"Jade Phosphorus Fungus." Dugu Bo casually explained, "It's a symbiotic organism naturally produced by my Jade Phosphorous Serpent Martial Soul. These fungi release trace amounts of neurotoxins. If ordinary people come in here, they'll lose their minds in less than the time it takes an incense stick to burn, then wander lost in the woods forever."
Qin Chuan nodded, making a mental note.
Dugu Bo led the way. His pace wasn't fast, but every step was sure. He knew this area like the back of his hand; he could walk its paths and avoid its pitfalls with his eyes closed.
Dugu Yan followed behind her grandfather, occasionally glancing back at Qin Chuan with a smile. "Qin Chuan, stay close, okay? Don't fall behind."
"Don't worry, I won't get lost."
The three of them had been walking through the forest for about fifteen minutes when the scenery abruptly changed.
The trees vanished.
In their place was an open clearing, filled with a kind of flower Qin Chuan had never seen before.
The flowers were about half a meter tall, with thick stems and fleshy leaves. Each bloom had seven petals, each a different color—red, orange, yellow, green, blue-green, blue, and violet. The colors mingled together in a dazzling, almost painful display.
But the strangest thing was that the roots of every flower were wrapped tightly around bones.
Human bones and animal bones. Big and small, piled atop one another.
The flowers had sprouted through the gaps in the bones, blooming in magnificent profusion.
A chill crept up Qin Chuan's spine.
"Jade Phosphorus Seven-Absolute Flower." Dugu Bo's voice was calm, as if he were introducing some utterly ordinary flower. "I spent thirty years cultivating these. Each bloom contains seven different deadly poisons, and any one of them is enough to kill. When all seven poisons combine, even someone above Level 90 has only half an incense stick's time to deal with them. Otherwise, death is certain."
Dugu Yan nodded beside him. "Grandpa's poison array is amazing. A Soul Emperor above Level 60 once wandered in here. He took just three steps before collapsing. Grandpa was kind enough to throw him back out afterward."
As Qin Chuan looked at the sea of flowers, his awe of Dugu Bo's strength grew.
Though the old man had been ravaged by poison, his methods were still terrifying.
"Stay close to me. Don't take a single wrong step." Dugu Bo's voice turned stern.
He raised his right hand, and a pale green glow lit his palm. Sensing their master's presence, the petals of the Jade Phosphorus Seven-Absolute Flowers drooped to either side, opening a narrow path barely wide enough to walk through.
Dugu Bo led the way, each step steady.
Dugu Yan followed close behind, carefully placing her feet in her grandfather's footprints.
Qin Chuan brought up the rear, keeping his eyes fixed on the path traced by the two ahead of him and following it to the letter.
The flowers on either side were close enough to touch. Their cloyingly sweet smell was so thick it seemed almost tangible, smearing across his face.
Qin Chuan held his breath. Heavenly Dao Power circulated on its own within him, forming a thin filtering barrier in his nose and lungs that kept the poisonous gas out.
It took about five minutes to cross the flower field.
Once they emerged, the view suddenly opened up.
A long, narrow canyon stretched before them, its sheer cliffs rising high into the clouds. An unusual mist hung over the entrance.
The left half of the mist was crimson, the right half a deep blue. Where the two colors met, they collided and churned, making a faint sizzling sound.
The air temperature had also turned strange.
On the left, waves of scorching heat washed over them, as if they were standing beside a furnace.
On the right, bone-chilling cold rose from the ground, as if they were deep inside an ice cellar.
Two utterly opposite extremes coexisted without so much as a transition, leaving one half of the body burning and the other freezing.
"It's just ahead." Dugu Bo turned to look at Qin Chuan. "The Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well lies at the end of this canyon. But there's still some distance to cover. The Yin-Yang energy along the way clashes violently. Every time I go in, I have to circulate my Soul Power with all my strength just to endure it. You..."
He looked Qin Chuan up and down, then hesitated.
How could a Soul Master at Level 29 withstand an energy impact of this magnitude?
Qin Chuan saw his concern and said, "Don't worry, senior. Heavenly Dao Power is rooted in the harmonization of Yin and Yang. This poses no threat to me."
Dugu Bo was unconvinced, but didn't say anything more.
The three of them entered the canyon.
The temperature shifts inside were far more severe than they had been at the entrance.
With every step, the heat radiating from the cliff on the left grew stronger. Qin Chuan could feel the skin on the left side of his face tightening from the heat, as if someone were waving a branding iron beside him.
The right side was the opposite. The cold pierced to the bone, and even the breath he exhaled turned into white mist.
Dugu Bo led the way, his emerald Soul Power shield keeping the Yin-Yang energy at bay. Even so, his pace had slowed noticeably, and fine beads of sweat had appeared on his forehead.
For a Titled Douluo whose body was ravaged by poison, maintaining that shield took no small amount of effort.
Dugu Yan stayed close to her grandfather, protected within the shield. She hunched her shoulders, folded her arms across her chest, and looked a little pale.
"Grandpa, I feel awful."
"It's all right. I'm protecting you. Don't be afraid."
Qin Chuan followed behind them, Heavenly Dao Power circulating steadily through his meridians.
Strangely enough, the Yin-Yang energy that put such a tremendous strain on Dugu Bo seemed to be drawn to Qin Chuan like a magnet, flowing into his body of its own accord.
Heat seeped in from the left, cold from the right. The two forces met at his dantian, then were wrapped up by Heavenly Dao Power and slowly fused, becoming a gentle warmth that flowed in an endless cycle through his meridians.
Neither hot nor cold. It was even a little comfortable.
Like soaking in a bath at just the right temperature.
Qin Chuan himself was a little surprised. He had prepared to tough it out, but the journey turned out to be astonishingly easy.
Heavenly Dao Power really can harmonize Yin and Yang. The information the system gave me wasn't wrong.
After walking for about ten minutes, the three of them reached the center of the valley.
Dugu Bo glanced back at Qin Chuan.
The old man's expression was odd. He had noticed that Qin Chuan's face had remained as calm as still water the whole way, and he hadn't even broken a sweat.
"Young man, are you all right?"
"I'm fine, senior."
Dugu Bo's mouth twitched.
Even he, a Level 92 Titled Douluo, had to grit his teeth to get through this stretch. Yet this kid hadn't so much as changed his expression.
The Heavenly Dao Martial Soul... truly lived up to its reputation.
In the center of the valley, not far ahead, lay the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well. It was oval, roughly ten meters across, with two springs—one red, one blue—clearly divided from each other.
It bore some resemblance to a Taiji Diagram.
Looking closer—
The spring on the left was crimson. Its water boiled and churned, sending up waves of steam in suffocating heat. A faint red glow like liquid flame floated across its surface.
The spring on the right was a deep blue. Its water was still as a mirror, but a thin layer of ice covered the surface. Cold mist rose from it and lingered in a dense white haze.
The two forces clashed violently in the narrow space between the springs, creating a visible band of warped energy.
The air there looked like crumpled paper, and even the light bent.
Standing at the entrance to the cavern, Qin Chuan was stunned by the sight.
He could feel Heavenly Dao Power within him resonating wildly.
The force surged from deep within his dantian, as if it had found a long-lost relative. It coursed through his meridians and spread throughout his body, then tugged desperately toward the two springs.
Like a man who had gone three days without water suddenly seeing a spring, the thirst was overwhelming and impossible to resist.
"This is the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well." Dugu Bo's voice came from beside him, tinged with emotion. "I've guarded this place for over thirty years, and no one has ever been able to get close to those two springs. The impact where the Yin and Yang springs meet is so strong that even I can only stay five meters away for fifteen minutes, no matter how hard I resist."
Qin Chuan took a deep breath, suppressing the surging Heavenly Dao Power within him. He did his best to keep his voice calm. "Senior, I want to try."