Twenty-Thousand-Year Whale Rubber, Refined with Immortal Herbs

The woman's voice was ethereal and distant, as though it came from somewhere far away.

Gu Ci wanted to speak, but found that he could not make a sound.

The woman slowly turned around, and Gu Ci finally saw her face—

Exquisitely beautiful, aloof, with an unshakeable sorrow in her eyes.

But what shocked him most was that he recognized that face.

"You are..."

Before he could finish, the image shattered.

Gu Ci suddenly came back to his senses and found himself still crouching before the Lovesick Heartbreak Red, cold sweat already beading on his forehead.

"Brother Gu Ci, what's wrong?"

Dugu Yan's worried voice reached him.

Gu Ci took a deep breath and calmed himself. "Nothing. I got distracted."

He stood up and took several steps back, no longer looking at the Immortal Herb.

Yet a storm had already risen in his heart.

That face just now... though much younger, he could never mistake it.

It was Dugu Yan, all grown up—the Dugu Yan who would only appear in the future.

Why had the Lovesick Heartbreak Red shown him the future Dugu Yan?

Gu Ci could not make sense of it.

"Kid, are you all right?" Dugu Bo had noticed something was off as well and asked with a frown.

Gu Ci shook his head, suppressing the doubts in his heart. "Grandpa Dugu, I'm fine."

"The Immortal Herbs have all been gathered. Let's start preparing to absorb that Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Rubber."

Dugu Bo nodded, then asked, "What do you need me to do?"

Gu Ci looked at the Infernal Delicate Apricot and the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass. "We need these two Immortal Herbs to balance the medicinal effects."

"Yanyan and I can split these two Immortal Herbs between us as well."

"Also, I need to make use of the special environment of the Ice and Fire Dual Pools."

He paused before continuing, "Absorbing the Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Rubber will be rather painful, and it will take quite a while."

"Grandpa Dugu, please stand guard for us."

Dugu Bo nodded solemnly. "Don't worry. With me here, no one will be able to disturb you."

Gu Ci walked to the edge of the Ice and Fire Dual Pools and chose a spot where he could feel both the chill of the Ice Spring and the heat of the Fire Spring.

He took out the twenty-thousand-year Whale Rubber. The dark red gelatinous substance gleamed with a crystalline luster beneath the sunlight.

Then, he placed the Infernal Delicate Apricot and the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass on either side and took a deep breath.

"Yanyan, are you ready?"

Dugu Yan nodded forcefully and stepped to his side.

Gu Ci crushed the two Immortal Herbs at the same time. The red and white juices blended together, forming a strange pink liquid.

He evenly spread the liquid over the Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Rubber.

In an instant, the Whale Rubber began to change.

A faint glow rose from its dark red surface, and its peculiar fragrance became even richer. At the same time, a gentle ripple of energy spread from it.

Gu Ci split the Whale Rubber in half and handed one portion to Dugu Yan.

That way, it was equivalent to the two of them sharing the Immortal Herbs. Once they obtained their First Spirit Rings, they could theoretically each take another Immortal Herb suited to them.

"Jump into the pool immediately after you take it."

His tone was more serious than ever. "This Whale Rubber is too old, and its medicinal potency is far too overbearing."

"If we don't use the power of the Ice and Fire Dual Pools to suppress it, our bodies simply won't be able to withstand it."

Dugu Yan took the half piece of Whale Rubber. Her little face was full of tension, but she still nodded hard.

The two exchanged a glance and put the Whale Rubber into their mouths at the same time.

The Whale Rubber melted as soon as it entered their mouths, turning into a warm liquid that flowed into their stomachs.

The next second, Gu Ci's expression changed drastically.

That warmth instantly transformed into a raging heat wave that violently surged from his abdomen through all four limbs and every bone in his body.

It did not feel like the comfortable nourishment of the Thousand-Year Whale Rubber he had taken before. It was like swallowing a blazing inferno, as scorching energy madly battered his meridians, muscles, and bones.

"Ah..."

Dugu Yan could not help crying out in pain, her little face instantly flushing bright red.

"Jump!"

Gu Ci grabbed Dugu Yan and leaped into the Ice and Fire Dual Pools.

The two fell into the pool, landing right along the boundary between the two springs.

Gu Ci was on the Fire Spring side, while Dugu Yan was on the Ice Spring side.

The moment he entered the water, Gu Ci felt the wonder of the Ice and Fire Dual Pools.

On the Fire Spring side, the scorching spring water wrapped around his body without burning him. Instead, it seemed alive as it slowly seeped into his skin and resonated with the violent medicinal power of the Whale Rubber within him.

The two waves of heat intertwined, beginning to restrain and merge with each other.

Gu Ci had no time to think further. He immediately circulated his Soul Power and guided the violent medicinal power within his body.

With the assistance of the Heavenly Eye, he could clearly see the path the medicinal power took through his body.

That medicinal power was like a roaring fire dragon, madly crashing against his meridians.

The power of the Fire Spring, meanwhile, was like a gentle fire serpent, coiling around the fire dragon and taming it bit by bit.

Even so, the process remained agonizing.

His meridians were torn apart again and again, only to be repaired again and again by the medicinal power.

Every tear brought piercing pain, while every repair brought a numb, tingling itch.

Gu Ci gritted his teeth, veins bulging on his forehead, yet he stubbornly made no sound.

On the other side, Dugu Yan was enduring immense pain in the Ice Spring as well.

The chill of the Ice Spring seeped into her body and violently collided with the heat of the Whale Rubber.

Her small body trembled in the water. Her lips had turned purple from the cold, while her face was flushed red from the heat.

The torment of ice and fire made her quietly sob, but she still gritted her teeth and endured.

Time slowly passed.

A quarter of an hour, half an hour, one hour...

Gu Ci had already completely immersed himself in cultivation.

Under the observation of the Heavenly Eye, he discovered that his meridians were undergoing astonishing changes.

His originally slender meridians were torn open repeatedly, and after each repair, they became broader and tougher.

His muscle fibers also grew denser under the tempering of the medicinal power, while even the surface of his bones faintly shone with a soft glow.

What delighted him most was that the Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Rubber contained not only medicinal power that strengthened the body, but also a faint trace of energy essence.

It was the crystallization of a Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Spirit Beast's lifetime of cultivation, slowly merging into his body.

Two hours later, Gu Ci was the first to open his eyes.

He could feel that the medicinal power within him had stabilized and was no longer violent.

Although he had not fully absorbed it yet, the most dangerous stage had passed.

When he turned his head, he saw Dugu Yan still struggling to hold on in the Ice Spring.

The little girl's face was pale and her lips bluish, but her gaze remained resolute.

"Yanyan, hold on."

Gu Ci spoke softly. "You've already done very well."

Hearing his voice, Dugu Yan managed to force out a smile.

Another hour passed.

At last, Dugu Yan opened her eyes as well.

Her eyes were full of exhaustion, but even more so, excitement.

"Brother Gu Ci, I... I think I made it through."

Gu Ci smiled and nodded. "Well done."

The two leaped out of the spring and landed on the shore.

Dugu Bo immediately came over, nervously examining them both. "How is it? Are you all right?"

Gu Ci shook his head and clenched his fist.

An unprecedented sense of strength surged from within his body.

With a casual swing of his arm, his fist wind produced a sharp explosive crack in the air.

"This..."

Dugu Bo's pupils contracted slightly.

He could tell that Gu Ci's punch had been purely physical strength, without the use of any Soul Power.

Yet the power of that punch was already comparable to an ordinary Two-Ring Soul Grandmaster's strike.

Even Gu Ci himself was somewhat surprised.

He closed his eyes and carefully sensed the changes in his body.

His meridians had broadened by at least twice as much, his muscle density had increased greatly, and the strength of his bones was beyond comparison to before.

What delighted him most was that he could vaguely sense an additional, special power within his body, a power that had formed some kind of wondrous resonance with his Martial Soul.