"Cough, cough." Tang San struggled to his feet. Looking at the furious Dugu Bo, he was somewhat confused. What could possibly make a powerful Titled Douluo this angry?
Curious, he stepped forward and looked toward the Herb Garden. In an instant, his pupils contracted sharply.
"This... this is...?!" A shock that came from the depths of his soul instantly swept away the pain in his body and the fear Dugu Bo inspired.
The records in the Tang Sect's treasure book from his previous life exploded in his mind like a thunderclap: "Among the Three Great Treasure Basins, the first is the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well! A frigid spring and a scorching spring coexist, red and blue, yin and yang converging—a wondrous sight created by heaven and earth! A place of exceptional spiritual beauty, where Immortal Herbs gather, stealing the workings of heaven and earth and penetrating the mysteries of the Sun Moon!"
Wasn't that extraordinarily strange pool before him the very Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well described in the records? He had never expected it to exist in this world.
Tang San's heart pounded wildly, his blood all but threatening to burst through his veins.
Excitement, disbelief, and wild joy overwhelmed him in an instant. He had never imagined that in Douluo Continent, deep within the Poison Miasma of Sunset Forest, there would truly be such a peerless treasure land, one found only in legends!
This was practically a sacred place that every master of medicine and poison dreamed of! If he could cultivate here and grow herbs... the bottleneck in the Mysterious Heaven Skill, the materials for all kinds of peerless Hidden Weapons...
Yet his excitement lasted only an instant.
When he looked away from the edge of the hollow and took in the entire valley, that wild joy was doused in ice water. It froze, shattered, and turned into boundless regret and indescribable anguish!
Signs of harvesting were everywhere. Though seeds had been left behind, who knew how many years it would take for them to mature? Without those mature herbs, half the value of this treasure basin was already gone.
"Who did it? Who took those herbs?" Tang San seethed with jealousy and anger. This was a treasure land recorded in the Tang Sect's treasure book in his previous life, and it contained countless Immortal Herbs, each with the power to defy the workings of heaven and earth.
Although Dugu Bo had forcibly brought him here, Tang San now considered it a stroke of fortune. This was the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well! To trade nothing more than curing poison for divine herbs—what a profitable deal.
But now he was being told that he had arrived too late, that those divine herbs had already been picked. How could that not make him jealous? How could that not leave him heartbroken?
Dugu Bo, beside him, was so furious that he hadn't noticed anything odd about Tang San. Had he noticed, he might have wondered why Tang San was so angry when it was his Herb Garden.
Looking at the ruined herb beds, Dugu Bo's fury was like a punctured balloon. He was still seething and frustrated, but the force behind his sudden outburst had faded.
The herbs that had been taken were old and quite rare; some he couldn't even name himself.
But in his eyes, their greatest value was that they could aid his cultivation, suppress the increasingly severe pain of the backlash in his body, and provide ingredients for antidotes for his granddaughter, Yan Yan.
"Damn thief!" Dugu Bo ground out, his withered face twisted with rage. Dark green Soul Power escaped uncontrollably from his body, corroding the already sparse plants around him with a sizzling hiss.
"You dare steal from me! Just let me find out who you are!" His cold gaze swept over every patch of disturbed earth, and he etched his hatred deep into his heart.
His home had been robbed. For the vengeful Poison Douluo, this was a humiliation beyond measure. He would have his revenge!
Yet his anger was soon suppressed by more pressing concerns.
He suddenly remembered the true purpose of this trip: the agony that had sunk into his bones and tormented him day and night, and the boy he had abducted, who had made that earth-shattering claim.
He forced down his surging murderous intent and fury over the theft, then slowly turned around. His cold, snake-like gaze fixed once more on Tang San, who had just risen from the ground and was still stunned by the sight of the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well.
"Boy!" Dugu Bo's voice was hoarse and low, carrying an unquestionable menace. The pressure of a Titled Douluo once again enveloped Tang San like a tangible force, jolting him out of his conflicting excitement and anguish and leaving him gasping under the pressure.
"My Herb Garden has been ruined, and I'm in a foul mood. You'd better pray that when you said you could 'cure me,' you weren't playing games!"
He advanced toward Tang San step by step, each footfall seeming to land on Tang San's heartbeat. His bony fingers nearly touched Tang San's nose, and a dangerous light glimmered in his dark green eyes.
"Now, explain yourself! You said my poisoning was severe, that it stemmed from my Martial Soul and had spread to my heart and marrow... What's your evidence? And how can you cure it? If you tell me even one lie, I have plenty of ways to make you regret ever being born! I might as well use you, you ignorant brat, to test out the new poison I've been working on!"
The terrifying pressure and blatant threat made every hair on Tang San's body stand on end. Cold sweat soaked his back in an instant.
He knew that even the slightest hesitation or slip could bring catastrophe.
He forced down his boundless regret and heartache over the Immortal Herbs taken from the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well, focusing all his attention on the life-or-death crisis before him.
He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. The Purple Demon Eye worked at full power as he carefully "observed" once more the terrifying toxins within Dugu Bo's body, tangled together and rooted deep. He recalled the methods in the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record for neutralizing deadly poisons and balancing yin and yang.
"Please calm your anger, Your Excellency." Tang San kept his voice as steady as possible, with the respectful deference expected of a youth, but his gaze was exceptionally firm. "This junior is not speaking without basis."
"This junior has studied the way of poison since childhood, and my family's teachings include records of similar symptoms. The poison in your body isn't an external toxin. It's the poison inherent to your Martial Soul, the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor."
"As your cultivation has deepened, the poison has turned against you. After accumulating over many years, it has penetrated your bones and organs. Your liver and kidneys have suffered the most damage. Now the poison has invaded your heart, and it shows signs of rising into your marrow!"
"Do you often feel, in the middle of the night, as if ten thousand ants were gnawing at your bones, along with unbearable stabbing pain in the liver? When your Soul Power passes through your heart, do you sometimes feel a painful blockage? And in recent years, have you found it harder to control your Soul Power with the same effortless precision as before?"
With each sentence Tang San spoke, Dugu Bo's expression shifted.
The cold suspicion in his face gave way to uncertainty, then to utter shock!
Because every symptom Tang San described matched his own condition exactly!
He had kept these sufferings buried deep in his heart and never mentioned them to anyone, not even his beloved granddaughter, Dugu Yan! How... how could this boy know so much?
Seeing Dugu Bo's abruptly changed expression and the shock he could barely conceal, Tang San knew he had hit the mark. His heart settled somewhat.