"Little Monster, do I... really have a hope of touching the threshold of god level?"
Dugu Bo asked tentatively.
When it came to the subject of "gods," to what Jin Jiuxiao had said about them, his trust now stood at sixty-forty.
Jin Jiuxiao and the others were not even human.
They were soul beasts who had lived for who knew how many years!
The secrets and history they knew far exceeded those of a human Titled Douluo like him.
Jin Jiuxiao nodded gently. "Dugu Bo, I won't deceive you or dangle some grand promise before you. I'll tell you the truth."
"There is hope, but only the faintest sliver."
"You could say the hope is remote, with nine chances of death for every chance of survival."
"No, actually, you could even say the chance of success is less than 1%. Not even a one-in-ten hope."
"If that's the case, do you still have the guts to keep walking this road with me?" Having said that, Jin Jiuxiao fixed Dugu Bo with a meaningful stare.
Dugu Bo had one very obvious trait, or rather, a stubborn streak.
He was a man of his word.
Whatever he agreed to do, he would see through.
Dugu Bo had not merely given him a verbal promise; he had sworn on his martial soul.
The stronger Dugu Bo became, the more help he would be to him.
Humans and soul beasts would clash sooner or later, no matter what.
When that time came, how much devastation could he cause by throwing a lethal weapon like Dugu Bo into the heart of the battlefield?
Dugu Bo took a deep breath, the corners of his mouth lifting. "Little Monster, it seems your understanding of me is rather limited too, hahaha."
"I, Dugu Bo, am an unaffiliated cultivator. Wasn't my cultivation to the rank of Titled Douluo also a case of nine chances of death for every chance of survival, even staking my life?"
"If I refuse to put anything into practice out of fear, this is all I'll ever amount to."
"You want to bring about peaceful coexistence between soul beasts and humans, and you want to overturn those damned rules. You won't manage that without a few helpers."
"What harm is there in an old fellow with one foot in the grave joining you in a bout of madness?"
If he had been afraid back then, there would have been no Poison Douluo today.
Even if there was only the faintest possibility of entering the realm of gods, he, Dugu Bo, would never give up.
As he spoke, a flicker of hot-blooded fervor gradually rose in Dugu Bo's heart.
If such a glorious age could truly be realized... his name would surely live on through the ages!
The Dugu Family's genealogy would have to give him a whole page of his own!
"All right, then you won't need any further treatment."
"Of course, no prob... what?!" Dugu Bo's eyes flew wide. "What do you mean, I won't need any further treatment?"
"Wouldn't I just drop dead?"
"Little Monster, shouldn't we ask the 'doctor' for her opinion on this?" Dugu Bo's gaze involuntarily turned toward Bi Ji.
Bi Ji stood behind Jin Jiuxiao with a smile on her lips. "I don't know either. Jiuxiao knows more than I do."
Watching Jin Jiuxiao send Dugu Bo from one startled reaction to another with his every word and gesture was rather amusing.
Human reactions really were wonderfully varied.
But she truly did not know how Dugu Bo could fight for that sliver of a chance to become a god.
"What's the rush? I'm not actually telling you to throw your life away."
"Let me finish."
Jin Jiuxiao cleared his throat. "Dugu Bo, have you ever considered another path?"
"What do you mean?" Dugu Bo had never focused his attention as intently as he did now.
He was afraid of missing any information.
"Poison is your foundation, so why seek treatment instead of taking the path of bringing all poisons back to one source?"
"Gather ten thousand poisons within yourself and attain the ultimate in poison. Only then will you have a sliver of a chance to become a god."
Dugu Bo's heart jolted at Jin Jiuxiao's words. "The ultimate in poison-that's hardly an easy path... even if I gathered ten thousand poisons within myself, I might not necessarily reach that point."
"And... without treatment, there are only so many slots for soul bones. There'll always be a limit to how much they can hold."
"By then, before I even manage to cultivate to that stage, my own poison will probably have turned on me and reduced me to a puddle of foul liquid..."
Yet he also had to admit that if he truly reached that ultimate realm of poison, bringing all poisons back to one source...
He did not know whether he could become a god, but he could definitely enter the peerless realm of rank ninety-nine.
But that realm was far too difficult... far too difficult...
So difficult that the slightest misstep would mean playing himself to death.
No wonder Jin Jiuxiao had said the odds were less than 1%.
He would be gambling with his life every second of every minute!
"As for how to store the toxins, I already have the beginnings of an idea."
Jin Jiuxiao ran a simulation in his mind. If Dugu Bo could condense his pearl into a core, forming a poison core... this difficulty could be resolved.
This was not some groundless conjecture or deduction.
Dugu Bo had a Life-Bound Core Pearl. Its composition and function could almost be regarded as a reduced version of a soul core; it could even be called the embryonic form of one.
A soul core was, in essence, a core of highly compressed, condensed soul power.
Dugu Bo's pearl was essentially the same: a core of highly compressed, condensed toxins and soul power.
Its underlying principles were astonishingly similar to those of a soul core. It was practically a ready-made "soul core embryo."
If Dugu Bo truly succeeded in condensing a poison core, his cultivation from then on would be an open road!
All his toxins would be stored within the poison core, because the core would constantly absorb and condense them rather than disperse them outward.
Although there were still risks, the benefits were enough for Dugu Bo to take the gamble.
The risk of doing so was... once Dugu Bo's poison core shattered, his enemies would not even need to act. He would die from his own poison.
No one would be able to save him.
Meeting Dugu Bo's expectant gaze, Jin Jiuxiao gave him a definite answer. "It's a new cultivation system called the soul core system."
"Once I've tested it myself, I'll teach it to you."
"For now, transfer your toxins into your soul bones and focus on cultivating."
"While you're at it, compress and purify your soul power. The purer, the better."
"Prepare for condensing a soul core later."
He was planning to condense his first soul core at rank fifty anyway. It would not be too late to let Dugu Bo try after he had experienced the process himself under Di Tian's guidance.
He had room for error; Dugu Bo had none at all.
If the attempt to condense a poison core failed...
Even if Bi Ji could keep Dugu Bo clinging to life and save him, all his poison cultivation would be ruined.
With his poison cultivation ruined, Dugu Bo himself would be finished, leaving one fewer person he could use.
"All right, then I'll do as you say, Little Monster." Dugu Bo suppressed his excitement and asked curiously, "We've settled how I should cultivate next, but..."
"This bringing all poisons back to one source... simply combining and mixing toxins probably won't be enough to reach the ultimate in poison."
Jin Jiuxiao pointed in a direction. "See that immortal herb?"
Dugu Bo looked in the direction Jin Jiuxiao indicated.
It was a crystalline, snow-white herb with a long, slender, curving flower stem, shaped like the bent neck of a swan.
For some inexplicable reason, he sensed a deadly threat from this herb.
"That's...?"