The True Purpose of Immortal Herbs, Dugu Bo

"Those mists are poisonous, aren't they?"

Xiao Wu asked, looking at the obviously abnormal fog in the distance.

"Mere poisonous gas. It's incredibly easy to neutralize."

If he had been alone, Master Meng would not even have needed to take any measures. He could have simply forced his way in with his Soul Power.

Even with others in tow, it would not be difficult.

The Rotten Wood Martial Soul appeared, floating above Master Meng's head.

"Huh? Master, your Martial Soul has changed too?"

Master Meng's Rotten Wood Martial Soul had originally been nothing more than a piece of wood rotten to the extreme, as though a gust of wind could reduce it to dust.

Yet now, a tender sprout had actually grown from that utterly decayed piece of wood.

That touch of green was like the finishing stroke on a dragon's eye, instantly giving the Rotten Wood Martial Soul a miraculous vitality born from decay.

Master Meng said rather proudly,

"Since I was able to break through to Titled Douluo with the Rotten Wood Martial Soul, its essence naturally changed during my cultivation."

"When decay and decline reach their extremes, life can be sought from death. Vitality is born from stillness, and hope from destruction."

As Master Meng's words fell, streams of clear energy descended from the Rotten Wood Martial Soul.

"Let's go."

Wrapped in the clear energy, the poisonous fog seemed to have encountered its natural enemy. It churned and retreated to both sides, revealing a passage.

After passing through the poison formation, the three of them made their way to the mountaintop.

There was no peak atop the mountain, only a basin concealed by mist.

Humid, scorching vapor rose from the basin, leaving tiny droplets clinging to the tips of Lin Qi's hair.

"It really is the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, a treasure ground for nurturing medicinal herbs. Come on, let's go down."

Before they had even entered the basin, Master Meng had already caught the various medicinal fragrances in the air.

In Lin Qi's perception, there was no human presence below. It seemed Dugu Bo was not here.

Master Meng was about to take Lin Qi and Xiao Wu down when Lin Qi entered Man-Sword Unity and vanished into the mist in the blink of an eye.

Xiao Wu's body swayed as a pair of dazzling Butterfly Wings appeared behind her back, carrying her lightly downward.

During their few days of travel from the Star Dou Great Forest to Sunset Forest, Xiao Wu had found time to refine this Spirit Bone.

Compared to the Butterfly Wings External Soul Bone and Flowing Light Sword Evasion, Master Meng's movements appeared utterly plain and unadorned.

The moment he landed in the basin, Master Meng heard Xiao Wu ask Lin Qi,

"Lin... Master, what kind of flower is this? It looks a lot like a chrysanthemum."

Before Lin Qi could answer, Master Meng exclaimed in surprise.

"This is the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum. I never expected it to grow here."

As he looked toward the other exceptionally remarkable spiritual herbs and immortal grasses, Master Meng cried out again and again.

"This is Aromatic Silk Beauty?"

"There's even Aromatic Silk Beauty?"

"Even a legendary herb like Lovesick Heartbreak Red is here?"

The all-knowing Master Meng knew every immortal grass and spiritual herb within the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well like the back of his hand. There was not a single one he did not recognize.

He knew the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well was a treasure ground, but he had never imagined it would contain so many good things.

Xiao Wu's ears grew warm from listening, and she hurriedly asked,

"Master Meng, just from their names, these herbs sound extraordinary. If we eat them, can they increase our Soul Power and speed up cultivation?"

"Increase Soul Power? If that were their only use, how could they be called immortal herbs?"

Master Meng looked at her the way a scholar looked at a brute.

"What a waste of treasures. No, it should be a rabbit chewing on peonies."

After being mocked by Master Meng, Xiao Wu gave an awkward smile, but she was not discouraged in the slightest.

The more highly Master Meng regarded these herbs, the more extraordinary their effects must be.

"Master Meng, it seems you know these immortal herbs very well. Besides increasing Soul Power, what other uses do they have?"

Lin Qi recalled that after Tang San and the others obtained these immortal herbs, they had simply eaten them directly.

Aside from increasing Soul Power, Ning Rongrong's Martial Soul had changed from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda into the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, while Yu Xiaogang's Martial Soul had also undergone a positive evolution.

Yet judging by Master Meng's meaning, they seemed to have other uses as well.

Master Meng's eyes held a trace of amusement.

Wasn't this the sense of accomplishment that came with being a teacher?

"These immortal medicinal herbs gather the essence of heaven and earth, each possessing its own special traits. Besides their insignificant effect of increasing Soul Power, their greatest use is helping Soul Masters who have reached their limits condense their own Divine Position."

"What? A Divine Position? Master Meng, are you saying that eating these herbs can make someone a god?"

At the mention of becoming a god, Xiao Wu immediately perked up.

Cultivating as a Soul Beast was not easy. Above, there was the threat of Heavenly Tribulation; below, there were humans coveting them. Even if one became a Nine-Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, the iron law that Soul Beasts could not become gods still stood in the way.

"You rabbit, what are those long ears of yours even for? When did I ever say eating these immortal grasses would make you a god?"

Master Meng was furious.

Good grief, right in front of him, she had twisted his words into something so absurd.

"Ah? So that's not it?" Xiao Wu was disappointed.

"Of course not. Even if you swallowed a god whole, becoming a god would not be so easy, much less by eating these herbs."

Master Meng explained in detail,

"Immortal medicinal herbs are only a catalyst. The most important thing is yourself. If your talent is insufficient and your abilities lacking, then even if the key to godhood were handed to you, you still could not open the door to becoming a god."

"Take this Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass, for example. It contains the power of extreme cold."

"For a Soul Master whose talent is insufficient to obtain the Ice God's inheritance, with the aid of the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass, they might be able to obtain the Ice God's inheritance."

"Moreover, even without other Divine Positions, there is a certain chance of independently condensing a Divine Position such as the Cold God or the God of Frost, distinct from the Ice God."

At this point, Master Meng sighed with emotion.

"Since ancient times, everyone who has independently condensed a Divine Position and become a god has possessed peerless talent. Divine Positions condensed by oneself and Divine Positions inherited from gods are both Divine Positions, but there are still differences between them."

Master Meng was clearly only Rank 92, yet his understanding of becoming a god surpassed even Super Douluo and Divine Position guardians such as Qian Daoliu and Bo Saixi.

"Immortal herbs have such an effect?"

Lin Qi was unsure whether this had always been the effect of immortal herbs or whether it was a change caused by the system.

Suddenly, Lin Qi's ears twitched.

He heard the sound of something cutting through the air from above the basin.

It was neither a Soul Beast nor Leng Qing hiding in the shadows, but another Soul Master.

"Master Meng, the owner of this place has returned."

"Owner? A treasure ground naturally nurtured by heaven and earth like the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well has an owner?"

Master Meng looked toward where the mist was stirring and saw an old man with dark green hair and beard tear through the fog and appear in the basin.

"Where did these little thieves come from, daring to trespass on my territory?"

Dugu Bo glared viciously at the three of them, poisonous energy radiating from his body.

Dugu Bo valued the treasure ground of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well immensely, and he would often come to check on it whenever he had nothing else to do.

Today, as soon as he arrived outside the mountain, he discovered that the poisonous fog in one section of the poison formation was thinner than elsewhere.

The discovery gave him quite a fright.

Although Dugu Bo did not recognize the most precious herbs within the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, that did not stop him from treating them as his personal property.

Now someone had actually broken into his home to steal his things. How could Dugu Bo not be enraged?

The powerful aura of a Titled Douluo swept toward Lin Qi and the others, and Dugu Bo immediately chose to attack.

But in the next moment, Dugu Bo lost his composure.

That tall old man opposite him actually released an aura no weaker than his own, calmly dissolving his pressure into nothingness.

"To actually suffer Poisonous Toxin Backlash from your own Martial Soul—you truly are stupid beyond belief. How did someone like you cultivate to the realm of Titled Douluo?"

"What did you say?"