"Here, Yang'er, take this to Dugu Bo or Dugu Yan!" Madam Ning said as she took out two jade boxes from her storage ring and handed them to Xu Yang gently.
"What is this?" Xu Yang asked, puzzled.
"Inside these jade boxes are two poison-type ten-thousand-year soul bones. One is a twenty-thousand-year left arm bone for toxin storage, and the other is a thirteen-thousand-year Infinite Poison Bone for the right arm. This is our Seven Treasures Glazed Tile School's gratitude towards Dugu Bo."
Upon hearing they were soul bones, Xu Yang wasn't surprised. Although Seven Treasures Glazed Tile School didn't have many soul bones, they certainly had the courage to offer such valuable gifts. Obtaining Dugu Bo's friendship through two unnecessary ten-thousand-year soul bones was a fair trade.
"Alright, Madam! I will personally deliver them to Senior Dugu or Dugu Yan!"
Xu Yang stored the two soul bones in his storage ring and then said goodbye to Ning Rongrong before heading toward Tiandou Royal Academy under the protection of several Soul Sages.
Meanwhile, Dugu Bo was also hunting for the third ring for Dugu Yan after she absorbed the Earth Dragon Golden Melon. Before hunting, he had also let her absorb whale glue, allowing her third ring to reach five thousand years.
Dugu Yan was fully focused on absorbing her soul ring.
Dugu Bo stood guard beside his granddaughter but couldn't help but feel worried as he looked at Dugu Yan's still bright purple hair and emerald green eyes. He truly hadn't anticipated that the Earth Dragon Golden Melon wouldn't completely resolve his granddaughter's issues.
Although the Earth Dragon Golden Melon had impressive effects—allowing Dugu Yan's martial spirit to evolve into a Poison Dragon like his—it didn't completely eliminate her inherent toxins that she had carried since birth. Simply evolving her martial spirit wouldn't suffice; they still needed to force the toxins within her body into a soul bone.
For this reason, he had even developed methods for expelling toxins but lacked suitable soul bones. He had appeared at several auctions recently but found no poison-type soul bones for sale. He had also killed numerous ten-thousand-year soul beasts in Sunset Forest but hadn't obtained any soul bones from them.
He considered seeking out Prince Xuexing; while they did have some soul bones, their ages weren't sufficient to solve Dugu Yan's problems completely.
He felt somewhat troubled.
He even entertained thoughts of becoming a guest elder in a certain faction with the reward being a suitable soul bone.
"Forget it! Once Yan absorbs her ring, I'll go ask that kid if Seven Treasures Glazed Tile School has any suitable ones!" With a slight sigh, Dugu Bo shifted his focus back to his granddaughter.
...
After returning to Tiandou Royal Academy, Xu Yang learned that Dugu Yan had also taken leave and hadn't returned yet. He understood why; she was likely out hunting for a poison-type soul beast of dragon lineage, which would take some time.
As Xu Yang passed through the living room, he suddenly felt someone staring at him. Turning his head, he saw Ye Lingling looking at him with an expression full of resentment. This left him feeling somewhat baffled; when had he offended this girl again?
After thinking about what he had done recently, it seemed none of it involved her!
"Uh, Lingling! Did I offend you somewhere?!" Xu Yang approached her awkwardly and asked.
"Hmph!" Ye Lingling ignored Xu Yang and stood up to return to her room.
"What's going on?!" Xu Yang turned to look at Ao Si Luo and Yu Feng, who were chatting nearby with puzzled expressions.
"It's because of Sister Yan! You just took leave, and not long after that, Sister Yan followed suit. So Lingling thinks Sister Yan's leave is related to you—mainly because Sister Yan didn't inform her beforehand."
"You know how Lingling is; she's quite reserved and rarely interacts with us aside from Sister Yan..."
As Yu Feng spoke up, he waved his hand dismissively as if indicating that everyone understood the situation.
Xu Yang was speechless; if this was considered being reserved, then it seemed more like being introverted. If she were truly reserved, she should be quietly sitting there doing her own thing right now!
Understanding the situation, Xu Yang decided not to seek out Ye Lingling; after all, this matter didn't concern him. It would be better for him to return to his room and continue working on his own matters.
The Douluo Continent wasn't like modern society; there weren't many entertainment options available. Even among nobles, their leisure activities mostly consisted of listening to music, social gatherings, watching battles at the Soul Arena, womanizing, gambling, etc...
Most of these didn't interest him much—only a select few did—but due to his young age, he could only do so much.
Thus Xu Yang dedicated much of his time to meaningful pursuits such as researching soul-guiding devices and studying cultivation techniques.
His dormitory was clean—not dirty at all—since it was located within Tiandou Royal Academy where dedicated servants cleaned daily; it could be said that everything here was spotless.
He sat down at the table where he usually crafted soul-guiding devices and took out numerous precious materials from his storage ring. With a concentration of soul power in his right hand, a carving knife formed entirely from soul power appeared in his grasp as he began carving the energy circuits for the soul-guiding propeller components.
After returning from Seven Treasures Glazed Tile School with many materials suitable for crafting soul-guiding devices packed away—his storage ring was nearly full aside from essential items—he had enough materials for research for quite some time.
The carving knife made of concentrated soul power was a small technique brought by his third soul skill. Using this knife to carve energy circuits would also continuously train his ability to manipulate soul power—truly achieving multiple benefits from one action.
A day later, Dugu Yan returned as well alongside Dugu Bo.
As soon as Dugu Bo arrived, he pushed open the door to Xu Yang's dormitory.
Hearing the door open, Xu Yang immediately dissipated the carving knife in his hand and turned around to see Dugu Bo standing at the entrance.
"Senior! You're here!" A hint of joy flashed across Xu Yang's face as he stood up to greet Dugu Bo.
"Kid! I came here specifically to ask if there are any soul bones for sale within Seven Treasures Glazed Tile School. I'm willing to pay with celestial herbs from Ice Fire Twin Eyes." Dugu Bo got straight to the point without further ado.
Upon hearing this, Xu Yang furrowed his brows slightly: "Senior, what happened?!"
"Alas!" Dugu Bo sighed softly with a troubled expression on his face: "Yan Yan's situation is far more complicated than I imagined. The toxins she carries are inherited from birth and deeply bind with her. While absorbing the Earth Dragon Golden Melon has allowed her martial spirit to evolve and increased her toxin resistance significantly; it still hasn't completely eliminated her toxins. Based on my estimates, she can only avoid harm from toxins below level fifty; once above level fifty, she will revert back to how she was before—with even more severe toxin erosion."
"In order to completely resolve Yan Yan's issue, we need your previously mentioned second method—to use a soul bone to store the toxins within her body. However, I've searched for a week without finding any news regarding poison-type soul bones!"
As he spoke at last, there was a deep sense of helplessness in Dugu Bo's eyes. He truly didn't want to beg others from various factions for help; however as his only granddaughter—how could he not care?
(End of Chapter)