Douluo: My Clone Is Groudon

"Over the past year, you've been taking half a dose of Bone-Fortifying Ointment daily, combined with training in Grassy Terrain and Photosynthesis, without any side effects. At Level 20, your bodies should be able to handle a thousand-year soul ring."

"Once you've absorbed the ten-thousand-year whale jelly, this limit will increase to four thousand years. The Hunter's Forest won't be enough to meet our needs—we'll have to go to a true Spirit Beast Forest. You need to be prepared."

Gu La knew that neither of them were ordinary children, so his expectations for them naturally far exceeded those for regular soul masters.

"Don't worry, Gu La—I've got this."

Xiao Wu, feeling confident, patted her chest and gave her assurance.

Tang San's eyes remained calm as water, and he nodded serenely. "I'm ready."

"Good, then let's begin. You two move back a bit and tie yourselves up."

Gu La instructed them to sit down and bind themselves. He then exhaled a stream of flames, softening the ten-thousand-year whale jelly, and used telekinesis to guide it to their mouths.

"Hold your breath, focus, and concentrate on absorbing the energy."

Gu La switched his martial soul and released Aromatherapy to purify the surging lustful impulses caused by the jelly.

With Gu La's dedicated assistance, Tang San and Xiao Wu swallowed the whale jelly without incident, smoothly assimilating its power. A layer of oily grime appeared on their skin, especially noticeable on Tang San's body.

"How disgusting!"

Though seemingly frail, Xiao Wu's constitution was actually stronger than Tang San's. She woke up first, wrinkled her nose in distaste, untied herself, gave Gu La a quick wave, and ran off to the public bathroom.

Tang San woke up shortly after. The first thing he noticed was how much lighter his body felt. A faint smile appeared in his eyes as he bid farewell and went to clean himself.

Gu La mused thoughtfully, "Both methods enhance physical fitness, but whale jelly refines the body from the inside out, while its aphrodisiac side effect seems more like a hormonal catalyst during the process."

"The Bone-Fortifying Ointment works from the outside in, leveraging the violent nature of ambient origin energy to temper the body. Could we combine the two—create an internal-external synergy to achieve a result greater than the sum of its parts?"

Gu La took out a pen and paper and began calculating furiously.

But with over a dozen herbs involved—or even more—the small sheet of paper couldn't hold even half of the chemical formulas.

Gu La hissed softly, staring at the complex symbols before him. He realized the computational load was immense. "Without a computer, manually calculating the compatibility of medicinal properties would take too much time."

In just a single year, the Groudon clone with the other half of his soul hadn't recovered, so there was no way to access advanced technology in human society. Relying solely on Gu La's calculations, it would take years to figure everything out.

"What if I lower the efficacy rate? With Xiao Wu around, we can occasionally return to the Star Dou Forest for high-grade herbs, so supplies won't be an issue."

This drastically reduced the computational load, giving Gu La enough time to work out a rough formula for the new medicine. He could refine it later through further research.

"Whale jelly as the catalyst fills Bone Jade Bamboo with energy, so it's no longer suitable as the main ingredient. What other plants can channel ambient origin energy without interfering with the whale jelly…?"

Gu La focused his mind into his storage belt and began sifting through the herbs.

Tang San and Xiao Wu returned shortly after. Seeing Gu La deep in thought, they didn't disturb him. Instead, they packed the necessary supplies for spirit hunting and requested leave from their teacher.

"Brother Gu, it's time to go."

Tang San gently reminded him.

Gu La snapped out of his thoughts and looked at the two eager faces before him. He nodded. "Leave requested? Let's head out."

The three left Nuoding Academy. From afar, Yu Xiaogang watched their departing figures.

Beside him, a curly-haired middle-aged man wearing crystal glasses said, "Xiaogang, are you telling me that a child like Gu La came up with a solution to fix your martial soul's flaw? It feels so unbelievable."

"And… are you really not formally accepting Tang San as your disciple, yet still passing down all your knowledge to him?"

A faint smile appeared on Yu Xiaogang's rigid face. "Gu La defies conventional reasoning. He deduced the flaw in my martial soul and devised a solution using only fragmentary soul master knowledge. He's a soul master with an innate, sharp intuition."

"With such talent, whether he becomes a battle-type soul master or delves into theoretical research, he'll make rapid progress. After all, even you, Flender, have encountered those utterly unreasonable geniuses."

Flender recalled encountering the Heart Soul Masters of the Spirit Hall and shook his head with a bitter smile.

Yu Xiaogang gazed into the distance, lost in thought, and continued, "As for Tang San, he's incredibly hardworking. His talent is only slightly inferior to Gu La's, but his memory is extraordinary. He deserves to learn what I know. In the end, whether or not he officially becomes my disciple, the world will still consider him my student."

Flender was momentarily speechless. "You never cease to amaze me. You've even planned for the future."

He wanted to ask Yu Xiaogang if he ever felt tired, but the words stayed unspoken. Instead, he waved his hand dismissively, saying, "I can't leave the academy for too long. This batch of dragon blood will last me three months. I'll bring you more when the time comes."

"Alright."

There was no need for formalities between them. Yu Xiaogang readily agreed.

---

Gu La wasn't short on money now, so he rented a spacious carriage to travel to the Star Dou Forest.

Inside the carriage, sunlight streamed through the windows, illuminating the wooden seats. Dust swirled in the light, and the dry air made the tedious journey even more frustrating.

"Tang San, since we've got nothing else to do, tell me your thoughts on your second soul ring."

Gu La spoke while multitasking, exercising his psychic abilities.

Unaware of Gu La's hidden efforts, Tang San responded with a confident expression. "Based on your theory, Gu La, the Blue Silver Grass martial soul should prioritize life-attribute soul rings, followed by wood, water, or earth attributes."

"After some consideration recently, I've decided to look for a Sunflower as my second soul ring."

Xiao Wu frowned. "Why? Sunflowers are fire-attribute plants—they don't match any of the attributes you mentioned."

After a brief moment of thought, Gu La guessed, "Are you trying to enhance Photosynthesis?"

Tang San was momentarily surprised, but then figured it was only natural for Gu La to guess correctly. He admitted straightforwardly, "Yes, the effect of Photosynthesis is incredibly powerful. As long as there's sufficient sunlight, it can heal almost any injury."

"But the reliance on sunlight is a limitation. I want to find a soul skill that either emits light independently or stores sunlight."

"Sunflowers meet both criteria and are plant-type spirit beasts. Even if their attributes don't align perfectly, at worst, it'll delay the awakening of my bloodline in exchange for a life-saving soul skill. I think it's worth it!"

Gu La advised, "The awakening of your bloodline is far more important than a single soul ring. Once your martial soul evolves, your vitality will rival that of a spirit beast—you won't even need a soul skill for healing."

He was well aware of just how powerful the Blue Silver Emperor's lineage was, especially its potential in life-related attributes. The sole Blue Silver Emperor on the continent was no mere title. Whether in status or essence, the Blue Silver Emperor truly lived up to its royal name.

But Tang San was stubborn, almost obstinate. "Gu La might not know this, but ancient texts record that Sunflowers have a rare chance of mutating into healers within their species."

"Though mutated Sunflowers are limited by their fire attribute, meaning they can only heal fire-attribute soul masters, I have my first soul skill, the Blue Silver Mantis Crown, which can act as an extension of my martial soul."

"Paired with a likely light-attribute healing skill, I'll also be able to heal my teammates. At worst, the Sunflower is still a plant-type spirit beast, so it won't negatively impact me too much."

"That's why I want to give it a try."

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