Listening to Dugu Bo's confident assurances, Chen Ming had no additional thoughts.
After all, he could craft the Invincible Shield Soul Tool, and his success rate was 100%. The reason he didn't mass-produce them was that the core material required, the golden crystal stone, only existed in the Sun Moon Continent and was extremely rare. Otherwise, he would have already made a bulk of these Invincible Shields.
If it was just about producing five or fewer sixth-level Invincible Shields, he could manage. If need be, he could simply make a trip to the Sun Moon Continent to replenish his stock.
Hearing Dugu Bo's words, Ye Renxin immediately lit up with joy. There wasn't even a hint of polite refusal in his expression. He looked as though he couldn't wait for Dugu Bo to hand him one of these shields on the spot.
However, Ye Renxin was no ordinary person. After a moment of excitement, he quickly collected himself. Casually picking up one of the shields on the table, he had Ye Lingling put the others back before sitting down to continue his conversation with Dugu Bo.
Frankly, Ye Renxin had no idea why Tang Hao, someone with whom he bore no past grievances, would suddenly attack him.
He clearly remembered that years ago, he had even treated someone from the Clear Sky Clan. Logically, the Clear Sky Clan owed him a favor.
When Ye Renxin raised this question, Dugu Bo's expression turned somewhat strange as he answered.
"Brother Ye, do you remember when the Spirit Hall summoned you to treat Qian Xunji back then?"
"Of course, I remember. But he was dead before I even arrived," Ye Renxin replied, a strange gleam flashing through his eyes. However, his face remained calm.
Back then, upon his arrival, he had examined Qian Xunji's corpse. Initially, he genuinely believed that Qian Xunji had succumbed to severe injuries inflicted by the overwhelming power of the Clear Sky Hammer. However, upon closer inspection, he found that this wasn't the case at all.
The injuries on Qian Xunji's body were severe but not fatal. His actual cause of death was the result of a domineering devouring force combined with lethal poison.
He had reported this discovery to the Grand Worship Qian Daoliu at the time. However, Qian Daoliu had instructed him to keep quiet, and the official announcement was that Qian Xunji had been killed by Tang Hao.
Could it be that Tang Hao had somehow discovered that he wasn't the one who truly killed Qian Xunji and decided to pin the blame for the Spirit Hall and Clear Sky Clan's conflict on him?
No, that didn't seem right, Ye Renxin thought. If Tang Hao wanted to act, he would have done so years ago.
Besides, apart from himself, only Qian Daoliu knew the truth about Qian Xunji's death. He hadn't revealed anything, so could it have been Qian Daoliu who leaked this information?
Dugu Bo, who still had no idea how Qian Xunji had died, noticed a subtle flicker of unease in Ye Renxin's expression. This made him suddenly feel that the events of the past might not have been so simple.
But now was not the time to dig up old grievances. Dugu Bo pretended not to notice and continued speaking.
"From what I know, back when you attempted to save Qian Xunji, Tang Hao harbored hatred toward you, believing you to be aligned against the Clear Sky Clan."
"Brother Ye, you've probably also heard about how the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's patriarch, Yu Yuanzhen, recently roared in the Star Dou Forest, vowing to never reconcile with the Clear Sky Clan, right?"
"What does one thing have to do with the other?" Ye Renxin asked, puzzled. He didn't understand how two events separated by more than a decade could be connected.
He admitted to being involved in the Qian Xunji matter, but what did the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan have to do with any of this?
"Specifically, this is what happened: While hunting a 100,000-year soul beast, Yu Yuanzhen was ambushed by Tang Hao. Yu Luomian used his martial soul avatar to shield Yu Yuanzhen and took the blow in his place, suffering severe injuries that left him on the brink of death. This is why Yu Yuanzhen furiously declared his enmity with the Clear Sky Clan."
"And what does that have to do with me? Yu Luomian didn't die, did he? Did Tang Hao think I was the one who saved Yu Luomian or something? But this matter has absolutely nothing to do with me!"
Ye Renxin pointed to himself and then to Ye Lingling.
"There are only two of us Nine-Hearted Begonia users in total—me and my granddaughter. At the time, we were both in Heaven Dou City. How could we possibly have gone to the Star Dou Forest to treat Yu Luomian?"
"But to rescue a dying Title Douluo and restore them to seventy or eighty percent of their strength in a short time is something that very few people on the continent can achieve. Among them, the most famous are you Nine-Hearted Begonia users," Dugu Bo shrugged.
"It wasn't me!"
"Whether it was you or not doesn't matter. Tang Hao just needed a reason to act against you. During the fight earlier, I noticed that Tang Hao's body still bore lingering injuries from his Ring Explosion technique. These injuries have accumulated over a long period, suppressing his soul power progression and even threatening his life."
"There aren't many people on the continent who can heal him, and among them, the most renowned is you, a Nine-Hearted Begonia user."
"Tang Hao simply thought of you and found an excuse to force you to act."
"Ridiculous! Preposterous!" Ye Renxin trembled as he stroked his beard, unable to comprehend Tang Hao's twisted logic.
"The Clear Sky Clan's overbearing arrogance has been well-known for years. And that lunatic Tang Hao even dared to kill the Pope of the Spirit Hall. Do you think he'd be afraid of targeting the Nine-Hearted Begonia Clan? He's already the enemy of soul masters across the continent—one more enemy wouldn't make a difference to him!"
"..."
After hearing Dugu Bo's explanation, Ye Renxin found it somewhat reasonable. However, he suddenly thought of something else and looked at Dugu Bo in confusion.
"Brother Dugu, how exactly did you find out that Tang Hao was planning to take action against me?"
"Brother Ye, do you remember Yue Xuan and that Tang Yuehua?" Dugu Bo pulled out a stack of documents from his soul tool and placed them in front of Ye Renxin.
"According to intelligence, Tang Hao met with Tang Yuehua a few days ago. Ever since then, Tang Yuehua has been collecting information about you. The implications are clear."
As Ye Renxin flipped through the documents, his hands trembled with rage. He muttered under his breath, "Good, Tang Yuehua, very good! Back when you desperately begged me to help you figure out how to overcome the innate limitations of your martial soul and how to cultivate it, you certainly didn't have this attitude."
The information wasn't long, so Ye Renxin finished reading it quickly. However, he was still so furious that his body shook uncontrollably. It wasn't until Ye Lingling summoned her martial soul and used her soul skill that Ye Renxin's body finally calmed down.
"Brother Dugu, you saved me, and I am deeply grateful. May I ask what you need of me? For such a great favor, I, Ye Renxin, will repay it even if it means braving fire and sword."
"Brother Ye, to be honest, there is indeed something I'd like to ask of you."
"Throughout history, the medical arts and poison arts on the Douluo Continent have been overlooked due to the existence of healing-type and poison-type martial souls. I, Dugu Bo, as the first Title Douluo among poison-type soul masters, have a dream of establishing a school of my own."
"After this Soul Master Competition, I wish to establish an academy—not only to train poison-type soul masters but also to develop and pass down poison and medical arts as independent disciplines."