Sweet Potato Golden Dragon

Dugu Bo's voice trembled. He opened his mouth, yet had no idea what to say.

He seemed to have stumbled upon a secret that could leave him shattered to pieces.

Cold sweat slipped silently down his temples, soaking the edges of his dark green robe.

As he looked at Qian Daoliu, he suddenly felt that this man was more terrifying than any poison he had ever studied-what he held in his hands might change the fate of the entire Douluo Continent.

Even the mist over the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well seemed to grow heavy.

The wariness and arrogance in Dugu Bo's eyes when they first met had long since vanished, replaced by a complicated mixture of fear and bewilderment.

He understood now. Something like the Soul Ring Age Pill could overturn the rules of the entire Soul Master World, and he had happened to uncover Spirit Hall's deepest secret.

"There's no need to panic."

Qian Daoliu's voice broke the silence, as calm as if he were discussing an everyday matter.

"Letting you see this is both a gesture of our sincerity and the foundation of our cooperation."

Sincerity? The foundation of cooperation? Dugu Bo laughed bitterly to himself.

He had lived more than half his life. What schemes and plots had he not seen? This was no gesture of sincerity. They were openly laying their cards on the table-you know our trump card now, so either get in the same boat as us or sink.

He instinctively glanced at Golden Crocodile and Yue Guan.

Golden Crocodile stood with his hands behind his back. The Golden Crocodile King's oppressive aura remained restrained, yet it still made Dugu Bo's entire body tense. Yue Guan was studying the medicinal herbs beside the pool with keen interest. He seemed casual, but the faint fluctuations of his soul power were like an invisible net enveloping the entire valley.

Escape? Yue Guan alone would give me more than enough trouble, never mind the two supreme experts from the Worship Hall standing guard.

Dugu Bo might have been conceited, but he was not arrogant enough to take on all three alone.

As for Qian Daoliu's earlier offer to resolve the hidden danger in his martial soul, he regarded it as nothing more than a means of keeping him under their thumb.

Spirit Hall had always believed that the strong ruled supreme. Why would they bestow a favor for no reason?

Perhaps they want to pacify me first, then slowly squeeze every last drop of value out of me... The more Dugu Bo thought about it, the colder his heart grew. A sheen of cold sweat broke out across his back.

"It seems you've given this quite a bit of thought."

Qian Daoliu regarded him with the faintest hint of a smile.

"Perhaps you think we'll use this secret to threaten you."

He paused, and his tone abruptly turned cold.

"But the choice is yours: either keep this secret 'properly'-after all, only the dead can keep a secret forever, and you wouldn't want the Jade Phosphorus Snake Martial Soul to disappear from the continent entirely-or join Spirit Hall and become one of us."

Those final words struck Dugu Bo's heart like a heavy hammer. His face instantly turned deathly pale. He staggered half a step backward, his voice trembling with disbelief.

"I've already refused Spirit Hall! Why must you keep forcing me? If you make me join through methods like these, my heart will never be with you. What good would that do you?"

"Naturally, we want your genuine allegiance."

Qian Daoliu shifted the conversation, his gaze settling on Dugu Bo's wrists, which had turned faintly green in his agitation.

"But before we discuss allegiance, perhaps we should talk about your Jade Phosphorus Snake Martial Soul."

Dugu Bo froze. He had not expected him to bring this up so suddenly, and for a moment, he was at a loss.

Qian Daoliu walked slowly up to him, his golden eyes seeming capable of seeing straight into his heart.

"Although the Jade Phosphorus Snake Emperor is a top-tier beast martial soul, it has a fatal flaw-poison backlash. Your family has suffered from this for generations, correct?"

Dugu Bo's lips moved, but in the end, he merely nodded in silence.

This was the greatest pain in his heart, the problem he had spent his entire life trying to solve.

"I have three methods that might help you."

Qian Daoliu held up three fingers. His tone was calm, yet carried a compelling weight.

"Th-three?"

Dugu Bo jerked his head up, his eyes filled with shock.

He had devoted his entire life to researching this and had failed to find even one permanent cure. Yet this man claimed to have three?

"The first."

Qian Daoliu pointed at two medicinal herbs growing entwined beside the pool.

"These two herbs, refined with the aid of ice and fire spring dew, can completely purge the snake venom from your body. But the price is that all your poison arts will dissipate as well. From then on, you would be no different from an ordinary person."

Dugu Bo's brows instantly knitted. Giving up the poison arts he had cultivated through years of bitter effort would be worse than death. That was absolutely impossible!

"The second."

Qian Daoliu continued without pausing.

"Have Yue Guan alleviate your poisoning, then force the remaining poison into a soul bone. That would preserve your poison arts, but you would need to find an exceptionally high-quality soul bone compatible with you. You would also need to use your poison arts less frequently afterward, or even the soul bone would be unable to withstand it."

This method sounded feasible, but Dugu Bo quickly realized its difficulties.

High-quality soul bones were already hard to find. Finding one compatible with him would be harder than ascending to heaven. Besides, making him use his poison arts less frequently would be like binding his hands and feet.

As though seeing through his thoughts, Qian Daoliu shook his head.

"A soul bone's storage capacity is ultimately limited, and a high-quality, compatible soul bone can only be found through luck, not sought at will. This is no lasting solution."

Dugu Bo's heart sank. Neither method was ideal. Were he and his family truly doomed to suffer from this snake venom for the rest of their lives? Just as despair overtook him,

Qian Daoliu suddenly paused, fixing him with an intense gaze.

"As for the third method..."

Dugu Bo's heart gave a violent thump. He held his breath, and even his gaze grew urgent. But Qian Daoliu did not continue immediately. He simply watched him in silence.

Dugu Bo understood his meaning at once, and a fierce struggle erupted within him.

On one side was the hidden danger that had plagued his family for generations; on the other was joining Spirit Hall, which he had once refused... He gritted his teeth, seemingly reaching a decision, then abruptly raised his head to look at Qian Daoliu with unprecedented resolve.

"Great Enshrined! If you can truly resolve my family's Jade Phosphorus Snake venom problem, then I, Dugu Bo, swear here upon my martial soul that I will bring my entire family into Spirit Hall and serve you faithfully unto death!"

At last, a hint of a smile appeared on Qian Daoliu's face.

"Good. The third method is to make your martial soul evolve. And I have a way to make that happen."

"Martial Soul Evolution?"

Once again, Dugu Bo was shocked speechless. Once a martial soul awakened, its nature was essentially fixed. Cases of evolution were fewer than one in ten thousand, especially for a defective martial soul like his family's.

"Yue Guan, bring out that Sweet Potato Golden Dragon you've been keeping."

Qian Daoliu gave Yue Guan a meaningful look. Understanding him, Yue Guan took a jade box from his Soul Tool. The instant he opened it, a golden ray of soul power shot out of the box, transforming into a palm-sized, golden dragon.

The little dragon resembled a lizard, but fine scales covered its body, and a pair of tiny dragon horns sprouted from its head. It looked endearingly charming.

Since Qian Daoliu had designated Yue Guan as the person responsible for refining pills, and he was coming to see Qian Daoliu this time, he had obtained Pope Qian Xunji's permission to bring along all the remaining precious medicinal ingredients in Spirit Hall. This would also make his refining work more convenient.

"This is..."

Dugu Bo looked at the little dragon in confusion.

"The Sweet Potato Golden Dragon."