Sunset Forest, deep within the poison array.
The surrounding vegetation grew sparse, thinning out from its former lushness until it disappeared entirely.
In its place lay a valley encircled by mountains.
The moment they stepped inside, a strange wave of heat mingled with icy air and rushed toward them.
Qin Feng stood at the mountaintop and looked down. In the oval pool below, milky-white and scarlet spring water stood in stark contrast, neither encroaching on the other, while billowing mist rose where they met.
The Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
This was a geomantic treasure land known as one of the three great treasure troves.
Dugu Bo stood with his hands behind his back, gazing at the medicinal garden that belonged to him, his voice carrying a trace of pride.
"Kid, this is where I live in seclusion."
"You can pick any herbs here. As long as you can cure Yanyan, I won't say a word even if you strip the place bare."
He spoke boldly, but the corner of Dugu Bo's eye still twitched ever so slightly.
There were many herbs here that even he couldn't identify, but anything capable of growing in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well's extreme environment was no ordinary treasure.
Qin Feng didn't stand on ceremony. He jumped straight down.
To Dugu Bo, the Immortal Herbs here might have been nothing more than unknown poisonous plants or medicinal tonics. But to Qin Feng, who had read the original work cover to cover, this place was practically paved with gold.
Most importantly, he was getting to them first.
These things were originally all Tang San's opportunities. Now, they were his.
Qin Feng walked up to a bright-red herb that looked like a cabbage but radiated astonishing heat.
Infernal Delicate Apricot.
Next, he looked to the other side, where a white herb bore a large, star-shaped flower at its tip and gave off a bone-chilling cold.
Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass.
Qin Feng moved swiftly. He took jade boxes from his Soul Tool and, without the slightest hesitation, brought his hand down with a knife, gathering one after another of these Immortal Herbs—treasures that could set the entire continent into a storm of blood and wind.
Aromatic Silk Beauty, Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew, Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum...
As Qin Feng plucked those strangely shaped herbs one after another and stuffed them into his arms as if he were pulling radishes in his own vegetable garden, Dugu Bo's face began twitching uncontrollably.
Especially when Qin Feng pulled up an Immortal Herb that gave off a rich, intoxicating fragrance, Dugu Bo felt his heart bleed.
He had guarded that herb for ten years, waiting for it to mature so he could see what kind of treasure it was.
And now this kid had snatched it away with a hand more ruthless than anyone's.
"Grandpa."
Standing to one side, Dugu Yan watched Dugu Bo's pained expression and the way he couldn't bring himself to object. She covered her mouth and giggled.
"You said I could take whatever I wanted."
"With that look on your face, anyone who didn't know better would think you were having flesh cut from your body."
"So this is what it means to... get your gold coins blown out of you?"
Dugu Bo glared at his granddaughter and snapped,
"Who do you think I'm doing this for?"
"As long as it cures your poison, what do these worldly possessions matter?"
Though he said this, Dugu Bo still turned his head away, out of sight, out of mind.
After gathering all the herbs he needed, Qin Feng was in high spirits.
With these treasures, he could not only cure Dugu Yan's poison but also greatly improve his own strength—and even take the opportunity to cultivate the girls around him.
As for Tang San?
He'd probably have to come here and drink bathwater from now on.
Qin Feng walked over to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well and sat on a flat rock.
"All right, I've got the herbs."
"Now for the Pill Refining."
Qin Feng flipped his hand, and a quaint black pill cauldron appeared out of thin air, landing on the rock with a dull thud.
The next instant, the clothes on his back burst apart, and a pair of enormous bone wings unfurled.
The wings were a strange, ghastly white, with icy-blue flames burning across them.
Bone Spirit Cold Fire.
Dugu Bo's pupils contracted slightly.
Even he, a Titled Douluo, felt a trace of trepidation at the aura of those flames.
They were the product of extreme cold and extreme heat perfectly fused together.
"Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone..."
Dugu Bo murmured under his breath, a grave look flashing in his eyes.
Watching Qin Feng's focused back, Dugu Yan's playful expression faded. She walked over to Dugu Bo's side and gently tugged at the old man's sleeve, her voice low.
"Grandpa."
"Actually... whether he cures my poison or not is secondary."
Dugu Bo paused and turned to look at his granddaughter.
Dugu Yan bit her red lip, never taking her eyes off Qin Feng.
"He revealed that Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone at the academy. There's bound to be someone with designs on him."
"The main reason I brought you here was so you could... protect him."
Her voice grew softer and softer, tinged with a young woman's shyness.
Dugu Bo had lived for decades. How could he fail to hear what she meant?
His green eyes swept back and forth between Dugu Yan and Qin Feng several times, and the corners of his mouth curled into a teasing smile.
"Yanyan, do you like this kid?"
Dugu Yan's pretty face instantly flushed crimson, like a ripe apple.
"Grandpa! What nonsense are you talking about?"
"I just... just think he's a talented person. It'd be a shame if he died."
Dugu Bo snorted coldly and folded his arms.
"He may be talented, but he's far too arrogant."
"Talent alone isn't enough to make him my grandson-in-law."
"You're my one and only precious granddaughter. If he can't even cure the poison in your body, then even if the King of Heaven himself came here, I wouldn't agree to the two of you being together."
Dugu Yan stamped her foot and was just about to argue when a strange fluctuation suddenly came from ahead.
They immediately stopped talking and turned their eyes toward Qin Feng.
Qin Feng's hands flew about, forming one dazzling hand seal after another.
The ghastly white flames rose beneath the pill cauldron, wrapping around it completely.
Qin Feng tossed in one precious herb after another.
Under the scorching flames, the herbs quickly turned into pure medicinal liquid, their impurities entirely removed.
This method was simply unheard of.
Soul Masters on the Douluo Continent generally used herbs by swallowing them directly or boiling them in a simple decoction.
For Dugu Bo, this kind of extraction and fusion, refined to the utmost degree, was no different from a door opening onto a whole new world.
"Where in the world did this kid learn these techniques?"
All traces of contempt had vanished from Dugu Bo's eyes, replaced by profound astonishment.
He had spent his whole life working with poison and prided himself on knowing more about herbs than anyone.
Yet before Qin Feng's miraculous Pill Refining, he felt like a novice apprentice.
As time passed, a rich medicinal fragrance, so thick it seemed to solidify, wafted out of the cauldron.
Just one breath of it made Dugu Bo feel the Soul Power that had lain dormant in his body for years stir slightly.
"Condense!"
Qin Feng shouted, then brought his hands together with a sharp clap.
The pill cauldron rang with a clear hum.
The next moment, the lid shot into the sky.
Five streaks of light shot out of the cauldron, and Qin Feng snatched them out of the air with lightning-fast reflexes.
Qin Feng opened his palm. Five pills, each the size of a dragon's eye, lay quietly in it.
The pills were entirely emerald green, a faint glow drifting across their surfaces as they gave off a refreshing fragrance.