CH 65: Deal With Dugu Bo

(A/N: I had planned a fight scene for them, but then decided not to do it. Because there would honestly be nothing entertaining about it. The fight would be completely one sided, and since Ah Li can't fight with his Soul Skills, it would be a boring fight of him fighting with just strength. Instead of a fight, it would be him just dragging the fight for word count. That's why, for better or worse, I decided to skip it. Don't worry though, the real fights against Titled Douluos will come in the future when Ah Li levels up. By the way, Dugu Bo, and only Dugu Bo, has the design of his manhua version.)

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"..." A while later, Dugu Bo, bruised up and with a black eye while kneeling down, had finally calmed down. The bastard was persistent, Ah Li had to give it to him. No matter how much he beat him up, he just got up again and again. He only calmed down when he had completely exhausted his Soul Power and strength. Now, he could only sit down, his body aching from the vicious beating he had gone through.

"Have you calmed down yet?" Ah Li, sitting on a chair in front of him, watched with annoyance. The fight had gotten boring after some time, but the cockroach-like bastard just kept on coming for more ass whooping.

"..." The old man glared, causing him to sigh :"Guess we need to continue some more." Seeing him getting up, Dugu Bo flinched :"A-alright, alright, I'm calm. I'm calm, so sit down." Voice weird from the beating.

Ah Li, narrowing eyes :"You sure?"

Dugu Bo :"Yes, I'm sure."

Ah Li :"We can fight some more if you want."

Dugu Bo :"N-no, no, I'm fine. You can sit down. I won't fight anymore."

Ah Li, sitting down :"Good. Should have done that from the get go. You could have spared yourself from the beating that way."

Dugu Bo :"..."

Ah Li :"Alright, let's get down to business now. Do you know why I've come here?"

Dugu Bo :'Just to fuck with me? Damn bastard.'

Ah Li :"I'll take your silence as no. I'm here to propose a deal. One that you'll definitely like."

Dugu Bo :"A deal? What do you want?"

Ah Li :"I want this entire place, as well as you as my subordinate."

Dugu Bo :"Sorry, but I'll have to refuse. I have never been anybody's subordinate, and don't want to be one now since I don't want to lose my freedom. Also, do you have any idea how valuable this place is? What do you have that would compare to this place and all of its treasures."

Ah Li :"I can just kill you and have this place for myself, you know?"

Dugu Bo :"... If you wanted to do that, you would have already done it."

Ah Li :"True, and that's because I don't want to kill you. I understand why you refuse to join me, I can't force you by normal methods. *Smirking* But what about when you hear what I have to offer?"

Dugu Bo :"Huh, what do you have that can be as important as my freedom?"

Ah Li :"Your granddaughter's life."

Dugu Bo's eyes went wide open, before turning into a deadly glare as he snarled :"You bastard, you better not have done anything to Yan'er! If you harm even a single hair on her head, I'll make sure to make you regret it even at the code of my-"

Ah Li, kicking his face to shut him up :"Calm your tits, bitch. I never said I hurt her or kidnapped her, why are you overreacting?!"

Dugu Bo :"What? Y-you haven't? Then why did you say it like that?! I thought my heart stopped!"

Ah Li :"You're the one who misunderstood, how is it my fault?!"

Dugu Bo, suspicious :"... You really haven't done anything to her, right?"

Ah Li :"I said no, get that into your thick skull already. I wasn't threatening you with her life, I was offering a deal to save her life. Why do you gotta make me sound like such a bad guy? Geez."

Dugu Bo :"Save her? Save her from what? You think I, a Titled Douluo, wouldn't be able to save my own granddaughter if something happened to her?"

Ah Li :"Stop acting clueless, I already know everything. I'm a fucking god of poisons, bitch. If I couldn't notice you and her being poisoned because of your own poisons, nobody else could."

Dugu Bo :"Huh, poisoned? Me, the Poison Douluo? What nonsense are you saying now, brat?"

Ah Li, getting up :"Sigh, alright, I guess I need to beat some more sense into you to be more honest."

Dugu Bo :"W-wait, wait, alright! Alright, I'll stop, okay?! I won't act dumb anymore, you happy?!"

Ah Li, narrowing eyes :"Really?"

Dugu Bo :"Yes, really!"

Ah Li :"So you're not going to say you're not poisoned?"

Dugu Bo :"Yes, damn it, yes! Me and my granddaughter are both poisoned because of our poison! Happy?! Can you sit down now?!"

Ah Li, sitting down :"You should just be more honest. You're seriously going to make me beat you up again."

Dugu Bo :"..."

Ah Li :"Now that you're not being an idiot, let's continue. As I've said, I know about you and your granddaughter's situation. And I want to make a deal where for saving her and your life, you'll be my subordinate and this place will be mine. Don't you think it's a pretty good deal?"

Dugu Bo :"... How can I trust you? Not even I have ever been able to fix this cursed poison. I have even lost my own son to it. What makes you think you, a little squirt, can fix it when nobody else has?"

Ah Li :"Just because nobody else has been able to do it yet doesn't mean I can't do it. As for how you can trust me, it's because you have to. You can't not accept this deal unless you want your granddaughter to die. You said yourself, you even lost your son to it. If you refuse this chance, you'll lose your granddaughter too."

Dugu Bo :"... Not just my son, but my wife and father as well. You're right, I can't refuse this deal. But I can't trust the life of my granddaughter to someone random just because they said they can save her. If you can give me a reason or show me a solution, I'll gladly accept all terms. But if not..."

Ah Li :"Don't worry, I understand. I wouldn't trust the life of my family member, the last one at that, to a random stranger either. That would make you stupid. Fine then, we'll do it this way. I'll help you to solve your own situation first. That way, you'll be able to identify all the risks and if you want to trust me or not. After that, if my solution works, then I'll save your granddaughter and the deal will be completed. What do you think?"

Dugu Bo, gritting teeth :"... Sigh, what do you mean what do I think? As you've said, I can't refuse. All I can do is trust you and hope you stay true to your word."

Ah Li smiled. This was the outcome he was hoping for. Normally, it would be extremely hard to convince someone like Dugu Bo who treasured his freedom so much. Killing him was easy, but subduing him wasn't. Unless he Mind Controlled him with his 1,000,000-year Skull Soul Bone's Soul Skill. But honestly, he wanted to see if he could get his genuine trust instead.

That didn't mean he would give up if he refused the deal. If he did, he wouldn't mind Mind Controlling him at all. He was by no means a good person, and the only reason why he hadn't taken advantage of his Skull Soul Bone for the worst kinds of reasons was because of Bibi Dong. If not, he was aware of what kind of things he would do.

"Fantastic! Then take a seat so we can talk more comfortably." Giving a clap, he created a seat for him with his webs. Dugu Bo was confused, but didn't question him. Sitting on a chair was much better than kneeling on the flour after all.

Ah Li :"You see, there are four solutions for your situation, and three solutions for your granddaughter."

Dugu Bo :"Tell me the solution for Yan'er first. She's more important to me, and I'm not in the risk of death since I've already reached Lv 90."

Ah Li :"Yeah, but you'll suffer unimaginable pain every once in a while instead. But don't worry, I'll save you both since I want you to join me. These methods apply to you as well, so listen well. Among these methods, the third one is the best for her."

1) Getting rid of the poison. I can completely take away her poison so she won't be at the risk of death anymore since the poison doesn't exist. But obviously, this method is the worst considering you Martial Soul's real strength is based off of its poison. Getting rid of the poison might as well be getting rid of your Martial Soul.

2) Completely suppressing the poison. As I've said, I'm the best there ever was in poison. I can completely surpass the poison so it doesn't hurt her anymore. By using my blood, we can make it so she'll have an unbreakable lock on her poison at all times. Meaning she won't be at risk of her poison suddenly acting up.

With this method, the poison will remain and she can use it freely, but the drawback is that it severely weakens the poison. Your poison is so strong it can kill you, so weakening it to the point where it doesn't harm her will weaken her a lot. It's still a good method though, considering it will still be very dangerous to others. Just not as strong as it should originally be."

Dugu Bo :"Yeah, well, its strength and toxicity is the problem. So what's the third solution?"

Ah Li, smirking :"3) Using a Soul Bone to store the poison. Your problem is that the poison harms its host, meaning its container, what it's stored in. Then what if we move the poison into something else? Something that is part of the body, but still completely connected?"

Dugu Bo, shocked and excited :"I see! That's right, it can work! Using a Soul Bone as a catalyst, as a container for the poison might actually work!"

Ah Li :"Not might, it can and will work. By doing that, not only do we get rid of the risks the poison brings, we can completely keep the original strength of the poison. The problem is that if the Soul Bone is removed, like a limb Soul Bone being cut off with the limb, then the poison is completely gone."

Dugu Bo :"No, this is the best solution. All of the others completely weaken her, but this one not only doesn't do that, it completely removes the risk of death. There is a chance of losing it if the Soul Bone is lost, but that still has a low chance of happening as long as she's strong enough. And not just that. With the risk of death gone, her poison itself will improve even further instead of just her Soul Power Level!"

Excited about finally finding a method to save his granddaughter, he immediately got up :"I'll go try this method myself right away! Then I'll go to Yan'er immediately if it's successful! If it works, you have my eternal gratitude, kid!"

"Whoaaa, whoa, calm down for a second." He quickly stopped him before he could go :"Don't do that. I said that there are four solutions for you, remember?" Dugu Bo raised an eyebrow :"And you want me to use this method instead? But I would rather use this method instead to test the safety of it."

Ah Li :"Believe me, you'll like this method more. Among the methods, it's the best one. It has the lowest risk and the highest reward in it."

Dugu Bo :"If it's so awesome, why not use it for Yan'er too?"

Ah Li :"Simple, she is far too weak for this method. This method can only work if you're a Titled Douluo. Once she is strong enough, she can use it as well."

Dugu Bo :"... Fine, I'll at least listen. What is this one?"

Ah Li, smirking :"Ever heard of Soul Cores?"