At the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, Dugu Bo looked at Ning Chuan and asked, "Will this place do?"
"Of course!" Ning Chuan nodded, then changed his tone. "Senior Dugu, there's something I want to say, but it might offend you. I'm not sure whether I should bring it up!"
"Speak freely!" Dugu Bo said with a smile.
"All right, then I'll be blunt. Senior, your title is 'Poison' Douluo, yet you're trapped by your own poison. Isn't that rather ironic?" Ning Chuan said frankly.
"Ah!" Dugu Bo gave a bitter chuckle. "I can't resolve the buildup of the Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor's toxins. I truly don't deserve the title of Poison Douluo!"
Ning Chuan shook his head. "Senior, I'm not criticizing you. I just wanted to ask whether you've ever considered taking complete control of the Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor's accumulated toxins, rather than removing them!"
Dugu Bo nodded. "I did think about it when I was young, but after Yan'er was born, I no longer had that resolve!"
He knew very well that to gain complete control over those toxins, he would have to embrace them, which posed a tremendous risk to him.
Dugu Bo wasn't afraid of death, but he feared that if he died, no one would be left to care for Dugu Yan. That was why he hadn't dared to gamble.
"I understand!" Ning Chuan nodded. He had only wanted to confirm whether Dugu Bo had that determination.
"Senior, you've joined the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, but the sect hasn't given you a welcome gift yet. As it happens, Sword Grandpa obtained a Poison Scripture during his travels a few years ago. We'd like you to have it!" As Ning Chuan spoke, he took a scroll from inside his robes. It was precisely the Poison Scripture the system had awarded him.
"The Poison Scripture!" Dugu Bo murmured, then accepted the scroll Ning Chuan offered.
Seeing this, Sword Douluo immediately sent Ning Chuan a voice transmission. "Xiao Chuan, when did I ever obtain a Poison Scripture? Don't tell me this is another treasure produced by the Creation Exquisite Pagoda?"
"Yes, Sword Grandpa. It's a poison cultivation method!" Ning Chuan replied through a voice transmission.
"No wonder you wanted to recruit Dugu Bo!" Sword Douluo said, realization dawning on him.
Dugu Bo tucked the scroll into his robes, then took out his Wishful Hundred Treasure Pouch.
"Ning Chuan, I'll accept your gift, and this Wishful Hundred Treasure Pouch is yours. It's a storage soul tool that can hold living things. You can store the medicinal herbs here inside it!" Dugu Bo offered Ning Chuan the Wishful Hundred Treasure Pouch before he had even read the Poison Scripture.
Ning Chuan waved his hands repeatedly. "Senior, please keep this treasure. If the sect needs any medicinal herbs in the future, we'll likely have to trouble you to fetch them. Sorry for the trouble!"
Before Dugu Bo could speak again, Ning Chuan continued, "Senior, why don't you take a look at the Poison Scripture first?"
He knew Dugu Bo probably hadn't taken the Poison Scripture seriously.
"All right!" Dugu Bo nodded and put the pouch away. He also knew that poisonous mist shrouded this place year-round, and he was the only one who could conveniently come and go.
Besides, ordinary disciples couldn't possibly be sent to such an important place.
After putting away the pouch, Dugu Bo unfurled the Poison Scripture scroll and began to read.
A single glance was enough to capture his attention completely.
Like the earlier soul power cultivation method, the Poison Scripture consisted of an illustrated manual accompanied by a few brief written explanations.
As Dugu Bo read, he tried circulating his soul power according to the method in the illustrated manual. To his astonishment, he discovered that this method actually fused the Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor's poison perfectly with his soul power.
Previously, his soul power had been nothing more than soul power. Only when he used it to activate his martial soul and unleash a soul skill could he release the Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor's poison.
Now, however, his soul power and the Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor's poison had entered a symbiotic state.
Following the circulation pattern in the illustrated manual, his toxin-laden soul power slowly traveled through his body, connecting his apertures and meridians bit by bit and setting all the toxins that had shackled him for so long into motion.
As one aperture after another was connected, Poison Douluo discovered that the toxins that had shackled him were instead becoming nourishment that fed his body.
Once all his apertures were fully connected, his whole body felt lighter and freer.
Although those deadly toxins couldn't yet be eliminated completely, Dugu Bo knew that as long as he continued practicing the Poison Scripture, sooner or later he would gain complete control over them.
"Sword Douluo, this... where did you find this Poison Scripture?" Dugu Bo asked excitedly.
"Uh... I think it was in some cave in the Star Dou Great Forest! After I took the Poison Scripture, the place collapsed!" Sword Douluo could only make something up.
Then he deliberately asked, "Is this Poison Scripture really that powerful?"
"Powerful doesn't begin to describe it! This is nothing short of a divine art of the poison path!" Dugu Bo said excitedly.
"Chen Xin, this kindness is far too great. I truly don't know how to thank you. If you ever need..."
Dugu Bo was about to make a promise when Sword Douluo hurriedly interrupted him. "We're all members of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect now. There's no need for such formalities. They only make us seem like strangers!"
Dugu Bo nodded repeatedly. "Yes, you're right. We're family now. I'm just too happy, too excited! Neither of you cultivates poison, so you don't understand how precious this Poison Scripture is to me. I even feel it could lead me straight to a divine seat!"
"Is it really that incredible?" Sword Douluo feigned surprise. Dugu Bo's expression reminded him of how excited he himself had been when he first received the soul power cultivation method.
"I'm not exaggerating in the slightest! This Poison Scripture has shown me an entirely new path of poison cultivation. It's like taking a leap to a whole new level of cultivation, directly raising the ceiling of what I can achieve!" Dugu Bo said, beside himself with excitement.
Ning Chuan immediately offered his congratulations. "Then congratulations, Senior Dugu! In your hands, this Poison Scripture has truly found its rightful home!"
Dugu Bo looked at Ning Chuan and Sword Douluo. Although he had only just joined the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, his sense of belonging to the sect had already soared to its peak.
Ning Chuan continued, "Senior Dugu, judging by your expression, it seems you no longer need my help curing your poisoning?"
"No, not at all!" Dugu Bo waved his hand. His excitement wasn't going to settle down anytime soon.
"In that case, I won't disturb your study of the Poison Scripture, Senior. This happens to be an excellent place to cultivate, so I'll go practice over there!" Ning Chuan said.
"All right!" Dugu Bo nodded, not forgetting to warn him, "Those two springs are extremely dangerous. They can injure even a Titled Douluo. Whatever you do, don't touch them!"
"Understood!" Ning Chuan nodded, then went with Sword Douluo to cultivate beside the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
Cultivating beside the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well did improve his efficiency, but the increase wasn't nearly as dramatic as Ning Chuan had expected.
There was no helping it. The soul power cultivation method had already pushed his cultivation speed to the limits of what his body could absorb. No matter how dense the soul power here was, the method's rate of converting it had already hit its ceiling. Naturally, his cultivation speed couldn't make another tremendous leap.
Of course, cultivating here was still faster than outside, so Ning Chuan and Sword Douluo stayed at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well for the time being.
Before you continue