No matter how furious Dugu Bo became, the formidable might of a Titled Douluo surged outward again and again.
Yet it could not reach Lin Chuan, who had once more been swept into the depths by the surging currents from the bottom of the lake.
He seemed like a being sunk into eternal slumber, drifting aimlessly through the chaos while maintaining the position of sitting with all five points facing the sky, gulping down the energy around him.
With Giratina using the Soul Core as an anchor point and relying on its ability to devour and absorb, it helped him along.
The medicinal properties of the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and Infernal Delicate Apricot within Lin Chuan had already dissipated considerably, and had even been refined into something purer.
Under the influence of this energy, his body was instead being forged into something formidable.
His body grew much stronger. His pores tingled with comfort as energy continuously seeped into every part of him.
Thankfully, with Giratina's help, the refining process had sped up considerably, and most of the pain in his body had faded.
The medicinal effects of the Infernal Delicate Apricot became a warm current, gliding lightly and swiftly through every part of him like a fish in water.
Once he had settled down, Lin Chuan used the Soul Power escaping from him to activate his Storage Soul Tool.
The inner core of the Ten Headed Fierce Yang Serpent appeared before him.
He meant to use the medicinal effects of the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and Infernal Delicate Apricot to completely refine this inner core, which possessed an immensely potent primordial yang.
The Infernal Delicate Apricot was steadily improving his body, like needle and thread stitching a garment neatly together, inch by inch.
The Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass came next. Its medicinal properties were like a refreshing breeze, soothing every inch of his burning skin.
At that moment, Lin Chuan placed the Ten Headed Fierce Yang Serpent's inner core in front of his dantian.
In an instant, an attractive force became a vortex, rapidly refining the inner core of the Ten Headed Fierce Yang Serpent.
The moment its pure primordial yang entered his body, unadulterated desire flooded through him, making him itch to his very core.
Every increase in that primordial yang stoked the fire of desire.
The tingling itch that spread through his body was excruciating. Lin Chuan drew deep breaths, his chest rising and falling.
Fortunately, the combined suppressive effects of the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and Infernal Delicate Apricot allowed Lin Chuan to focus completely on refining this rich primordial yang.
The energy seemed like a maddened beast, thrashing and roaring in a frenzy.
The Ten Headed Fierce Yang Serpent's phantom flickered in and out of view, mysteriously merging with the last remnants of the Infernal Delicate Apricot's medicinal properties.
Then the phantom changed abruptly. Its ten heads thrashed savagely, and a pair of hard, bony protrusions gradually grew from its brow.
The next moment.
A thick aura of fire enveloped its entire body, and it roared in grief and rage amid the flames.
Yet this was no fire of despair. It was a fire of evolution.
The Infernal Delicate Apricot was pure grave grass for the Fire Dragon King.
Its energy instead spurred on the Ten Headed Fierce Yang Serpent's inner core at that very moment.
The primordial yang grew scorching, but it no longer ran wild.
Lin Chuan let out a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the fire of desire rising within him as he continued to refine the surging primordial yang that had just undergone this transformation.
Two days later.
It was an ordinary day. Dugu Bo quietly tended to the medicinal herbs he had planted in the garden.
The herbs here grew several times faster than they did outside, far outpacing their natural growth. Just a few days here produced the growth that would take several weeks outside.
It had been two days since he discovered Lin Chuan had disappeared.
At first, once he had calmed down, he saw the still-wet splashes of Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well water on the bank and assumed Lin Chuan had fallen into the well.
He went in to investigate, but found nothing.
If Lin Chuan really had fallen into the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, after two days he would have been reduced to nothing but bones.
Just as he was lamenting that all the precious, rare flowers and herbs there had been taken, the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well suddenly erupted with a deafening sound.
"Boom—!"
It was like a cannon going off underwater, sending water splashing several meters into the air.
The commotion was immense. Even Dugu Bo turned around warily to look.
At the very center of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, where the water had burst upward, stood a young man dressed in black.
The young man had handsome features and fair skin. His sharp eyes seemed edged with steel, and his tall frame gave him an imposing presence.
His long black hair hung loosely down his back, its ends naturally fluffy and framing his otherworldly features. With his proud bearing, he looked like an immortal descended from a painting.
At just one glance, Dugu Bo recognized the man before him.
It was Lin Chuan, the one who had made his teeth ache with anger!
He could sense that Lin Chuan had changed, though somehow he seemed unchanged. Still, he drew the eye far more than before.
It was like a flashlight with a dying battery suddenly being fully charged.
Perhaps the confidence and detachment in his bearing had become more pronounced, making Lin Chuan seem even more aloof and inscrutable, while still retaining that warmth and composure.
The enormous splash fell back into the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, pattering down like a brief shower.
After refining the medicinal properties, Lin Chuan felt completely refreshed.
He landed on the ground and saw Dugu Bo's furrowed brow and furious gaze. He smiled.
"Fancy seeing you again. Poison Douluo, did you think I'd run off?"
He was only testing the waters with that question.
He wanted to test Dugu Bo's attitude toward him, especially since he had an anchor point in place. It would reveal the man's unvarnished prejudice.
Dugu Bo gave a cold snort and turned away without expression.
They were both foxes a thousand years old. What was the point of playing innocent?
His thoughts were a mess. He had no mind to sit there trading talk with another old fox that was nothing but probing and self-interest.
Nor did he have any reason to say anything to Lin Chuan.
He was furious and couldn't maintain the attitude he'd had at first. Saying nothing was the best choice.
Lin Chuan, meanwhile, acted as though nothing had happened and followed behind Dugu Bo.
The gains from refining three Immortal Herbs this time had been tremendous.
The Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew had made his spiritual power purer and more refined, while also increasing it somewhat.
Refining the medicinal properties of the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and Infernal Delicate Apricot had also forged him an invincible body against Ultimate Ice and Fire.
At high temperatures, his body wouldn't be instantly scorched and decomposed.
In extreme cold, he wouldn't suffer the bone-piercing pain of the cold wind invading him, either.
In short:
Until the temperature reached a certain threshold, it would take longer for him to be burned or frozen to death.
In battle, what might have been a superficial wound could be reduced to a mere scrape when he faced Ice or Fire attributes of a lower level.
It was like iron, which melted at 1,538 degrees. The closer the temperature got to 1,538 degrees, the faster the iron melted.
Conversely, the lower the temperature, the slower it melted.
Before the other party's Ice or Fire attribute reached the Ultimate level, the lower its level, the more its damage to him would be greatly reduced.
Unfortunately,
the medicinal effects of the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and Infernal Delicate Apricot had already been completely absorbed. They could no longer let him withstand Ultimate Ice and Fire.
Come to think of it, Lin Chuan remembered that Tang San in the original story, along with a student from some plant-based academy, had both claimed to be immune to Ice and Fire.
But surely there were limits to that.
It was just that, during the Douluo I era, people still didn't know how to identify Ultimate Attributes.
Now he no longer had to worry about the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. To him, the temperatures inside were no different from a hot spring.
After absorbing Immortal Herbs, the energy in the pool couldn't harm him at all. It even helped him refine things.
Aside from his physique growing much stronger, the inner core of the Ten Headed Fierce Yang Serpent had caused no other unusual changes that he could find.
His Soul Power had also risen from a stable level seventy-four to level seventy-five.