Ice and Fire Tempering, Dugu Bo's Shattered Worldview

"Not dead? Then... the Young Master isn't dead?"

Dugu Bo simply could not believe that Lin Qi had survived.

He looked more carefully, only to witness something even more shocking: Lin Qi was actually swimming in the spring.

And he was swimming with utter delight.

"Of course the Young Master won't die. Don't use your shallow knowledge to speculate on the Young Master's talent."

Dugu Bo did not argue back.

It was not because Leng Qing had convinced him. He simply did not want to get punched.

Swimming in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, and you called that talent?

Dugu Bo even suspected that Lin Qi was a Soul Beast in Humanoid Transformation. Otherwise, how could he possess such freakish physical strength?

Lin Qi had not jumped into the spring on a whim. His Body of Fortune had instinctively told him that jumping in would benefit him.

Sure enough, after entering the spring, energies of ice and fire began gathering around him.

Those converging energies tempered Lin Qi's body from skin to bone, gradually moving from the surface deeper within.

As water and fire clashed, Lin Qi's body seemed to become a divine weapon fresh from the forge, undergoing quenching.

The sheer comfort of it was beyond words.

After his initial surprise, Master Meng quickly calmed down as well.

He turned to pick three spiritual herbs nearby, extracted their essence, then returned to the spring and dripped the medicinal liquid onto Lin Qi's head.

The moment the medicinal liquid fell, Lin Qi immediately felt the tempering of his body become much more efficient.

It also began penetrating further inward, from his bones into his marrow.

During the tempering process, Lin Qi slowly sank into the spring. Even after the water covered his head, he continued sinking.

"Will something really not go wrong?"

Dugu Bo did not know whether he was the one who had gone mad or whether these people had.

Why was he the only one who was shocked?

"Stop making such a fuss. Whether you understand the Young Master's actions or not, you only need to trust him."

Dugu Bo remained doubtful.

When Lin Qi had been submerged for one minute, he could still stay calm.

When Lin Qi had been submerged for ten minutes, Dugu Bo was already wondering whether he should slip away first. Otherwise, if they discovered Lin Qi was dead, they might drag him into it.

When Lin Qi had been submerged for an hour, Dugu Bo had gone numb.

Madmen. They were all madmen.

In Dugu Bo's eyes, Lin Qi, who had jumped into the spring, and Master Meng and Leng Qing, who remained calm despite Lin Qi having been submerged for over an hour, were all madmen.

At Lin Qi's age, never mind sinking into the spring of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

Even if he had drowned in any ordinary body of water for an hour, he would surely have been dead beyond doubt, right?

"Phew, it's finally all cleaned up. Lin... Master, where is he?"

"Huh? Master Meng, where is Lin Qi?"

Xiao Wu had cleaned and rearranged the bamboo house. Just as she was about to claim credit from Lin Qi, she realized he was gone.

"Little Qi went down into the spring."

"Oh."

Xiao Wu nodded calmly, then walked a few steps closer to the spring.

After getting a little closer, Xiao Wu hurriedly backed away again.

Having already undergone Humanoid Transformation, her physical strength was still insufficient to let her touch the spring water.

Dugu Bo had originally hoped to see Xiao Wu panic, but she was even calmer than Master Meng had been at first.

Sure enough, I'm the only normal person here.

Dugu Bo felt that the boss he had just acknowledged was thoroughly dead. Time to divide the luggage... no, disband.

Just then, the spring began to churn violently.

The previously distinct cold and hot spring waters began to swirl, slowly at first and then faster.

At the center, a bottomless hollow vortex appeared.

"There's another change?"

Dugu Bo could not help taking a few steps closer.

"The Young Master is coming out."

Leng Qing folded his arms and made his judgment.

Dugu Bo had initially thought that even if Lin Qi surfaced, it would only be because his soaked corpse had floated up.

But now, he was no longer so certain.

Could he really still be alive?

Dugu Bo's confusion did not last long. Once the vortex formed, it spun faster and faster.

When the speed reached a certain threshold, the cold and hot spring waters no longer remained separate and completely fused together.

Accompanied by a long howl—

From the hollow at the vortex's center, two columns of red and blue water shot into the sky like two agile dragons.

At the peak of those red and blue water columns, Lin Qi's figure appeared.

"Did you see that? Even if your bones turn to ash, the Young Master will still be fine."

Dugu Bo: ...

He admitted that his knowledge was still too shallow. Fixed notions really were no good!

Dugu Bo stared at Lin Qi as he slowly descended, wanting to see whether some incomparably powerful Soul Beast was hidden beneath his human appearance.

Naturally, he could see nothing. But when Xiao Wu went forward to greet him, Dugu Bo suddenly turned to stare at her.

He had never paid much attention to this girl, whose presence was not particularly strong. But upon taking a closer look now, he immediately sucked in a sharp breath.

"She... sh-she, she is..."

Leng Qing shot Dugu Bo a disdainful glance.

"She what? Isn't she just a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast that underwent Humanoid Transformation? What's so strange about that?"

"You knew she was a Soul Beast in Humanoid Transformation?"

"Obviously. Did you think everyone was like you, only noticing after all this time that she was a Soul Beast in Humanoid Transformation?"

Dugu Bo had gone through the process that everyone who came into close contact with Lin Qi inevitably experienced.

His worldview collapsed, his system of knowledge crumbled, and his ability to perceive reality fell into self-doubt.

"How can you all be so calm? That's a hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast! A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast in Humanoid Transformation, at that! Yet you act as if you don't even see her?"

Lin Qi accepted the towel Xiao Wu eagerly handed him and wiped the droplets from his body.

"Xiao Wu is my Reserve Soul Ring. They all know."

"Reserve... Soul Ring?"

Dugu Bo somewhat doubted his own grasp of language.

Soul Rings could be kept in reserve? Especially when this was a Soul Beast in Humanoid Transformation.

"That's right. I'm Master's Reserve Soul Ring. What's so strange about that?"

Before entering human society, Xiao Wu had thought that she absolutely had to avoid Titled Douluo.

But after meeting Lin Qi, she no longer had that concern.

She was Lin Qi's Reserve Soul Ring. Who could take her away? Who would dare?

Dugu Bo struggled to reconstruct his understanding of the world.

Was this Soul Beast in Humanoid Transformation sick in the head?

How could she not be afraid of being treated as someone else's future Soul Ring, but instead look as though it were a great honor?

While Dugu Bo stood there in a daze, Master Meng circled Lin Qi and clicked his tongue in admiration.

"So the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well possesses such powerful body-tempering effects. This formidable aura seems to carry traces of some mighty existence as well?"

Xiao Wu had noticed it too.

She sensed a suppressive aura of a superior being from Lin Qi, somewhat similar to what she had felt when encountering the Battle Saint Ape and the Six-Winged Golden Mantis in the Star Dou Great Forest.

"I did gain something."

Beneath the spring of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, Lin Qi had gained far more than mere body tempering.

Lin Qi did not explain in detail. Instead, he called out to the still-dazed Dugu Bo.

"What are you standing around for? The Young Master is calling you."

"Y-Young Master, you called for me?"

Dugu Bo was somewhat unaccustomed to treating a child younger than his own granddaughter with such respect.

But when he thought of Lin Qi's absurd feats, he felt that treating Lin Qi like an ordinary child would be the truly absurd thing.

"I have something for you to do."

"Please give your instructions, Young Master."

"I want you to find someone."