Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well as Payment!?

Inside Dorm 108,

"Phew—"

Liu Yuan opened his eyes and slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air, bringing that afternoon's cultivation to an end.

After resting yesterday, two more rounds of the New Student Assessment had begun today: the elimination matches from sixty-four to thirty-two, and from thirty-two to sixteen.

There was no need to mention the strength of their opponents. As the top sixty-four among the new students, they were naturally quite capable. Yet they had only just broken through Huo Yuhao and Xiao Xiao's blockade before Liu Yuan tied them up tight.

Both battles had been settled within half a minute.

After that,

Liu Yuan cultivated in the dormitory until now.

By the time he woke up,

it was already about evening.

He glanced across the room.

Seeing that Huo Yuhao had gone off somewhere, Liu Yuan decided to head to the cafeteria and deal with dinner first.

But he had barely gotten to his feet

when the dormitory door was pushed open.

Huo Yuhao entered from outside carrying a boxed meal. When he saw Liu Yuan awake, he grinned.

"Brother, you're awake."

"Perfect. I brought you dinner."

Seeing him set the food on the table, Liu Yuan did not stand on ceremony. He unwrapped the chopsticks and started eating from the box.

"Where did you buy this? The cafeteria doesn't allow takeout."

Huo Yuhao scratched his head and chuckled.

"Of course I went into the city."

Liu Yuan's hand paused before he continued eating.

This kid... To get from Shrek Academy to Shrek City, there was a shortcut, but Huo Yuhao definitely did not know it. He could only leave through the east gate, then enter through either the south or north gate, making a huge detour.

Just for one meal, he had gone through quite a lot of trouble.

Thinking of that, Liu Yuan said, "You don't need to bring me food anymore. What's the big deal if I skip one meal?"

"Of course it's a big deal. You'll be starving." Huo Yuhao sat on the bed, looking wholly unconvinced. "You told me before: if you aren't proactive about eating, there's something wrong with your attitude."

"Heh, you brat..."

Hearing that, Liu Yuan said nothing more.

Dinner was basically just a small interlude. Once they finished, the two of them continued cultivating.

But when midnight arrived,

and a new day began, Liu Yuan opened his eyes. With a thought, he opened the Platform Panel.

He gave it a quick scan.

Finding no suitable tasks, he refreshed it.

He had thought there would be no suitable task again today, but on the final refresh, Liu Yuan's eyes nearly popped out of his head! He could hardly believe it!

[Task One (Vengeance Serpent): Resolve my own severe poison problem and provide a method to increase my strength (valid for: 6 years); Reward: Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well (modifiable)]

What!?

What was the reward!?

Were his eyes playing tricks on him!?

It was as though three question marks had slammed into Liu Yuan's head, leaving him utterly dazed. He even instinctively rubbed his eyes.

After confirming that he had read it correctly...

"Is this person drunk..." Liu Yuan's voice was filled with disbelief. "Who the hell is offering up the entire Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well? That's absurdly generous."

According to the Platform Panel's principle of equivalent value, the person who issued this task clearly understood what the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well was.

Yet even so,

they were actually offering this entire treasured land as payment? Who could possibly be so lavish?

After calming down,

Liu Yuan stared at the task description for a long time.

Resolving the poison in one's body and providing a way to increase one's strength were both nowhere near worth such a reward.

As for the issuer's identity, he already had a guess—Dugu Bo from another universe.

After thinking for a moment, he moved the task into the [Retention Zone] and then clicked [Accept].

Liu Yuan planned to personally visit that universe and see what exactly was going on with the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

If it truly did not work out, he could always give up later.

A beam of multicolored light enveloped him.

[Ding!]

All perception has been completely blocked and altered.

Then, the very next second,

Liu Yuan vanished completely.

"Buzz—"

Once the multicolored light faded and Liu Yuan opened his eyes again, the first thing he saw was a strange pool divided into milky white and crimson red.

It was unmistakably the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well!

But when Liu Yuan turned around, where was any so-called "paradise"? It was completely barren.

Of course, the actual situation was not quite that exaggerated.

But the sight before him...

truly could not be called one of the three great treasure basins anymore.

The entire treasured land looked as though it had been chewed up by dogs.

It also looked as though bandits had swept through it.

"Ugly, isn't it?"

A melodious female voice suddenly sounded behind Liu Yuan. Turning back, he saw a woman approach with green hair, green eyes, green nails, green lips... Aside from her skin, every part of her was green. Yet she possessed a devilish figure and a lovely face.

Liu Yuan: "..."

This wasn't Dugu Bo, was it?

Had Dugu Bo changed genders? Or was this a grown-up Dugu Yan? And how had the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well become like this?

"You're the one who accepted the task, right?"

The woman glanced at Liu Yuan. From her gaze, however, Liu Yuan noticed a trace of disdain.

But that was normal enough.

Besides, she did have the strength to look down on him.

From the aura emanating from this woman, Liu Yuan compared it with the auras of his parents. He found that her cultivation was indeed higher than theirs, though not by much.

At most, she was a Soul Saint.

In that case, she was not a gender-swapped Dugu Bo. That left only one possibility—

a grown-up Dugu Yan!

"That's right. It was me."

Liu Yuan nodded. "Who are you?"

"Heh..."

The woman gave a soft laugh. "Dugu Yan." She slowly walked toward Liu Yuan, deliberately rising onto her toes.

"You should give up this task." Dugu Yan moved close. To Liu Yuan's astonishment, she actually breathed warm air onto his face, her seductive manner fully on display.

Yet in the face of such teasing,

Liu Yuan instead took a step back.

Under Dugu Yan's faintly smiling gaze, he covered his nose and mouth. What he smelled in that breath was not floral fragrance, but a fishy stench.

Because it also contained poison,

though it was the less potent kind.

Having studied the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record, Liu Yuan could easily tell that the breath Dugu Yan exhaled would not harm anyone. At most, it would numb them.

At the same time, he saw through Dugu Yan's condition.

The poisoning had penetrated deep into her bones and organs. There was not a single part of her body without poison. Poison mixed into her exhaled breath had actually become normal for her.

Good heavens!

She was a living poison person!

Most importantly, she had actually survived!

"Hiss—"

This thorny situation

made even Liu Yuan suck in a breath of cold air.

Dugu Yan noticed this and gave another soft laugh. "I already told you to give up quickly. With your cultivation, I'm afraid you won't be able to complete the task."

But despite saying that,

a trace of sorrow surfaced deep in her eyes.