But Zhu Zhuqing had only just arrived and did not know the other six students well. They needed time together.
The best way for Soul Masters to get to know one another was to train, fight, and spar together.
Teacher Zhao's sixth Soul Skill, Gravity Crush, was perfect for letting the Shrek Academy students build their strength while practicing Soul Fighting.
Ten days passed in a flash.
Lin Hao and Dugu Yan barely spoke during those ten days. He worked on storing the Immortal Herbs and medicinal plants, while she cultivated nearby.
One day, Dugu Bo's hearty laughter rang out from a cave in a mountain beside the valley of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
"Hahaha!"
Why was Dugu Bo so happy?
Lin Hao understood the instant Dugu Bo approached the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well and came into view.
Dugu Bo's jade-green hair had turned black, and his jade-green eyes had returned to normal. His deathly pallor was gone, replaced by a healthy flush. He no longer looked lifeless and appeared years younger.
At the sight of her grandfather's transformation, Dugu Yan ran to him and threw her arms around him.
Now that Dugu Yan could freely control her body's poison through her Poison Core, she naturally understood what had happened to her grandfather.
"Grandpa!"
Dugu Bo caught Dugu Yan as she rushed into his arms.
"Oh, my Yan Yan."
"Hahaha!"
Dugu Bo picked her up and spun her around several times.
"From now on, the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Family will never have to worry about our Martial Souls' poison turning against us again."
As he spun her around, tears of joy and grief filled Dugu Yan's eyes.
She was happy that future generations of her family would never again have to fear the poison of their Martial Souls.
But she grieved for her parents, who had died young because their Martial Souls' poison had turned against them.
After a few turns, Dugu Bo set Dugu Yan down and walked over to Lin Hao.
"Little Monster, if you ever face a problem you can't solve, come to me. I'll go through fire for you without hesitation."
"Of course!"
"We did get to know each other through a fight."
"Then I can use the medicinal plants growing here, and the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well itself?"
"You can! Pull up every last medicinal plant in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well if you want. I won't object."
Lin Hao nodded.
"Good. Then take Sister Yan to hunt for her fourth Soul Ring, Old Monster."
"I'm leaving."
"Leaving?" Dugu Bo asked. "Where are you going? Aren't you returning to Heaven Dou City?"
"I came to Heaven Dou City to gain experience and find out more about Blue Tyrant Advanced Academy," Lin Hao said.
"After I go back, it'll be another seven or eight months before I bring the friends I made at Shrek Academy to study at Blue Tyrant Academy in Heaven Dou City.
"Then we'll try out at Blue Tyrant Academy and enter the next Continental Advanced Soul Master Elite Tournament together."
Dugu Bo nodded.
"All right. When you come back, be sure to visit me at Dugu Manor."
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