Without Dugu Bo to stop them, the four soon reached the bottom of the valley.
The sight before them brought everyone to a halt.
At the center of the valley floor lay a vast pool, divided evenly into two halves. One half churned with scorching red spring water, while the other held bone-chilling white water. The two colors met in the middle of the pool without mixing.
All around the pool grew a great variety of strange herbs.
At the sight of it, a faint smile finally appeared on Su Ming's lips.
The Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well, one of the greatest opportunities in the Douluo World!
"Th-this... is the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum! It's really the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum!" Suddenly, Chrysanthemum Douluo let out a cry of astonishment.
He hurried over to a gigantic, golden flower that looked like a chrysanthemum. His voice trembled. "It really is the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum! My martial soul... I thought I'd never see one in my lifetime. Ah... it's so beautiful, just like me..."
Before he could finish admiring it, his gaze fell on a small, blood-red flower growing on a rock not far away.
His whole body shuddered. "Lovesick Heartbreak Red! The noble king of flowers?!"
Chrysanthemum Douluo was stunned. How could a legendary Immortal Herb like this be growing here?
Unable to help himself, he dropped to his knees, his face full of shock and reverence.
Su Ming walked over to Yue Guan and looked at Chrysanthemum Douluo's devout expression. "If you like it, you can take it."
Yue Guan stiffened. He turned to Su Ming in disbelief, then hurriedly waved his hands. "No, no, that wouldn't do! You found these. How could you give them all to me?"
Su Ming's mouth twitched. He was getting ahead of himself. At most, he could have one.
"That Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum is a perfect match for your martial soul. Only you can draw out its full potential. But a person can consume only one Immortal Herb. Any more, and you'll explode."
Yue Guan was immediately embarrassed.
He'd thought Su Ming was giving him all of them. Heh.
Still, one was good enough. He carefully plucked the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum.
Su Ming wasted no time.
Drawing on the memories in his mind, he used a specific method to dig up every mature Immortal Herb in front of him, roots and all, and put them into his storage ring.
In just a short while, the once-lush edge of the valley had been stripped bare.
Hidden nearby, Dugu Bo watched, gnashing his teeth. "Damn it! That brat took all my herbs!"
But then a trace of curiosity crept into his expression. "How does he know how to harvest them? Every herb I pick dies. I can't preserve any of them."
After collecting most of the Immortal Herbs, Su Ming went to the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well.
Only two herbs remained there. One radiated an extreme chill, the other an extreme heat: the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and the Infernal Delicate Apricot.
Su Ming had no intention of passing up such a chance to transform himself.
"Elder Chrysanthemum, Elder Ghost, please stand guard for me. Don't let anyone disturb me," Su Ming instructed them.
"Understood," the two replied.
Hu Liena asked, "What are you going to do?"
"Temper my body!"
As soon as Su Ming spoke, he used an object to quickly pluck the two poisonous Immortal Herbs, then swallowed them both without hesitation.
The two extremes of ice and fire clashed inside him at once, turning his face half red and half white.
Hu Liena tensed at the sight, but Su Ming quickly stopped her from coming over.
Then he clenched his teeth and, without the slightest hesitation, leaped straight into the place where the two springs met.
The spring water swallowed him in an instant. Its extreme cold and heat surged madly into his body, as though they meant to tear him apart!
Watching from afar, Dugu Bo nearly goggled his eyes out of his head.
He gave a cold snort. "Even I wouldn't dare touch that pool lightly. That brat from Spirit Hall is practically asking to die!"
Hu Liena and the others were also startled. But remembering Su Ming's instructions, they forced themselves to stay put and stood guard over him.
Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
Hu Liena, Yue Guan, and Gui Mei waited anxiously on the bank for three days.
If bubbles hadn't kept rising from the water, they would have thought Su Ming had died in there.
Just then, ripples suddenly spread across the center of the pool.
With a boom, water exploded upward, and a figure leaped out of the spring, landing steadily on the open ground along the bank.
It was Su Ming!
Everyone was overjoyed and hurried over to him!
After three days of tempering in ice and fire, his body brimmed with strength. His build was well-proportioned, his muscles lean and defined, and a faint jade-like sheen seemed to flow across his skin.
But Hu Liena had barely taken one step toward him before she stopped dead and whipped around!
Her pretty face flushed scarlet. "Hmph! Shameless!"
The ice-and-fire tempering had corroded away all of Su Ming's clothes.
Now he stood completely naked, without a stitch to cover himself!
Though Hu Liena had turned away, she couldn't help stealing glances at him from the corner of her eye.
She took one look, quickly looked away again, and felt her heart race. Her little mouth fell open. "So big..."
Su Ming remained composed. He took a set of clothes from his storage ring and quickly put them on.
Only then did Yue Guan ask with concern, "How are you? Are you all right?"
"I'm fine," Su Ming replied.
He clenched his fist. After the tempering in ice and fire, his physical strength had clearly improved quite a bit.
However, the last trace of fire attributed to his martial soul still remained.
But that was only natural. The ice-and-fire tempering had strengthened his body, not his martial soul.
To purify his martial soul, he would still need an Immortal Herb.
Su Ming had no intention of consuming an Immortal Herb here. After all, this was Dugu Bo's territory, and it wasn't one hundred percent safe.
"Our trip is over. Let's head back," Su Ming said.
But before leaving, he called out toward the surrounding area. "Come out. I know you've been nearby these past three days."
Soft footsteps rustled nearby.
Dugu Bo emerged from the shadows, his expression deeply conflicted.
He stared at Su Ming, who was unharmed and even stronger than before. His eyes were full of shock.
That spring was dangerous enough to injure him if he so much as touched it, yet Su Ming had soaked in it for three whole days and nights!
After coming out, he wasn't just unharmed—he was even stronger!
He suddenly felt worse than if he'd eaten shit. It was like the treasures had all been his, but now belonged to someone else.
Su Ming glanced at him and said flatly, "Your granddaughter's poison is easy to deal with. Find a Soul Bone and force the poison into it. After that, the poison won't keep eating away at her."
"Is it really that simple?" Dugu Bo couldn't quite believe it.
"Whether it's simple or not, you'll find out when you try. Besides, you were going to find your granddaughter a Soul Bone anyway, weren't you?"
With that, Su Ming turned to leave. "Oh, one thing to keep in mind: your poison is too deep-rooted. This method won't work for you."