Two days later.
Sunset Forest, the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
"Dad, look!" An excited voice rang out not far from the spring.
Dugu Xin stood beside a bluestone and slowly raised his right hand. A wisp of jade-green soul power gradually appeared in his palm.
As he circulated his soul power, a few tiny serpent scales faintly appeared on the back of his hand, yet there was not a trace of pain on his face.
The boy tried clenching his fist, then ran a lap around the nearby clearing before stopping in front of Dugu Bo, his eyes brimming with joy.
"When I circulated my soul power just now, my chest didn't hurt, and my meridians didn't feel cold anymore!"
Hearing this, Dugu Bo hurriedly took his hand and sent a wisp of soul power into him.
Over the past two days, he had lost count of how many times he had examined his son. Every time he confirmed his condition, the joy in his heart grew a little stronger.
The tiny jade-green Poison Pill inside Dugu Xin had fully stabilized.
After Li Qingshan guided it with several rounds of acupuncture, most of the accumulated poison previously scattered throughout his meridians and organs had gathered inside it. What remained was gradually being drawn into the Poison Pill as his soul power circulated.
The toxins that had once nearly claimed the boy's life finally had somewhere to go, instead of rampaging unchecked through his body.
The frightening blue-green cast had long since vanished from Dugu Xin's face. Compared to the boy who had curled up in his father's arms two days earlier, convulsing all over, he seemed like an entirely different person.
"Good, good!"
Dugu Bo held his son's hand and repeated the word twice, his voice growing slightly hoarse.
All these years, what he feared most was seeing Dugu Xin suffer a poison flare-up.
Though he suffered from it himself, he could only watch helplessly as his son endured the same torment. Despite trying everything, he had only ever managed to suppress it temporarily.
Now, this problem had truly been solved!
"Your Poison Pill has just formed. From now on, circulate your soul power every day according to the method I taught you," Li Qingshan instructed from beside them, putting away the last medicine bottle.
"Focus on recuperating over the next few days. Don't rush into cultivation and exhaust yourself just because you're feeling a little better."
Dugu Xin hastily nodded.
"Thank you, Senior. I'll remember!"
As he spoke, he solemnly bowed to Li Qingshan.
Li Qingshan nodded slightly, then turned to Dugu Bo. Before he could speak, Dugu Bo released his son's hand and slowly rose to his feet.
Their gazes met.
Dugu Bo looked at Li Qingshan, then glanced back at his son, who had returned to normal. His expression gradually grew solemn.
"I, Dugu Bo, naturally keep my word."
He walked up to Li Qingshan and said in a deep voice:
"I lost our earlier spar. Now you've also resolved the poison inside Xin."
"That being the case, there's nothing left to hesitate over."
With that, Dugu Bo lifted the hem of his robe, bent both knees, and knelt straight down.
"Your disciple, Dugu Bo, pays his respects, Master!"
Dugu Xin froze for a moment and instinctively looked at his father.
Over the past two days, he had focused solely on cooperating with the treatment. He had no idea his father and Li Qingshan had made such an agreement.
However, seeing his father solemnly bow his head, he quickly suppressed his surprise and stood quietly to one side.
Looking at Dugu Bo before him, Li Qingshan could not help smiling. He thought, This old poisoner has finally taken me as his master!
Strength reigns supreme on the Douluo Continent. Before long, I should be able to fully turn the false into the true and become a rank ninety-nine Titled Douluo. You won't lose out by taking me as your master!
Li Qingshan reached out and helped Dugu Bo to his feet.
"Rise."
"Now that you've become my disciple, I will naturally look after both you and your son."
"The accumulated poison in your body can also be resolved with the Poison Pill Method. But your cultivation is higher, and the poison runs deeper, so the medicinal doses and the amount of poison drawn out will have to be adjusted."
Dugu Bo hastily nodded at his words.
"Thank you, M... Master."
He still felt somewhat unaccustomed to that final word. But he had given his word and performed the ceremony, so he would naturally not go back on something like this.
Just then, a familiar screen of light silently appeared before Li Qingshan.
[Disciple accepted successfully!] [Congratulations, host, on accepting Dugu Bo as your disciple. The master-disciple relationship has been established!] [Disciple acceptance reward obtained: Mystic Water Pill Formula!] [The formula includes the required ingredients, their proportions, and the complete refinement method.] [The Mystic Water Pill has gentle medicinal properties. It can cleanse the meridians and transform the marrow, remove impurities from the body, nourish the meridians, and improve the user's constitution and cultivation potential, raising their innate soul power rank.]
"Mystic Water Pill?"
Li Qingshan's eyes brightened slightly. Immediately afterward, a complete pill formula flooded into his mind.
The required ingredients, the order in which to process them, and the changes in heat needed at each stage of refinement gradually became clear.
He did know about this pill.
In the second Douluo story, Huo Yuhao had taken a Mystic Water Pill, using it to improve his constitution and raise his innate soul power rank, bringing progress to his previously arduous cultivation.
For Soul Masters with inadequate talent, a pill that could improve their cultivation potential was naturally far more precious than one that merely increased their soul power.
Li Qingshan carefully reviewed the formula, and a faint smile gradually rose to his lips.
Yu Xiaogang's insufficient innate soul power made him an ideal candidate for it. As for Dugu Xin, who had just escaped the poison's backlash, he could also use it in the future to raise his innate soul power rank and improve his constitution.
Once I've gathered the ingredients, I'll try refining a batch.
Li Qingshan committed the formula to memory, feeling quite satisfied.
He now possessed a complete Alchemy Master's inheritance, along with the aid of the Xuanling Pill Cauldron. This formula had arrived at just the right time.
But before he could dismiss the screen, new notifications appeared.
[Detected that disciple Dugu Bo's tragic fate has been changed!] [In the original story, Dugu Xin died young from the backlash of jade phosphorous serpent poison, leaving Dugu Bo to suffer the pain of losing his son. His life was filled with tragedy: he lost his father in his youth, his wife in middle age, and his son in his later years!] [Current fate: Dugu Xin's Poison Pill has formed, and the poison backlash has been resolved. His predetermined early death has been rewritten!] [Disciple Dugu Bo's fate of losing his son has been changed. Issuing fate-rewriting reward!] [Reward obtained: 100,000-Year Void Nightmare Dragon Head Soul Bone!] [The Void Nightmare Dragon is an extremely rare dragon species with both spiritual and spatial attributes. It excels at invading the dreams of living beings, disrupting their minds, and traveling through the gaps between spaces.] [The 100,000-Year Void Nightmare Dragon Head Soul Bone comes with two Soul Bone Skills!] [First Soul Bone Skill: Nightmare Soul Devour!] [Condenses a phantom of the Void Nightmare Dragon to directly assault the target's Sea of Consciousness, detonating the fears buried deep within their heart and tearing through their spiritual defenses while their mind is in turmoil.] [Those struck will suffer continuous spiritual erosion, making it difficult to focus their consciousness or use Soul Skills. Those whose spiritual power is far weaker than the host's may even fall unconscious on the spot!] [Second Soul Bone Skill: Void Seal!] [The host can forcibly drag a designated opponent into an independent space, completely isolating them from the outside world. Once the space is sealed, outsiders cannot enter. Unless the target dragged inside defeats the host, they cannot escape, nor can they leave through teleportation, spatial traversal, or similar means!] [Within the independent space, the target will be continuously suppressed by spatial power. Their soul power circulation, spiritual perception, and movement speed will all be weakened, preventing them from displaying their full strength. The host is unaffected by this suppression and can use their abilities normally within it!] [Soul bone automatically fusing...]
"A 100,000-year Head Soul Bone?"
Li Qingshan's heart jolted.
Before he could examine it closely, a cool current of power flowed into the space between his brows, then spread throughout his entire head.
An enormous dragon phantom suddenly appeared in his Sea of Consciousness.
The dragon phantom was deep violet, with tiny glimmers of silver flowing between its scales. Its body flickered in and out of sight, as though it did not entirely occupy this space.
The next moment, the dragon phantom slowly dispersed, turning into countless motes of light that merged into his Sea of Consciousness.
Li Qingshan felt his mind abruptly become clear.
The swaying grass around him, the thin mist rising from the spring, and even the subtle fluctuations of soul power accompanying Dugu Bo's breathing were all much clearer than before.
Beyond these perceptions, even the previously elusive spatial fluctuations around him now left faint traces he could follow.
The Void Nightmare Dragon Head Soul Bone...
Li Qingshan suppressed the delighted surprise in his heart and thought:
This soul bone is exactly what I wanted. The Passionate Sword's Soul Skills can already influence the mind. Now that my own spiritual power has increased, combined with spatial traversal and the domain I just obtained, I'll have even more methods at my disposal when fighting others.
Before you continue