Douluo: My Clone Is Groudon

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The streets were bustling with people. After walking down one street, Gu La felt like he was starving but still hadn't found a way for him to make money.

"Selling energy cubes would certainly attract the attention of soul masters and bring in massive profits, but it would also draw too much attention."

Standing on the street corner, Gu La entered a pharmacy and bought some basic herbs, packing them up to take home for research. 

Two apple-sized bundles of herbs cost Gu La most of his savings, making him want to curse the pharmacist's entire family.

"No wonder commoners are afraid of getting sick. Medicine is so expensive that even surviving an illness without emptying your pockets is considered lucky."

Gu La's parents in this life had died from illness contracted outside their village, so he had heard stories about this from the villagers.

Medicinal herbs on Douluo Continent grew in remote mountainous areas, far from human activity. Beasts and even spirit beasts weren't uncommon there. Hunters and herbalists risked their lives to gather herbs of sufficient age, and sometimes soul masters were required to gather certain medicinal plants.

Moreover, noble-born soul masters took medicine from a young age to unlock their potential, creating a constant demand. Although the primeval forests were filled with herbs, the prices remained exorbitant.

Otherwise, Dugu Bo wouldn't have personally cultivated herbs just to ensure he'd have what he needed when the time came.

Gu La frowned slightly. "The price of medicinal herbs is unexpectedly high. I estimate that a single medicinal bath could cost hundreds to thousands of gold spirit coins, with only minimal benefits."

He shook his head. "Even if you did it once a week from childhood into adulthood, the costs would be astronomical. No wonder only core disciples of the Blue Lightning Dragon Sect can afford medicinal baths. This is truly an industry only powerful factions can indulge in."

He remembered that Yu Xiaogang had been expelled precisely because he had consumed a significant amount of the Blue Lightning Dragon Sect's resources during his childhood.

After years passed, Yu Xiaogang still couldn't break through Level 29. His grandfather, Sect Leader Yu Yuanzhen, was utterly disappointed in him and had no choice but to expel him from the sect to quell the resentment among the elders and disciples.

Even one of the top three sects couldn't afford medicinal baths for all its core disciples, which clearly demonstrated the value of these herbs.

"If I want to build faith, the papers I publish must be enlightening to the vast majority of soul masters. Should I come up with a low-cost medicinal bath formula?"

With the enhanced version of the Evergreen Power, Gu La could sense subtle changes in herbal medicines, so devising a formula wouldn't be too difficult.

Gu La lowered his head, gazing at his shadow, lost in thought. Finally, he made a firm decision:

"Ordinary jobs won't help much with cultivation. Tang San can train his hammer techniques and strengthen his body by forging iron; I can't waste my time on repetitive work either."

"The papers aren't just about laying the groundwork for faith—they also bring in royalties to cover living expenses and, more importantly, secure crucial system rewards. I really have no other choice."

Gu La's eyes hardened as he clarified his current priorities.

"First, convert the Shadow Clone technique into a soul power version, maintaining a distance of over a kilometer between clones. It'll be a bit challenging, but I can use the memories of the clones to train and overcome it."

"Second, use the mature Shadow Clones to collect royalties. Sigh, I initially wanted to give up on the royalties, but I couldn't bear to. More importantly, I need research funds for experiments—I can't rely solely on imagination for all my data."

"Third, purchase some herb seeds and see if they can be grown on the farm. If they can… with a thousandfold growth speed, I won't lack herbs in the future."

"Fourth, analyze the properties of the herbs and combine them into formulas that strengthen the body and relieve muscle fatigue. And I need to keep it a secret."

Gu La paused for a moment. If he could get the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect's medicinal bath formula from Yu Xiaogang, it would save a lot of research time.

But given the importance of faith in his future plans, he didn't want any unexpected issues.

Besides, no matter how despicable Yu Xiaogang might be, he wouldn't casually leak the sect's confidential formulas.

In the original storyline, he prepared the medicinal baths himself and let Tang San and others soak in them directly.

"Tang San seems to have received some instruction, but it's still far off. I should do my own research. My Evergreen Power is weaker when sensing non-plant-based herbs, so I'd better differentiate my formula from the Blue Lightning Dragon Sect's to avoid giving them any advantages."

"Right, there's also whale jelly. I can research an oral formula based on it… Hmm, following the principles of energy cubes should make it much simpler."

A gleam of inspiration flashed in Gu La's eyes.

"Speaking of energy cubes, could ghost-type Pokémon energy cubes potentially heal soul injuries?"

Gu La's mind raced with thoughts, and he decided to try it out once he had points.

"If I can awaken the clone, even without full recovery, I'd essentially have a research assistant with identical memories but different thinking, and someone who can lend me strength in critical moments."

By then, Gu La's plans could become more aggressive, and progress would accelerate.

"There's also the Ice-Fire Yin Yang Well. There must be herbs that treat soul injuries inside—even if there's no immortal grass, ten-thousand-year-old medicinal herbs will suffice."

"My next paper should leave a hook for Dugu Bo. If I can connect with him, his complete collection of herbs will be of great use to me!"

Among Gu La's skills was master-level potion-making, specializing in healing and removing abnormal statuses. He also had extraordinary insights and research into boosting Pokémon levels.

Gu La believed that if Pokémon could consume these, soul masters could too.

"There will always be people who don't appreciate others' kindness. Relying solely on papers to gather faith might not be enough. The main purpose of the papers is to spread fame and control public opinion."

"If I could create a continent-wide merchant guild selling potions beneficial to soul masters, requiring purchasers to devoutly recite my name, it would surely speed up the accumulation of faith."

Gu La muttered to himself, "I don't fully understand faith power yet, but I understand ghost-type Pokémon—their grudges, life essence, good dreams, and nightmares."

"There must be something related to faith power in there. Finding the common ground and creating a machine to detect faith shouldn't be too difficult."

Hmm, this would require master-level machinery research. He might even need to visit the Sun and Moon Continent to learn how to make soul-guiding tools.

Gu La rubbed his temples. There were too many things to do, and he felt overwhelmed. Having more clones would definitely help.

"Wait, when Groudon awakens, I can collaborate with humans from the Pokémon world and delegate some tasks to them—it'll save a lot of trouble."

"I remember that Steven Stone, the Champion of Hoenn, is quite approachable. His family owns Devon Corporation, with unmatched influence and status. I should give it a try."

Gu La took out an Ultra Ball and grabbed his notebook, jotting down all his inspirations and ideas to avoid forgetting anything.

As he wrote, Gu La reflected that he had resources from two worlds and needed to make full use of them.

Though he was weak on Douluo Continent, he was one of the legendary Pokémon in the Pokémon world. As long as he didn't mess up, he'd be perfectly safe.

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