Dugu Bo's pupils contracted. He felt that Li Sen had gone a little off his rocker.
When Li Sen said he could make his granddaughter a Limit Douluo, his strength—enough to fear no Titled Douluo despite being only in his twenties—made Dugu Bo willing to believe him.
But... becoming a god, something that existed only in legends, was simply outrageous boasting.
Dugu Bo did not argue.
Being able to cure the poison and improve their strength was already beyond his expectations.
Remembering Dugu Yan's objections, Dugu Bo said evenly,
"Forget about taking my granddaughter as your disciple. But I agree to become a teacher. From now on, I'll follow your arrangements!"
Beside him, Dugu Yan breathed a sigh of relief.
She had genuinely feared that the lecherous master and disciple would set their sights on her and that her grandfather would hand her over.
Once Dugu Bo agreed to become a teacher, Li Sen began searching for a suitable immortal herb.
The best way to resolve the poison was to make his martial soul capable of bearing it, allowing him to continue cultivating.
There were three possible approaches: absorbing a soul bone, condensing an inner core, or evolving his martial soul.
A soul bone had a limit to how much it could bear, while researching how to condense an inner core would be troublesome and would not improve his talent.
Since Dugu Bo was willing to become a teacher at his academy, Li Sen decided to give him a massive upgrade.
He would evolve his martial soul in the most suitable direction, resolving the poison problem and improving his cultivation talent.
The Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor's essence contained poison, along with the faint dragon bloodline inseparably linked to serpents.
Since Dugu Bo was already plagued by poison, his evolution had to follow one of two paths: a poisonous dragon or a poisonous serpent.
Thanks to his formidable superbrain, Li Sen knew the effects and uses of almost every medicinal herb.
In less than two minutes, Li Sen found a poison dragon blood ginseng hidden beneath the surrounding plants, pulled it up, and tossed it to Dugu Bo.
"Eat the rootlets of this poison dragon blood ginseng and bury the rest back in the soil."
Dugu Bo acted decisively. Having chosen to let Li Sen cure his poisoning, he stopped questioning him and gulped down the immortal herb tossed his way.
Boom!
Surging purple soul power burst outward, enveloping Dugu Bo's entire body and forming a dragon egg.
With Dugu Bo taken care of, Li Sen casually pulled up a stalk of the premium medicinal herb dragon blood grass and a dragon blood lingzhi, an immortal herb, then tossed them to Dugu Yan.
Puzzled, Dugu Yan asked, "My grandfather ate one ginseng-like herb. Why do I have to eat a stalk of grass and a lingzhi?"
Li Sen smiled. "Because you're weak."
"Your grandfather evolved his martial soul into the Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor by cultivating to level 90 himself and absorbing his ninth soul ring. Yours is only a Jade Phosphor Serpent. One immortal herb isn't enough."
Pouting, Dugu Yan went to a corner to take them.
Li Sen turned his attention to the immortal herbs. Next, he had to choose some for his women and his disciple, Tang San.
Everyone said immortal herbs were incredible.
Little did they know that the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well that nurtured them was the most precious treasure of all. It concealed the bodies of the Ice and Fire Dragon Kings, both possessing god-level strength!
Those two bodies surely contained soul bones—or rather, divine bones.
The energy-laden water in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well could also be considered dragon blood.
For dragon martial souls, it was comparable to a supreme tonic.
The prerequisite was being able to withstand the ravages of both ice and fire energies.
Li Sen felt a little regretful.
If his Xiao Zi possessed either the ice or fire attribute, it could probably ascend to the heavens in a single bound.
But now, he could only use the dragon blood to strengthen its bloodline. He had no idea how much stronger it would become.
Then there were the soul bones. God-level soul bones were certainly powerful, but they did not match his essence. He did not know whether absorbing them would affect his future. Only after becoming a god could he be certain of keeping them under control.
Li Sen did not dwell on it. He looked at Tang San and said, "Xiao San, after everything I've taught you, which immortal herbs do you think you should absorb?"
At his words, Tang San sank into thought.
With his previous mindset, he would definitely have absorbed the octagonal mysterious ice grass and infernal delicate apricot.
They could strengthen his body and grant him immunity to all poisons below the divine level.
But Li Sen had said that one's martial soul was the true foundation of talent.
He already had the methods Li Sen had taught him to keep strengthening his body.
Absorbing those two immortal herbs with incompatible attributes would, at most, give him some soul power and immunity to poison.
Tang San reckoned that if he absorbed immortal herbs that could evolve both his Clear Sky Hammer and Blue Silver King, then combined that with his twin martial souls, his cultivation talent would soar.
Perhaps he could become a Titled Douluo at twenty and attempt to become a god.
After much hesitation, Tang San still could not tell which choice was better. He asked Li Sen, "Teacher, do you think improving my talent or gaining a poison-immune constitution would be more useful?"
Li Sen answered as though it were obvious, "Every constitution has its limits, and you can develop one through your own cultivation. Of course talent is more important."
Then he smiled and said, "Xiao San, do you want to absorb the octagonal mysterious ice grass and infernal delicate apricot to gain a poison-immune body?"
Tang San shook his head. "I'll listen to you, Master. If immunity to poison is good, I'd rather you absorb them, so you can always stay by Xiao San's side."
Li Sen smiled.
He felt that all those years of teaching and painstaking effort had not been wasted.
With that thought, Li Sen said, "You have to walk your own path. All I can do is offer reminders."
"No matter how powerful immortal herbs are, can they compare to a god?"
"If they can't, could poison immunity developed through immortal herbs withstand a god's poison?"
"Xiao San, you have to walk your own path if you don't want to regret it later. Choose your immortal herbs first. The decision is yours. If you need help, I'll step in."
Tang San did not pause to ponder this time. He said decisively, "Master, I think improving my talent is better."
Once Tang San had made his decision, Li Sen did not try to persuade him otherwise. He simply helped him select the immortal herbs.
Then he began choosing an immortal herb for Zhu Zhuqing.
In the original story, Zhu Zhuqing had absorbed narcissus jade muscle bone, which mainly enhanced the water attribute and agility. In truth, it was not a particularly good match.
Hell Spirit Cat—the name alone made it clear that its essence was tied to darkness, while physical strength and speed were also important.
Narcissus jade muscle bone had only improved her agility and soul power a little. An immortal herb that could not even evolve her martial soul was truly a waste.
After looking through the herbs, Li Sen found a more suitable immortal herb: dark nether fragrant flower.
When he placed it before her, Zhu Zhuqing asked in disbelief, "Is this for me?"
Li Sen replied matter-of-factly, "You're already mine. What's so strange about letting you absorb an immortal herb?"
At once, Zhu Zhuqing's eyes grew wet. She pressed her thighs together, rubbing them against each other as her whole body went weak.
She had never imagined that she, whose circumstances were little different from selling herself, could receive such a precious medicinal herb.
After all, she had just heard Li Sen say that absorbing these herbs could evolve Dugu Bo's martial soul.
She was so deeply moved that she wished Li Sen would toy with her in every possible way right then, just to put her heart at ease.
Zhu Zhuqing took a deep breath and accepted the dark nether fragrant grass.
She was not good at expressing herself. With a solemn expression, she said earnestly,
"Teacher Li, whatever you ask of me from now on, just say it, and I'll do it.
If there's danger, I'll die before you do!!!"
Li Sen smiled. "I appreciate the sentiment, but I don't think I'll find myself in a situation where a woman has to die for me."
Before long, Li Xin, Li Yue, and Xiao Wu had each received an immortal herb.
Only Ning Rongrong remained standing where she was, covetous and tempted but not daring to act, her heart filled with anguish and regret.
She wanted to cry.
Here in this treasure trove, she was the only one with no real bond with Li Sen. She had even called him a lecher. Afterward, when he treated her as a maid, she had refused to obey and had been hit.
Standing in this treasure trove with herbs capable of evolving martial souls right before her, she had nothing to offer. How could she have the nerve to ask for one?
Ning Rongrong swallowed, then simply closed her eyes to shut out the sight and muttered,
"If I don't get one, then I don't. If I don't want one, then I don't... boohoo, I want one too..."
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