Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well

Upon hearing the words "Gulu Ball," the rag in Su Heng's hand dropped to the floor.

He had been squatting at the shop entrance, polishing a piece of old ore, but upon hearing those three words, he froze as if struck by lightning. He then jerked his head up to see a silver-haired youth standing at the entrance—long, silver-white hair, a vertical purple pupil in his left eye, and a round silver-white pupil in his right—watching him with a smile.

Su Heng's mouth opened, but no sound came out. He stood up, afraid to believe it, and bumped his knee against the counter. He winced in pain but didn't bother to rub it; instead, he rushed to the door in three strides, grabbed Luo Chen by the shoulders, and looked him up and down several times.

"Who are you?"

"I'm back," Luo Chen said.

Su Heng stared at him for three seconds, his eyes reddening, before he punched him in the shoulder. "Where have you been for these ten years? You left without a word—do you have any sense of loyalty? Do you know how I've spent these years..."

"I know," Luo Chen interrupted. "You went to the academy gate for several days every year and asked the grilled fish shop owner to keep an eye out for my whereabouts."

Su Heng was stunned. "How did you know?"

"My teacher and the guy who grills the fish told me."

Su Heng fell silent for two seconds, then turned and walked into the shop. He poured two glasses of wine and handed one to Luo Chen.

"Can you drink?"

"Of course."

"A toast to what?" Su Heng asked.

"A toast to the grilled fish," Luo Chen said.

Su Heng smiled, clinked his glass against the other, and the two downed their drinks in one gulp.

There was no tearful embrace, no long-winded speech. Ten years of separation, at this moment, were all contained within the wine!

"Are you leaving again this time?" Su Heng asked.

"Not for now." Luo Chen paused. "But I have to take care of my sister's situation first. Something went wrong with her martial soul awakening, so I'm taking her to see my teacher tomorrow."

"Luo An'an? I've seen her. I snuck into your house to find you that year and saw your little sister. She's very cute."

"Yeah, I was surprised when I first got back, too," Luo Chen said.

Su Heng nodded, not asking further. He glanced at Luo Chen's silver hair and heterochromatic eyes, then suddenly chuckled. "With that look of yours, don't scare your sister."

"She's long since gotten used to it; I've been back for over a month," Luo Chen said.

Su Heng was taken aback, then laughed and scolded, "You've been back for over a month and didn't know to come find me."

As they finished the wine in their glasses, Luo Chen said, "I'm going back to the academy tomorrow to see my teacher and ask about my sister's condition, though I already have a few guesses."

Early the next morning, Luo Chen took Luo An'an to the Education Committee.

Luo An'an wore her hair in two small buns and was dressed in a newly made floral dress, walking toward the mountain while holding Luo Chen's hand. It was the little girl's first time in Tiandou City, and she found everything fresh and exciting, chattering away with questions as they walked.

"Big brother, is that old grandpa scary?"

"Him? He's not scary at all."

"Does he have any candy?"

"He probably does."

"Will he like An'an?"

"Of course! Our An'an is so cute; if he doesn't like you, I'll pull out his beard!" Luo Chen feigned a fierce expression.

"You're going to pull out whose beard?" Meng Shenji, who had been waiting outside the door, couldn't help but darken his expression upon hearing his own disciple's declaration.

As soon as Luo An'an saw Meng Shenji, she let go of Luo Chen's hand, ran up to the old man, and tilted her head to look at him for a moment. Suddenly, she grinned, revealing a gum line missing two front teeth.

"Hello, Grandpa!"

Meng Shenji's face was full of kindness as he patted Luo An'an's head and pushed a plate of snacks from the side toward her.

"Come, have some snacks."

Luo An'an grabbed a piece, took a bite, and her eyes lit up. "Delicious!"

"It's good, isn't it? If it's good, eat some more."

Meng Shenji looked at Luo An'an and nodded, then looked up at Luo Chen. "Tell me more about the martial soul in detail."

Luo Chen recounted everything exactly as it happened: the process of the awakening array's light flickering and dying out, and how the martial soul had only barely taken shape under the catalysis of time energy.

Meng Shenji looked at Luo An'an and said gently, "Little An'an, Grandpa is going to help you check your martial soul in a moment. Would you mind relaxing and closing your eyes?"

Luo An'an didn't quite understand, but she said, "Okay!"

She could feel that this old grandpa had no ill intent, so she closed her eyes and stood up straight.

Meng Shenji instantly manifested his martial soul. Black energy enveloped Luo An'an as his spiritual power probed into her body. He wanted to figure out exactly what Luo An'an's martial soul was; he had dedicated his life to researching martial soul theory, and if he could solve this mystery, it would be a great achievement for him.

"Strange..."

When his spiritual power touched that black ball of light, it was suddenly "sucked" in and began to be devoured bit by bit.

"This is... the power of devouring!"

Meng Shenji withdrew his spiritual power, his heart filled with a trace of shock!

"Teacher, what is going on?"

Meng Shenji said, "We must find a way to awaken this young lady's martial soul. Her martial soul is extraordinary, and what's more! She doesn't just have one!"

Twin martial souls!

Luo Chen was also stunned. He asked the Evil Emperor, "Evil Emperor, how could you not have sensed my sister's second martial soul?"

The Evil Emperor replied irritably, "If this were in the past, how could I not have known? But now, over eighty or ninety percent of my strength is sealed by you, and I cannot directly probe her body. If you could let me out, I would certainly be more accurate than what this old man says."

Luo Chen stopped paying attention to him. He already understood the gist of it and was now waiting for Meng Shenji to speak.

"Two martial souls. One is a jar with devouring attributes, and the other is a garment with super-strong defensive capabilities. This second martial soul has a characteristic: it can conceal its attributes. The reason you didn't detect it is because its trait was triggered, so it only displayed the black shadow of the jar."

"Then Teacher, how can we ensure she awakens successfully?"

Meng Shenji paused and said, "It requires a massive amount of pure and ultimate energy. Ordinary energy won't suffice; it must have ultimate attributes. I suspect your time attribute is extremely pure, which is why it was able to stimulate the initial manifestation of her soul."

Massive, ultimate, and pure!

Luo Chen pondered, where could he find such energy?

The next moment, a place name instantly appeared in his mind—the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well!

With its ultimate ice and fire, legend had it that the remains of two Dragon Kings lay beneath it, providing energy that was pure and ultimate, which in turn had given birth to a vast array of immortal herbs.

Luo Chen was no saint. Since he knew about this, he would not pass up such a resource.

"Teacher, do you know Dugu Bo?"

Meng Shenji was taken aback. "Why do you mention him? That old poison master has a poor reputation. What are you planning?"

Luo Chen said, "Teacher, could you put in a word with Prince Xue Xing? I have a letter here that I need to be delivered personally to the Green Scaled Douluo."

"What are you doing?"

"I want to make a trade with Dugu Bo. I believe he will be very willing."