"How? What should I do to remove the poison? I can be your butler or servant! Just help me resolve my problem in my cultivation so that I can avenge my clan!" Barry was impatient he truly wanted to know right away what type of method Dylan had in mind.
"Don't worry. I will definitely help you but like I have said earlier, my method to do so is theoretical. Are you ready to risk your cultivation and even your life?" Dylan questioned seriously.
"I know. In the world of cultivation, danger is always part of any cultivator's life which is a life defying the heavens. Without risks, strength cannot be attained! For avenging my clan, I will do anything even if it meant risking my life! I want to crush every single one of the six old scums!" Barry's eyes shimmered with the determination and resolve he had. He won't back down from anything. If putting his life on the line to achieve greater power and potential was necessary, he would do it without a hitch.
"... But if I really die, I will not blame you for it. All I will ask from you as my dying will, is to avenge my clan for me..." Barry continued as he gripped Dylan's right shoulder intensely. This was like passing an important mission from one person to another.
"Good. It seems like I did not judge wrongly. You are truly worthy of being my sworn brother. I will guarantee you that you would be the one to take the heads of those bastards yourself and rebuild your clan." Dylan could feel the weight that Barry was entrusting him so patted Barry's right shoulder, implying that he should be the one to avenge his own clan.
"Thank you... brother." Barry told those words while he sobbed. He could not express the amount of gratitude he has for this young man who gave him hope.
"Will you accept me as your brother, now?" Dylan offered once more. He withdrew a dagger with a knife on his storage ring and scarred his left palm swiftly. Blood covered his entire hand yet he offered it for a handshake to Barry. After he used the dagger, he gave it to Barry as a sign of his willingness to become brothers.
"I do, brother." Barry unhesitatingly wounded his left palm which bled in the same manner that Dylan's hand did. Despite the pain, he shook Dylan's bleeding hand.
"With this blood pact, we form an oath to the heavens that we, Dylan Ford..." Dylan initiated the oath of brotherhood.
"... and Barton Vernon..." Barton answered.
"Would be sworn brothers, never to betray each other and fight side by side to our very last breath!" With the acceptance of both parties, the bond was made. Both of them formed a Heavenly Oath by blood which was being acknowledged by the heavens at this moment!
*Zummm* The spirit energy around them sang a hymn and gathered on their bleeding hands. The mixed blood of the brothers created a tiny "x" mark on their palm which replaced the wounds they incurred to themselves.
"The heavens have acknowledged our oath..." Barry slowly said.
"From today, henceforth, we are sworn brothers!" Dylan continued. They clasped their left hands to the level of their bosoms as they celebrated their newfound brotherhood with a heroic hug.
"So, how do I remove the poison? What do I need to do? What do I need to find?" Barry quickly asked after a moment of silence.
"First and foremost, we won't be removing the poison." Dylan replied with ease.
"What?! Then how am I going to heal myself if I don't remove the poison?" Barry found it ridiculous that he was going to heal himself without expelling the poison from his body?!
"We'll heal yourself by fusing the suppressed Tri-fire Corrosive Poison Fog with your heavenly plant bloodline!" Dylan daringly declared.
"How is that possible?!" Barry was dumbfounded by Dylan's daring declaration. Fusing the natural enemy of his bloodline would only create chaos within his body and it would eventually end with Cultivation Deviation. He could not understand why Dylan recommended such a method.
"Have you ever heard the Contrast Polymerization Theory?" Dylan replied with a question instead of answering the questions.
"No, Why? Is this the theoretical aspect we are going to refer to?" Barry was confused as he asked.
"You are right. The theory was suggested by the famous Cultivation Theorist Daniel Tenet and this was the theory that led his reputation to plummet as it was never proven ." Dylan replied readily.
"So this is the risk you were referring to..." Barry was momentarily lost in thought as he heard Dylan's words.
Daniel Tenet was a Cultivation Theorist who had created many theories that were acknowledged by the public because it was was all proven to be true. However, due to the Contrast Polymerization Theory, his prestigious name lost all of it's credibility since it was never proven to be true and was labeled as hypocrisy.
"The Contrast Polymerization Theory suggests that a cultivator can fuse two contrasting energies to create a power without weakness. However, almost every attempt to prove this ended with the user becoming deviated. I read it once when I studied for the Noble Test in the Thundercloud City" Dylan explained.
"You said almost. So does this mean that there were successful attempts for the theory?" Barry was sharp enough to find a clue from Dylan's explanation.
"You're as sharp as I expect you to be. I remember a certain anecdote of an expert that he was able to perform this fusion with two elements that were not entirely contrasting like earth and fire. Earth can extinguish fire while fire can burn the earth which makes them opposites. However, if both are used together instead of opposites, it can produce an extremely strong elements but not entirely invincible." Dylan explained the idea he had in mine through the anecdote he had read once.
"So you are saying that I am able to fuse the fire poison with my bloodline since they aren't entire opposites..." Barry contemplated what Dylan implied.
"Poison is something that can be produced by plants so if I fuse them in order to create a heavenly plant capable of producing a fire poison as my Avatar, then I can have a partial if not, a completely resistant Avatar to fire users!" Barry continued his line of thought.
" But to create an Avatar which is completely resistant to flames, I need to change the composition of the fire poison and make the flames exceed the chemical essence of the poison, thereby creating a 60/40 ratio instead of a 40/60 ratio and transmuting the fire poison to a poison flame! Although this slight alteration in the composition will harden the fusion, it will cancel out the restrictions of my bloodline and... " Barry was suddenly enlightened as he applied his diverse knowledge about plants and herbs that he acquired from years of experience and the knowledge of the sacred scroll!
"Dylan, it might just work! You are truly a lifesaver, brother!" Barry rejoiced when he realized that with the removal of the weakness of his bloodline that would mean that he would be without weakness! He was really grateful with the insight that his brother shared with him.
"I never expected that you would be a genius Herbal Specialist. Incorporating herbal knowledge to cultivation, I must say that you are an amazing genius in cultivation, brother!" Dylan praised his brother wholeheartedly because he was shock by the level of knowledge that Barry possessed and depth of his comprehension. From what he heard, Dylan could infer that Barry was a Herbal Specialist with a vast knowledge of herbs and medicines.
"You are flattering me too much, brother. My knowledge pertaining herbs and medicines were something passed down to us because our clan was also known as a clans of Herbal Specialists. But, compared to you, I'm quite lacking." Barry laughed and gave an honest evaluation to Dylan. A talent of Dylan's caliberwas something that would only be seen in a hundred thousand years!
Both just laughed it out like blood brothers who have known each other from both. After some time, Barry broke off the laughter with his worries.
"However, I would need to find some High Earth Rank Herbs for the transmutation and the fusion to be possible..." Before Barry could finish his worries, Dylan interjected.
"Just leave it to me, brother. I will get the herbs for you. I have a business and I am certain that I can get the herbs in just a month or two. But, there's something I also have to ask of you." Dylan smiled
"Oh what is it?" Barry asked.
"Can you help me by making a Herbal Garden for supply for my Herbal Store?" Discovering that Barry was a Herbal Specialist, he suddenly had the idea of expanding the amount of herbs he would sell to boost his customer numbers. With this thought, he also made a plan to hire one to three herbal specialist that will support Barry sustaining the herbal garden he made.
"Oh, I can help you with that but the difficulty of making the Herbal Garden will be dependent on what grade it is going to be. So what grade are you planning for me to build?" Barry asked. The grade of a Herbal Garden is directly related with the type of herbs planted within. It corresponds the levels of the herbs which are Spirit Grade, Earth Grade and Heaven Grade.
Studying for the Noble Test, Dylan had the fundamental knowledge regarding the different professions in this world. Thus, Dylan knew what to answer, " An Earth Grade Herbal Garden."
"An Earth Grade?! Are you sure you can afford it?Do you have the Earth Rank herbs that I can use for me to pollinate and germinate with? Do you even know the materials needed for it's construction? It will cost you at least 2000 spirit stones." Barry worriedly said because he was afraid that Dylan did not know how expensive making a herbal garden is.
"It costs that much?!" Dylan did not anticipate that at all.