"All right." Wang Dong'er pouted and grumbled.
"I never imagined this place would look like this." Du Busi couldn't help frowning.
At the moment, Du Busi had brought Lin Yuan deep into the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, using Lin Yuan's excuse that "my Martial Soul is reacting strangely."
The area around the breathtaking Great Ice and Fire Mandarin Duck Pot was a scene of utter devastation.
The trees around them had been toppled in every direction, and many of the flowers and plants had wilted helplessly.
Lin Yuan even spotted Immortal Herbs from the original story, including the Silk Velvet Fragrant Immortal Herb, but they all looked weak and listless.
"Stop... intruders..." The Silk Velvet Fragrant Immortal Herb weakly tried to dissuade Lin Yuan and Du Busi.
"Wow! A hundred-thousand-year Plant-type Soul Beast, too!" Du Busi's eyes lit up as he approached the Silk Velvet Fragrant Immortal Herb.
Seeing the intruders come at her again, the Silk Velvet Fragrant Immortal Herb couldn't help straightening her flower bud.
"Even though the previous intruders beat me to a pulp... I still have to..."
Thud!
A muffled thump sounded, and the Silk Velvet Fragrant Immortal Herb collapsed to the ground again.
"What are you mumbling about? Into my Soul Tool you go." With that, Du Busi stored her inside a Soul Tool capable of holding living things.
Soul Tools capable of holding living things had always existed, but up until now they could only hold plants and animals with little intelligence.
"Youyou!" The Infernal Delicate Apricot, lying beside the fire spring, cried out in grief and anger.
Her cry caught Du Busi's attention. He flashed over to the Infernal Delicate Apricot and raised his fist.
"Master, wait!" Lin Yuan hurriedly tried to stop him. Du Busi tilted his head and looked at Lin Yuan.
"I read in the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect's library that the Infernal Delicate Apricot produces Blazing Glue inside its body. Dig that out first, then put it in the Soul Tool."
Lin Yuan wasn't actually trying to stop Du Busi from acting. He was reminding him how to make the most of the harvest.
"Mm, that makes sense." A savage grin spread across Du Busi's face. Having a well-informed disciple was great.
"Y-you... What are you going to do... Don't, no!"
Seeing Du Busi's expression and his thick fingers wriggling, the Infernal Delicate Apricot could feel her despair, even though she had no face.
"Ah! No, you damn intruder! I'll chop your fingers off!"
The Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass watched in despair as Du Busi roughly hollowed out her friend, then put her into his Soul Tool.
Yet it didn't dare make a sound.
It wanted to run, but it couldn't.
The earlier clash with the Water Snake Ape had left them all badly injured.
Most of them could no longer even move. All they could do was despair as they waited to be slaughtered.
"Master, there's an Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass over there, too. It has Ice Crystal inside!"
At Lin Yuan's direction, Du Busi rushed over to the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass, not wanting his good disciple to get hurt.
Facing Du Busi, whose face was alight with the joy of a bountiful harvest, the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass shouted, "Wait!"
"Oh?" Du Busi looked surprised.
"I'll do it myself." With that, the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass spat out all the Ice Crystal essence stored inside its body.
It behaved itself and spared Du Busi the trouble of punching it again, then obediently entered his Storage Soul Tool.
"Looks like those two earlier got into a fierce fight with the Soul Beasts here. I never knew there were such reclusive super experts on the continent."
Soul Tools that could store living things were generally rather small. Carrying a sack over his shoulder, Du Busi spoke to Lin Yuan, who was helping him search the area.
"Yeah. Master, do you know what level those experts were?" Lin Yuan was also caught up in the joy of a bountiful harvest.
He already knew the answer to that question. After all, he knew better than anyone that there were only a handful of divine-level experts on the continent.
Tang Hao and Ah Yin were out of the question. If they wanted Immortal Herbs, they could just ask their dear son.
Given Tang San's filial devotion, they were sure to get as many as they wanted.
Gu Yuena? The dragoness wouldn't dare set foot outside the Star Dou Great Forest right now, unless she took human form.
And after taking human form, she'd no longer have her divine-level strength. That terrifying pressure from earlier had been all too real.
So it couldn't have been Gu Yuena.
That left Niu Tian and Tai Tan as the prime suspects.
But what kind of conflict had driven those two to act and cause such wanton destruction inside the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well?
After all, not a single one of the Immortal Herbs whose names Lin Yuan knew was missing.
After searching the area, master and disciple came to an intact tree. A wooden box lay quietly beneath it.
"What's this?" Du Busi didn't approach, remaining on his guard.
In his experience, the more ordinary something looked in a treasure trove, the more suspicious it was.
He swept the area with his spiritual power and sensed that a book was hidden inside the wooden box.
"Teacher..." Lin Yuan called on the God of Destruction for help, his expression darkening.
The wooden box containing the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record: Poison Chapter was the most likely place for Tang San to have left behind a trap in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
Since Tang San had left something behind, it was only natural to have the God of Destruction—someone on his level—deal with it.
"Don't worry. There's no threat inside," the God of Destruction said confidently.
"Are you sure there's no threat at all?"
"There was one before, but it's already been dispersed. Probably by those two divine beasts from earlier."
Once he'd confirmed there was no danger, Lin Yuan sat back and watched as Du Busi stepped forward to open the wooden box.
Du Busi took out the Poison Chapter, and Lin Yuan followed behind him to read it. The moment he saw the opening page, Lin Yuan couldn't keep a straight face. Neither could the God of Destruction.
[Greetings, fated one. I am Tang San, founder of the Tang Sect...]
Lin Yuan wouldn't bother mentioning all the other high-minded platitudes. The mere six words "founder of the Tang Sect" nearly made him burst out laughing.
Other people didn't know where the techniques in the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record came from, but Lin Yuan knew full well: an outer sect disciple who'd plagiarized the inner sect's techniques.
An outer sect disciple could only ever be an outer sect disciple. Once an outer sect disciple, always an outer sect disciple.
Those words would undoubtedly deal the greatest blow to Tang San's pride. The next time Lin Yuan faced him, he'd definitely use them to taunt him mercilessly.
"As expected of someone who became a god ten thousand years ago. Truly high-minded. I used to think he was a hypocrite when I was young. Seems my thinking was mistaken." Du Busi sighed as he read the first page.
Then his eyes narrowed. He glanced around at the surroundings, which seemed a little off, and said, "But why would this manual on poison be in a place like this?"
"Could the previous owner have found it and decided to keep it hidden away for himself?"
Du Busi had a rather absurd thought. Could Tang San have simply not wanted outsiders to learn his manual on poison?
Then what was the point of this book's existence?
Even the Tang Sect he founded wasn't allowed to know about it?