After passing through the poisonous formation Dugu Bo had laid out, the view suddenly opened up.
In a quiet valley surrounded by steep cliffs lay a small, circular pool.
This was the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, Yu Shuangbai's destination!
The hot spring was not large, and was divided in two.
It was oval-shaped, like a natural Taiji diagram.
One side of the oval was a churning, scarlet Yang Spring, blazing with heat. The other was an icy-blue Yin Spring, its chill biting to the bone.
The two extreme springs lay close together, yet the boundary between them was as distinct as an invisible barrier.
They had truly achieved the wondrous balance of opposing yet complementary forces.
This treasure trove, a rare sight even once in ten million years, could shorten the growth cycle of all kinds of heavenly treasures by a factor of ten.
That was why so many heavenly treasures rarely seen in the outside world grew here.
It was also thanks to this spirit-rich environment that Poison Douluo Dugu Bo could use his own power and those rare herbs to suppress the deadly poison in his body and cultivate to the rank of Titled Douluo.
Unfortunately, Dugu Yan's talent was lacking.
Even though she enjoyed the same advantages, the hope of suppressing the poison through her own cultivation, as Dugu Bo did, was still slim.
That was why Dugu Bo had always tried so hard to find another way to suppress the snake poison.
Dozens of Immortal Herbs long since extinct in the outside world were scattered around the pool.
Each gave off a unique glow and spiritual aura.
Beside the Yang Spring's eye, an unusual flower grew in the scorching earth, its entire body a fiery red.
Its petals resembled burning flames. It was the Infernal Delicate Apricot.
On one side of the Extreme Cold Yin Spring, an Immortal Herb with an icy-blue body and the shape of an eight-petaled orchid bloomed quietly, surrounded by swirling cold air.
It was unmistakably the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass.
The two Immortal Herbs, one Yin and one Yang, each guarded one side, facing each other from a distance.
Besides these, all kinds of rare herbs grew in profusion along the basin walls.
Yu Shuangbai could not recognize the names of most of them.
"This is my herb garden."
Dugu Bo folded his arms across his chest and spoke with considerable pride.
This herb garden had always been one of the things he was proudest of.
"The Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well..."
Yu Shuangbai murmured, his gaze fixed on the red and blue springs.
More accurately, it was fixed beneath the red and blue springs.
He could sense a faint resonance deep within himself.
The Ice Dragon King Martial Soul in his body was stirring with excitement, eager to move.
Clearly, it was responding to the corpses of the two Dragon Kings beneath the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
"The Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well?"
Dugu Bo's powerful hearing, befitting a Titled Douluo, let him pick up Yu Shuangbai's murmur.
Was that the name of this treasured place?
He had stumbled upon it by chance and turned it into his herb garden.
But he had never known the place's true origins.
Hearing Yu Shuangbai murmur those words, Dugu Bo immediately understood.
This young man must have been very familiar with the place.
And the more Yu Shuangbai knew, the more delighted Dugu Bo became.
That only made it more likely that everything he had said was true.
It also meant their chances of curing the poison in his and his granddaughter Dugu Yan's bodies were greater!
"What do you think, Young Master Yu?"
"Take whatever you need."
"As long as you can cure the snake poison in me and Yan'er."
Dugu Bo said.
Yu Shuangbai tore his gaze away and suppressed the restlessness of his Martial Soul.
"Mm."
"I'll honor my promise."
"But before that, I need to retrieve a few things so the treatment can be as effective as possible."
"Of course, we can start treatment now, but the results might not be as good."
"Senior Dugu, what do you choose?"
The things he needed to retrieve were the Ice and Fire Dragon Souls beneath the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
Yu Shuangbai had a premonition.
After coming into contact with the Ice and Fire Dragon Souls below the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, he would surely undergo a transformation.
By then, if his Ice Dragon King Martial Soul grew stronger again, he was confident he could use his own power to dispel the snake poison in Dugu Bo and Dugu Yan's bodies without causing them any harm.
He might even be able to ensure they could put the poison gathered in their bodies to use and strengthen themselves.
As for now...
He could only use the method most transmigrators used to benefit from the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
He would imitate Tang San's method from the original story: after undergoing the Ice and Fire Golden Body, he would use the two Immortal Herbs as medicinal catalysts to detoxify them.
"Go ahead and take whatever you need."
Dugu Bo did not hesitate.
It was the same reasoning as before.
With the Snow Empress, a mysterious powerhouse, here, Yu Shuangbai had no reason to deceive him.
So naturally, Dugu Bo chose the best option.
"Good."
Yu Shuangbai smiled.
He liked Dugu Bo's clear-headed nature.
"Xue'er, sorry to trouble you, but could you wait outside for a while?"
Yu Shuangbai spoke softly, then walked slowly toward the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
Seeing this, Snow Empress's eyes narrowed.
She cried out sharply:
"Xiao Shuangbai, what are you doing?"
"Going beneath the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well," Yu Shuangbai answered honestly.
"No!" Snow Empress flatly refused.
She could clearly sense the power within the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
Even with her strength, she could not guarantee she could stay down there for long.
Although Yu Shuangbai possessed the Ice Dragon King Martial Soul, with its Ultimate Ice, he was still only a Soul Elder.
Snow Empress did not want to see him take any risks.
Yu Shuangbai was not the sort to waste his breath explaining things.
But the one before him was Snow Empress, who treated him like family.
So he could only explain gently:
"Xue'er, I'll be fine."
He stepped forward and gently took Snow Empress's soft, delicate hand in his own.
His voice took on a hint of coaxing.
It was utterly unlike the cold-hearted way he had crushed Yu Tianheng earlier. Dugu Yan, watching from the side, gaped slightly.
"Xue'er, I'm sure of it. There's something I need beneath the spring."
"I need it to fulfill my promise to you and Bing'er."
"Don't worry, okay?"
Only in front of Snow Empress and Ice Empress did Yu Shuangbai act this way.
Snow Empress was always most susceptible to this approach.
Seeing the earnest look in Yu Shuangbai's eyes, she could not help softening.
Her resolve, once so firm, began to waver despite herself.
Her tone gentled, no longer as resolute as before.
"How sure are you?"
"Ten out of ten."
In truth, he was not.
But to put Snow Empress at ease, Yu Shuangbai chose to lie.
He knew that if he did not say this, Snow Empress would never let him take the risk.
Snow Empress said nothing, only looked at him.
After a moment, her red lips parted:
"Fine. Take this. If things go wrong, retreat at once."
She raised her hand, and an Ice Crystal Pendant appeared in her palm.
"Mm, I understand!"
Yu Shuangbai took the pendant and nodded firmly in assurance.
Then, under Snow Empress's watchful gaze, the Ice Dragon King Martial Soul possessed his body.
With dragon horns sprouting from his head, Yu Shuangbai strode straight into the icy-blue spring, its chill radiating Ultimate Ice.
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