Return

The medicinal herbs in the garden had been stripped clean, and the trial mission was complete. With everything settled, Yan did not linger any longer at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

After taking one final look around and confirming that nothing had been missed, he did his best to erase some of the more obvious traces.

Following the route he had taken the previous night, Yan circulated his Soul Power and leaped straight out.

Within the valley, Yan's figure darted and bounded like a flying pellet, reaching the top of the cliff in no time.

Standing high above, Yan identified his bearings before shooting toward the depths of the forest.

He soon reached the edge of the Poison Array. With a thought, a layer of crimson-gold lotus phantom silently enveloped his body, faintly separating him from the deadly poisonous mist outside.

It was the Red Lotus Purifying World Domain.

He stepped forward, his figure seemingly melting into a streak of crimson light within the miasma. At a speed even faster than when he had arrived, he passed through the Poison Miasma barrier and vanished into the endless darkness and silence of Sunset Forest.

By the time he returned to Heaven Dou City, the sky had already darkened. Yan returned to the Spirit Temple and went directly to one of the four bishops to turn in the mission.

He handed over the items found on the Sindis brothers that could verify their identities, then described the course of the mission.

As for the Sindis brothers' whereabouts, Yan simply made up an excuse. He claimed that he had failed to hold back his strength and had burned both corpses to ashes, leaving nothing to be found. That was enough to brush the matter aside.

Otherwise, if the Heaven Dou City Spirit Temple truly discovered the location of the Poison Miasma and attracted Dugu Bo's attention, it would only create further complications.

Yan remained at the Heaven Dou City Spirit Temple for several more days, waiting for them to dispatch Soul Masters into Sunset Forest to verify the mission before setting off.

During that time, Yan found an opportunity to meet Qian Renxue and told her about Sindis, sparing her the trouble of wasting time gathering intelligence.

Hopefully, plundering the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well this time would make Qian Renxue's future plan to usurp the throne proceed more smoothly.

With immortal herbs in hand, Yan felt relaxed for the first time in a long while.

After returning to the Spirit Hall Advanced Academy, Yan resumed his ascetic-like cultivation life.

Thanks to Yan's deliberate concealment, no one in the Spirit Hall Advanced Academy discovered that his Soul Power Level had risen by five ranks in such a short time.

Yan had no intention of exposing the matter of the immortal herbs.

To Yan, these immortal herbs and precious medicinal plants were resources for a Martial Artist's cultivation.

The overall energy level of Douluo Continent was low. Immortal herbs were already rare resources that Yan could obtain, capable of greatly advancing a Martial Artist's strength. There was no possibility of sharing them with others.

Because of the Whale Rubber, the Soul Rings absorbed by Xie Yue and Hu Liena had also exceeded their age limits, making them unquestionably stronger than their counterparts in the original work.

By the time the Continental Soul Master Tournament began, the two of them would definitely be stronger than they had been in the original work. Their Soul Power should reach around rank fifty-five.

As for Yan himself, given four years and no unexpected setbacks, he could at least become a High-Rank Soul Emperor. As for breaking through to Soul Saint, he would leave that to fate.

What he cared more about was the improvement of his Martial Artist strength. He did not know whether these immortal herbs could raise his cultivation from Apprentice Seventh Rank to Apprentice Ninth Rank within four years.

Though they were immortal herbs, they were still far inferior to the Hearts of Vegetation in Swallowed World.

If he had a Heart of Vegetation, Yan was even confident that he could push his strength to Apprentice Ninth Rank within a single year.

Mmm, time to cultivate...

Inside the Mimicry Training Room, Yan slowly closed his eyes.

Just as Yan immersed himself in his long cultivation, one month later, in the valley housing the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well in Sunset Forest.

"Who! Who was it?!"

Poison Douluo Dugu Bo, clad in green robes with green hair and surrounded by terrifying poisonous mist, threw back his head and roared. His voice, infused with Soul Power, was like a chilling gale from the depths of hell, echoing through the valley and shaking the surrounding mist into churning waves while the pool water surged violently.

His face, already sinister and aged from the corruption of poison, was now twisted into something nearly ferocious. Corpse-fire blazed wildly in his green eyes as he stared fixedly at the devastated medicinal garden before him.

"Which beast dared break into my medicinal garden and steal my treasures?! If I find out who it was, I will tear out his soul and refine his spirit, making him suffer the agony of ten thousand poisons devouring his heart, never to be reborn for all eternity!"

Dugu Bo's entire body trembled. It was a tremor born of extreme fury and heartache, along with a deeply buried, unspeakable fear.

The Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well was his greatest secret, as well as his hope for survival and for protecting his granddaughter.

Yet now it had been exposed, and all manner of rare medicinal herbs had been forcibly dug away, as though someone had carved out his heart and liver with a blade.

But at that moment, Dugu Bo's imposing aura suddenly faltered. The ferocious expression on his face vanished, replaced by one of pain.

The deadly poison within his body had flared up.

Dugu Bo clutched his forehead, feeling as though needles were stabbing into the crown of his head and both sides of his ribs.

No longer able to concern himself with anger, he hurriedly sat cross-legged. The Ruyi Hundred Treasure Pouch appeared in his hand, and he quickly took out something resembling a leaf and swallowed it.

Only after circulating his power for a full day and night did the agonizing pain throughout his body finally ease.

Dugu Bo opened his eyes. A full day and night had been enough for him to calm down.

He looked at the bare medicinal garden around him and searched through it. Fortunately, some younger medicinal herbs still remained.

With those herbs, he could at least barely cling to life for a while longer.

But what would happen afterward? As for himself, it did not matter much. He had lived for so long that he had lived enough.

But what about Yanyan? She was still young. If there were no medicinal herbs in the future to ease the deadly poison in her body, could she even live past thirty?

Was he meant to let Yanyan follow in her father's footsteps, suffer the backlash of snake venom, and die young in the prime of her life?

Yan was destined never to know the turmoil within Dugu Bo's heart.

Inside the Mimicry Training Room, crimson light flickered and dimmed like breathing.

Yan sat cross-legged, Soul Power surging endlessly around him, his aura deep and still as an abyss.

Ultimate Fire flowed quietly through his meridians, carrying the tyranny and purification capable of incinerating all things. Yet he restrained it perfectly through his formidable willpower, allowing not the slightest trace to escape.

Beneath his skin, crimson-gold patterns flickered in and out of sight. They were signs that his physique was continuously strengthening under the combined effects of the Yan God Body Refining Technique and the medicinal power of immortal herbs.

He had returned to the academy exactly half a year ago.

Over these six months, he had not used a single immortal herb from the Mustard Seed Pouch.

It was not that he was unwilling, but that the time had not yet come.

The transformation into Ultimate Fire and explosive increase in Soul Power brought by the Infernal Delicate Apricot required time to settle completely.

To avoid exposing the existence of the immortal herbs, after breaking through rank fifty, he had not immediately reported to Spirit Hall and applied to hunt a Soul Beast.

Instead, he had forcibly suppressed it for nearly half a year.

Yet even a six-rank increase in Soul Power over half a year was enough to shock the world in Spirit City, known as the holy land of Soul Masters.

Yan's explanation for this was rather simple and blunt.

Because all four of his Soul Rings had exceeded their age limits, and his third Soul Ring had even reached the ten-thousand-year level, they had triggered the evolution of his Martial Soul, allowing his strength to improve at such a rapid pace.