"Snow-Colored Swan Kiss."
"It's an immortal herb too."
"However..."
Jin Jiuxiao paused there.
Bi Ji's gaze also settled on the Snow-Colored Swan Kiss, and she finished what Jin Jiuxiao had been about to say: "It's a lethally poisonous immortal herb."
"To be precise, it isn't poisonous in itself."
"But its effect is to amplify any toxin hundreds or thousands of times."
His gaze shifted to Dugu Bo. "If you 'touched' it now, you would melt into a puddle of blood in an instant."
"You could say touching it means instant death."
For someone like Dugu Bo, whose body harbored deadly poison, accidentally ingesting the Snow-Colored Swan Kiss or touching it with an open wound would leave him as dead as could be.
Dugu Bo now understood where that sense of mortal danger in his heart had come from.
So it had been because of this Snow-Colored Swan Kiss...
Suddenly, Dugu Bo caught on. "Wait... amplifying toxins hundreds or thousands of times? You're not planning to have me absorb all sorts of toxins first, then take this Snow-Colored Swan Kiss, are you?"
If he could withstand it, if the Soul Core system Jin Jiuxiao had spoken of really worked and could eliminate the danger of poisonous backlash...
Then this really could bring him to the realm where all poisons converged as one-the ultimate pinnacle of poison.
"Exactly." Jin Jiuxiao nodded slightly. "With your aptitude and your current foundation, you'll have to take an extraordinary path if you want a glimpse of the God Realm."
"I can tell you very plainly: this is gambling with your life. It just depends on whether you dare to go a little mad with me."
"I've told you everything that needed saying."
"Cultivate properly and take it slowly. You aren't qualified to try yet."
Jin Jiuxiao rose and walked toward the Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew.
Dugu Bo remained where he was, his head lowered in thought.
Whether he should take it was not something he needed to consider now.
Just as Jin Jiuxiao had said, he was not qualified to attempt it yet.
First, he had to absorb myriad poisons and continually strengthen his own toxins.
Then he would have to compress and refine his Soul Power. He could forget about breaking through to level 93 for the next few years.
The Torso Bone Jin Jiuxiao had given him would suffice for transferring his toxins as he cultivated up to level 94.
Having learned so much, received benefits, and gained a future, that small thought in Dugu Bo's heart kept growing.
It seems following Jin Jiuxiao was a very good choice...
It had already gone from "not bad" to "very good."
There was actually one more thing Dugu Bo could not stop worrying about: Dugu Yan also harbored snake venom.
Once I've handled a few things for this Little Monster, I'll ask him what to do about Yanyan's problem.
Dugu Yan would not have any problems for the time being. Dugu Bo had not even started doing what he had promised Jin Jiuxiao, so he had no face to keep chattering away, asking about this and that.
Dugu Bo walked to an empty patch of ground nearby, sat down, and slowly entered a state of cultivation.
As he compressed his Soul Power, he considered how to gather information.
No... Jin Jiuxiao's move was not simply about having him gather information.
A storm of thoughts swept through Dugu Bo's mind. Little Monster wants Soul Beasts and humans to coexist peacefully. In other words...
Having me investigate the movements of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and the Heaven Dou Empire is actually the most basic requirement?
The real requirement is for me to examine these two sides' attitudes toward the Soul Beasts, and toward peace?
Dugu Bo went over Jin Jiuxiao's earlier words again.
That's right... Little Monster still needs to cultivate in the Human World. These two Ferocious Beasts surely aren't that familiar with the Human World, and they also need to protect Little Monster.
Right now, the only one who can accomplish this is me-a Titled Douluo with a certain standing in the Human World.
Little Monster wants to know which people aren't opposed to cooperating with the Soul Beasts, and aren't opposed to living peacefully alongside them.
Dugu Bo's thoughts flowed freely. He had figured it all out.
He murmured to himself, "Since we're going to nurture God Chosen, they'll have to be our own people, and they'll have to be exceptionally gifted geniuses."
"Besides sounding people out, it looks like I'll also have to watch for geniuses we can win over, who might qualify to become 'God Chosen.'"
Dugu Bo had now firmly chosen his side.
His way of thinking was slowly changing too.
Since he had pledged his loyalty to Jin Jiuxiao and become his follower, he would naturally help Jin Jiuxiao consider these matters.
Bi Ji heard every word of Dugu Bo's quiet muttering. "?"
Had this Dugu Bo imagined something she knew nothing about...?
Standing beside the Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew, Jin Jiuxiao had no attention to spare for what was happening behind him.
His attention was entirely on the Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew as he carefully picked it. "Hopefully, this Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew can help me break through two realms in succession."
He raised it to his lips and tilted it slightly.
Three drops of transparent liquid slid from the center of its snow-white leaves, slipping over his tongue and down his throat.
The liquid was crisp and sweet, like a mouthful of mountain spring water, so mild and soothing that he could scarcely feel its medicinal power.
The instant the last dewdrop left the leaves, the entire Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew rapidly withered at a speed visible to the naked eye, shriveled, and turned to drifting ash.
It sifted down between Jin Jiuxiao's fingers, as though those three drops had exhausted a thousand years of its essence.
Jin Jiuxiao immediately sat cross-legged and carefully immersed himself in the experience.
A faint layer of crimson-gold light enveloped his head.
Bolstered by the Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew, his Spiritual Power advanced by leaps and bounds.
Within the ice and fire springs, a graceful figure also remained quietly immersed.
She gradually changed from human form into a proportionally scaled-down Hell Demon Dragon King.
Half her body soaked in the icy spring, her blood seemingly frozen into shards of ice.
The other half soaked in the fiery spring, her skin and flesh feeling as though a branding iron were searing through them layer by layer.
The medicinal power of the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and the Infernal Delicate Apricot rampaged through Zi JI's body.
With the aid of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, Zi JI continually refined and absorbed it.
Not only was her Soul Power increasing, but Zi JI's physical body was also undergoing the tempering of ice and fire.
It raised her already powerful body to another level.
Her cultivation began shooting upward.
An unknown amount of time passed.
Frost and crimson flames both receded completely.
A glint of purple flashed through those dark-purple draconic eyes.
That call... has grown even stronger. Zi JI did not intend to leave yet.
Her gaze turned toward the depths beneath the springs.
Let me see just what is calling to me.
Zi JI could now move freely within the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
With a beat of her wings, she plunged straight down, beginning her exploration of the deeper reaches.
As Zi JI continued descending and reached roughly the middle depths...
The pressure instantly surged!
This is... Dragon Might?! Shock filled Zi JI's face.
Why was there Dragon Might beneath the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well?
This Dragon Might far surpassed her own.
That meant its owner possessed a dragon bloodline even purer than hers, a Hell Demon Dragon King!
Zi JI stared downward and gritted her teeth. "I can still withstand it. Today, I'm going to see exactly what's hidden down there!"
As Zi JI continued deeper, the pressure grew greater and greater.
Eventually, even Zi JI's head had begun to spin.
Her condition kept worsening, yet the resonance between their bloodlines grew ever stronger.
As though she had reached some threshold, the pressure on Zi JI abruptly eased.