The External Condensation Method

[Over the next six months, you frequently visited Dugu Manor, studying toxicology and the art of using poison under Dugu Bo.]

[Although Dugu Bo's knowledge of poison came from his family, the Dugu Family lacked the systematic legacies and texts of the great sects. Their methods were more like those of self-taught wanderers.]

[The finest knowledge on this continent had always been monopolized by the great sects and powerful factions, shut away in secluded chambers and lofty towers-]

[The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect possessed the world's most comprehensive illustrated compendium of Martial Souls. The Clear Sky Sect's secret vault held the advanced principles of Tool Soul Avatars under lock and key. The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan passed down its secret Dragon Transformation technique through the generations. Spirit Hall was somewhat more open-minded, making basic Soul Master knowledge available to those at the bottom, but its true core secret arts remained locked deep within the Papal Hall.]

[As for independent cultivators and small and medium-sized families, even those blessed with heaven-sent talent could only gather cold scraps outside the gates. For anything more, they either had to pay with their lives or bend their backs in exchange.]

[The Dugu Family had been weak for generations, and Dugu Bo happened to be solitary by nature. He would rather keep to his own little patch of land and go his own way than submit to the constraints and commands of those great sects.]

[Thus, he had developed most of his poison arts bit by bit through practice. In other words, relying on the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Martial Soul's formidable poison resistance, he constantly tried different herbs, determining their toxicity and adjusting their dosage according to his body's reactions...]

Su Yi: Was this the Douluo version of "Shennong tasting a hundred herbs"?

Seen in that light, the Martial Soul backlash poison passed down through generations of the Dugu Family might well have been a legacy of testing poisons generation after generation.

[Dugu Bo's method of using poison was not the crude approach of ordinary Soul Masters, who merely drove toxins with Soul Power. Instead, he relied on the Jade Phosphorous Serpent's characteristics, using Soul Power as a guide and his mind as a furnace to refine, purify, and fuse various toxins, ultimately making them his own.]

[That was precisely why he and Dugu Yan often drank poisonous brews like tea. To outsiders, they were drinking poison to quench their thirst. To them, it was nothing more than the most ordinary daily cultivation.]

[Your Blue Silver Grass had no added poison attribute, so you only studied how to identify the properties of herbs and balance different poisons under him, without delving into poisonous attacks meant to harm enemies.]

[You already possessed "top-tier comprehension." In your early years, while browsing your family's collection, you had read every medicinal text it held. Later, you had identified countless exotic flowers and herbs with Ah Yin in the Blue Silver Ancestral Land, so you already knew the medicinal properties of plants by heart.]

[Moreover, the poison-immune body granted by Ice and Fire Body Tempering allowed you to face deadly toxins without any reservations, personally experiencing how each toxin traveled through the human body and how its reactions worked. Naturally, you achieved twice the results with half the effort.]

[In just three months, you could independently prepare more than a dozen deadly poisons, unusual poisons, and antidotes-from fierce poisons that sealed the throat upon contact with blood to peculiar slow-acting poisons that left a person's muscles and bones weak within three days, rendering them as helpless as a cripple. All came readily to hand.]

[More than that, using the Everlasting Life power of Blue Silver Grass as your foundation, you blazed a new trail and worked out a method of "Poison Body Tempering"-]

[You introduced minute amounts of toxins into the meridians, allowing them to corrode the flesh and damage the channels, then wrapped them in layers of life force to nourish and repair them. Through repeated cycles, the meridians grew increasingly resilient amid damage and healing, while the body's tolerance for toxins rose like a boat on a swelling tide.]

[This method arose from the characteristics of your own Martial Soul and was not universally applicable. Practitioners needed either healing Soul Skills of their own or a Soul Master proficient in healing to protect them from the side. The slightest mistake could allow poison to seep into the marrow and damage their foundations.]

[Both grandfather and granddaughter of the Dugu Family specialized in poison and originally lacked the conditions to practice it. As it happened, however, the Dugu Family had long been on friendly terms with the Ye Family of the Nine Heart Begonia. The Ye Family's Martial Soul stood supreme across the continent and had long been known as the foremost healing Martial Soul.]

[Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling, the Ye Family's current heir, were also close friends who had known each other since childhood. One cultivated poison to temper her body, while the other healed injuries and protected the meridians. Their gifts complemented each other, making this method seem tailor-made for them.]

[From then on, a quiet girl with blue hair, blue eyes, and a light veil often came and went from Dugu Manor. She was always a woman of few words, silently protecting the meridians with the healing power of Nine Heart Begonia as she accompanied Dugu Yan in immersing herself in poison to temper her body.]

[Dugu Bo had also carefully considered and dissected this body-tempering method, and inwardly marveled at it. He had immersed himself in the path of poison for most of his life, keeping poison as his lifelong companion, yet he had only known how to fight poison with poison and use poison to hurt others. He had never imagined that someone could comprehend the destructive power of "poison" and the nourishment of "life" so thoroughly, bringing them into seamless harmony. It truly deserved to be called turning decay into wonder.]

["Boy, with comprehension like yours, it's a shame you aren't a poison master." He stroked his graying beard, his emerald eyes filled with regret.]

[You smiled without replying. Your ambition lay not in the path of poison, but on a higher mountain peak.]

[Besides studying poison arts, you also frequently asked him about the method of condensing a Soul Core.]

[Condensing a Soul Core was a crucial milestone in the Soul Master cultivation system.]

[It required gathering all the Soul Power within the body into the dantian or the Sea of Consciousness, guiding it with spiritual power to spin at high speed and continually collapse inward, ultimately forming a stable core of Soul Power.]

[Once a Soul Core formed, Soul Power could be wielded as naturally as an arm moved its fingers. Cultivation and recovery speeds would increase dramatically, while the power of Soul Skills would multiply.]

[The "Poison Core Method" you had left at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well back then had been only a rudimentary concept, lacking a detailed practical route.]

[Dugu Bo had attempted it many times over the past ten years, each time leaving himself half-dead-his meridians torn and his poison turning against him, requiring months in bed before he could get up. Yet he had never managed to condense a true Soul Core. Since his Martial Soul backlash poison had also been cured, he no longer took it so seriously, treating it merely as a way to pass his idle time.]

[After learning about his condensation attempts, you asked, "Senior, have you ever studied the process by which Soul Beasts condense Soul Cores?"]

["Boy, you make it sound so easy." Dugu Bo lounged in a grand armchair, picked up the emerald-green tea beside him, took a sip, and curled his lip. "Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts don't necessarily have Soul Cores, and their intelligence is too low for communication. Even if I caught one to study, the process would take far too long."]

["As for Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts... heh, I can't beat them."]

[He set down his teacup and spread his hands, looking as though this were perfectly natural.]

["Besides, Soul Beasts and humans have been enemies since ancient times. They aren't stupid. Why would they teach their most closely guarded abilities to an enemy?"]

[You smiled and shook your head. "You're right to correct me, Senior. I didn't think it through."]

[After a pause, you continued, "Senior, could you let me have a look at your Poison Pill?"]

["You mean this?" Dugu Bo made no attempt to conceal it. Holding two fingers together, he gently drew them upward at his dantian. A completely emerald-green Poison Pill the size of a pigeon's egg slowly emerged from his abdomen and floated between you.]

[The Poison Pill's surface was covered in fine cracks, resembling an aggregate of venom forcibly compressed together. A deep emerald glow flowed within it, faintly revealing patterns like snake scales, and it gave off a cold, fishy-sweet aura.]

[You focused on examining it, not daring to touch it rashly and only sensing it from a distance with Soul Power. "Senior, how... did you condense this Poison Pill?"]

["It's simple enough." Dugu Bo moved the Poison Pill in front of you and slowly leaned back in his chair. "I guided the free-flowing Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison in my body into my dantian with spiritual power, then repeatedly compressed and solidified it with Soul Power. Over time, it condensed into this Poison Pill."]

["Whenever the poison turned against me, I used the miraculous properties of that strange spring to seal the surging toxins back inside the pill. That let me hold on for another good while."]

[You examined it carefully for a little longer, sensing its internal structure in detail with spiritual power, then said, "Senior, this Poison Pill does bear some resemblance to a Soul Core. However, when you condensed it, you treated it only as a container for poison. The severe imbalance between Soul Power, spiritual power, and toxins made it this unstable."]

["Essentially, it's only a ball of poison infused with Soul Power and spiritual power. It has the form, but not the essence."]

[Dugu Bo nodded. "Back then, I thought that since snakes had snake cores and dragons had dragon pearls, and my Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor could be considered a serpent-shaped member of dragonkind, why not imitate them and seal the toxins in one place? That would keep them from eroding my meridians and gnawing at my marrow every day."]

[You listened quietly until he finished, then asked him for his research notes from all these years.]

[Dugu Bo was not stingy either. He immediately took a thick stack from his Storage Soul Tool. The pages were yellowed and their edges curled, clearly having been leafed through countless times.]

[His notes were quite detailed. Besides his various attempts over the years to resolve his Martial Soul backlash, they contained dense accounts of his dozens of attempts to condense a Soul Core, the reasons for their failures, and his ideas for improvement.]

[You read them carefully, analyzing each point with your "top-tier comprehension." Combining this with your own understanding of energy circulation, you soon found the crux of the problem.]

[Condensing a Soul Core required three essential elements: reserves of Soul Power, spiritual strength, and a physical foundation. Not one could be missing.]

[As a Titled Douluo, Dugu Bo had abundant Soul Power, which was naturally sufficient. As for spiritual strength, a fortunate coincidence had once allowed him to absorb a Medusa Wisdom Skull, putting him slightly above others of his rank, so that was no weakness either. The true problem lay in his physique-years of erosion by toxins had long since left his physical foundation riddled with holes.]

[When a Soul Core condensed, vast amounts of energy were compressed into a single point. The resulting impact was enough to tear ordinary meridians apart.]

[With Dugu Bo's current physical strength, he simply could not withstand that tearing force from within. That was why he repeatedly failed just short of success.]

[Once the crux was clear, a solution was no longer difficult to find-]

[He could either repair his hidden injuries and rebuild his physique first, which certainly could not be accomplished overnight and would require many heavenly treasures to assist him, or he could only blaze a new trail and take a different approach.]

[You recalled Huo Yuhao's method of condensing Soul Cores during the "Peerless Tang Sect" era.]

[Huo Yuhao had condensed three Soul Cores in total, forming the Yin-Yang Complementary Three Soul Cores. The condensation of his Spiritual Soul Core and Spatial Soul Core offered little useful reference, but the process of condensing his Ultimate Ice Soul Core gave you a crucial idea-the External Condensation Method.]

[Back then, when Huo Yuhao was learning how to condense a Second Soul Core from Di Tian, he had tried placing highly compressed Soul Power outside his body and controlling it to spin at high speed, using the force of spatial distortion to form a Soul Power Vortex.]

[Although this Soul Power Vortex was not a true Soul Core, it was an excellent embryonic form of one.]

[The greatest advantage of this method was its extremely low risk-if control was lost, it could simply be dispersed, without any concern about damaging one's own foundations.]

[After considering it for a moment, you said calmly, "Senior, I have a method that might be worth trying."]

[Dugu Bo immediately grew interested. Raising an eyebrow, he asked, "What method?"]

[You weighed your words for a moment, then said thoughtfully, "The External Condensation Method."]

["External condensation?" Dugu Bo frowned, a trace of confusion flashing through his emerald eyes.]

["Yes, external condensation." Without waiting for further questions, you continued explaining, "Senior, your Poison Pill is far too heterogeneous. Compressing it inside your body is like trying to condense a pot of boiling soup into a solid pill-you would have to keep stirring it inside the pot. It's extremely difficult, yielding half the results for twice the effort."]

["Why not try releasing the Poison Pill outside your body? First, strip off a small portion and merge compressed, refined origin Soul Power into it. Use spiritual power to make it spin at high speed, then, once it forms a stable Soul Power Vortex, draw it back into your dantian and anchor it to your body and mind."]

["Then strip off another portion, draw it into your body, and merge it into the Soul Power Vortex. Add to it in sequence, nesting layer upon layer like a growing snowball, gradually transforming the entire Poison Pill into a true Soul Core."]

[Your fingertip traced lightly through the air, sketching the paths of a vortex nested in layers.]

["That way, Senior, you won't have to endure the full impact all at once. Instead, you'll divide it up and resolve it gradually, progressing step by step. With your spiritual power and Soul Power reserves as a Titled Douluo, you should be able to control it with ease."]

[As Dugu Bo listened, his brow furrowed ever more deeply. As a Titled Douluo with more than ten failed attempts behind him, he understood the key after only a little thought.]

[After no more than a moment's hesitation, he slapped the armrest. "Let's do it!"]

[Seeing that he had made his decision, you said frankly, "This is only my conjecture. I can't give you any guarantees about the risks involved."]

[Dugu Bo waved a hand, a rare flash of boldness appearing in his eyes. "If I want to climb another step beyond the top of a hundred-foot pole, how can I refuse to take any risks? Besides, I think your method is sound. At worst, I'll be weak for another few months."]

[After a pause, he looked at you again and laughed. "Hey, boy, how does that brain of yours work? Why couldn't I turn that corner?"]

[You did not know whether to laugh or cry. "I'm only discussing warfare on paper."]

[He stepped forward and gave your shoulder a heavy pat. "Boy, stay at the manor for the time being. Take whatever books and resources you need, and make yourself at home. I'll go into seclusion right now and try your method."]

[At this point, a mischievous smile flashed through his emerald eyes. "If Yanyan hadn't already given her heart to someone, I'd really want you as my grandson-in-law."]

[You replied, speechless, "You're joking, Senior. Miss Dugu and I have only met a few times. Besides, I already have someone I like."]

[Dugu Bo waved a hand, a trace of relief joining his smile. "It's fine, it's fine. Things are quite good as they are."]

[After that, he repeatedly worked through the specific details of external condensation with you, gave a few instructions concerning the manor's affairs, then headed toward the secret chamber without looking back. His retreating figure was much lighter than usual, and even his footsteps carried a hint of impatience.]

[Standing in the hall, you watched him leave and shook your head speechlessly.]

[Ever since becoming a Titled Douluo, this old poisoner had often been jokingly called the "weakest Titled Douluo." Though he acted as if he did not care, how could a Soul Master truly be indifferent to the distinction between strength and weakness? Now that he had such a path to greater strength, it gave him a way to fulfill the wish he had harbored for so many years.]