Dugu Bo felt an itch in his heart.
He was considering whether Dugu Yan could learn as well.
Dugu Bo rubbed his chin and mulled it over.
Dugu Yan had now been cured of her poison, and her martial soul had evolved into a Golden Scale Flood Dragon. Her future was bright indeed.
But as a Titled Douluo, his eye was naturally razor-sharp. Now that Lin Changgeng was studying soul tools, he would surely develop them on a grand scale in the future. Soul tool production would become the tide of the times.
Dugu Yan sat beside him, watching Lin Changgeng fiddle with the books and engraving knives, her face full of curiosity.
As the descendant of a Titled Douluo, Dugu Yan naturally owned soul tools. Yet her knowledge of them was limited to scattered mentions in ancient texts and their everyday use for storage. She had never imagined that Lin Changgeng actually possessed a method for making soul tools, let alone that he apparently intended to forge them himself.
Dugu Bo hesitated for ages. The words reached his lips, only to be swallowed back down; once swallowed, he wanted to speak again. After several rounds of this, his face had turned red from holding it in.
"Senior Dugu, if you have something to say, say it." Lin Changgeng did not even look up as he flipped through a book. "You've been hemming and hawing over there for ages. Even I can't bear to watch anymore."
Lin Changgeng had noticed Dugu Bo's fidgeting long ago. He probably wanted Dugu Yan to study soul tools alongside him, but was too embarrassed to ask for fear of being refused, so he had spent all that time dithering.
With his thoughts exposed on the spot, Dugu Bo's aged face reddened, and he gave an awkward chuckle.
"Changgeng, there is indeed something I'd like to discuss with you."
"Go ahead."
"Do you think Yanyan could learn alongside you?" Dugu Bo pointed at Dugu Yan beside him.
Dugu Yan also raised her head and looked at Lin Changgeng, a trace of anticipation in her eyes.
She actually wanted to learn too.
After all, even a single storage soul tool cost over a million. If she could make them herself, wouldn't she be able to earn a fortune?
Lin Changgeng looked up, glanced at Dugu Bo, then at Dugu Yan, and finally at Wang Qiu'er.
Wang Qiu'er shrugged. "Why are you looking at me? It's your call."
Lin Changgeng thought it over. Teaching Dugu Yan about soul tools was not out of the question. He would certainly promote soul tools on a large scale in the future, and Dugu Yan was one of their own anyway. It would not hurt to let her learn.
"Sure." Lin Changgeng nodded. "I've only just started learning myself, anyway. Come join me."
"Really?" Dugu Bo's eyes lit up. He had not expected Lin Changgeng to be so generous and agree without a second word.
"Don't thank me too soon." Lin Changgeng waved a hand. "The bar for learning to make soul tools isn't low. Whether you can master it depends on your own aptitude. Don't blame me if you can't."
"Of course, of course!" Dugu Bo nodded repeatedly. "If Yanyan can't learn it, that just means she's stupid."
With that, Dugu Bo closed his eyes and returned to cultivating.
Meanwhile, Dugu Yan moved a rock beside Lin Changgeng, sat down, and leaned over to look at the books.
Wang Qiu'er glanced at them from the side and curled her lip.
That old poisoner really knows how to make his abacus clack.
But she said nothing. It was only a method for making soul tools, not some rare treasure. Teaching one person or two was still teaching. It made no difference.
"Sister Yan, start with this one." Lin Changgeng handed Dugu Yan the topmost book, Soul Tool Basics. "Get a grasp of the theory first. If there's anything you don't understand, ask me or Sister Qiu'er."
"Yes!" Dugu Yan accepted the book as though she had received a priceless treasure, hugged it to her chest, then eagerly opened it and began reading.
Lin Changgeng left her to it and lowered his head to continue his own research.
Elsewhere, at the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
"Uncle Jian, what do you think?"
Ning Fengzhi set down the intelligence report in his hand.
After leaving the auction house, Ning Fengzhi had sent people to investigate Lin Changgeng's background. Yet no matter how they investigated, something seemed strange.
"I find it rather odd," Sword Douluo said. "This boy lived in Nuoding City for six years without anything remarkable about him. He was just an ordinary orphan. A month ago, during his martial soul awakening, he awakened a pure gold element. Then Wang Qiu'er took him away, claiming to be his distant older cousin. They only arrived in Heaven Dou City recently."
Ning Fengzhi frowned.
That's all?
Innate full soul power was indeed impressive. Across the entire continent, the Soul Masters with innate full soul power could be counted on one hand.
But innate full soul power alone was not enough to warrant so much of his attention.
What concerned him was Wang Qiu'er, who stayed by Lin Changgeng's side, as well as their conduct at the auction.
"What about Wang Qiu'er? Not a scrap of information?"
"Nothing." Chen Xin shook his head. "That woman arrived not long after Lin Changgeng's martial soul awakening. We couldn't find a single trace of her. The only information we have is her claim that she's Lin Changgeng's older cousin."
"We even checked the Spirit Hall's records. There's no such person."
Ning Fengzhi set down his teacup and tapped his fingers lightly against the table.
A Super Douluo who appeared out of nowhere?
With the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's intelligence network, they had records of every known Super Douluo on the continent. They could even obtain copies of the Spirit Hall's archives.
Yet they couldn't find a single trace of this Wang Qiu'er?
Ning Fengzhi felt that Lin Changgeng and Wang Qiu'er were mysteries from head to toe. At least Lin Changgeng had left some traces of his life, but there was nothing to be found on Wang Qiu'er.
"There's more," Chen Xin continued. "I suspect they also had a hand in Dugu Bo's transformation."
"I think so too." Ning Fengzhi nodded. "Uncle Jian, Uncle Gu, you're both Titled Douluo. You should know how difficult it is to advance even one level after reaching that rank. Dugu Bo had been stuck at level ninety-one for at least two or three years. Yet after meeting Lin Changgeng and Wang Qiu'er, not only did his soul power soar to level ninety-four, but he also came to look like a man in his thirties. I refuse to believe there isn't something fishy going on."
"Fengzhi, what's the point of discussing this? I think Dugu Bo encountered some fortuitous opportunity that changed both his strength and his appearance," the old man beside Chen Xin said. His face was withered, his muscles and skin shriveled, and his eyes deeply sunken. He did not have the burly build of a man with bulging muscles, but his skeletal frame was astonishingly large. His clothes seemed to be held up entirely by his bones.
The old man was the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's other guardian Douluo: a level ninety-five defense-type Titled Douluo with the title "Bone" and the Bone Dragon martial soul, reputed to be the most enigmatic of all Titled Douluo.
"Instead of talking about it, why not act now and capture Dugu Bo and that brat? If we can get answers out of them, we will. If we can't, then..." As Gu Rong finished his last sentence, he drew a hand across his neck.
"We mustn't, Uncle Gu!" Ning Fengzhi stopped Gu Rong's proposal. "Uncle Jian can't sense Wang Qiu'er's cultivation. She must be at least level ninety-seven. If our attack fails, she may come knocking at our gates."
In truth, Ning Fengzhi wanted to do the same, but Dugu Bo's transformation and Wang Qiu'er's unfathomable strength had made him abandon the idea. Their only presentable top-tier combatants were Chen Xin and Gu Rong. He had no doubt that Wang Qiu'er could fight both of them at once, even with his amplification. If Dugu Bo unleashed a wave of poison then, the sect would be finished.
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