CH 70: Yearning Heartbroken Red

Ah Li :"Fire, what is this?"

Fire :"(Kukuku, what's there to be confused about?)"

Ah Li :"Uh... everything? How come I got a Godhood Inherence? And who's position am I getting anyway?!"

Fire :"(It's simple. Since the Dragon God isn't going to do anything, we'll just make a new Dragon God that will take revenge instead.)"

Water :"(That's right. According to you, neither the Golden Dragon King or the Silver Dragon King will be against the Gods, and will join them instead. And the new Dragon God, being their child, and the grandchild of the Asura God, obviously won't be against them either. If so, we have to take the matters into our own hands.)"

Fire :"(That's right. So instead of just becoming your Martial Souls and Soul Spirits, we also used the little bit of Divine Power we had left to create a Godhood Inherence for you.)"

Ah Li :"Hmm, I see. But how does that work? It doesn't seem like you want me to take the position of both of you."

Fire :"(No, not like that. You see, each Dragon King has one nature of the Dragon God. You see how the Golden Dragon King is the physical prowess of the Dragon God, while the Silver Dragon King has all of his elemental powers? We're just like that, but separated into nine instead of two.)"

Water :"(That's right. When the two separated Golden Dragon King and Silver Dragon King join, the Dragon God will be born again. So what would happen if the essence of the nine separated Dragon Kings become one?)"

Ah Li, realization :"The Dragon God will be born, but in a different way than expected."

Fire :"(Exactly. And that's what we're planning. Although we're no longer God Kings, we still have some Divine Power left. Using it, me and Water created a Godhood Inherence test which will combine the bloodlines of the Dragon Kings. This way, once all Dragon Kings join you and you reach Godhood, you'll be able to take the position of the Dragon God! Hahahaha, nice plan, isn't it?!)"

Ah Li, smirking :"Yeah, it's one awesome plan. I hadn't thought about it since I thought only the Golden Dragon King and the Silver Dragon King could birth the new Dragon God, but this should be possible as well! Alright then, that's one more reason as to why we should gather all the other Dragon Kings!"

Fire :"(Hahahaha, yeah, that's right! I like your spirit, kid! We're gonna have a lot to do since finding them isn't going to be so easy, so we should work hard!)"

"Ain't that a given? Alright then, happy to be working with you both." He smirked, before something caught his attention. Two strands of his hair. "Uh, is this your doing too?" He grabbed the red and blue strands in the center of his hairline.

Water :"(You have obtained our bloodlines, so of course some physical changes would appear. That's not much to care about though.)"

"Fair enough. You two get acquainted with the others in my Spiritual Sea, I have business to finish here. Oh, and help the others teach that rose we found in the bottom of the lake some things too. It should be spending time with the others in my Spiritual Sea too." With that, he descended towards Dugu Bo :"Seems like you've succeeded." Making him laugh :"That's right, that's right! Who would have thought I would obtain such a magical technique? You have my gratitude, kid!"

Ah Li :"Boss."

Dugu Bo :"What?"

Ah Li :"It's boss from now on. That's how you'll address me."

Dugu Bo :"... Are you serious?"

Ah Li :"Do I look like I'm joking?"

Dugu Bo :"... Haaa, fine, boss."

Ah Li :"That's better."

Dugu Bo :"Haaa, who would've thought there would be a day where I would have to call a kid "boss"?"

Ah Li, smirking :"You talking about the kid who can beat your ass six ways to Monday without you even realizing it?"

Dugu Bo :"... Yeah, that one."

Ah Li, chuckling :"Alright, enough joking around. So what are the results?"

Dugu Bo :"Thanks to your method, not only did I completely subdue my poison, I even successfully broke through all the way to Lv 94! Hahahaha, today really is a marvelous day!"

Ah Li :"Seriously? Damn, I did figure out you might break through, but not by 3 Levels. I guess I underestimated the amount of poison that had accumulated."

Dugu Bo :"I profited from it in the end, so I'm happy. By the way, what the hell just happened? Why did you even go inside of that weird lake? Not even I dare to touch it, yet you actually dived right into it?"

Ah Li :"Did you forget how strong I am? Things of this level can't bother me at all. And as for what happened, I'll tell you another time."

Dugu Bo :"Alright, whatever. So about the medicine for my granddaughter..."

Ah Li :"Oh, wait for a while, I'll finish it in a jiffy."

After preparing a few bottles of the medicine, he handed them over to Dugu Bo :"Thanks for the help, kid-... boss. If this works out for my granddaughter and saves her life, you have my eternal gratitude and loyalty."

"Heh, yeah, I know. Don't worry about the outcome either, I assure you it will work out just right." He smirked. Dugu Bo nodded with a hopeful face, but it twitched as the noiret waved him off with a mischievous smirk :"Now go away, I wanna see what's there in this beautiful garden of mine."

"Yes, whatever you say, boss..." He bit back the curses. The pain of losing such a treasure garden stabbed pretty bad, but it was completely worth it. Losing anything was worth it as long as his granddaughter survived. It didn't mean it wasn't annoying though.

Dugu Bo :"Oh, I almost forgot. How do I contact you? Do you have a place you stay in?"

Ah Li :"Hm? Ah, don't worry about it. If you need something, just use these. I'll contact you with these as well."

A stack of papers appeared in his hand and he handed them over :"We can use these to communicate. If you apply Soul Power into them, the ones I have will react, and we can talk for about half an hour. That's how much it takes for one to finish. You don't have to worry about the location either, they'll work out even if either of us is on the end of the world."

Dugu Bo :"Such magical items exist?"

Ah Li :"Did you expect anything less from your boss?"

Dugu Bo :"Alright then, I'll leave now. Take care of yourself, and contact me if you need something. We'll get in contact if something comes up."

Ah Li :"Ah, I actually have something for you to do."

Dugu Bo :"Already? I feel like you're gonna keep me busy."

Ah Li, chuckling :"Don't worry, it's just that something has come up. For a while, go to Tian Dou City and stay with your granddaughter. Preferably, somewhere where prince Xue Xing can contact you easily. In a while, if he comes to you, asking for you to solve a problem with the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy and some outside school, contact me, and I'll tell you what to do."

Dugu Bo :"Prince Xue Xing and the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy? What do those two have with you."

Ah Li, smirking :"Just do what I told you. Don't worry, you'll understand when it's done."

Dugu Bo :"Alright, I'll listen. I'll get in touch then. Goodbye."

As he left, Ah Li snickered in amusement. "Now, let's see what we got." He didn't really care what he got though, he just took everything. He was interested in all of them, both in what they looked like and what benefits they brought. So as he took a look at what he would stumble upon, he would also take and store them in his Spiritual Sea right away.

He wasn't going to let anything stay here. From the common grasses here, to the Immortal Herbs he could find, he took everything. Who knew if heaven or the Gods act like bitches and push Tang San's luck to stumble upon here? He wasn't going to let anything stay here.

This was his garden, no one was going to get any benefits out of it unless he allowed it. He was going to give a herb to Dugu Yan though. Not only as a gift because of Dugu Bo, but also to not seem like a thief. Taking the entire garden and not giving anything back was a pretty bitch move.

Tang San did it, and it made his relationship with Dugu Bo not seem so wholesome anymore. But he wasn't going to give an Immortal Herb, those were WAY too precious and rare to just gift them to someone. Heck, there were only a few of them here to begin with.

As for Dugu Bo himself, he was pretty sure the method of creating his Soul Core was more precious than any of the normal herbs here. He didn't think even an Immortal Herb would be able to push a Titled Douluo to break through 3 Levels. Except the Yearning Heartbroken Red, that would apparently raise someone's Soul Power Level by 10 Levels.

Speaking of which, as he collected and collected, he finally found it. It looked just like a common palm-sized pretty white flower, a bit like a tree peony, without leaves, and with the stalk connecting to a big rock. That stone was completely pitch black. On that white flower were a few flecks of red, scarlet red like blood.

Gazing at the beautiful flower glowing red, Ah Li stood still, contemplating. Making a decision, he finally let out a deep breath. "(Sister Goddess, can you come out for a moment?)" After a moment of silence, he called out for the woman who had been with him for years. The one who had accompanied him through thick and thin in this unfamiliar world.

"What is it, Li'er?" She came out, looking as beautiful as ever. God, he would fall in love with her all over again every time he saw her. Beautiful, sexy, confident, smart, strong, she was everything that Ah Li could ever ask for. He didn't answer.

Still deciding if he should go on with his decision, or if it still wasn't the right time. But he couldn't hold back anymore. But in the end, he gave up. His love was overflowing in his heart, he could barely hold it back. He didn't want to hold it back anymore. He wanted to let it, let it envelope the woman he loved, let it bathe her in his affection, let her finally feel the love that had bottled up in his hurt heart.

"Do you know what this Immortal Herb is?" He turned to it gently, a fond light replacing the greed in his eyes. Looking at how calm he was, Bibi Dong was confused. It was like an ever raging sea of storms suddenly turning into a calm lake. She didn't question it, just played along, waiting to know what brought out this kind of behavior. What brought out that gentle and fond look. What brought out that small, loving smile.

"No, what is it?" Bibi Dong answered, standing beside the younger boy, gazing at the small flower. "This isn't just a normal Immortal Herb. Not only does it have amazing effects, it also is one of the kings of flowers, making it so it is able to oppress any within its presence with its aura. But more than that, it's a symbol."

"A symbol?" She grew curious, and Ah Li continued :"Hm, a symbol." He turned to her, looking into her eyes, guiding the fondness to her instead :"A symbol of love." Her heart shook. She had never seen a gaze filled with so much love. So much care. So much adoration.

It was like a drug. Being the target of that love was so addictive she wanted to always look at it. Wanted to always look into those crimson orbs. Filled to the brim with nothing but affection. Without even realizing it, she found her hand grabbing onto his. He turned to look at the flower, and Bibi Dong found herself annoyed for a moment. Losing that gaze irritated her, as much as she found herself childish.

Ah Li :"This flower has a story, you know? Wanna hear about it?"

Bibi Dong :"Sure, why not? Weren't you going to tell me even if I said no?"

Ah Li, chuckling :"True."

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(A/N: Next chapter, full and all the way smut! Get your holy waters ready, and your anti-bonk helmets on standby!)