"..."
The corner of Dugu Bo's mouth twitched slightly.
Pretty weak?
Was that something a person should say?
Even so, Dugu Bo had no argument.
But one thing was right: he would never join the Star Luo Empire.
More than anything in his life, he feared having his freedom restricted.
If Prince Xue Xing hadn't saved his life, he would never have agreed to become a guest elder of the Heaven Dou Imperial Family.
"Grandpa Patriarch, I have a way to make Senior Dugu join us of his own free will." Dai Tianfeng smiled confidently.
"Oh? I'd like to see how you make this fellow join us willingly!"
Dai Xiu folded his arms across his chest, a look of interest flashing across his face.
"Kid, say no more!"
Dugu Bo snorted coldly, showing no interest in continuing the conversation. "No matter what, I will never join you!"
"What if I said I could cure the poison in your body?"
Dai Tianfeng looked at Dugu Bo with a faint smile.
He had a feeling the law of true fragrance was about to strike!
Dugu Bo's pupils contracted sharply.
This was the greatest secret of his Jade Phosphorous Serpent bloodline!
How could this kid know when they had only just met?
Had he seen through it?
If that was really the case, then...
"Kid, what nonsense are you spouting?"
Looking at Dai Tianfeng, Dugu Bo narrowed his eyes slightly and decided to sound him out. "Who on this continent doesn't know that I, Dugu Bo, am known as the number one poison Soul Master under heaven? I have never met my match in the field of poison. How could I possibly be poisoned?"
"Is that so? Ordinary poisons certainly wouldn't be able to get the better of you, Poison Douluo!"
At this point, Dai Tianfeng paused briefly. "But what if it's poison from your Martial Soul's backlash?"
"Whenever it's overcast and rainy, you should feel a numb itch beneath your ribs. It gradually grows worse and lasts for more than two hours, striking once at noon and once at midnight."
"Late at night, around midnight, you feel a stabbing pain like needles piercing the crown of your head and the soles of your feet, and your whole body goes into spasms. It lasts at least an hour, doesn't it?"
Dai Tianfeng continued before Dugu Bo could argue.
Dugu Bo froze on the spot.
Every word was correct.
He had named every single symptom.
Even the times and locations of the attacks were precisely right!
How was that possible?
Not even his own granddaughter knew.
The only people in the world who knew were his friend, who had long since died, and his friend's daughter.
But Dugu Bo was certain that neither of them would have revealed a single detail to anyone else.
"Senior Dugu, well?"
Dai Tianfeng asked with a smile, "Am I right?"
"Kid, do you know how to cure this poison?"
Dugu Bo struggled to contain his excitement, his breathing growing rapid.
Dai Xiu and Zhu Na were both somewhat surprised.
The Jade Phosphorous Serpent bloodline actually had such a hidden danger?
It was rather laughable: who would have thought that Poison Douluo, famous throughout the world for his poison, was himself being tormented by a deadly toxin?
When they first heard it, they had been somewhat skeptical!
But seeing Dugu Bo like this, how could they not know that it was absolutely true?
"Of course."
Dai Tianfeng felt that Dugu Bo's bloodline suffered greatly from their own Martial Soul's toxins, most likely due to a backlash that resembled a hereditary disease.
Perhaps one of Dugu Bo's ancestors had caused the Martial Soul's poison to take root in their bloodline, passing it down from generation to generation.
After all, there had been a Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor Soul Master in the era of The Legend of the Dragon King, and she had no such problem.
Speaking of which, that Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor Soul Master also had a connection to the Wu Siduo Template Dai Tianfeng had obtained.
Both were among Shrek Academy's five great young geniuses, though one ranked first and the other last.
Dai Tianfeng himself knew nothing about poisons, so the method he planned to offer was exactly the same as the one Tang San had used in the original story.
"I'll do anything you ask! Tell me, quickly!!!"
Dugu Bo stared fixedly at Dai Tianfeng, an unprecedented light bursting from his eyes.
"Senior, the deadly poison in your body has long since fused with your Soul Power and even your entire body. Eradicating it completely is nearly impossible."
"Don't be so rigid!"
"We can approach it from another angle."
Dai Tianfeng smiled. "Since we can't eradicate it, we can 'move' the poison out!"
"'Move' the poison out?" Dugu Bo knitted his brows, unable to grasp it for the moment.
"Transfer all the poison in your body into a suitable Soul Bone!"
Seeing that Dugu Bo still hadn't caught on, Dai Tianfeng explained somewhat helplessly.
They both played with snakes, so why was the gap in their intelligence so vast?
Look at Orochimaru next door. In a world with only ninjas, he had managed to develop the tech tree through sheer effort.
If Orochimaru came to Douluo and was given a little time, he might even be able to mass-produce Soul Rings, or even Soul Bones.
"Transfer the toxins into a Soul Bone?"
Hearing this, Dugu Bo's eyes widened.
He hadn't imagined it could be done that way!
In theory, it was indeed highly feasible!
How had he never thought of it before?
"Senior Dugu, surely a dignified Titled Douluo like you has at least one Soul Bone?" Dai Tianfeng teased with a smile.
"A Soul Bone? Naturally, I have one," Dugu Bo said irritably.
He had already been mocked several times in just that short while.
And now this little brat was looking down on him too!
It was simply outrageous!
If not for the fact that the kid had offered him a way to cure the poison,
Dugu Bo would have slapped him already.
All right, that wouldn't work either.
There was someone beside the kid whom he couldn't afford to provoke right now.
"Kid, I have cultivated my Jade Phosphorous Serpent Martial Soul for more than seventy years. My body has long since fused with the toxins, and this poison won't be easy to force out."
After his initial delight, Dugu Bo frowned again. "One mistake, and the backlash will probably be even worse."
This time, Dai Tianfeng was at a loss for words.
He didn't know how to concoct any medicine to gradually filter the toxins out of Dugu Bo's meridians and bones, bit by bit.
"Dugu Bo, we'll help you force all the poison accumulated in your body into your Soul Bone!"
Dai Xiu and Zhu Na exchanged a glance and stepped forward.
If they could poach Dugu Bo, it would both weaken the Heaven Dou Empire and strengthen the Star Luo Empire.
Naturally, it was exactly what they wanted.
"Good! If you can truly help me resolve the poison that has plagued me for half my life, I'll follow your lead from this day forward!"
Hearing this, Dugu Bo immediately agreed.
He knew that once he agreed, he would be bound to the Star Luo Empire for good.
This was far more than being a guest elder of the Heaven Dou Imperial Family.
But so what!
Dugu Bo had long since had enough of living half-dead like this.
Even his only son had died because of it.
As for who Prince Xue Xing was?
He didn't know him at all!
After all these years, he had long since repaid the debt he owed Prince Xue Xing.
"Good! There's no time to lose. Let's begin now!" A smile appeared on Dai Xiu's face.
"All right!"
Dugu Bo dropped all pretense and sat down cross-legged.
"Dugu Bo, focus and calm your Qi. Guard your mind!"
Dai Xiu gave a low shout and stepped behind Dugu Bo, placing both palms against his back.
In an instant, Soul Power as vast as the sea surged into Dugu Bo's body, guiding the Jade Phosphorus Snake venom that had long since fused with his bone marrow.
The next moment, green light blossomed between Dugu Bo's brows.
An illusory, luminous green skull appeared on his forehead.
This was a Head Soul Bone Dugu Bo possessed, and one of his trump cards.
The skull came from Medusa, known as the empress among snakes, and was of Ten Thousand Year quality.
"Ugh..."
Dugu Bo let out a wail, his face turning deathly pale in an instant.
The sensation of having deadly poison stripped away strand by strand from deep within his bone marrow was even more painful than death by a thousand cuts.
But Dugu Bo clung desperately to his last shred of clarity, driving his Soul Power to guide the Jade Phosphorus Snake venom into the Soul Bone.
Time passed, minute by minute, second by second.
Dai Xiu's expression grew increasingly grave as well.
He had to force every last bit of deadly poison out of Dugu Bo's body without harming him.
It demanded an extraordinarily precise degree of control over Soul Power.
This was no easy task!
Six hours passed in the blink of an eye.
"Hahaha, is this what it feels like to be normal?"
Dugu Bo slowly opened his eyes, an utterly unrestrained smile spreading across his face.
The oppressive feeling that had plagued him for most of his life vanished completely at that moment.
He had lived most of his life.
Yet this was the first time he had felt his body could be so light and at ease.
What delighted Dugu Bo most was that his granddaughter could finally be saved!
All he needed to do next was find a suitable Soul Bone for Yanyan.
But the drop rate for those things was too low; they were priceless treasures that money could scarcely buy.
The Soul Bones that made it onto the market were usually only a hundred years old.
Even so, their prices were outrageously high.
And it also had to be compatible with the Jade Phosphorus Snake Martial Soul.
Otherwise, a dignified Titled Douluo like Dugu Bo wouldn't have had only one Ten Thousand Year Soul Bone.
"Senior Dugu, congratulations on escaping a nightmare that lasted so many years!" Dai Tianfeng said with a smile.
"Although I've always acted according to my own preferences, I will do what I promised!"
Dugu Bo stood up and said solemnly, "From now on, I belong to the Star Luo Imperial Family!"
"Good! From now on, we're all family!"
A smile appeared on Dai Xiu's slightly weary face. "Speaking of which, the Star Luo Imperial Family's treasury happens to have a Thousand-Year Soul Bone dropped by a poison-attribute Soul Beast. I imagine it's just what you need?"
He knew something about Dugu Bo, so naturally he knew that the man had a granddaughter.
Since this was Martial Soul poison, Dugu Bo's granddaughter clearly couldn't escape it either.
In any case, that Thousand-Year Soul Bone had been sitting in the Star Luo treasury for who knew how many years.
It could now be put to good use and win Dugu Bo's loyalty as well.
Hearing this, Dugu Bo's eyes immediately lit up.
He had just been worrying about a Soul Bone for Yanyan!
And now they were giving him one outright!
The Star Luo Imperial Family was much more generous than the Heaven Dou Imperial Family!
As a guest elder of the Heaven Dou Imperial Family, he had received nothing but Gold Soul Coins apart from certain privileges.
Would a dignified Titled Douluo like him ever be short of money?
"Then I shall accept your kind offer!"
Dugu Bo gave a deep bow. "Once I've gone to Heaven Dou City and brought Yanyan here, I'll accompany you back to the Star Luo Empire!"