Jiang Lin walked over to the spring, his gaze quickly sweeping across the surroundings.
The mountain walls around the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well were densely covered in plants, each one giving off a stronger or weaker spiritual energy fluctuation.
Jiang Lin first gathered the Immortal Herbs that required no special techniques to harvest.
At the same time, some Immortal Herbs he had no use for went straight into his system, becoming cold, hard points.
"Ding! Recycled Narcissus Jade Muscle Bone +16,000 points."
"Ding! Recycled Ink Jade Divine Bamboo +17,000 points."
"Ding! Recycled Primordial Immortal Grass +15,000 points."
"Ding! Recycled Star Luo Spirit Pearl +16,000 points."
Dugu Bo watched from the side, his eyelids twitching.
He had lived beside the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well for many years. Though he knew these Immortal Herbs were precious, he had never touched them. He didn't understand them, and with poison constantly afflicting him, he had no mind to study them.
Watching Jiang Lin ransack this treasured land, he felt his heart ache, but could only shake his head with a bitter smile. After all, it all belonged to Jiang Lin.
A short while later, Jiang Lin's system points had surpassed 200,000, finally reaching 205,973.
Looking at the Immortal Herbs still left before him, Jiang Lin waved his hand and directly bought the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record.
Tsk, tsk, tsk. If Little Scumbag found out he had this, he'd probably mark him for death on the spot, wouldn't he?
Shaking his head, Jiang Lin sat down where he was and opened the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record.
The first things to catch his eye were the six core secret arts:
These six techniques covered internal cultivation, movement, ocular arts, grappling, hand techniques, and the making and use of Hidden Weapons:
Internal Cultivation Method—Mysterious Heaven Skill: the orthodox Taoist internal cultivation method of the Tang Sect.
Training in this method allowed Soul Power to flow ceaselessly, granting exceptional stamina and recovery.
One of the standards of mastery was opening the body's eight extraordinary meridians.
Movement Method—Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track: an exceptionally mysterious footwork and movement technique.
When used, it created layers of afterimages, blending illusion with reality. It allowed the user to dodge or pursue at high speed using physical strength, without consuming Soul Power.
Eye Training Method—Purple Demon Eye: an ocular art unique to the Tang Sect.
It greatly enhanced observation and mental power, and was divided into four stages: Surveying, Subtlety, Mustard Seed, and Vastness.
Grappling Method—Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon: by controlling one's true qi with profound inner power, one could seize objects from a distance or use the technique of redirecting a thousand pounds with four ounces to deflect an enemy's attacks and control them.
Hand Training Method—Mysterious Jade Hand: a technique specifically designed to temper the hands.
After training, one's hands became as hard as cold jade and impervious to all poisons. It was essential foundational training for using and crafting high-grade Hidden Weapons, especially poisoned ones.
Hidden Weapon Usage Method—Hundred Explanations of Hidden Weapons:
It recorded the methods for making and using all kinds of top-grade Tang Sect Hidden Weapons, such as the Buddha Wrath Tang Lotus and the Pear Blossom Needle in Rainstorm. It emphasized covert use, catching enemies off guard and defeating them.
It was worth noting that the Medicine Chapter and Poison Chapter were included in the Hundred Explanations of Hidden Weapons.
When Tang San became a god and passed the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record to the Tang Sect on the Douluo Continent, he had specifically removed the contents of the Medicine Chapter and Poison Chapter from the Hundred Explanations of Hidden Weapons "for safety's sake," and crippled the key method in the Mysterious Heaven Skill for opening the eight extraordinary meridians.
As expected of God-King Tang. He'd even held something back from the sect he founded.
As for those six general principles?
Jiang Lin skipped right over them.
Only after finding the Immortal Herb harvesting methods in the Medicine Chapter did Jiang Lin continue gathering the remaining Immortal Herbs.
A short while later, Jiang Lin finally stopped.
He placed the last Immortal Herb in a jade box he had prepared in advance, then stowed it in his Storage Soul Tool.
Of course, the Autumn Dew Dew of Acacia, the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass, and the Infernal Delicate Apricot were all still growing where they had been.
"I'll need you to help guard me for what comes next."
Dugu Bo was taken aback. "What does the young master mean?"
Jiang Lin didn't answer. Instead, he walked to the edge of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well—right to the center where the Cold Extreme Yin Spring and the Scorching Yang Spring met, on the dividing line of the Taiji diagram.
He looked down at the churning spring water beneath his feet. The water on the left was cold enough to freeze the marrow in one's bones, while that on the right was hot enough to melt gold and iron. Two utterly opposing forces converged here, forming a delicate balance.
The Ice and Fire Golden Body.
"I'm going to temper my body at the center of the spring."
Jiang Lin said calmly, "Sorry for the trouble, all three of you. Until I finish tempering my body, don't let anyone approach this valley."
Tang Yuan furrowed his brow and, for the first time, took the initiative to advise him against it. "Xiao Lin, the energy in these springs is extremely unstable. If you go in recklessly, I'm afraid..."
"I know what you're going to say. It's dangerous, right?" Jiang Lin glanced back at him, a faint smile on his lips. "Uncle Tang, every opportunity in this world is bought with your life. Others might not dare to take the gamble, but I do."
Tang Yuan looked at the determination in his eyes. After a moment of silence, he nodded and said no more.
Dugu Bo looked as though he wanted to speak, but stopped himself.
He had lived beside the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well for half a lifetime and knew better than anyone how terrifying the two springs were.
For years, he had only dared to suppress his poison with the spiritual energy wafting from the springs. He had never dared let his body touch the water itself.
And now this boy wanted to enter the well and temper his body right at its center?
Was he crazy?
Jiang Lin gave no further explanation. He took a deep breath, removed his shirt, and revealed a body of well-defined muscles.
After telling Tang Yuan how to harvest the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and Infernal Delicate Apricot, he used his rank 98 Soul Power cultivation to harvest both Immortal Herbs flawlessly.
Without hesitation, Jiang Lin quickly swallowed them, then jumped straight in.
Splash—
Jiang Lin could feel the two utterly opposing forces—cold and heat, ice and fire—spreading through his body and colliding violently in his dantian.
For that instant, it felt as though half his body had been shoved into an ice cellar and the other half set over a furnace. The tearing agony made all his muscles cramp at once.
Jiang Lin gritted his teeth, veins bulging on his forehead. Before the cold sweat could even run down his face, the heat evaporated it.
He closed his eyes and drove the Soul Power in his body along the route he had planned, guiding the forces of ice and fire into his meridians. Using his body as a battlefield, he made them collide, cancel each other out, and merge.
The baleful aura of the Blood Fiend Divine Lightning surged from his Martial Soul, forming a protective film along the inner walls of his meridians and preventing the forces of ice and fire from directly damaging them.
Elder Chen and Tang Yuan stood by the spring, watching it with solemn expressions.
With the keen perception of Titled Douluos, they could clearly sense the astonishing changes taking place inside Jiang Lin. His meridians were rapidly expanding and strengthening, while the Soul Power in his body grew more condensed and refined under the tempering of the ice and fire.
Dugu Bo was dumbfounded too.
He had lived for more than eighty years and considered himself to have seen plenty of tough characters, but he had never seen a boy like Jiang Lin, barely in his teens, willing to risk his life for an opportunity.
At that moment, he suddenly felt that perhaps he hadn't been wrong to kneel earlier.
But soon, Jiang Lin sank beneath the water.
Before you continue