...
"You'll definitely do it again next time, won't you?!"
Enraged, Bibi Dong reached out and flicked him hard on the forehead:
"I don't think you'll ever change!"
"Hehe, if we can't change it, we won't change it."
Xuan Hao rubbed his forehead, leaned forward, and lay back down on the soft couch, grinning as he said:
"Anyway, I know this place well, so wouldn't it be too formal to knock on the door?"
"Besides, if I didn't sneak in, how would I have discovered that the teacher also secretly sheds tears?"
"You still dare to talk!"
Bibi Dong glared at him, making a move as if to hit him again.
Xuan Hao quickly shrank back, but didn't go far away. Instead, he suppressed his smile, looked at Bibi Dong, and said softly:
"Teacher, if you feel sad in the future, don't hide and cry by yourself."
"Although I'm young, it's no problem for you to lean on my shoulder."
"As long as you don't mind."
Bibi Dong's hand stopped in mid-air.
Looking at the mischievous boy in front of her, whose eyes were full of concern, the bittersweet feeling that welled up in her heart because of the memories was gradually replaced by a warm current.
"You brat..."
She withdrew her hand, gently rubbed Xuan Hao's head, and sighed:
"Alright, stop getting sentimental."
"Speak, didn't you say you had something to discuss with me earlier? Why did you follow me all the way to my palace?
What do you want to say?"
"Teacher, aren't you curious?"
Seeing that Bibi Dong had calmed down, Xuan Hao changed the subject, blinking his big eyes as he asked:
"So many amazing medicinal herbs and elixirs, even the long-extinct Acacia Heartbreak Red.
If I said I just found them by chance on the roadside, would you believe me?"
"snort."
Bibi Dong snorted coldly, regaining some of her rationality and shrewdness.
Indeed, one or two plants might be a matter of luck, but a whole table full of top-grade immortal herbs, each one of which would cause a frenzy among titled Douluo.
This level of treasure cannot be explained by the word "luck".
"Tell me, where did you find it?"
"Hehe, that brings us to a great place."
Xuan Hao smiled mysteriously and leaned closer:
"That place is called the Yin-Yang Eye of Ice and Fire, one of the three great treasure basins in the world.
And this place... is actually far away, yet right before our eyes, in the Sunset Forest next to Heaven Dou City!"
Sunset Forest?
Bibi Dong frowned slightly, a hint of doubt flashing in her eyes.
"That's the Heaven Dou Empire's Royal Soul Hunting Grounds.
Although the defenses aren't strict, quite a few Soul Masters still frequent it.
If such a treasure trove truly exists, how could the Heaven Dou royal family have gone undiscovered for hundreds of years?"
"It's darkest under the lamp."
Xuan Hao shrugged.
"Firstly, that place is located in the deepest part of Sunset Forest, and it is shrouded in a poisonous barrier that even ten-thousand-year-old soul beasts dare not approach.
An ordinary soul master would turn into pus if he inhaled it.
Who would dare to run around like that?"
"Secondly, that place is too hidden, located in an inverted cone-shaped mountain valley.
If it weren't for this fortuitous opportunity, with that old poison master Dugu Bo leading the way, I wouldn't have been able to find it."
"Dugu Bo?"
Bibi Dong's eyes narrowed.
"What does this have to do with Dugu Bo?"
"It's a very big deal."
Xuan Hao shrugged. "Because that place was originally his villa in Sunset Forest, his private herb garden."
"Before, when I was in Tiandou City, I had a little friction with this old poisoner because of some trivial matters concerning the Tiandou royal family.
Later... after some amicable twists and turns, I went to that place with him.
I helped him resolve a small problem, and the old poisoner was so happy that he waved his hand and gave me that treasure land."
"Given to you?!"
Bibi Dong looked at Xuan Hao with a skeptical expression, as if she had heard something out of the blue.
Do you take me for a three-year-old?
"Who is Dugu Bo?
He's notoriously ruthless and vicious.
With such a pile of priceless treasures, why would he give them to a mere brat like you instead of keeping them for himself?"
"That's because he doesn't know its value!"
Xuan Hao slapped his thigh, his face filled with heartache and indignation:
"That old poison master is a master of poisons, but when it comes to herbal knowledge, he's practically illiterate compared to our Elder Ju!"
"He is guarding a treasure mountain without realizing it, treating these precious herbs as poisonous plants or tonics, completely unaware of their true value."
Bibi Dong's eye twitched slightly, and her gaze became somewhat strange.
"So... you swindled these things from him by taking advantage of the information gap?"
"Oh! Teacher, I don't like hearing you say that."
Xuan Hao immediately straightened his back and retorted righteously:
"How can you call this a scam when it comes to Soul Masters?
This is an honest and fair transaction!"
"And I later told him the value of these things, and he said he didn't care."
"frank?"
Bibi Dong looked at him speechlessly, "You only said that after the goods were already in your pocket and the transaction was over, right?"
At this point, Bibi Dong's eyes suddenly sharpened, as if she had realized something was amiss:
"wrong."
"Even after the transaction is over, even if he doesn't recognize their value, once you demonstrate the extraordinary nature of these things, or even experience a surge in your soul power, how could Dugu Bo possibly let you leave alive?"
"According to Yue Guan and Gui Mei's intelligence, you left Tian Dou City alone with Dugu Bo, saying you were going into seclusion.
At that time, you didn't have any Title Douluo protecting you."
"How did you manage to walk out so casually while carrying his treasure, when facing a level 91 Title Douluo?"
Bibi Dong understood human nature all too well.
When faced with absolute self-interest, all promises are worthless.
If Yue Guan hadn't been in the Papal Palace, and hadn't been afraid of her, there was a very high chance he would have been unable to resist snatching the Acacia Heartbreak Red the moment he saw it.
Not to mention that old monster Dugu Bo, with his eccentric personality.
"Well..."
Xuan Hao straightened his collar and tossed his hair with a smug look on his face:
"You might not believe me, teacher."
"Although my strength is still shallow, my personal charm is unparalleled!
I relied on my damned charm to completely subdue that old poisoner!"
"Now, that old drug addict has decided to turn over a new leaf and will be working for me from now on!"
Bibi Dong's face darkened. "Speak like a human."
"Personal charisma?"
"In the face of absolute interests and a disparity in strength, what's the point of such things?
You weren't born of him."
"Cough cough..."
Xuan Hao choked a little, awkwardly touched his nose, and had no choice but to confess honestly:
"Well, actually it's because... I saved his life, and I also saved his granddaughter's life."
Xuan Hao put away his playful smile and said seriously:
"Although Dugu Bo's Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor Martial Soul is powerful, its toxicity has a strong backlash.
Every generation of the Dugu family has suffered from it and died tragically.
Dugu Bo himself suffers from a living hell whenever it is cloudy or rainy, and his granddaughter Dugu Yan is even more poisoned to the bone marrow."
"I used the spring water and herbs from the Yin-Yang Well of Ice and Fire to completely detoxify the grandfather and grandson, and even helped them evolve their martial souls."
"Dugu Bo's martial soul has now evolved into the Azure Phosphorous Dragon Emperor; his granddaughter, Dugu Yan, has also evolved into the Azure Phosphorous Poison Dragon."
"For someone like him who values his granddaughter more than his own life, this is a life-saving grace, a great grace to continue the family line."
"Compared to these two lives, those herbs that he didn't even recognize are nothing."
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