I Thought You Wanted Immortal Herbs, but You Want to Be My Teacher?

Dugu Bo looked down at his son and hesitated for a moment.

In his eyes, the young man before him had indeed accurately described the symptoms of his poison flare-ups, but knowing the symptoms and being able to save someone were two different things.

Yet Dugu Xin's complexion was growing worse by the moment, and the method he had just tried could only suppress the poison briefly. Any further delay would only make things worse.

A moment later, Dugu Bo gently laid his son on a flat patch of grass. He did not move far away, however, standing guard nearby as his gaze followed Li Qingshan's every movement.

If anything seemed amiss, he would intervene immediately.

Li Qingshan crouched beside Dugu Xin and placed two fingers on the boy's wrist. The acupuncture techniques from the Heavenly Doctor Acupuncture Manual had already surfaced clearly in his mind.

He withdrew his fingers and raised his right palm. Strands of silvery-white soul power gathered between his fingers, turning into nine slender needles that hovered in midair.

Dugu Bo's gaze shifted slightly. He could just about manage to condense soul power into needles that fine himself.

But the length and sharpness of all nine needles were controlled with absolute precision, and each hovered steadily in a different position. Such control over soul power went far beyond simply giving it a shape.

"Nine Needles for Suppressing Poison."

Li Qingshan murmured the words, then drew his fingertips downward.

The first three soul power needles descended onto several meridians near Dugu Xin's heart. Their silver light brightened slightly, and the boy's breathing, which had been so rapid he could barely draw breath, immediately eased a little.

Without stopping, Li Qingshan guided another four soul power needles down, placing one in each of Dugu Xin's limbs.

The blue-green lines roaming beneath the boy's skin seemed to strike an invisible barrier. Instead of continuing to spread toward his chest, they slowly retreated toward his wrists and ankles.

Dugu Bo saw it all clearly. He could sense that the poison remained in his son's body, but it was no longer rampaging everywhere as it had before.

"What ingenious medical skill..."

With just a few soul power needles, he had actually managed to shield Dugu Xin's most vulnerable areas?

Just then, however, Dugu Xin's body shuddered violently again, and a muffled groan of pain escaped his throat.

Dugu Bo's expression changed. He was about to step forward when Li Qingshan raised a hand to stop him and barked, "Don't move. The poison in your son's body is fighting back. There are still two needles left."

His gaze never left Dugu Xin as he spoke. The final two soul power needles turned gently in midair, then descended along the meridians in the boy's back.

The silver light of the nine needles joined together, and the restless poison within Dugu Xin was finally suppressed, little by little.

A moment later, the boy's tense body slowly relaxed.

Although the frightening blue-green tint on his face had not completely faded, it no longer deepened. His previously broken breathing gradually steadied as well.

Dugu Bo immediately bent down and took his son's hand.

"Xin'er?"

Dugu Xin did not wake, but his breathing had become steady. That response alone lifted most of the weight from Dugu Bo's heart.

He looked up at Li Qingshan again. The wariness in his eyes had not entirely faded, but it was now mixed with admiration he could scarcely conceal.

That poison flare-up, which had left him almost helpless, had truly been stopped by this young man?

At that moment, the familiar Light Curtains lit up one after another before Li Qingshan's eyes.

[Dugu Bo personally witnessed the host administer acupuncture to save Dugu Xin and now fully believes in the host's identity as an Alchemy Master! Actualization progress increased: 25%.]

[Current Alchemy Master identity actualization progress: 100%.]

[Alchemy Master identity has been fully actualized!]

[Reward obtained: complete Alchemy Master legacy! Knowledge of medicinal ingredient combinations, pill formula refinement, and heat control has been fully integrated.]

[Reward obtained: Xuanling Pill Cauldron! Stabilizes medicinal potency and increases the success rate of pill refinement.]

[Reward obtained: Myriad Poison Pill Classic! Contains numerous methods for identifying and neutralizing poisons, as well as the Poison Pill Method.]

[Poison Pill Method: using specific medicinal pills as a catalyst, combined with acupuncture to guide the poison, gradually gathers the deadly toxins scattered throughout the meridians and internal organs, ultimately forming a Poison Pill. Once the Poison Pill forms, the toxins no longer ravage the entire body, and the Soul Master can control their power at will.]

A flood of information poured into his mind, sending a sudden jolt through Li Qingshan's heart. The Nine Needles for Suppressing Poison he had used earlier could only stop this particular flare-up for Dugu Xin.

But the Poison Pill Method he had now obtained gave him a way to resolve the backlash from the accumulated poison in both father and son.

Dugu Bo's abilities were rooted in poison, and Dugu Xin had inherited that power. If their toxins could be condensed into Poison Pills, they would not need to abandon their poison arts, and the poison would no longer erode their bodies day after day.

"That acupuncture technique of yours..." Dugu Bo looked at the nine streaks of silver light still suspended over his son. His voice softened as he asked, "How exactly did you do it?"

Li Qingshan did not answer. Instead, he slowly withdrew his soul power, and the nine needles dissipated with it. He paused, then looked at Dugu Bo and said:

"This flare-up has subsided. Your son will be all right for now. As for the poison accumulated in his body, I have a way to deal with that too."

At those words, Dugu Bo abruptly raised his head and said:

"Is that true?"

Having just witnessed Li Qingshan stop the flare-up, he no longer dared dismiss his words as empty claims. But stopping a single attack and freeing Xin'er from the torment of poison forever were entirely different matters.

"What method?" Dugu Bo hurriedly pressed. "Whatever medicinal ingredients you need, just tell me!"

Li Qingshan did not answer immediately.

He glanced at Dugu Xin and, seeing that the boy's breathing had steadied, rose to look toward the medicinal garden in the valley, as though considering where to begin.

Dugu Bo waited a moment, then seemed to understand.

This man had crossed the poisonous miasma, recognized the poison afflicting both father and son, and saved Xin'er at this critical moment. Naturally, he would not reveal the entire course of further treatment for nothing.

There had to be a condition!

He had initially thought Li Qingshan would ask for the heavenly treasures in the valley. If it was only medicinal herbs, or even money, neither would be difficult for him to provide.

Even if the man wanted him to deal with someone, he was willing to hear him out, so long as he could save Xin'er.

"You have a condition, don't you?" Dugu Bo looked at Li Qingshan and said gravely, "But as long as you can resolve the poison in my son's body, name whatever you want."

Only then did Li Qingshan turn around. Looking at Dugu Bo, he said each word distinctly:

"I can treat more than just your son."

"I can treat the poison in your body too."

Dugu Bo's breath caught. The symptoms Li Qingshan had described earlier remained vividly etched in his mind.

He knew how troublesome the poison in his body was. He also knew that, if things continued this way and he failed to become a Titled Douluo before the poison fully erupted, he would be unable to endure it either.

"Then what is your condition?"

Li Qingshan smiled faintly and said:

"It's simple. Become my disciple."

Dugu Bo froze.

"?"

He had considered that Li Qingshan might want money, that he might covet the medicinal herbs in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, or even that he might want to use him to kill someone.

The one thing he had never imagined was that Li Qingshan would ask him to become his disciple.

"You... want to take me as your disciple?"

Dugu Bo scrutinized Li Qingshan. The face before him was truly young; however he looked at it, the man was considerably younger than himself.

"I do admire your medical skill," Dugu Bo said hesitantly. "But given our ages, surely it wouldn't be appropriate for me to become your disciple?"

He looked down at Dugu Xin, who had only just settled, and an idea came to him.

"How about this? If you can cure Xin'er, I'll have him become your disciple. He can study medicine and alchemy under you from now on, and I certainly won't leave you unrewarded."

Li Qingshan shook his head.

"No."

Dugu Bo frowned and asked:

"Do you think Xin'er lacks talent?"

"I never said he lacked talent." Li Qingshan looked at him and said calmly, "The disciple I want to take this time-is you."

Dugu Bo opened his mouth, momentarily at a loss for words. He had wielded poison all his life, and the mere mention of him had made many Soul Masters pale.

Now someone had barged into his medicinal garden and saved his son, only to demand that he become his disciple in return? What the hell was this?

Watching his expression shift repeatedly, Li Qingshan did not rush him. He merely added:

"Take your time to think it over. I have a way to cure the poison in your son's body, and the same goes for the poison in yours. This is my only condition."

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