Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well!

With the White Flood Dragon leading the way, the long-silent Yin-Yang Taiji Diagram and Green Leaf Sword finally began to resonate faintly.

Heh, finally some response!

Looks like we were simply too far away before, and the connection was too weak.

Feeling the tremors from the two treasures, Zhang Qingxuan understood—the energy levels of the Ice Dragon King and Fire Dragon King had truly reached an unimaginable realm.

About half an incense stick later, the view before him suddenly opened up.

The White Flood Dragon brought Zhang Qingxuan to the summit of a valley shrouded in a faint mist.

Looking down, he could vaguely see a strange spring at the bottom. One side was wreathed in cold air, freezing water into frost, while the other steamed with heat like molten lava. The utterly different auras of ice and fire intertwined and circulated here in remarkable harmony.

"Found it—the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well." Zhang Qingxuan perked up.

This was the legendary land of heaven-sent fortune. After the Ice Dragon King and Fire Dragon King fell, their primordial powers had intertwined and fused, evolving over tens of thousands of years into this place.

The rare treasures and exotic herbs nurtured within were all priceless treasures difficult to find in the outside world.

"Let's go down."

Zhang Qingxuan did not linger. With a flicker of his body, he drifted down toward the valley floor like a falling leaf. The White Flood Dragon let out a long roar, its winding body swaying through the air as it followed close behind.

The sight at the valley floor became clearer.

All manner of exotic flowers and strange herbs grew around the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well. Some bloomed like flames, while others gleamed like sculptures carved from ice.

The air was saturated with incredibly dense natural energy. Ice and fire elemental energy merged here, forming a unique and exceptionally pure energy field.

However, at the very instant Zhang Qingxuan and the White Flood Dragon landed—

A cold, venomous gaze fixed upon them like a poisonous snake.

At the same time, Zhang Qingxuan sensed an extremely brief stagnation in the surrounding space-time.

It was no illusion. Some powerful innate ability had affected the local space-time, forcibly cutting off his connection with the world around him for that instant.

In that fleeting moment, a murky gray beam shot out from a hidden crevice at the bottom of the valley!

Wherever the beam passed, the air congealed. Several falling leaves instantly turned to stone in midair before shattering into powder.

The beam was aimed directly at Zhang Qingxuan and the White Flood Dragon, who had just landed.

An ambush? Too impatient.

Zhang Qingxuan sneered inwardly. His spiritual power surged, forcibly breaking through the feeling of frozen space-time.

He raised a hand and swept it forward. A golden barrier abruptly unfolded, firmly shielding both himself and the White Flood Dragon within.

The Petrification beam struck the golden barrier and melted away like ice and snow meeting fire, leaving not even the faintest trace.

Zhang Qingxuan's gaze flashed like lightning as it shot toward the beam's source.

It was a rock fissure blanketed in shadow, one that ordinary people would never have noticed. Yet under the sweep of his spiritual power, nothing could remain hidden.

Deep within the fissure, a pair of vertical pupils slowly opened. The pupils were a bewitching dark gold, filled with venom, greed, and a trace of incredulous terror.

"Hisss—!"

Medusa Queen let out a threatening hiss, her dark golden vertical pupils fixed tightly on Zhang Qingxuan.

"Hisss!" (Human... leave this place... this is this Queen's territory...)

"Your territory?" Zhang Qingxuan smiled without quite smiling.

"Since when did a land of heaven-sent fortune become the private property of a beast like you?"

"Hiss—!" (Human, don't push me too far!)

Medusa Queen's thoughts were filled with fury.

"Hisss—!" (This Queen has guarded this place for many years. This treasure land has long belonged to me! If you know what's good for you, leave at once, or else...)

"Or else what?" Zhang Qingxuan stepped forward, his tone calm yet carrying unquestionable authority.

Medusa Queen's snake hair writhed madly, revealing the violent turmoil in her heart.

She had already used her full strength in that strike just now, yet she had failed even to shake the golden light protecting him.

This human Soul Master's strength was unfathomable.

After weighing her options for only an instant, Medusa Queen made her decision.

"Hiss—!" (Human, I am willing to yield this treasure land to you.)

A trace of concession entered her voice.

"Hiss—!" (As long as you let me leave, all the rare herbs and treasures here will belong to you.)

She slowly retreated. Yet her dark golden vertical pupils remained locked on Zhang Qingxuan, clearly not having abandoned her vigilance entirely. She was ready at any moment either to strike suddenly or flee.

"Yield it to me?" Zhang Qingxuan chuckled and shook his head.

"If I kill you, it will still be mine. Besides..."

Zhang Qingxuan opened his Heavenly Eye, his gaze sweeping over Medusa Queen's body, where a dense, lingering aura of bloodshed coiled around her.

"You have committed monstrous sins. Since I happened to encounter you today, your tribulation has arrived."

Medusa Queen was both shocked and enraged. She had not expected this human to be so decisive.

Before his words had even faded, Zhang Qingxuan raised his right hand and loosely curled his fingers.

"Palm Lightning!"

He uttered only those three simple words.

A domineering bolt of lightning carrying the aura of judgment erupted from Zhang Qingxuan's hand and shot toward Medusa Queen!

The lightning was so fast that it had already surpassed Medusa Queen's reaction speed.

She only had time to coil her snake hair around her vital areas before the terrifying lightning struck her.

"Hissah—!!!"

A shrill scream echoed through the valley.

Within the blazing white lightning, Medusa Queen's massive body writhed frantically. Her gray-black scales shattered piece by piece beneath the lightning, exposing charred, curling flesh that gave off a pungent burnt stench.

In only three breaths, the lightning faded.

All that remained was a charred snake corpse. Most of its body had been reduced to ash by the lightning, leaving only its head and less than half of its remains.

A deep black Soul Ring slowly rose from the corpse.

"What a pity. Such an excellent ten-thousand-year Soul Ring." Zhang Qingxuan shook his head slightly.

At his current realm, ordinary Soul Rings were of little use to him. Yet this seventy-thousand-year Medusa Queen Soul Ring would be enough to drive any Soul Sage in the outside world mad.

His gaze fell upon the snake's head, where faint but pure energy fluctuations emanated.

"Just as expected..."

With a thought, a golden rope of light darted into the charred remains like a spirit snake leaving its burrow.

A moment later, the golden rope returned, wrapped around an object.

It was a palm-sized bone, crystal-clear like jade. It resembled part of a skull, and faint spiritual fluctuations flowed over its surface, with dark golden light occasionally flickering across it.

"A head Soul Bone, and it even comes with the ability of Petrification. The quality is quite good."

Turning the Soul Bone over in his hand, Zhang Qingxuan could feel the powerful energy contained within.

Most of Medusa Queen's innate ability, Petrification, had condensed into this bone.

He suddenly turned his head and looked at the White Flood Dragon nearby.

The White Flood Dragon was currently curled up behind a boulder, trembling. Only half its head was exposed, and its vertical pupils were full of fear.

When it saw Zhang Qingxuan looking over, every scale on its body stood on end. It let out hurried, aggrieved growls from its throat.

"Roar—! Roar roar! (I'm following you! You can't kill me!)"

"Roar—! (I can't condense that kind of bone either, so don't get any ideas about me!)"

Seeing this fierce White Flood Dragon, which had dared to attack him not long ago, now trembling like a frightened little beast, Zhang Qingxuan could not help but laugh.

"Don't worry. Since you are acting under me, I naturally will not mistreat you, much less harm your life. This Soul Bone may be good, but it is not enough to catch my eye."

His voice was mild, yet it carried a power that inspired trust.

Upon hearing this, the fear in the White Flood Dragon's vertical pupils receded somewhat. Still, it kept its distance warily and did not dare approach too closely.

After soothing the White Flood Dragon, Zhang Qingxuan began carefully examining the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well.

Within a radius of ten zhang around the spring, the energy of ice and fire had reached an eerie balance.

On the left grew strange herbs that were entirely ice-blue, their leaves carved like crystal and radiating intense cold. On the right were fiery red lingzhi mushrooms, with magma-like patterns flowing across their surfaces.

Farther away were all kinds of exotic flowers and spiritual fruits, all heavenly medicinal herbs that had long vanished from the outside world.

"Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass, Infernal Delicate Apricot, Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew, Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum..."

Zhang Qingxuan identified them one by one, wonder flashing repeatedly in his eyes. Any one of these immortal-grade herbs falling into the outside world would be enough to unleash a bloody storm.

He strolled around the spring, and with every step, he could feel the dense vitality and pure energy rising from beneath his feet.

The energy concentration here was at least ten times greater than in the outside world. Moreover, the fusion of ice and fire energy created a unique cultivation environment with extraordinary effects for tempering the body and nourishing the soul.