Mandarin Duck Pot

Sunset Forest.

Li Chen studied the map in his hand. It had been synthesized several times, leaving a blank area in the center, while the information everywhere else was clear.

"North." After glancing at the map, he directed Wine Fox to steer the whirlwind beneath their feet.

This was the effect of Breeze's Martial Soul Avatar. A whirlwind enveloped them, carrying them forward at a speed comparable to flight.

With the map to guide them, they spent most of the day searching before finally locating the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. A poisonous miasma shrouded the entire valley.

"We're here. Blow it away."

Wine Fox raised her hand, and a gentle breeze swept past, instantly clearing a path through the poisonous miasma. A moment later, however, a furious voice rang out from the top of the valley.

"Who dares trespass in my medicinal garden?"

Li Chen looked toward the voice. An old man stood in midair, his tall, thin figure resembling a javelin. His hair and beard were dark green, his eyes glittered like emeralds, and his cheeks were deeply sunken. His green hair was unkempt, and he wore a plain gray robe.

"To think the renowned Poison Douluo would be suffering a backlash from his own Martial Soul's poison."

Dugu Bo had originally intended only to drive away the two youngsters who had stumbled into his medicinal garden. He had never expected one of them to expose his greatest secret the moment he spoke.

An uncertain light flickered in his eyes. If he let them leave, word of his poisoning might get out. At that thought, murderous intent began to rise within him.

Seeing this, Li Chen immediately had Wine Fox summon her Martial Soul. Nine Soul Rings circled her feet. "Dugu Bo, how about a deal?"

"Such a young Titled Douluo!" Dugu Bo had never imagined that the girl, who looked younger than twenty, would be a Titled Douluo-and that she would actually obey that boy. "Are you from Spirit Hall?"

He immediately grew wary. An unknown Titled Douluo, and a mere brat who could command one-Spirit Hall was the only faction he could think of with enough Titled Douluo to allow such a thing.

"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Li Chen, the lord of Heaven Beyond Heaven. She is my maid, Wine Fox."

"Heaven Beyond Heaven?" Dugu Bo thought it over, but could recall nothing connected to "Heaven Beyond Heaven," much less anything involving a Titled Douluo. In the end, he could only classify it as a hidden faction on the continent.

"What is this deal you want to make?"

"I'll deal with the poison in your body. There are two options, depending on which you prefer." Li Chen had no desire to beat around the bush with Dugu Bo. "First, I can personally resolve your poisoning for the time being in exchange for this medicinal garden. The price, however, is that you'll lose all your poison cultivation."

"No." Dugu Bo rejected it without a second thought.

"Second, you join Heaven Beyond Heaven, and I give you a method to treat the symptoms."

Dugu Bo flew into a rage upon hearing that. "You dare toy with me! Do you think having a Titled Douluo behind you gives you the right to make a fool of me?"

"Dugu Bo, let me be honest with you. Right now, I only have a method to treat the symptoms. Even stripping away all your poison cultivation would only treat the symptoms, not the root cause. As long as you keep cultivating, you'll still be poisoned."

Li Chen told him the truth. After all, the method in the original story only treated the symptoms. The fanfiction he had read included ways to address the root cause, but that was only fanfiction; they might not actually work.

"You're an honest lad, at least. But I'm used to living free of restraints. If all you have is a treatment for the symptoms, I'll only do three things for you, provided they don't cross my bottom line."

Li Chen frowned, clearly dissatisfied with a mere three favors. Those generated from eggs all had level caps. If he wanted more Titled Douluo-level fighting power, he would have to find it elsewhere. Raising someone from scratch certainly couldn't compare to recruiting someone already fully developed.

"Dugu Bo, your horizons are too narrow. This world consists of more than just the continent beneath our feet. Above our heads is a place called the Divine Realm, and beyond that lie the myriad worlds of the heavens. Just because I don't have a cure for the root cause now doesn't mean I won't have one in the future, or that other worlds don't have one."

"The Divine Realm? The myriad worlds of the heavens?" Dugu Bo's voice was low and openly skeptical. "Boy, do you even know what you're saying? I've lived all these years and never heard of any of this."

"That's why I said your horizons are narrow. Why don't we both take a step back? Serve as a Guest Elder of Heaven Beyond Heaven for five years. I'll give you the treatment, along with benefits befitting your position. You can also use those five years to verify what I've said. Once they're up, you're free to stay or leave. How about it?"

Dugu Bo narrowed his eyes, green light flickering deep within his pupils.

Five years as a Guest Elder-neither particularly long nor particularly short. If this boy really has some ability, that will give me enough time to discover what's real and what's false. If he's just spouting nonsense, it won't be too late to turn against him then.

"Deal." Dugu Bo nodded decisively, but then abruptly changed his tone. "But boy, a Guest Elder is a Guest Elder. I'm not your subordinate. During these five years, I'll help with Heaven Beyond Heaven's affairs as I see fit, but don't expect me to toil like an ox or a horse for you."

Wine Fox raised her brows slightly and was about to speak, but Li Chen lifted a hand to stop her.

"Of course." Li Chen smiled easily. "A Guest Elder is an honored guest in the first place. Go about your usual business. I won't use you as a weapon, either."

Dugu Bo's expression softened somewhat, though his emerald-like eyes remained fixed on Li Chen. "Then can you tell me about this treatment now?"

Li Chen stood, brushed the bits of grass from his hands, and strolled over to Dugu Bo. "It's simple. A Soul Bone."

"A Soul Bone?" Dugu Bo froze, then scoffed. "Boy, are you making fun of me? Who doesn't know what a Soul Bone is? What does it have to do with my poison?"

"You just need to force the toxins into a Soul Bone. You're being poisoned simply because your Martial Soul's poison has no corresponding organ to store it in. A Soul Bone can temporarily serve as a storage vessel for the toxins." Li Chen casually laid out both the cause of his poisoning and the solution.

The sneer on Dugu Bo's face slowly faded. A sharp gleam flashed through his green eyes as he rapidly worked through the method's feasibility.

Only after quite some time did he frown and speak. "But the poison in my body has already seeped into my bone marrow. A Soul Bone alone probably won't be enough."

"Exactly." Li Chen grinned. "That's why you'll also need medicinal pills to help draw the toxins out of the depths of your bone marrow little by little, then guide them into the Soul Bone."

Dugu Bo had lived more than half a lifetime; how could he fail to hear the implication? Besides, Li Chen had come here for this Mandarin Duck Pot in the first place. He knew it was a treasure trove.

"All right, all right." Dugu Bo waved impatiently, though his emerald-like eyes held a trace of understanding he chose not to voice. "You can use this medicinal garden as you please, as long as you don't dig up the roots."

"Then I won't stand on ceremony, Guest Elder Dugu." Li Chen spoke half in jest, then had Wine Fox carry him inside.

After entering the Mandarin Duck Pot, the most striking sight was the red-and-blue spring, along with the immortal herbs growing all over the ground. He found a corner and placed the Teleportation Stele there.

"Li Chen, lad, what is this?" Dugu Bo asked as he studied the two-meter-tall stone stele covered in runes.