Douluo Traversal: I Pulled Out a Dou Technique and You Didn't Explode? Part 17

Dugu Bo frowned.

"Are you sure it's these two? If I'm not mistaken, both of these plants are highly poisonous!"

Liu Bai nodded.

"That's right. Taken separately, these two Immortal Herbs are among the deadliest poisons in the world—death is certain if consumed! But if they're taken together and then one enters the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well, they can use the power of extreme cold and extreme heat to refine the body through ice and fire!"

"You're going into the spring too?"

Even Dugu Bo did not dare touch that spring, yet Liu Bai intended to go in.

"That's right. Senior Dugu, don't worry. I never do anything unless I'm sure of it!"

Dugu Bo waved a hand.

"I believed you after everything you've done before, kid, but this spring is no joke."

"Alright!"

With a raise of Liu Bai's hand, two flashes of cold light streaked through the air, instantly severing the two Immortal Herbs.

"Senior Dugu!"

Dugu Bo raised his hand, using Soul Power to send both Immortal Herbs into Liu Bai's hands at once!

Success or failure depended on this one move!

Liu Bai held an Immortal Herb in each hand. In his left was the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass. It was freezing to the touch, its leaves covered in a fine layer of white frost, enough to freeze the surrounding air. In his right was the Infernal Delicate Apricot, scarlet throughout and scorching hot in his grip, as though he were holding a red-hot branding iron.

The two extreme energies entered his meridians through his palms in an instant. Half his body felt as though it had fallen into an ice cellar, while the other half seemed to be roasting over flames. The sensation of Ice and Fire Two Heavens shot straight into his mind!

Yet he did not hesitate in the slightest. A fierce glint flashed through his eyes as he opened his mouth and stuffed both highly poisonous Immortal Herbs into it, chewing and swallowing them in huge mouthfuls!

The Immortal Herbs melted upon entering his mouth. Extreme cold and extreme heat transformed into two violent torrents, instantly breaking through all his defenses and rampaging through his body as they collided!

"Urgh—!"

Liu Bai could not help letting out a muffled groan, his body trembling violently.

One moment, blue ice crystals formed over his skin. The next, his skin turned crimson and scorching hot, with wisps of white steam rising from it. The ice and fire energies fought fiercely within him, as if they wanted to tear his body apart!

His meridians, bones, and internal organs all groaned under the impact of those two terrifying energies. Waves of agonizing pain crashed over him, nearly drowning his will.

"Kid!"

Dugu Bo watched from the side with his heart in his throat. He could clearly sense the two utterly opposing and terrifying energies clashing explosively inside Liu Bai. He could not help stepping forward, only to force himself to stop.

No, he could no longer stop this. The Immortal Herbs had already entered Liu Bai's stomach. He could only trust the kid now!

Don't you dare die!

Liu Bai clenched his teeth, veins bulging across his forehead as bead-sized drops of sweat streamed down.

Splash!

Liu Bai's body fell precisely into the boundary between the milky-white and vermilion spring waters.

At that instant, the extreme cold and extreme heat outside immediately resonated with the ice and fire energies within him!

Boom—!

Like a powder keg being ignited, or a volcano being awakened, Liu Bai felt his consciousness completely swallowed by the ultimate collision of ice and fire. His vision went dark, and he was about to pass out.

But he gritted his teeth and forcibly kept himself from losing consciousness.

His body did not sink. Instead, it floated at the boundary of the spring waters, half submerged in the milky-white cold spring and half immersed in the vermilion hot spring.

Cultivate!

Gather the hand seal for cultivating Dou Qi while sitting cross-legged in the spring, and force himself to calm down through cultivation!

A wondrous change began to occur.

The ice and fire spring waters outside seemed to possess endless suction, beginning to frantically draw out and guide the two terrifying medicinal energies within him that had nearly destroyed him.

The medicinal effects of the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and Infernal Delicate Apricot, which had originally rampaged through his body and opposed each other like fire and water, actually began to slowly merge under the mediation of the external ice and fire power, which shared their origin yet was even stronger. They seeped deep into his body.

His Dou Qi was also being tempered at the same time, continuously absorbing the surrounding ice and fire energy.

The Dou Qi inside his body grew at a visible rate!

On the spring's surface, red and white vapor rose even more violently, shrouding Liu Bai's figure until it flickered in and out of sight.

At times, a thin layer of white frost covered his skin. At others, it became red-hot like iron fresh from the forge. Ice and fire intertwined and tempered his body. With every cycle, they purged the tiniest impurities from his body in a domineering and agonizing manner, strengthening every inch of muscle, bone, and flesh, even reaching into his marrow!

Dugu Bo stared tensely at the figure in the spring. Although he knew this was part of Liu Bai's plan, the ever-changing color of his skin and the terrifying aura of rising vapor still left his heart hanging high.

Time passed bit by bit. It had already been broad daylight by the time Dugu Bo finished absorbing the Earth Dragon Golden Melon, while Liu Bai's absorption lasted another full day, from the sun at its peak to sunset, then until night fell.

Within the valley of the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well, everything was quiet aside from the gurgling of the spring and the occasional faint glow of swaying Immortal Herbs.

Dugu Yan had long since finished absorbing her Immortal Herb. She sat cross-legged by the shore, silently cultivating to consolidate the Soul Power she had just broken through to, though her gaze kept drifting worriedly toward the spring.

Dugu Bo stood atop a massive boulder. He could feel the two violent medicinal energies gradually fusing with Liu Bai's body, while the ice and fire spring waters—which even a Title Douluo would normally not dare touch—had become the best furnace and protective shell.

"This kid... his willpower and physical foundation are truly monstrous."

Dugu Bo sighed inwardly.

Even he had only dared to use the spring's aura to suppress his poison from its edge when he discovered it back then. He would never have dared to jump directly in like Liu Bai, much less consume two extremely poisonous Immortal Herbs with opposite extreme attributes at once.

That courage and decisiveness made him admire Liu Bai even more.

A night passed, and dawn began to break.

Liu Bai still had not emerged. At this moment, he was completely immersed in cultivation.

The energy of the two Immortal Herbs had already been fully absorbed by him.

His meridians and bones had also undergone intense tempering, becoming incomparably resilient.

More importantly, under the strange environment created by the two Immortal Herbs and the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well, his Dou Qi had accumulated to its absolute limit.

He could break through to the Dou Zhe realm!

In one push, Liu Bai intended to condense a Dou Qi Cyclone within the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well and break through to become a Dou Zhe!

Liu Bai bit down hard on his lip. The several energies within his body compressed and collided madly, sending waves of stabbing pain through his meridians. Fortunately, the tempering of the two Immortal Herbs had made his meridians exceptionally tough.

Thus, though he could feel the pain, it did not cause much damage.

The incomparably pure ice and fire energy seemed inexhaustible. The Dou Qi in his body had already filled every corner of his meridians!

Now—condense the Dou Qi Cyclone!

Liu Bai's hand seal abruptly changed. His index fingers and thumbs joined together while his middle fingers touched, forming a strange seal. As his hand seal shifted, the surging Dou Qi within his body seemed to be caught by a savage suction force, violently contracting toward his lower abdomen!

The pale white Dou Qi from every part of his body turned milky white by the time it reached his lower abdomen.

Compress, compress, compress again!

If he failed now, his Dou Qi would directly fall back to the eighth stage!

His soul perception spread out, controlling the Dou Qi as it continued to compress. Before his powerful soul power, the Dou Qi's resistance was futile.

Very soon, he forcibly compressed the Dou Qi until it was only the size of a palm, where it stalled once more!

Just a little more!

Liu Bai gritted his teeth and directly mobilized his Soul Power, crushing down fiercely on the Dou Qi again!

A soft muffled sound came from within his body, and the swelling resistance of the Dou Qi abruptly vanished.

Within the ice and fire spring waters, Liu Bai's aura suddenly rose to an entirely new level!

Dou Qi and Dou Qi were practically two completely different forms of energy.

His mind sank into his body.

He entered a state of inner vision. In the past, he had needed special circumstances to look inward, but upon reaching the Dou Zhe realm, he could now do so freely. The stronger one became, the more thoroughly one could examine the inside of one's body.

His mind sank into his lower abdomen. A palm-sized Dou Qi Cyclone slowly revolved there, surrounded by a cloud-like layer of milky-white energy.

Below the Dou Qi Cyclone were his two Martial Souls.

After the Ice and Fire Golden Body Refinement, his Golden Flame Martial Soul had changed as well. The flame, which had once been nearly pure gold, was now tinged with scarlet and icy blue, the three colors entwined together.

The Blood Martial Soul did not seem to have changed much, but in truth it had also been tempered. His physical constitution was far stronger than before.

Most important of all was the Dou Qi Cyclone. Although it was still small, the energy contained within it was more than ten times stronger than before.

Dou Qi and Dou Qi were fundamentally different. During the Dou Qi stage, one absorbed Dou Qi, but a Dou Zhe absorbed true Dou Qi. The difference was only a single word, yet they were worlds apart.

With Liu Bai's current strength, he could guarantee that he would hold the upper hand even against a Soul Elder. He could not claim certain victory, but among Soul Elders, there were absolutely not many who could contend with him!

The two Immortal Herbs had mainly improved his physical constitution while also helping him condense the Dou Qi Cyclone. His Soul Power had only risen three levels, and his Soul Power Level was now level 25.

He opened his eyes and leaped out of the ice and fire spring.

He landed steadily on the ground. The commotion from Liu Bai condensing the Dou Qi Cyclone had not been small, and Dugu Bo and Dugu Yan had long been waiting there.

Dugu Yan stood up in delight.

"Xiao Bai, you finally came out! You scared me to death! While I was absorbing my Immortal Herb, you actually jumped straight into that spring! Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

Liu Bai scratched his hair.

"Sister Yanyan, wasn't I sure of myself? When have you ever seen me say something I wasn't sure about?"

"That's the only thing you ever say."

As she spoke, she turned her head away. Then she suddenly noticed that Liu Bai had grown quite a bit taller and was already nearly as tall as she was.

"Kid, put some clothes on first, unless you want this old man to beat you."

Only then did Liu Bai remember that his clothes had all turned to scraps while he was in the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well. He hurriedly took out a set of clothes from his storage Soul Tool and put them on.

The Soul Tool had been given to him by the Three Education Committees back then.

Dugu Yan also remembered that Liu Bai had emerged completely naked just now. Her pretty face flushed crimson as she turned away, though she could not resist glancing back at him again.

Her face grew even redder.

Only after seeing him dressed did Dugu Bo step forward and inspect him carefully.