Dugu Bo carried Lu Chen at a rapid pace, and they soon reached the center of Sunset Forest.
After passing through the poisonous miasma outside, they entered a valley. Lu Chen finally witnessed the magnificent spectacle of Ice Fire Two Elements Spring.
The entire valley was flanked by two mountains. On the left stood a towering mountain covered in ten-thousand-year-old ice, its icicles stabbing toward the sky like swords; on the right was a volcano spewing waves of scorching heat, with dark red flames occasionally flickering from its crevices.
At the center of the valley lay a lake, clearly divided into two parts.
One side was icy white, wreathed in a faint mist, while the other was fiery red, the light above it wavering slightly. Red and white, they looked like two enormous pieces of jade set into the earth.
The rich aura of life in the air filled the entire valley as it rose from the springs.
Looking closer, at the Extreme Cold Ice Spring stood an octagonal Immortal Herb, quiet and still. Its central flower seemed carved from the purest ice crystal, shimmering with a fine, chilly light.
At the center of the Scorching Fire Spring, another Immortal Herb burned a vivid red, like a living flame. As its leaves unfurled, it seemed ready to unleash heat capable of consuming all things.
Feeling the two opposing auras of extreme cold and scorching heat in the valley, Lu Chen marveled, What a magnificent Ice Fire Two Elements Spring!
At the same time, Dugu Yan went straight to Lu Chen as soon as she saw him.
Dugu Yan first turned to question Dugu Bo. "Grandpa, you didn't force Lu Chen to come, did you?"
"Of course not!"
Seeing his granddaughter favoring an outsider, Dugu Bo sighed inwardly. Girls really do grow up and leave you behind.
He then looked at Lu Chen and asked, "Well? Is there any herb in my Medicine Garden that you can use?"
Lu Chen nodded. "Of course! There are even herbs that can solve the poison in your body!"
At his words, Dugu Bo's eyes suddenly narrowed. He could barely hide his excitement, and his voice trembled. "Lu Chen, is that really true?"
Lu Chen nodded.
The snake venom in Dugu Bo and Dugu Yan's bodies came from their Martial Soul. Put simply, the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Martial Soul had a flaw that caused Soul Masters to suffer backlash as they cultivated.
As long as an Immortal Herb or pill was used to evolve their Martial Soul, the problem could be solved. Their bloodline could even be completely evolved, sparing their descendants from the poison of the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Martial Soul.
In Lu Chen's eyes, Tang San's method in the original story—forcing the poison into a Soul Bone—was laughable.
A Soul Bone had very limited capacity. Using this method to deal with Dugu Bo's snake venom would cut off his path to further advancement.
Tang San only knew how to play with poison. What did he know about Immortal Herbs?
Looking at Lu Chen's confidence, Dugu Bo took a deep breath and promised, "If you really can solve the problem of the snake venom, I can agree to do Three Things for you. Three things that don't cross my bottom line."
Lu Chen walked slowly toward the spring, the names of the surrounding Immortal Herbs already clear in his mind: Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum, Water Immortal Jade Muscle Bone, Aromatic Silk Beauty, Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew, Earth Dragon Golden Melon...
The moment he reached the edge of the spring, two forces struck him at once: one felt like he was being burned alive, the other like ice piercing his bones.
A flash of blood-red light surrounded Lu Chen, keeping both forces at bay.
Dugu Bo warned him, "Lu Chen, be extremely careful. Even I wouldn't dare step into that spring."
Lu Chen nodded, then said to Dugu Bo, "Senior Dugu, do you have a Medicine Furnace? I need to refine a pill before I can pick an Immortal Herb for Dugu Yan!"
Dugu Bo nodded and took a jade-green Medicine Furnace from his Soul Tool, tossing it to Lu Chen.
Lu Chen set the Medicine Furnace above the scorching Yang Spring. He had no way to make fire himself, so he had to use the spring to refine the pill.
Using the appropriate method, Lu Chen tossed the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and Infernal Delicate Apricot into the Medicine Furnace.
The instant they touched, two entirely different energies collided inside the furnace.
Without hesitation, Lu Chen plucked a large Purple Chrysanthemum and tossed it inside.
A faint golden light rose from the center of the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum, gently separating the two opposing energies.
The Medicine Furnace, which had nearly exploded, immediately settled.
He added several more herbs in succession. The three forces slowly circulated inside the furnace, gradually coming into harmony.
Next, Lu Chen walked over to a jade-white Spirit Grass. Its leaves had no clear veins, and its slender stem was as fine as a strand of hair. It looked almost exactly like ordinary grass.
If Lu Chen hadn't possessed the knowledge from the Medicine God Dan Shu Jing, he might not have noticed this Primordial Immortal Grass.
The instant the Primordial Immortal Grass fell into the Medicine Furnace, the energies of the three Immortal Herbs, which had been in a stalemate, instantly blended with it, transforming into a pool of milky-white liquid.
Lu Chen walked toward another Immortal Herb.
The herb stood about three feet tall. Its sword-shaped leaves gleamed blue-gold like metal, their edges traced with red and blue patterns. At its center was a blood-red, diamond-shaped crystal, while its hilt-like stem was rooted deep in the soil of Ice Fire Two Elements Spring.
This Immortal Herb was called Sword Soul Blood Heart Ganoderma!
The moment Sword Soul Blood Heart Ganoderma entered the furnace, the milky-white liquid boiled furiously, bubbling away.
A dazzling red light shot out of the Medicine Furnace, gathering into a blood-red sword of light that flew toward Lu Chen.
Lu Chen pressed the index and middle fingers of his right hand together like a sword and flicked a drop of his blood essence toward the blood-red sword of light.
The sword quickly devoured Lu Chen's blood essence, then turned into a streak of light and merged into the Medicine Furnace.
Lu Chen channeled his soul power into the furnace, and the power of the Four Great Immortal Herbs boiled within.
The pill he was refining was called the "Primal Chaos Sword Soul Pill"!
Three hours later, a pill burst out of the Medicine Furnace and shot into the air.
It was translucent, with a glassy sheen, and two kinds of extreme patterns flowed across its surface.
The two patterns intertwined across the Pill Body, forming a Yin Yang Tai Chi Pattern. At their intersection, a layer of golden light had gathered.
A blood bead the size of a grain of rice floated at the pill's center. It was ruby red, and as its halo shifted, it seemed to emit the faint sound of a sword ringing.
The Primal Chaos Sword Soul Pill seemed to have a mind of its own as it flew in front of Lu Chen.
Lu Chen opened his mouth and swallowed it. In an instant, the Sword Intent of the Asura Demon Sword erupted from within him, gathering into a blood-red pillar of light that shot into the sky.
Feeling the Sword Qi raging through his body, Lu Chen didn't hesitate. He stepped straight into the spring.
Dugu Yan panicked at the sight. "Grandpa! Lu Chen, he—"
Dugu Bo grabbed his granddaughter and stopped her from rushing forward, saying gravely,
"That boy Lu Chen went into the spring on purpose. What kind of pill did he just refine that he needs the power of Ice Fire Two Elements Spring to suppress it?"
Inside the spring, Lu Chen was enveloped in blood-red light. In his abdomen, the Primal Chaos Sword Soul Pill flashed with a fiery red glow, colliding and merging with the spring's ice and fire powers...
At that moment, it was as if a peerless sword was being forged. The ice and fire springs were the Cold Pond and the furnace for tempering it, the Sword Intent was the Fine Steel waiting to be forged, and the Primal Chaos Sword Soul Pill was the pair of hands wielding the hammer and anvil...
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