Jin Jiuxiao made up his mind.
When the time came, he would trouble Xiong Jun to guard the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
Di Tian probably would not refuse.
As for how to deal with Poison Douluo Dugu Bo, who guarded the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well...
Jin Jiuxiao could not give a definite answer yet.
He was unsure whether it would work, and he did not know where Dugu Bo stood on matters involving humans and soul beasts.
He would have to meet Dugu Bo before he could know for certain.
It had to be said that although Dugu Bo could not handle tough opponents, he was an expert at crushing weaklings.
Almost anyone below his level could not withstand his poison.
That held true for humans and soul beasts alike.
Against opponents above his level, however, Dugu Bo could do little.
He fell short of those above him but had more than enough to handle those below.
Yet Dugu Bo's poison dealt area-of-effect damage, making him an absolute killing machine on the battlefield.
If they could win him over, he would be a tremendous asset later on.
A war between humans and soul beasts was inevitable.
There was no avoiding it.
If Dugu Bo could not be put to use...
"Jiuxiao, what are you thinking about?" Bi Ji reached out with her right hand and gently tapped Jin Jiuxiao's shoulder.
Jin Jiuxiao emerged from his thoughts. "Plans for the future."
"Such as...?"
"Our future."
The answer Jin Jiuxiao gave was actually rather vague.
That "our" could refer to quite a few things, and depending on what it referred to, the sentence would mean something different.
"Don't put too much pressure on yourself, Jiuxiao."
"You still have us."
An aura spread from Bi Ji, soothing the mind and dispelling fatigue.
A faint fragrance drifted into his nose, and that gentle, peaceful life force felt wonderfully comforting.
"Don't worry, Sister Bi Ji. I'm fine."
Jin Jiuxiao smiled, signaling that Bi Ji need not worry.
As they talked, the two arrived at the entrance to the Blue Silver clan's new territory.
Even from afar, they could see an unbroken expanse of blue silver grass swaying in the wind.
The environment had been well protected.
No soul beasts came to disturb them.
Even if a soul beast entered the Blue Silver clan's territory, it would do no more than pass through.
Sensing Bi Ji and Jin Jiuxiao's auras, the Blue Silver King directed the blue silver grass to part in unison, opening a path.
Only after Bi Ji and Jin Jiuxiao entered did the blue silver grass return to its original positions.
They continued deeper until Jin Jiuxiao once again saw the Blue Silver King's aged face. "Blue Silver King, I've come to fulfill our agreement."
"The Emperor! That's the Emperor's aura!"
The Blue Silver King saw the Blue Silver Emperor resting in Bi Ji's hands, and tears streamed down his aged face. "How could the Emperor have been reduced to this...?"
A branch took the Blue Silver Emperor from Bi Ji's hands and carefully settled her at the very center.
Only after his emotions had eased somewhat did the Blue Silver King turn to Jin Jiuxiao and Bi Ji. "Thank you, Lady Bi Ji. Thank you, Lord Jiuxiao. Thank you for bringing our Emperor back."
His gratitude overflowed in every word.
The two nodded slightly, accepting the Blue Silver King's thanks.
Then Jin Jiuxiao spoke first, getting straight to the point. "Blue Silver King, you should have a way to speed up the Blue Silver Emperor's recovery, right?"
"Yes, Lord Jiuxiao."
"The life energy our Blue Silver clan has accumulated over the years can help the Emperor recover quickly."
"But I don't know exactly how far she can recover..."
The Blue Silver King was also unsure how much they could help the Blue Silver Emperor recover.
Jin Jiuxiao considered briefly, then took that box out of his Storage Soul Tool. "What if we add this, along with Sister Bi Ji's help?"
"This is... the Emperor's Soul Bone?!"
The Blue Silver King grew visibly excited. "If the Emperor's Soul Bone is here too, then with Lady Bi Ji's help, we can greatly accelerate the Emperor's recovery!"
Bi Ji's calm voice tempered the Blue Silver King's excitement somewhat. "I can return all the Blue Silver Emperor's origin essence within this Soul Bone to her."
"But in the Blue Silver Emperor's current state, receiving such an enormous infusion of life energy and origin essence all at once will very likely leave her soul unable to keep pace with her body's recovery, causing a 'disconnect.'"
"I can guarantee that her soul won't be damaged as a result, but I can't guarantee that her memories will be intact when she awakens."
With Bi Ji's current cultivation, she could indeed accomplish that with ease.
The Blue Silver King asked tentatively, "Lady Bi Ji, if we do this, how much of her past will the Emperor still remember?"
Bi Ji folded her arms, resting her right hand against her chin. After making some calculations in her mind, she gave a definite answer. "At the very least, she'll remember that she is the Emperor of the Blue Silver clan."
"I can't guarantee anything else."
"There's actually a perk like that?" In the Blue Silver King's eyes, the Blue Silver Emperor had ended up in this state entirely because of that Tang Hao!
If not for Tang Hao, the Blue Silver Emperor would never have fallen to such depths.
Rather than let those memories bring her needless anguish, it would be better for the Emperor to forget them all.
Just this once, he would overstep his bounds, indulge his own wishes, and make the choice on the Emperor's behalf...
He did not want the Emperor to return to that filthy Human World again.
"Then I'm sorry for the trouble, Lady Bi Ji."
"Mm." Bi Ji raised her hand and drew the Blue Silver Emperor's Soul Bone into her grasp.
Just then, the Blue Silver King's gaze fell on Jin Jiuxiao. "Lord Jiuxiao, you should be at level thirty-nine now, correct?"
"That's right. Why?" Jin Jiuxiao was a little puzzled. Why was the Blue Silver King asking about that?
The Blue Silver King extended a branch, gently wrapped it around Jin Jiuxiao's waist, and brought him beside the Blue Silver Emperor. "You and Lady Bi Ji have helped us far too much."
"The Blue Silver clan has no way to repay you, so please let us lend you a hand in breaking through the threshold of level forty."
"This pure life energy won't compromise your foundation."
Jin Jiuxiao did not refuse. "Then thank you, Blue Silver King."
He had helped the Blue Silver clan bring back the Blue Silver Emperor, and the Blue Silver clan would help him break through to level forty. Since they were helping each other, he was hardly taking advantage of them.
Breaking through to level forty required two or three times as much energy for him as it did for an ordinary level-thirty-nine soul master. After all, he had begun compressing and purifying his soul power early on, so that was only natural.
But compared with the life energy the Blue Silver clan had accumulated, it was merely a single hair from nine oxen.
Most of the life energy would still go toward the Blue Silver Emperor's recovery.
Still, the Blue Silver King's attitude was certainly beyond reproach.
Jin Jiuxiao immediately sat cross-legged and slowly entered a meditative state.
The Blue Silver King spoke solemnly. "Lady Bi Ji, let's begin as well."
"All right." Bi Ji began transferring the Blue Silver Emperor's origin essence from the Soul Bone into her.
The Blue Silver King's aura gradually spread outward, slowly resonating with all the blue silver grass in the Blue Silver Forest.
An immense torrent of life energy rapidly gathered, and the Blue Silver King guided it toward the Blue Silver Emperor and Jin Jiuxiao at the center.
The Blue Silver King controlled the pace of the life energy's flow, letting it merge steadily into the Blue Silver Emperor and Jin Jiuxiao like a gentle, unceasing stream.
Bi Ji also unfurled her life domain, lending the Blue Silver King further aid.
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