Ice Fire Yin Yang Well

Dugu Bo was overjoyed. "We'll go with the middle option!"

Xing Tian said with some difficulty, "Even so, there are still two urgent problems to solve. First, Soul Bones. Although they can serve as poison sacs, their capacity is limited. We'll need Soul Bones of sufficiently high quality, and enough of them. Second, the medicine. This guiding medicine still requires one extremely hot and one extremely cold herb. They'll probably be hard to find."

"Extremely hot and extremely cold... Heaven hasn't forsaken my Dugu Family!"

Dugu Bo immediately thought of something and burst out laughing. Then he headed deeper into the cave. "Follow me!"

After leaving the cave, Dugu Bo led Xing Tian up toward the mountaintop.

The mountain wasn't very tall, only about five hundred meters, but it was quite steep.

By the time they reached the summit, night had fallen.

Xing Tian saw that the ground before them formed a basin shaped like an inverted cone. The summit where they stood was its edge, a steep cliff.

Dense heat rose from the basin. It was humid, with a hint of the distinctive smell of sulfur.

Xing Tian said, "There must be a hot spring here. But if we can feel it even at this altitude, it must be quite unusual."

"You're a clever one."

Dugu Bo glanced at him, then jumped down and called, "Follow me!"

The cliff was extremely steep. Even a Soul King would have to proceed cautiously without the ability to fly, let alone a Soul Grandmaster.

But Xing Tian had the Nine Deaths Footwork, along with years of accumulated cultivation. That was more than enough to handle it.

Xing Tian immediately leaped down, racing along almost flush against the rock face.

After landing, Dugu Bo looked up expectantly. One reason he hadn't brought Xing Tian down with him was to test him.

Dugu Bo had always found it strange that whenever he looked at Xing Tian, the boy seemed unfathomably deep, even though he was still under ten years old, while Dugu Bo himself was a dignified Titled Douluo.

The sight that met his eyes left him utterly astonished. Xing Tian really had descended the cliff on foot, without even using his Martial Soul. In only a short while, he had reached Dugu Bo's side.

But once he landed, Xing Tian was even more astonished. His gaze was completely captivated by the scene in the valley before him.

The hot spring before him was quite different from what he had imagined. It wasn't very large, but it was divided into two sections.

The water in the oval pool was two distinct colors: icy blue and vermilion.

Even more astonishingly, though they shared the same pool, the two colors remained clearly divided. Neither encroached upon the other; each stayed firmly on its own side.

As Xing Tian stared at the scene before him, his body trembled involuntarily with excitement. He hadn't expected to see such a place on the Douluo Continent.

The Yin-Yang Well was a singular spring with two sources, where the two opposing forces counteracted one another. A place of such natural wonder might not form even once in ten million years. It was a place where all the splendor of heaven and earth converged, and where Heaven and Earth Origin Power gathered. It could nourish both people and plants.

The Yin-Yang Well brimmed with Heaven and Earth Origin Power, making cultivation twice as effective.

At the same time, the Yin-Yang Well created the valley's unique climate. Ordinary plants couldn't adapt to it, but all kinds of rare plants could thrive there, growing at least ten times faster.

But there was no doubt that the one before them wasn't a true Yin-Yang Well. It lacked pure Yin and Yang energies, instead containing the forces of ice and fire.

Thus, it was a kind of Yin-Yang Well—the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well.

The convergence of extreme heat and extreme cold made it less temperate than a true Yin-Yang Well. If a human or animal lived near it, the two extremes of Heaven and Earth Origin Power would assail them within a short time. Unless they left quickly, they would inevitably explode.

Yet extreme heat and extreme cold both had a powerful suppressive effect on poisons. That was why they could suppress the poison inside Dugu Bo's body, giving him the chance to cultivate to the Titled Douluo realm.

"You seem pretty excited." This was the first time Dugu Bo had ever seen Xing Tian look like this. Even when Xing Tian's Martial Soul had been established, he hadn't been this thrilled.

"How could I not be? Senior Dugu, you're sitting on a mountain of gold!"

Xing Tian told Dugu Bo about the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well. Dugu Bo was stunned and sighed, "I was blind. I had a mountain of treasure without even knowing it."

Xing Tian asked curiously, "Senior Dugu, so many precious herbs grow here. Why haven't you used them?"

Dugu Bo explained, "I recognize some of them, of course, but they're no use for my poison cultivation, nor can they cure the poison in Yanyan and me. So I left them here, intending to give them to Yanyan as her dowry one day."

"The problem is that I don't recognize some of the plants. The first time I came here, curiosity got the better of me, and I tried to pick one."

"The moment my fingertip touched it, the poison inside my body flared up rapidly. If I hadn't been quick, and if this place hadn't suppressed poison, I would have died on the spot."

"I narrowly escaped death, and ever since then, I haven't dared touch any herbs I don't recognize."

"I see."

Xing Tian understood. Then he asked, "Which herb was it?"

Dugu Bo pointed at it. The entire plant was crystalline white, and every blade of grass glistened with moisture as though it were about to drip. Its curved, outstretched shape closely resembled the long, graceful neck of a swan.

Xing Tian immediately recognized the herb before him. "This is Snowy Swan Kiss. It's not poisonous in itself, but it can amplify poison by hundreds or even thousands of times."

Dugu Bo's expression darkened. "So I was just unlucky. Once bitten by a snake, you fear the rope for ten years!"

Xing Tian didn't think there was anything wrong with that. "Fear is only natural. That's why courage is such a noble quality."

"You're right."

Dugu Bo strolled slowly around the area with Xing Tian, pointing out more than a dozen herbs in succession and asking, "Come to think of it, you're young, but you know a lot. Do you recognize these strange herbs?"

"I recognize some of them."

Xing Tian said, "Lovesick Heartbreak Red, Primordial Immortal Herb, Cockscomb Phoenix Sunflower, and Black Jade Divine Bamboo. These are all immortal-grade herbs, each possessing wondrous powers that can wrest the workings of nature from heaven and earth. Taking one might even lead to Martial Soul Evolution."

"As for the plant in front of us, I can't name it, but I can guess what it does. It isn't meant to be eaten."

Dugu Bo asked curiously, "Then how is it used?"

Before them was a large, pale-pink flower without leaves. Its stem was about three feet long, and the flower was a full foot across. Its petals were crystal-clear, and its pale-purple stamens were shaped like purple diamonds.

Xing Tian explained, "This must be the Aromatic Silk Beauty, the bane of all poisons. Within the pale-pink light it emits, all poison will be neutralized."

At this explanation, Dugu Bo visibly brightened with excitement. But Xing Tian quickly poured cold water on his hopes. "It can counter poison, but it can't cure it. It can't do anything about poison that has already penetrated deep into the body."

"What a pity." Dugu Bo sighed regretfully, then shook his head with a bitter laugh. "I really have wasted my seventy-odd years. I know fewer herbs than a child like you."