After Dugu Bo was detoxified, he seemed to have been reborn.
Feng Lingtian had never seen Dugu Bo like this. The Titled Douluo paced several circuits around the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, oblivious to the wind at the valley entrance that sent his robes snapping. Then he went to stand beside the cold pool for a long time. Moonlight shone on the water, clearly illuminating the face that had been gloomy for decades-the deep crease between his brows, carved by the pain of the poison's backlash, had finally relaxed, and the lines around his mouth were no longer taut. So this was what Dugu Bo looked like when he wasn't scowling, Feng Lingtian thought.
Dugu Bo suddenly gave a laugh. It was brief, as though it had slipped out of his throat, but Feng Lingtian heard it clearly. He's held it down for decades, and now he finally can't hold it down anymore, Feng Lingtian thought.
Dugu Bo turned, walked back, and sat down across from the alchemy bench. He held out a hand, and the emerald-green Soul Poison Pill emerged from his palm, slowly revolving. Ever since the backlash had been eliminated, Dugu Bo had developed this habit-summoning the Soul Poison Pill from time to time to look at it, as though making sure it wasn't a dream.
"When this pill is inside me, it merges with my Soul Power. I can feel every turn it makes." Dugu Bo spoke, not so much addressing Feng Lingtian as talking to himself. He paused, looking at the Soul Poison Pill in his palm. "Once I summon it out, it still turns, but that feeling... it's like touching something with gloves on. I can feel its contours, but not its temperature."
Feng Lingtian was holding a supplementary herb. At those words, his fingers stilled.
Feel its contours, but not its temperature. The connection between their Soul Power weakened because the pill had left his body. An idea suddenly occurred to Feng Lingtian-what if that connection could be preserved? I used a mobile phone in my previous life. Two people separated by a thousand mountains and ten thousand rivers could talk through a single signal. This world has no signals, but it has Soul Power. If I could make two stones that sensed each other, even if all one did was make the other light up, Dugu Bo would know I was looking for him. Wouldn't that be a Douluo Continent version of a communicator?
Feng Lingtian set down the supplementary herb and spread his hands, raising a wisp of pale cyan Soul Power in each palm. He exchanged the two wisps, drawing half from his left hand and merging it into the right, then drawing half from the right and returning it to the left. Each contained part of the other. After several repetitions, the two wisps of Soul Power were no longer independent entities, but two streams divided from the same source. Feng Lingtian compressed them separately into two tiny round stones, then infused a thread of Soul Power into the one on the left.
The one on the right did nothing.
Dugu Bo had originally only cast a casual glance over. When he saw Feng Lingtian crush the stones and start again, the corner of his mouth twitched slightly. What was this brat working on now? He didn't ask, merely leaning back in his chair and continuing to look at his Soul Poison Pill.
Feng Lingtian went through the entire process in his mind: divide Soul Power from the same source, compress each portion, inject Soul Power. There's no flaw in the logic, so the compression must be insufficient-the connection between the Soul Power is too loose. Being separated by air is like being separated by a mountain. When Dugu Bo condensed the Soul Poison Pill, the poison and Soul Power were compressed layer by layer until they could no longer be separated. He took a deep breath and increased the density further.
Compress, inject Soul Power. The two stones still did nothing.
He compressed them again and injected Soul Power again. Still no response. Feng Lingtian's movements remained steady as he crushed the stones apart. His brows were knitted, but there was no impatience in his eyes. He compressed the Soul Power more densely, nearly approaching the density Dugu Bo had achieved when condensing the Soul Poison Pill. Dividing the Soul Power and condensing the stones took longer than in any previous attempt. A thin sheen of sweat seeped onto his forehead, and his breathing grew somewhat deeper than before. When the Soul Power patterns of the two stones almost completely matched, he injected Soul Power into one of them again.
An extremely faint dark-cyan glow rose over the surface of the stone on the right. As weak as the most distant star in the depths of night, it flickered once and went out.
Feng Lingtian stared at the stone, his pupils suddenly widening. After everything he had done, this was the one moment he had been waiting for.
Dugu Bo sprang to his feet. The Resonance Stone rolled from his palm and landed on the table with a clink. Undisguised shock burst into his emerald-green eyes.
"It lit up!" Dugu Bo's voice rose a notch. "It really lit up! This isn't a Soul Skill or a Soul Tool, just two stones-how did you do it, brat?"
The corners of Feng Lingtian's mouth lifted. It wasn't that Dugu Bo had never been excited-he had been excited just now after being detoxified, but that had been for himself. This time, he was excited over something I worked out. This feels different.
"Divide Soul Power from the same source, condense each portion, and compress them to the limit." Feng Lingtian handed the most successful dark-cyan round stone to Dugu Bo. "Injecting Soul Power makes the other one light up. Right now, it can only flash once. I'll gradually improve it later."
Dugu Bo took the stone and turned it over and over in the moonlight. Fine Soul Power patterns covered its surface, glowing faintly when Soul Power was injected, like a piece of dark-cyan chalcedony that had lain underwater for a long time suddenly opening its eyes. Dugu Bo studied it for quite a while before raising his head.
"What's this thing called?"
"A Resonance Stone."
Dugu Bo tucked the Resonance Stone into his robes with a very gentle movement, as though afraid of breaking it. Feng Lingtian could tell that once the novelty of the Resonance Stone wore off, Dugu Bo's eagerness to see his granddaughter had surfaced again. Dugu Bo paced a couple of steps at the valley entrance, then glanced back at Feng Lingtian, starting to speak but stopping himself.
Feng Lingtian said, "If you want to see your granddaughter, go ahead. I need to fire up the furnace and refine pills anyway. These immortal herbs can't be left too long after being picked. I'll call you with the Resonance Stone once I'm done."
Dugu Bo glanced at him, stood up, and patted the hem of his robes. After walking a few steps, he suddenly stopped.
"Thanks." Dugu Bo did not look back.
Feng Lingtian froze for a moment. This isn't the solemnity of bowing in gratitude, or the agitation of asking someone for help. Just a casual word, like something said to a friend.
Dugu Bo's figure disappeared through the valley entrance. Feng Lingtian withdrew his gaze and looked at the row of jade boxes on the alchemy bench. He had harvested eight kinds of immortal medicinal herbs from the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well this time. The aromatic silk beauty had already been used, while the remaining seven lay quietly in their boxes. Even through the walls of the boxes, the faintly glowing patterns along their leaf veins remained visible. These immortal herbs have grown here for hundreds of years, and now they're waiting to be refined into pills, Feng Lingtian thought.
Feng Lingtian opened the True Explanation of the Dao of Alchemy and read every pill formula from beginning to end. Then he closed the book and extinguished the furnace fire. These were no ordinary medicinal ingredients. Once he fired up the furnace, there would be no chance to start over. He was in no hurry. He would wait until he had thoroughly digested every formula, calculated the heat required for every step, and felt there were no problems before firing up the furnace again.
The Peregrine Falcon appeared again in the treetops at the valley entrance. It perched there quietly, its pale-gold eyes gazing toward the alchemy bench. Although the furnace fire had gone out, the True Explanation of the Dao of Alchemy still lay open before Feng Lingtian, its pages glowing faintly yellow in the moonlight.