Dragon's Den, Strange Velvet Forms an Alliance (Part 2)

Chapter 28: Dragon's Den, Strange Velvet Forms an Alliance (Part 2)

"Please look, Senior!" Ling Feng did not directly answer Dugu Bo's shocked question. Instead, he pointed toward the core where the scarlet and milky white currents of the Ice and Fire Immortal Grass collided violently. The seven-colored mist was densest there, rising and churning as though it nurtured the power to split heaven and earth. "Ice and fire restrain each other, yet they can also give rise to each other. Within this place of ultimate conflict, the purest 'Yin-Yang Origin' in heaven and earth has instead been born. It is the root of all creation, containing the Supreme Law of destruction and rebirth."

His burning gaze fixed on Dugu Bo, his voice carrying a force that pierced straight to the essence. "Senior's poison has already seeped into your marrow and fused with your martial soul. Ordinary medicines and external treatment are all useless now. There is only one way to break through—draw the Yin-Yang Origin of the Ice and Fire Immortal Grass into your body! Use your body as a furnace, your soul as the guide, and your will as kindling, then endure a tempering where survival is nearly impossible! Place your martial soul, Soul Power, and even the tangled origin poison of the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor into this furnace of heaven and earth, and let them be forged, purified, and remade by the powers of ultimate yin and ultimate yang!"

Ling Feng's words crashed through Dugu Bo's mind like thunder. "If you endure it, the poison will be completely eradicated, your martial soul will transform, and you will rise after breaking down, reaching an even greater level! You may even touch the threshold of a higher realm! If you fail..." He paused, his voice heavy as iron. "Then your soul will scatter, your body and bones will vanish, and you will become part of these Ice and Fire springs!"

Draw the Ice and Fire Origin into his body for tempering?! Use his body as a furnace?!

Dugu Bo sucked in a sharp breath, his emerald pupils suddenly contracting to needlepoints! Even as a Titled Douluo who had seen countless storms, he was shaken to the core by such an utterly insane method! No one understood the terror of the Ice and Fire Immortal Grass better than he did! Its extreme cold and scorching heat could instantly freeze a Soul Douluo into icy fragments or burn one into ash! Draw its origin into his body? How was that any different from suicide?! No, it was ten million times more painful than suicide!

Yet... Ling Feng's words were like a devil's temptation, stirring monstrous waves in the dead lake of his heart! The poison completely cured! His martial soul transformed! Touching a higher realm! For an old man who had been tortured by poison for most of his life, whose cultivation had stagnated, who endured bone-eroding agony day and night and had nearly lost all hope, what a fatal temptation that was! It was the only light visible in the darkness, a path toward rebirth!

The valley fell utterly silent. Only the gurgling where the Ice and Fire springs met, along with the faint sound of seven-colored mist rising, could be heard. Expressions shifted unpredictably across Dugu Bo's withered face—at times twisted and savage, at times filled with longing, at times fearful and hesitant. He was engaged in an unprecedented struggle within himself! On one side was a mad gamble with almost no chance of survival; on the other was endless torment and a hopeless future!

Dugu Yan was also stunned by Ling Feng's insane method. She looked worriedly at her grandfather, wanting to say something but not daring to interrupt him.

At that moment, Ling Feng spoke again, as though placing a crucial and tempting weight upon the wavering scales in Dugu Bo's heart. "Of course, this method is exceedingly dangerous, with almost no chance of survival. But I also have a way to provide some protection, reduce the risk, and increase the possibility of success by a fraction." His gaze turned toward the two immortal herbs beside the springs. Though damaged, the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and Infernal Delicate Apricot still stubbornly survived.

"Senior, do you know what would happen if you consumed a strand of each of their most essential 'Origin Essence' at the same time?" Ling Feng pointed at them. "These essences contain the purest Law Fragments of ice and fire. If you refine the two strands within your body before drawing in the Origin, you can form a temporary yet relatively stable 'Ice-Fire Balance Barrier' at the core of your dantian. It will protect the vital channels of your heart and the origin of your soul! Though it cannot completely offset the impact of the heaven-and-earth Origin, it can buy precious time, giving your will a slim chance to guide it and survive!"

Refine the Origin Essences of the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and Infernal Delicate Apricot first? Form a barrier inside his body?

Dugu Bo's breathing completely fell into disorder! He looked at the two swaying immortal herbs, then at the terrifying convergence point of the Ice and Fire Immortal Grass, before finally fixing his gaze on Ling Feng's young face, so full of certainty and wisdom. The mad plan, coupled with what seemed to be a workable safeguard... immense temptation and extreme danger tore and collided within his heart like two venomous dragons! On one side lay eternal darkness and pain; on the other, a path to rebirth that was nearly impossible to survive, yet shone with boundless brilliance!

"Grandfather..." Dugu Yan called worriedly.

Dugu Bo suddenly raised his head. In those emerald serpent eyes, all hesitation, fear, and struggle were ultimately replaced by an almost insane resolve to seek life through death! A savage yet relieved smile appeared on his withered face. His voice rasped like sandpaper, yet carried an unprecedented firmness.

"Good! Good boy! This old man has lived for over eighty years, rolling in poison my whole life, and I've never seen anyone crazier or bolder than you! I'll trust you this once! We'll do as you say! First, take the essences from those two immortal herbs! If you dare play any tricks..." The poison mist around him erupted violently, and all nine soul rings blazed with light. Terrifying pressure surged forth as though it were tangible. "This old man guarantees that I'll make you taste every poison in the world and howl in endless agony for a thousand years!"