Two weeks later.
Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
Emerging from the hot spring naked, Salas looked a little disappointed...
"There are only the dragon bones of the Ice Dragon King and Fire Dragon King... but no soul bone or soul core..." Salas muttered to himself, disappointed.
Returning to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well a day ago, Salas had wanted to try going deeper into it—to confirm his guesses.
Although his assumption was proven correct, it was still disappointing to learn that there was nothing valuable beneath the ice and fire pool.
But then again, although the Ice Dragon King and Fire Dragon King's corpses fell here, no one ever said their bodies had to contain a soul bone or soul core.
"No one throughout the Douluo series ever got these so-called soul bones or soul cores... If such treasures were truly hidden inside the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, how could the benevolent Tang Buddha not have taken them? That can only mean someone already took them... or the soul cores were destroyed upon their deaths, maybe even transforming into this pool," Salas mused.
He had considered this possibility before. Since no one in canon ever obtained such treasures from here, it was likely that he wouldn't either. Still, he just wanted to give it a try... What if—just what if—there was something down there?
Even in the later parts of Douluo, only one soul bone from the Mountain Dragon King was mentioned. And that was because the soul bone was inside Dragon Valley, a place hidden even from the God Realm. After all, Dragon Valley was created by the Dragon God himself...
"Alas... it's alright. At least there were dragon bone remains of the two Dragon Kings. That alone is a treasure—though not on the level of a million-year soul bone or a soul core..." Salas sighed silently.
If he remembered correctly, Tang San's great-grandson—also the future next Dragon God—had armor made from the Dragon God's bones, not soul bones.
Then again, the Dragon God left behind his dragon core. So he couldn't have possibly left a soul bone too. After all, the soul bone is a result of the soul core... One can leave behind either the soul core or the soul bone, not both.
Salas quietly contemplated everything. Thinking of the Dragon God, he also made a plan—he must visit Dragon Valley and take all the good things there before ascending to the God Realm.
"That Dragon God Core alone is an ultra-divine tool..." Salas thought silently.
Anyway, he would have a hundred years after becoming a god. Although he wouldn't be able to meddle in mortal affairs, Dragon Valley didn't count as one.
Soon, Salas put aside his disappointment, dressed, and waited for Dugu Bo to arrive.
---
The next day, at sunrise—
Dugu Bo arrived on time.
Of course, what greeted him was Salas's spiritual domain, which directly suppressed Dugu Bo's spiritual power by 50 percent.
"This..." Dugu Bo looked horrified. This strength—this ability—he had never felt it from any Titled Douluo.
It felt like, if Salas willed it, his spiritual power alone could kill him...
"Congratulations to the lord for achieving a breakthrough..." Dugu Bo hurriedly knelt on one knee, stumbling as he congratulated Salas with a flattering look.
"Mm. Not worth mentioning..." Salas casually waved his hand.
He had simply wanted to estimate his combat power without making it obvious. Now, he had a clear idea of what level he was at.
If he went all out now... he could completely crush Dugu Bo in just two moves. Dugu Bo wouldn't even have a chance to counterattack effectively. While that was partly because Dugu Bo's poisonous spiritual power had no effect on him, it was undeniable that Salas's combat strength had increased drastically this past month.
His spiritual domain, now fully formed, not only suppressed spiritual power by 50%, but also had another effect—it could gradually purify the opponent's spiritual power, albeit slowly.
This breakthrough, pushing his spiritual power to a level comparable to a Level 99 Limit Douluo, drastically raised his combat ability. Originally around Level 91, his spiritual prowess now pushed his total combat strength over Level 95. With his physical strength at Level 98 and soul power at Level 90, Salas could now fight toe-to-toe with a Level 96 Super Douluo.
"My improvement this past month wasn't small..." Salas thought to himself, feeling a flicker of excitement. He casually tossed a pill to Dugu Bo.
Although he had acted high and mighty in front of Dugu Bo before, now—deep down—Salas didn't see him as someone to be wary of anymore. To him, Dugu Bo was only good enough to be a subordinate... anything else, and he was just a corpse.
While kneeling and catching the pill thrown by Salas, Dugu Bo was already sweating profusely.
He had taken a quick look at Salas's eyes behind the mask... and now, those eyes looked at him the way a human looked at ants.
"I'm sure... my lord must have broken through to the legendary Level 99..." Dugu Bo thought to himself, fearfully.
Though he had never even met someone at Level 98, and only heard legends about Level 99 Limit Douluos, the spiritual pressure coming from Salas made him believe it fully. This was a whole different realm... and he could feel it.
With this realization, his actions became even more respectful—fearful, even—while also feeling a bit of hidden delight. Serving Salas didn't seem like such a bad thing after all...
"How did the mission I entrusted to you go?" Salas asked coldly.
"Lord, this subordinate is still in the process. It will take a few more months before I can give a definite answer," Dugu Bo replied carefully, unsure of how his lord would react.
"Alright. If you can't get it through normal means, then use the hard way... I don't think I need to remind you how to use your poison," Salas said coldly. Though he knew about Dugu Bo's relationship with Prince Xue Xing of the Heaven Dou Empire, he didn't give a damn.
"Yes, Lord..." Dugu Bo hurriedly lowered his head.
"Leave," Salas casually dismissed him.
After Dugu Bo left, Salas removed his clothes and jumped back into the pool.
Double the cultivation speed... If possible, Salas would cultivate here every day. But that wasn't quite possible—he had too many things to take care of. Staying in one place was a luxury he couldn't afford.