Bibi Dong immediately followed the prescription, swiftly preparing the required medicinal ingredients. After handing them to Qing'er with a few instructions, she hurried toward the front hall.
Long Qianming, who had already finished the preliminary preparations, looked at Bibi Dong as she approached him and said with a slightly grave expression,
"Dong'er, we'll start the same way as before. Since we need to remove a large amount of poison from Brother Dugu's body this time, we may have to drain your Soul Power repeatedly during the process. You absolutely must not push yourself. If you show signs of overdrawing your Soul Power,"
"you must immediately eat those medicinal dishes and meditate to recover your Soul Power. Otherwise, those toxins will affect you and poison you as well."
As he spoke, Long Qianming pointed at the ten medicinal dishes on the wooden table, prepared by simmering a small amount of Whale Rubber with mildly cooling medicinal ingredients to balance it out.
"Qianming, I understand."
Bibi Dong listened very attentively, but she did not believe a mere Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison could affect her. She possessed the Death Spider Emperor and Soul Devouring Spider Emperor, two top-tier poisonous Soul Beasts, and her resistance to toxins was already extremely high.
Not to mention that she also had a right leg bone. If her body could not hold any more toxins, she could force them into the Soul Bone.
Then, just before inserting the needles, Long Qianming gave Dugu Xin one more warning.
"The process of removing the toxins will be extremely painful. You need to prepare yourself."
"Thank you for the warning, Brother Ming. I've been affected by these toxins for a while now, so I've experienced my share of tormenting pain. Just go ahead with the needles."
At this, Long Qianming immediately took out eight silver needles and used the same technique on the same acupuncture points as before, first drawing out all the poison in the internal organs. Bibi Dong directed Soul Power toward the silver needles, gradually forcing the toxins out through the cut in his palm.
After that came the most important step in removing the poison, and also the most difficult: removing the Martial Soul poison that had seeped into his bones.
Long Qianming inserted the needles into more than a dozen acupuncture points primarily used for bone ailments, including Dazhui, Shenshu, and Zusanli. Bibi Dong then followed the order of the needles, sending Soul Power into his body one point at a time.
But when they had only progressed a little over halfway through treating the first needle's point, cold sweat was already beading on Bibi Dong's forehead, and her face had turned somewhat pale. Long Qianming hurriedly inserted three silver needles into key acupuncture points, temporarily halting the poison-removal process.
"Dong'er, you're almost overdrawing your Soul Power. Hurry and have a bowl of medicinal food, then meditate to recover. The poison in Brother Dugu's bones is the hardest to reduce."
Long Qianming quickly took two steps back and handed Bibi Dong a bowl of medicinal food.
With her Soul Power being consumed too quickly, Bibi Dong swiftly took the bowl and swallowed its contents in small mouthfuls. An exceedingly unusual, gently cooling force gradually gathered in her lower abdomen.
As she sat cross-legged and sank into deep meditation, she made an astonishing discovery: that gently cooling force could actually speed up both her Soul Power recovery and her Soul Power cultivation.
Though she had questions, Bibi Dong certainly would not stop at this moment to ask Long Qianming exactly what kind of medicinal food he had given her.
She had to seize every moment to recover her Soul Power and strive to cure Dugu Xin in the shortest time possible. This was her promise to Long Qianming, and helping treat Dugu Xin could also increase the speed of her Soul Power cultivation to a certain extent.
The two worked in succession, and under the combined effects of acupuncture and Soul Power poison removal, the poison in the body's 206 bones, including the vertebrae and sternum, was receding at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"Aah-!"
As the bone poison was gradually forced out, the resulting agony made Dugu Xin cry out. His originally dark green bones also gradually turned a healthy snowy white.
Only the following morning, when Su Qing'er brought over the finished herbal medicine, was Dugu Xin's Martial Soul poison finally completely cleared, after twelve hours of treatment.
"Brother Xin, this medicine has been simmering all night. Drink it to replenish the Qi and blood you've lost."
Su Qing'er brought the bowl of pitch-black medicine to Dugu Xin, then went to check on Bibi Dong and Long Qianming.
Both were doing fairly well. Thanks to her intermittent treatment throughout the process, they had no adverse symptoms beyond some physical exhaustion and considerable drowsiness.
Looking at Long Qianming and Bibi Dong sitting nearby, panting heavily and dripping with cold sweat, Su Qing'er immediately released her Jade Snake Martial Soul.
"Third Soul Skill, Jade Healing."
Although the healing effect of her third Soul Skill could not bring the dead back to life or regrow flesh on bare bones, treating minor illnesses and clearing other people's negative conditions posed no problem.
As green light flooded the entire clinic, Long Qianming's and Bibi Dong's negative conditions were effectively alleviated.
Dugu Xin walked over to Long Qianming and reached out to pull him to his feet, while Long Qianming said seriously,
"Brother Dugu, I've done everything I can to dispel the poison in your body. You only need to take these medicinal ingredients daily and use your Soul Skills less, and you'll be able to hold off an outbreak of Martial Soul poison for longer."
Then Long Qianming looked at Su Qing'er and offered a brief reminder.
"Although Qing'er is a healing-type support Soul Master, you should still exercise restraint as much as possible, Brother Dugu."
At this point, Long Qianming hesitated. After all, there were two women present, and some things could not be stated too plainly.
After a moment's thought, Long Qianming walked over to Dugu Xin and whispered a few words into his ear. Dugu Xin initially looked thoroughly embarrassed, but then his expression grew grave, and he nodded repeatedly.
"I understand."
But the very next moment, Dugu Xin, his face still somewhat flushed with embarrassment, suddenly asked,
"Brother Qianming, we'll be returning to my family in a few days. I hope you can come with us to Heaven Dou City. Didn't I mention it before? My father suffers from this illness too. He has to seek out a Nine Heart Flowering Apple Soul Master at regular intervals to remove the poison."
"If you come with us, your medical skills combined with the powerful healing effects of a Nine Heart Flowering Apple Soul Master might really be able to resolve the Martial Soul poison afflicting my father and me."
In truth, Dugu Xin had not told the whole story. Their Dugu Family was not in Heaven Dou City, but within the Hadagens Kingdom. In recent years, the poison in Dugu Bo's body had flared up increasingly often, which had led to the plan to sell off the family's properties and move to Heaven Dou City.
He himself had only recently received word from Dugu Bo that the family would be moving to Heaven Dou City.
The two women both looked curiously at Long Qianming. Bibi Dong, in particular, actually showed a trace of reluctance to part and desolation in her eyes, but she still said,
"Qianming, I told you before that Gengxin City is too small. You need to go somewhere bigger to develop. Now that Big Brother Dugu has invited you, you can absolutely go to Heaven Dou City and discuss pharmacology with the Nine Heart Flowering Apple Soul Master."
"After all, Nine Heart Flowering Apple Soul Masters are the continent's foremost healing-type Soul Masters. Their healing abilities are truly formidable."
As for inviting Long Qianming to join Spirit Hall, Bibi Dong did not bring it up. She knew that even if she did, Long Qianming would refuse just as he had before. Since that was the case, she might as well leave it unsaid.