Uncle Gui Mei's Immortal Herb

Bibi Dong looked toward the still-unbloomed Lovesick Heartbreak Red as she spoke.

It was a flower that symbolized love, but it was also a flower of curses.

The conditions for picking it were extremely strict. While picking it, one had to think only of one's sole beloved, with feelings pure and true, without a single wavering thought.

Beneath the flower lay the Wujue Stone. If it was forcibly destroyed, the Immortal Herb would lose all its medicinal power.

For it to recognize its master and bloom, one needed an unwavering conviction to share life and death with one's beloved, and a willingness to sacrifice oneself for them.

The reason it was called a flower of curses was simple: lovesickness meant parting, while heartbreak meant pain.

Throughout the entire Douluo series, anyone who had gained the flower's recognition but hadn't consumed it had endured all kinds of tribulations.

Indeed, the love between humans and Soul Beasts who had taken human form was truly sincere.

Cross-species love?

But Bibi Dong felt that love between the same sex was more sincere than love across species.

Unless a Soul Beast hadn't taken human form after marriage, and a human Soul Master had fallen in love with it anyway—that would be the only way to surpass love between the same sex.

Take Tang San, for example. If he could fall in love with a Soft Bone Rabbit that hadn't taken human form, then Bibi Dong might consider his love more sincere than Yue Guan and Gui Mei's.

Besides, wasn't the so-called God of Love just a lunatic who had been betrayed, fallen into an extreme state, and gone mad with revenge against society?

Bibi Dong felt that Gui Mei met the conditions for the Lovesick Heartbreak Red to recognize him.

Besides, even if it really didn't work, it wouldn't matter.

They could just give it a try.

"This..."

Hearing Bibi Dong's suggestion, Yue Guan froze on the spot.

He naturally knew of this Immortal Herb.

The question was, could Gui Mei really succeed?

"Could we let Old Ghost give it a try?"

After hesitating for a moment, Yue Guan went to where the Lovesick Heartbreak Red grew, dug it up by the roots, and brought it over to Gui Mei.

Then Yue Guan explained the story of the Lovesick Heartbreak Red to Gui Mei.

Though Gui Mei didn't understand, he still followed Yue Guan's instructions and spat out a mouthful of heart's blood.

And then...

The Lovesick Heartbreak Red bloomed right before Bibi Dong's eyes.

"No way, bro!"

Seeing this, Bibi Dong froze on the spot, unable to believe her eyes for a moment.

She had only made the suggestion to give it a try.

She hadn't expected it to actually work.

The reason she had made the suggestion was the Lovesick Heartbreak Red's effects.

It could conceal one's aura, completely transform the body, and even bring the dead back to life, restoring flesh and bone.

She and Yue Guan had privately studied Gui Mei's Martial Soul many times.

Indeed, Gui Mei was alive at present, but in a certain sense, he was dead.

To put it simply, this body had died. It was only because his Martial Soul was a soul—one with Nether attributes—that his soul hadn't immediately dispersed.

Even though he had returned to his own body and his Martial Soul allowed it to contain him, the two could never perfectly fit together.

So she had wondered whether they could use this Immortal Herb to make Gui Mei's soul and body fuse together again, bringing him fully back to life.

Based on her research, Gui Mei's Martial Soul might well be the soul among Body Martial Souls.

Not something like a "brain" or "spiritual eyes," but the complete soul.

According to Gui Mei, when he had first awakened his Martial Soul, he had been extremely close to possessing Innate Full Soul Power.

In this era, no less. If Du Busi learned ten thousand years from now that Gui Mei's Martial Soul was his entire soul, he would go completely insane.

The Lovesick Heartbreak Red, together with the Crystal Blood Dragon Ginseng and Holy Soul Grass, had been enough to revive that Hundred-Thousand-Year rabbit. Its extraordinary properties went without saying.

Bibi Dong felt that the herb could make Gui Mei's body and Martial Soul completely fuse together again.

That was why she had made the suggestion.

She had only wanted to give it a try.

She hadn't expected it to really work.

"It bloomed just like that? It wasn't as difficult as you said."

Looking at the Lovesick Heartbreak Red in his hand, Gui Mei could feel his body undergoing strange changes just from holding it.

It was a comfort and a wonder beyond words.

If he had to describe it somehow, he would say it felt like coming back to life.

Gui Mei could feel that with this Immortal Herb in his hand, he was truly, genuinely alive again.

"Uncle Gui Mei, go ahead and consume it."

As Gui Mei hesitated over what to do with the Immortal Herb, Bibi Dong walked over and offered her opinion.

Keeping this Immortal Herb by his side would only invite trouble.

He might as well consume it now and convert it into strength. That was what mattered.

"Xiao Dong, should I really eat it?"

Gui Mei looked at the gorgeous flower in his hand, its petals glistening with dew, and hesitated.

He knew perfectly well that he had never been one to care for flowers and plants, yet at that moment, he couldn't help feeling reluctant to consume it.

"Go ahead and consume it."

Bibi Dong nodded, her expression utterly serious.

Gui Mei didn't know why Bibi Dong insisted, but he still chose to consume the Immortal Herb.

Yue Guan, standing nearby, immediately grew anxious.

He hadn't had his fill of admiring it yet!

And they were just going to eat it?

How could he accept this? How could he accept such an outcome?

But before he could say anything, Gui Mei had already swallowed the Lovesick Heartbreak Red.

Yue Guan sighed at the sight, and in the end, didn't say much.

If he had truly wanted to stop him, he could have.

The reason he hadn't was that Gui Mei was the one consuming the Lovesick Heartbreak Red.

Ever since Gui Mei had made the Lovesick Heartbreak Red bloom, Yue Guan had been looking at him strangely.

He thought he was hiding it well, but little did he know that Bibi Dong had seen everything.

She had even secretly taken out an Image Recording Crystal Ball and recorded some particularly unusual moments.

While Gui Mei was refining the herb's medicinal power and Yue Guan was keeping watch over him, Bibi Dong hurried off to pick the Immortal Herbs.

Even if she really wanted to pick something, Yue Guan wouldn't stop her. But then she would have to put up with him standing there, watching eagerly with a sorrowful, resentful look on his face.

She had already prepared a Storage Soul Tool capable of holding living things, along with various jade boxes.

Now was the time to reap a bountiful harvest.

She didn't leave a single mature herb behind.

No one knew what might happen in the future.

Since she had already gained the advantage, she naturally had to gather them all up first.

She left the immature ones to grow a little longer.

As she picked the herbs, Bibi Dong also began making plans for the place. She intended to find an opportunity later to plant Yue Guan's treasured herbs here and help them grow faster.

Then, after a few decades, she could harvest another batch.

Though they wouldn't reach the quality of Immortal Herbs in just a few decades, Yue Guan's treasured plants were all precious in their own right. Growing ten times faster here would make them quite valuable by then.

Even setting the Immortal Herbs aside, this Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well alone, if put to proper use, could provide the daily funds needed to support a major faction.

And that didn't even include the Immortal Herbs.

So they needed to find someone suitable to look after the medicinal garden.

If Dugu Bo came looking for her, Bibi Dong wouldn't begrudge him an Immortal Herb.

But if he didn't come, and instead showed up later on his own, there wouldn't be any Immortal Herbs left for him.

After all, in a blessed grotto with a priceless treasure, whoever arrived first got it first, right?

That was also why Bibi Dong had told Yue Guan and Gui Mei to leave behind that nine-thousand-year-old Emerald Snake Emperor.

That gift had been prepared for Dugu Bo as well.

She had given the matter some thought.

After successfully recruiting Dugu Bo, should she find a way to get him a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring?

In the end, Bibi Dong gave up on the idea.

For one thing, it would be too difficult. Yue Guan, Gui Mei, and Bibi Dong herself still needed Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Rings.

The other reason had to do with Dugu Bo himself.