"The second method is the simplest: use a soul bone to store the toxins. By forcing the potent poison from your martial spirit into the soul bone, you can avoid being affected by the martial spirit manifestation," Xu Yang explained, causing Dugu Yan's heart to become conflicted.
"However, to resolve the issue of Title Douluo-level toxins, the soul bone must be at least 50,000 years old and must be a limb bone; otherwise, it cannot withstand the endless potent toxins within a Title Douluo's body."
"Moreover, this soul bone cannot be passed down like others in various sects. You could also absorb four limb bones of around 10,000 years each to separate the toxins into those bones, but that would be too costly for most factions to bear."
The value of soul bones goes without saying. Currently, aside from the Spirit Hall and Haotian Sect, which possess a large number of soul bones, other factions have very few. Even in the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile School, the number of soul bones does not exceed twenty, and most are only a thousand or ten thousand years old. There are only three that exceed twenty thousand years, which are the inherited soul bones from Ning Fengzhi.
Otherwise, with the status of the two super Douluos from the Sword Bone faction, they would not have been unable to equip themselves with a full set of soul bones due to a lack of suitable options.
If even a top-tier sect like Seven Treasures Glazed Tile School faces such difficulties, it's even harder for someone like Dugu Bo, who has no faction as a Title Douluo, to find suitable soul bones.
"Xu Yang, why must it be limb bones? Why can't it be torso or head soul bones?!" Dugu Yan asked anxiously. She remembered her grandfather had a 60,000-year-old Medusa head soul bone that perfectly matched Xu Yang's earlier requirements.
"Because of replaceability. If the amount of toxin exceeds what the soul bone can handle, it will break. Once that accumulated toxin erupts, even a super Douluo would die instantly. Limb bones can be replaced if handled correctly; head and torso bones cannot."
"Additionally, the head is where the spirit resides. If you use a head soul bone to absorb toxins from your body and it reaches its limit, that soul master will no longer have any chance of breakthrough. The same applies to torso bones; thus, limb bones are still the best choice."
Xu Yang patiently explained.
Dugu Yan nodded seriously; indeed, as Xu Yang said, one could survive without limbs but not without their head or torso—losing those meant certain death. Limb bones were indeed the optimal choice.
She planned to ask for leave later to tell her grandfather about this method but wanted to hear about the third method first.
"What about the third method?!"
"The third method... Hmm, I feel it's somewhat far-fetched. It involves using legendary celestial herbs to evolve your martial spirit and enhance your qualifications and resistance to poison. For example, earth attribute celestial herbs are most suitable for poison-type soul masters. After absorption, they can essentially avoid toxins until they reach Title Douluo. However, whether such legendary beings actually exist is questionable. I've searched through all records in both Seven Treasures Glazed Tile School and Tiandou Royal Academy and found only a few mentions."
Xu Yang deliberately displayed a wry smile while guiding Dugu Yan's thoughts toward celestial herbs. Dugu Yan had certainly been to the Eye of Ice and Fire and seen what celestial herbs looked like; she just didn't know their names or uses.
"Celesital herbs..."
Sure enough, upon hearing about 'celestial herbs,' Dugu Yan subconsciously recalled those peculiar herbs in her grandfather's medicinal garden—each one looked extraordinary and beautiful; she had never seen anything like them outside. They must be what Xu Yang referred to as 'celestial herbs.'
"Xu Yang, do you think celestial herbs really exist?!" Dugu Yan asked in an attempt to appear calm, though she didn't notice her voice trembled slightly.
"They should exist! For instance, I saw records of Qirong Tongtian Chrysanthemum in the Tiandou Library. Although I haven't seen it in reality, I've seen information in Seven Treasures Glazed Tile School indicating that Elder Ju from Spirit Hall possesses a Qirong Tongtian Chrysanthemum martial spirit. Since there's a martial spirit for it, it's not impossible for celestial herbs to actually exist!"
As he spoke, Xu Yang took out his notes on Qirong Tongtian Chrysanthemum from his storage ring and handed them to Dugu Yan.
Upon receiving it and taking a look, Dugu Yan's pupils immediately constricted. She had seen this herb before in her grandfather's medicinal garden! This meant that all those plants in her grandfather's garden could indeed be celestial herbs.
Initially uncertain about her thoughts on this matter, she now felt immensely confident that they were all celestial herbs. If she could find records and usage methods for those herbs, perhaps she could solve her and her grandfather's problems.
Unexpectedly, after searching for many years, the solution was right beside her.
"Xu Yang! Thank you!"
Tears welled up in Dugu Yan's eyes as she excitedly hugged Xu Yang and gave him a quick kiss on his cheek before turning around and running out of the room towards Qin Ming's residence. She needed to request leave to find her grandfather and confirm whether these three methods were indeed viable!
"Did I guide her a bit too much?!"
Xu Yang felt slightly embarrassed as he touched where she had kissed him and murmured while watching Dugu Yan's retreating figure.
...
At Dugu Mansion located on the outskirts of Tiandou City—where very few people resided within a kilometer radius—the estate was devoid of servants; only Dugu Bo and Dugu Yan lived there. Usually, no one dared disturb this Title Douluo.
At this moment in the main hall of Dugu Mansion, Dugu Bo was leisurely sipping medicinal tea while listening to Dugu Yan recount Xu Yang's proposed methods.
The more he listened, the more unsettled he became; his hands trembled as he gripped his teacup tightly while his eyes filled with shock and excitement mixed with regret. Why hadn't he thought of such simple methods earlier? If he had thought of them sooner, perhaps his son and daughter-in-law wouldn't have died; Yanzi wouldn't have been poisoned since birth.
Initially thinking that using soul bones was already the best solution when he heard about it; however, upon hearing about celestial herbs from Dugu Yan afterward made his expression completely change as he looked at the introduction regarding Qirong Tongtian Chrysanthemum in his hand—he knew this was real.
He had significant grievances with Ju Hua Guan regarding Qirong Tongtian Chrysanthemum martial spirit; he understood it well enough and had considered researching his own medicinal garden's celestial herb for ways to deal with Ju Hua Guan but had always been hindered by not knowing how to use it—so he had put it on hold.
Now looking at his notes in hand, he never expected Qirong Tongtian Chrysanthemum would possess such effects; truly worthy of its name as a celestial herb!
Moreover, since Ju Hua Guan possessed Qirong Tongtian Chrysanthemum martial spirit—and given his love for flowers—he probably had records regarding celestial herbs as well.
This wouldn't do; defenses around that peculiar place were still too lax—they needed strengthening! If discovered by Spirit Hall... that would truly be an unwarranted disaster!
(End of Chapter)