"Mm, Yang'er, you're returning to the academy. Take this to Lord Dugu or Dugu Yan!" Madam Ning took two jade boxes from her storage ring and handed them to Xu Yang, speaking softly.
"This is..." Xu Yang asked, confused.
"These jade boxes contain two poison-type ten-thousand-year soul bones. One is a twenty-thousand-year poison storage left arm bone, and the other is a thirteen-thousand-year limitless poison right arm bone. These are a token of gratitude from our Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect to Lord Dugu," Madam Ning explained.
Upon hearing "soul bones," Xu Yang wasn't surprised. Although the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect didn't have a large stockpile of soul bones, their prestige was not lacking. Acquiring the friendship of Dugu Bo with these two unnecessary ten-thousand-year soul bones was a good deal.
"Alright, Madam, I will personally deliver them to Senior Dugu or Dugu Yan!" Xu Yang said, accepting the two soul bones and placing them into his storage ring. After bidding farewell to Ning Rongrong, he set off towards the Heaven Dou Royal Academy, escorted by several Spirit Saints.
Meanwhile, Dugu Bo was in the process of hunting a third ring for Dugu Yan after she absorbed the Land Dragon Gold Melon. Before the hunt, he had her absorb whale rubber, so the third ring's age reached five thousand years.
Dugu Yan was focused on absorbing her soul ring.
Dugu Bo, however, was attentively guarding his granddaughter, though his brow furrowed as he looked at her still purple, shining hair and those emerald green eyes. He was deeply worried. He hadn't expected that the Land Dragon Gold Melon would not fully solve his granddaughter's problem.
Though the Land Dragon Gold Melon had astounding effects, evolving Dugu Yan's martial soul into the same poison attribute horned dragon as his own, the poison she carried was congenital, passed on from birth. Simply evolving the martial soul couldn't prevent the poison from affecting her body, and it had to be forced into her soul bones.
For this, he had even developed a method to force the poison out, but he lacked the proper soul bones. Recently, he had appeared at multiple auctions, but no poison-type soul bones were for sale. He had killed several ten-thousand-year soul beasts in the Sunset Forest, but no soul bones had dropped.
He even considered seeking out Prince Xuexing, where there were soul bones available, but the years of those bones were insufficient to solve Dugu Yan's problem entirely.
He was troubled.
He even entertained the idea of joining a certain faction as an elder in exchange for a suitable soul ring.
"Forget it. Once Yan'er finishes absorbing this ring, I'll ask that brat if the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect has any suitable soul bones!" Dugu Bo sighed softly, turning his gaze back to his granddaughter.
...
After returning to the Heaven Dou RoyalAcademy, Xu Yang learned that Dugu Yan had also taken a leave of absence and hadn't returned yet, which he understood. It was likely that she had gone to hunt a poison-type soul beast from the subdragon species, which would take some time.
As Xu Yang walked past the living room, he suddenly felt someone staring at him. Turning around, he saw Ye Lingling glaring at him with a look of resentment. This confused him—when had he upset her?
He thought about his recent actions and realized that none of them involved this girl.
"Lingling, have I upset you somehow?" Xu Yang asked awkwardly as he walked over.
"Hmph!" Ye Lingling ignored him and stood up, heading back to her room.
"What happened?!" Xu Yang turned to Osro and Yufeng, who were chatting nearby, and asked in confusion.
"Isn't it because of Yan Jie? You took leave not long ago, and then Yan Jie also asked for leave. So Lingling thinks her leave has something to do with you. The main issue is that Yan Jie didn't tell her she was taking leave," Yufeng explained. "You know, Lingling is a solitary person. She doesn't talk much with us except for Yan Jie, so..."
Yufeng waved his hand, meaning it was clear enough.
Xu Yang was speechless. She was called solitary? He thought she was just a bit shy. If she were really solitary, she would just stay quietly in her corner and mind her own business.
After understanding the situation, Xu Yang didn't plan to confront Ye Lingling. After all, this wasn't his fault, so he returned to his room to continue with his own affairs.
On the Douluo Continent, entertainment options were scarce compared to modern society. Even nobles mostly spent their time listening to music, attending gatherings, visiting the Soul Arena, flirting with women, or gambling, among other activities. Most of these didn't interest Xu Yang, though a few exceptions existed. However, due to his young age, he had no choice but to focus on things he could do.
Thus, Xu Yang spent most of his time on meaningful endeavors, such as researching soul guides and studying cultivation.
His dormitory was not dirty, in fact, it was spotless. Since this was the Heaven Dou Royal Academy, there were servants who cleaned every day, ensuring everything was immaculate.
He sat at the usual desk for making soul guides, taking out many precious materials from his storage ring. He condensed a carving knife made entirely of soul power into his hand and began engraving the soul power circuits for the soul guide propulsion device.
During his trip to the sect, Xu Yang had packed many materials from the sect's treasury that were useful for making soul guides. Aside from a few essential items, his storage ring was almost full, providing enough supplies for a good amount of research.
The carving knife, formed by soul power, was a skill granted by his third soul ability. Using it to engrave the soul power circuits also helped him hone his control over soul power, serving multiple purposes at once.
A day later, Dugu Yan returned, accompanied by Dugu Bo.
As soon as Dugu Bo arrived, he directly pushed open the door to Xu Yang's dormitory.
Hearing the door open, Xu Yang's carving knife disappeared instantly. He turned around and saw Dugu Bo standing at the door.
"Senior, you're here!" Xu Yang's face lit up with joy, and he stood to greet Dugu Bo.
"Brat, I came to ask you if the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect has any soul bones for sale. I'm willing to pay with immortal herbs from the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Eyes," Dugu Bo got straight to the point without wasting words.
Upon hearing this, Xu Yang's brows furrowed. "Senior, what's going on?!"
"Sigh!" Dugu Bo sighed deeply, his face filled with worry. "Yan Yan's situation is far more complicated than I thought. Her poison is congenital, deeply bound to her. While the Land Dragon Gold Melon helped evolve her martial soul and increased her poison resistance, the poison also evolved along with it. According to my estimates, it'll only prevent poison damage under level fifty. Above level fifty, she'll be like before, and the poison's damage will be even worse."
"So, to completely solve Yan Yan's problem, we need to use the second method you mentioned—storing the poison in soul bones. But I've searched for a week and found no poison-type soul bones!" Dugu Bo said helplessly.
By the end of his explanation, there was a deep sense of helplessness in Dugu Bo's eyes. He didn't want to beg other factions for help, but Dugu Yan was his only granddaughter, and he couldn't just stand by.
PS: Read Advance Chapters at https://www.patreon.com/c/ReadJin