Time flies, and a year has passed in the blink of an eye.
During this year, Long Chen and Dugu Bo's relationship progressed further.
With Long Chen's help, Dugu Bo gradually controlled the invasion of toxins in his body, and his soul power broke through the bottleneck of level 91, reaching level 92.
Once a Soul Master reaches level 90 and becomes a Title Douluo, each level becomes a huge bottleneck.
Dugu Bo had been stuck at level 91 for a long time, but finally made a breakthrough.
He was very grateful to Long Chen, who not only controlled the toxins in his body but also helped him improve his soul power.
During this period, he also guided Long Chen in his cultivation.
Dugu Bo must have extraordinary abilities to have reached the level of a Title Douluo.
Long Chen humbly accepted his guidance.
Soaking in the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Spring water day after day, the medicinal properties of the Eight-Cornered Mystic Ice Grass and the Fiery Apricot were better absorbed.
With the help of Dugu Bodan Pearl and the guidance of cultivation methods, Long Chen's soul power advanced by leaps and bounds within a year, increasing by five levels to reach level forty-seven.
He was under fifteen years old and in the 47th grade.
Even on the entire Douluo Continent, this is an unprecedented existence.
At this time, there was only a little over a year left until the Soul Master Competition.
Long Chen felt it was time to go back.
He knew that, according to the timeline, the Heaven Dou Royal Academy team would encounter the Shrek Seven Devils at the Soto City Grand Arena and lose to them.
Ye Lingling will be threatened by Tang San during the competition.
Long Chen must stop all of this and absolutely cannot let Tang San succeed.
"Xiao Chen, what are you thinking about?"
Dugu Bo suddenly descended from the sky.
Long Chen recovered his senses and, seeing Dugu Bo looking energetic, smiled and said:
"Brother Bo, the toxins in your body are finally under control. Although they haven't been completely forced into your soul bone, they no longer pose a threat to your life."
"Well, with your help, my body has adapted to the poison to some extent. A little bit of poison is good; if there were none at all, I wouldn't be used to it."
Long Chen pointed to the patch of herbs.
"The narcissus plant has grown well and is ready to be harvested."
"Really? That's great! We can detoxify Yanyan now."
Long Chen frowned and sighed:
"The Narcissus Jade Bone needs to be kept alive after it's harvested, but unfortunately I don't have any equipment to store living things for a long time. If all else fails, I'll have to bring Dugu Yan here to detoxify her. However, there's only a little over a year until the Soul Master Competition. She's so competitive, she might worry about it affecting her training, and she might only be willing to come here for detoxification after the Soul Master Competition is over."
Upon hearing this, Dugu Bo chuckled.
"I thought you were worried about something else, but it turns out it's this. What's so difficult about that? I'll give you something."
As Dugu Bo spoke, he pulled out a blue leather pouch from somewhere and tossed it to Long Chen.
The leather bag was only the size of two adult palms, and it was the kind that was hung on the belt.
Long Chen knew that this was the soul tool that could store living beings, the Ruyi Treasure Pouch.
"Brother Bo, is this a soul tool? Did you give it to me?"
Dugu Bo nodded and explained:
"This is no ordinary soul tool. It can hold living things, animals, plants, anything that is alive."
"That's great. In this way, we won't have to worry about storing the Narcissus Jade Bone."
"Okay, that way you can take that herb out to detoxify Yanyan."
Long Chen chuckled, his gaze fixed on the herb garden.
"Brother Bo, besides the Narcissus Jade Bone, I'd like to pick a few more medicinal herbs to keep for future use, is that alright?"
How many do you want to pick?
"Not many, only seven or eight plants."
"Alright. As long as it's useful and doesn't go to waste, that's fine."
"How could I waste such a precious herb? Thank you!"
Dugu Bo was quite generous.
Long Chen was not greedy.
Apart from Narcissus Jade Skin and Bone, I have only picked Acacia Heartbreak Red, Black Jade Divine Bamboo, Cockscomb Phoenix Sunflower, Extraordinary Treasure Sky Chrysanthemum, Fragrant Fairy Flower, Fairy Tulip, Eight-Petal Fairy Orchid and Snow-Colored Swan Kiss for now.
Although Dugu Bo felt a little sorry for Long Chen, he could only go along with it.
After all, he didn't know the uses of those herbs.
After picking all the medicinal herbs, it's time to leave this herb garden.
Long Chen looked at the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well with reluctance and joked:
"I've been soaking in this bath for over a year, and I'm really going to miss it."
"Haha~ Only you could soak in those extremely hot, extremely cold, and extremely poisonous springs. I'll cultivate here in the mountains. If you get bored in the future, you can come and find me anytime."
"Brother Bo, come out and have some fun with me. The Soul Master Competition is coming soon, don't you want to see how Dugu Yan performs in the competition?"
Dugu Bo stroked his beard and sent a WeChat message:
"To be honest, I'm more looking forward to your performance in the Soul Master Competition than to Yan Yan. Your current soul power is level 47. At the rate you're increasing your soul power, you'll break through level 50 before the competition and participate as a Battle Soul King. In the three previous Soul Master Competitions, neither the Spirit Hall Academy nor the academies of the Heaven Dou and Star Luo Empires have ever had a Battle Soul King-level participant. Your appearance will definitely cause a sensation and attract attention."
"That's why I need you even more. With you protecting me, no one will dare to lay a hand on me."
"Alright, I'll go with you then."
"Okay, then let's go find Dugu Yan first."
Long Chen knew that the Tian Dou Royal Academy main team, as one of the three seeded teams, did not need to participate in the Tian Dou region's preliminary and qualifying rounds and would directly enter the final.
This means that his strength will not be revealed too early, but will be showcased in the finals.
Long Chen could have left the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well and returned to the academy much earlier, but he deliberately delayed until now.
Because he didn't want to get too close to his teammates.
While at the Tian Dou Royal Academy, Long Chen frequently asked for leave to return to Guang'an Hall to research and develop medicines.
To address this situation, a new member, Shimo, was added to the team.
Over time, Shi Mo trained with everyone more and developed a better rapport, while Long Chen seemed like an outsider.
Long Chen knew that Qin Ming would lead the Royal Fighting Team to conduct practical training in the Great Soul Arena of Heaven Dou City, and they would receive Silver Soul Badges.
His position in the team will be somewhat awkward after he goes back.
However, in order to protect Ye Lingling, he will participate in the Soul Master Competition.
He knew that the prize for winning the Soul Master Competition was three Soul Bones, which Pope Bibi Dong had specially prepared for the three heroes of the Spirit Hall.
One of them is a skull imbued with wisdom accumulated over 50,000 years.
If one can absorb that soul bone, their spiritual power will be greatly enhanced.
Long Chen certainly wanted it too.
However, taking the soul bone from the Spirit Hall is by no means an easy task.
The prerequisite is winning the Soul Master Tournament and having a strong backer.
Therefore, Long Chen wanted Dugu Bo to accompany him.
The two first returned to the Heaven Dou Royal Academy, and learned that Qin Ming had taken his team to the Soto Grand Arena, so they hurriedly headed to Soto City.