With the protection of the Blue Silver Domain, Jiang Li and Tang San followed Dugu Bo swiftly through the Jade Phosphorous Poisonous Miasma on the outskirts. Once they entered the inner area, the view opened up before them.
Though the valley was small, it was like a hidden realm cut off from the mortal world!
Strange plants filled the valley, spreading their branches and leaves wherever they pleased. Each had a different shape, so many that the eye could hardly take them all in.
Many flowers and plants wantonly shed dazzling fluorescent light, as if draped in a layer of dreamy gauze.
Yet what drew the most attention was the lake in the center of the valley.
One half of the lake was milky white, like congealed cream; the other was vermilion, like flowing fire. Their boundary was distinct, yet they blended together naturally. Its shape resembled the Taiji symbol, though it didn't quite match the traditional yin-yang fish pattern.
Where the two colors met, the water swirled inward, forming a churning eye that seemed like the heart of the valley.
But stranger still, each of the milky-white and vermilion springs nurtured a unique plant.
Growing in the milky-white spring was a plant of icy blue from top to bottom. Its leaves spread outward in eight corners, and the air around it was bitterly cold.
Meanwhile, a fiery red plant stood in the vermilion spring, bold and vibrant, answering the icy-blue plant from across the water. Together they formed an indescribable spectacle at the heart of the lake.
Tang San was stunned by the beautiful sight before him. This really was the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well recorded in the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record!
That was the Cockscomb Phoenix Sunflower... and those were the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and Infernal Delicate Apricot...
At that moment, Tang San felt so happy he could have fainted!
But he quickly got his emotions under control. This place didn't belong to them yet!
And from what Senior Dugu had just said, he understood that the man had been sitting on a mountain of treasure without knowing it!
Perhaps...
Jiang Li, too, was astonished by the beautiful sight. In his previous life, he had learned from written descriptions just how captivating this place was, but seeing it with his own eyes still left him stunned for quite a while.
"No wonder this place is called one of the Three Great Treasure Basins under heaven."
Hearing Jiang Li's remark, Dugu Bo turned his head curiously. "Oh? What's that? You know about this place, boy?"
Jiang Li nodded. "This place is rich in the energy of heaven and earth."
"If plants grow here, their growth rate can increase by who knows how much."
"And I suspect, Senior Dugu, that you relied on this place's extraordinary properties to suppress your own serpent poison and make that final breakthrough to become a Titled Douluo, right?"
Jiang Li said just enough and no more.
He was afraid the old man might go mad once he learned the truth.
Dugu Bo raised his head proudly and stroked his beard, looking quite pleased with himself. "All right, you two boys. I've brought you in here, so now you can tell me about the method you mentioned for curing the Jade Phosphorous Serpent clan's poison, can't you?"
"Of course. But Senior Dugu, the two of us need to pick some herbs here that will be useful to us as payment. I trust you won't mind?"
Dugu Bo wasn't surprised. He readily nodded in agreement.
Just then, Tang San tugged on Jiang Li's clothes and led him aside, signaling that he had something to say.
Jiang Li gestured to Dugu Bo, then went over to the side with Tang San.
Dugu Bo, for his part, considered himself a mighty Titled Douluo with his own pride. Naturally, he wouldn't eavesdrop.
"Master, I imagine you recognize the Immortal Herbs here, and know how important they are."
"Your disciple came up with a Soul Bone method that could force Senior Dugu's serpent poison into a Soul Bone. That would fulfill our promise."
Tang San's meaning was simple: the two of them could share the good things here between themselves. He was also afraid Dugu Bo would go back on his word if he learned what the herbs could do.
After all, the other man was a genuine Titled Douluo.
And there was one thing he hadn't said: if Dugu Bo's serpent poison flared up again years later and made him explode, wouldn't this treasured land truly belong to them then?
"Oh? Xiao San, you recognize these Immortal Herbs too?"
At Jiang Li's sudden question, Tang San stammered that when he was young, he had accidentally found an illustrated book. It had detailed records of all these Immortal Herbs, as well as the uses of some poisonous substances.
Jiang Li didn't call him out. As for that little scheme in Tang San's heart, Jiang Li saw right through it.
Jiang Li sincerely wanted to teach Tang San well, and couldn't let him harbor such an evil idea.
Why had Tang San become God King Tang? Wasn't it because Yu Xiaogang had taught him the wrong things by word and example?
Jiang Li felt that his habits from his previous life as an assassin had influenced his state of mind far too much. Changing Tang San into the person he wanted him to become was going to be a major undertaking!
"Xiao San, basic honesty is essential. And with your intelligence, I'm sure you've already guessed that Soul Bones have a limit to how much they can contain."
"Senior Dugu may have a strange temper, but when he gives his word, he keeps it. Besides, I have the means to ensure he won't dare attack us or go back on his promise."
"What's more, there are only two people left in the Jade Phosphorous Serpent clan now: him and his granddaughter. All these Immortal Herbs would be useless in the hands of just the two of them."
"Xiao San, I hope the disciple I teach will grow into a strong man who cares for all living things, not someone who stops at nothing for personal gain."
"I hope this will be the first and last time."
Jiang Li's tone was calm, but Tang San felt his face burn.
He hadn't expected his master to be so noble, or to have such high hopes for him.
"Master... I... I was wrong."
As someone who had carved the belief that "once a teacher, always a father" deep into his bones, Tang San readily accepted his master's instruction.
Once again, he felt how great his master was.
In his previous life, even after the inner sect disciples had become pupils of the elders, those elders had only ever cared about their cultivation. They had never cared about their disciples' moral growth!
And his father in this life had taught him nothing about such things either!
At that moment, Tang San felt once again that he was incredibly fortunate to have taken his master as his teacher!
There was even something he himself hadn't noticed.
Without him realizing it, his master's appearance had begun to gradually overlap with the image of his father in his memories!
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