The next morning, after breakfast, Lin Fan bid farewell to Ning Fengzhi and returned to Heaven Dou City around noon.
As he approached his home, Lin Fan spotted Qian Renxue waiting for him in the courtyard from afar.
"Lin Fan, you're finally back. I came yesterday and found you weren't here. Now I've waited till noon today, and you finally show up." Qian Renxue looked rather exasperated.
Lin Fan smiled faintly,
"Apologies, Brother Xue. I went to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan yesterday."
Over the past three months, Qian Renxue had occasionally visited Lin Fan, taking him out to explore Heaven Dou City.
Just a few days ago, Lin Fan felt the timing was right, so he asked Qian Renxue to help locate Dugu Bo's residence.
Having focused entirely on cultivating the Split-Heart Control technique during this period, and with Qian Renxue being familiar with the city, Lin Fan entrusted this task to her.
He figured that Qian Renxue's visit today likely meant she had found news of Dugu Bo.
"Dugu Bo, the Poison Douluo, has always been affiliated with Prince Xuexing. His residence was arranged by Prince Xuexing himself. It took me a few days to investigate, but I finally found it."
"It's at the far eastern edge of the Douyuan Courtyard area. Want me to take you there now?" Qian Renxue said swiftly.
Lin Fan nodded,
"Alright, let's go check out Dugu Bo's place first."
"Sure, I'll lead the way." Qian Renxue took the lead out of the courtyard.
As they walked, Qian Renxue asked curiously,
"By the way, why are you looking for Dugu Bo? Did he offend you?"
Lin Fan replied calmly,
"Nothing like that. He just has an item I need. I want to see if I can buy it from him."
Qian Renxue frowned slightly and said,
"I doubt it'll go smoothly. I've seen Dugu Bo a few times around Prince Xuexing. Though I've never spoken with him, from his demeanor, he strikes me as the kind who won't yield easily to either kindness or force."
Lin Fan chuckled,
"I understand that, but I believe he'll willingly hand it over to me—perhaps even sell it."
"Oh? What kind of item is so important to you? Something even I can't offer?" Qian Renxue asked, intrigued.
Lin Fan answered truthfully,
"It's nothing too fancy—just something similar to a spatial soul tool. But this one's special; it's space isn't large, but it can store living things and keep them fresh."
Qian Renxue's eyes brightened slightly.
"A spatial soul tool that can store living creatures? That does sound rather unique."
While chatting, the two soon reached the outer edge of the Douyuan Courtyard.
Qian Renxue pointed at a villa similar in scale to Lin Fan's and said,
"That's Dugu Bo's residence. However, I heard he's rarely home, so I'm not sure if he's there now."
"Want to go in and check right now?"
Lin Fan shook his head,
"No need for now. I'll wait a few more days. Besides, I can sense no one inside right now."
Now that he knew Dugu Bo's location, Lin Fan wasn't in a hurry. He still needed to stabilize his Exquisite Heart realm.
He planned to fully stabilize his realm, complete the system task, claim the reward, and add a new soul ring to his Slaughter Sword.
Afterward, he would seek out Dugu Bo to obtain the Wishful Hundred Treasures Pouch and head to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well to harvest the immortal herbs he had been waiting for over eight months.
Qian Renxue smiled,
"Alright then. You just came back from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan and probably haven't had lunch yet. Let me treat you today."
Lin Fan waved his hand with a smile,
"No, this time it's on me. You've been treating me too often lately—people might start saying I'm freeloading off you. Besides, you helped me out with this favor."
Qian Renxue rolled her eyes,
"Freeloading? I wouldn't mind at all if you did, but you're the one who won't take advantage."
Lin Fan laughed and teased,
"Your Highness, right now you're in disguise as Xue Qinghe. Don't go rolling your eyes at me with his face—it gives me goosebumps and makes my hair stand on end."
"Hmph, I'll do as I please." Qian Renxue huffed and rolled her eyes again.
The two of them left the villa and headed to a small local restaurant on the street.
Lin Fan found the food at these modest eateries far tastier than the fancy Heaven Dou Restaurant, not to mention much more affordable.
After a satisfying meal, Qian Renxue returned to the palace to deal with some matters.
Lin Fan went back home, took a bath, relaxed for the afternoon, and continued cultivating the Split-Heart Control technique to fully stabilize his realm.
Seven days later…
Lin Fan finally heard the long-awaited system prompt.
Congratulations to the host for skillfully obtaining the Split-Heart Control Technique from Ning Fengzhi and mastering it to perfection. Task completed with full success.]
[Task Reward: One unassigned soul ring that can grow up to 100,000 years, and one fragment of the mysterious secret realm map.]
Lin Fan burst out laughing,
"Haha! Finally completed it!"
He was overjoyed because now he could attach this unassigned soul ring to his Slaughter Sword—a ring that could grow to 100,000 years, essentially equivalent to a God-bestowed ring.
He was also curious whether this ring would grant him one or two soul skills.
Of course, Lin Fan was fully confident that he could immediately evolve it to its 100,000-year limit—after all, his physique as a Title Douluo could withstand even 200,000-year soul rings if necessary. It was just unfortunate that this one capped at 100,000 years.
Lin Fan's expression grew serious as he commanded,
"System, claim the reward."
[Reward issued successfully.]
Moments later, Lin Fan received a milky-white soul ring along with a fragmented corner of a map.
Interestingly, this new map fragment fit perfectly with the previous one he had obtained. Unlike before, which had shown nothing but barren wasteland, this fragment depicted some withered grass and a few dying shrubs at its center.
Lin Fan frowned in thought,
"Strange… what is this place? System, is this secret realm map pointing to the entrance of the Slaughter City?"
After all, his second martial soul—the Slaughter Sword—was forged from a fragment of the divine Asura Sword, imbued with slaughter-based power.
"Forget it, I'll deal with that later. For now, I'll attach this soul ring to the Slaughter Sword first." Lin Fan's gaze turned solemn.
He summoned the blood-red Slaughter Sword, and in an instant, the entire room filled with a terrifying aura of slaughter.
"As expected, this martial soul is extraordinary." Lin Fan couldn't help but feel that, despite being classified as a divine-grade martial soul by the system, the Slaughter Sword seemed far more powerful than the Angel or Sea God martial souls.
Perhaps it was because of its connection to the divine Asura Sword.
"Still, my current mental strength and state of mind are much stronger than when I first obtained it."
With calm resolve, Lin Fan began absorbing the milky-white soul ring, attaching it to the Slaughter Sword.
As soon as the ring made contact with his martial soul, it started to change.
At first, it glowed pure white like a ten-year soul ring, but it quickly evolved into yellow, becoming a hundred-year ring. The color continued deepening and transforming.
After a dozen minutes, the ring turned into a faint purple, signifying a thousand-year soul ring.
And it kept growing, its level and quality continuously rising.