Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well

When Su Heng heard the words "Gulu Ball," the rag fell from his hand.

He had been crouched outside the shop, wiping down an old piece of ore. The moment he heard those words, he froze as if struck by lightning. Then he jerked his head up and saw a silver-haired young man standing in the doorway, smiling at him. His long hair was silvery white, and he had a purple vertical pupil in his left eye and a round silver-white pupil in his right.

Su Heng opened his mouth, but no sound came out. He stood up, unable to believe his eyes, and banged his knee against the counter. He grimaced at the pain but had no time to rub it. Taking three steps in two, he charged to the doorway, 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 reddened, and then he punched Luo Chen in the shoulder. "Where have you been all these years? You left without a word. What happened to loyalty? Do you know how I've spent these past ten years..."

"I know," Luo Chen cut in. "Every year, you sat outside the academy for days, then asked the grilled-fish shop owner to keep an eye out for me."

Su Heng blinked. "How did you know?"

"My teacher and the grilled-fish shop owner told me."

Su Heng fell silent for a couple of seconds, then turned and went into the shop. He poured two cups of liquor and handed one to Luo Chen.

"Can you drink?"

"Of course."

"What should we drink to?" Su Heng asked.

"To grilled fish," Luo Chen said.

Su Heng laughed and clinked his cup against Luo Chen's. They drained them in one go.

There were no tears in each other's arms, no long speeches. At that moment, all ten years apart were poured into their cups!

"Are you staying this time, or are you leaving again?" Su Heng asked.

"I'm staying for now." Luo Chen paused. "But I need to take care of my sister's situation first. Something went wrong with her Martial Soul Awakening. Tomorrow, I'll take her to see my teacher."

"Luo An'an? I've met her. That year, I secretly went to your house looking for you and saw your little sister. She was adorable."

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

Su Heng nodded without asking anything more. He glanced at Luo Chen's silver hair and differently colored eyes, then suddenly laughed. "The way you look, don't scare your little sister."

"She's used to it by now. I've been back for over a month," Luo Chen said.

Su Heng stared at him, then laughed and cursed, "You've been back for over a month and didn't think to come see me?"

They drained the liquor in their cups, and Luo Chen said, "Tomorrow I'm going back to the academy to ask my teacher about my sister. I already have a few suspicions."

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

Luo An'an had her hair tied up in two little buns and wore a new floral dress. Holding Luo Chen's hand, she walked with him up the mountain. It was her first time in Heaven Dou City, and everything was new to her. She chattered away, asking questions as they went.

"Brother, is that 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 adorable, if he doesn't like you, I'll pull out his beard!" Luo Chen said, pretending to be fierce.

"Whose beard are you going to pull out?" Meng Shenji, who had been waiting outside, heard his beloved student's threat and couldn't help but look exasperated.

The moment Luo An'an saw Meng Shenji, she let go of Luo Chen's hand and ran over to him. She looked up at him for a moment, then suddenly grinned, revealing the gums where two front teeth were missing.

"Hello, Grandpa!"

Meng Shenji's face softened with affection. He patted Luo An'an's head and pushed the plate of pastries beside him toward her.

"Here, have a snack."

Luo An'an picked one up and took a bite. Her eyes lit up. "It's yummy!"

"Tasty, isn't it? Have some more, then."

Meng Shenji looked at Luo An'an and nodded, then looked up at Luo Chen. "Tell me more about the Martial Soul."

Luo Chen explained everything in detail: how the Martial Soul Awakening array had lit up and then gone out, and how the Martial Soul had only just managed to take shape under the impetus of the power of time.

Meng Shenji looked at Luo An'an and said gently, "Little An'an, Grandpa needs to examine your Martial Soul in a moment. Can you relax and close your eyes for me?"

Not understanding what was going on, Luo An'an could only answer, "Okay!"

She could tell that the old grandpa meant no harm, so she closed her eyes and stood up straight.

Meng Shenji instantly entered Martial Soul Possession. Black mist enveloped Luo An'an as he sent his spiritual power into her body. He wanted to find out what her Martial Soul really was. He had devoted his life to studying Martial Soul Theory, and figuring this out would be a great boon to his research.

"Strange..."

When his spiritual power touched the black orb of light, it was suddenly "sucked" in, and the orb began devouring it bit by bit.

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

Meng Shenji withdrew his spiritual power, deeply shaken.

"Teacher, what's going on?"

Meng Shenji said, "We must find a way to awaken this girl's Martial Soul. Her Martial Soul is extraordinary, and what's more, she doesn't have just one!"

Twin Martial Souls!

Luo Chen was stunned too. He asked the Evil Emperor, "Evil Emperor, you didn't sense my sister's Second Martial Soul?"

The Evil Emperor replied irritably, "If I were still at full strength, how could I not know? But more than eighty or ninety percent of my power is sealed by you now, and I can't directly probe her body. If you let me out, I could give you a far more accurate answer than this old man."

Luo Chen ignored him. He already had a general idea of what was going on, and now he was waiting to hear what Meng Shenji would say.

"She has two Martial Souls. One is a jar with the attribute of devouring; the other is a garment with extremely powerful defensive abilities. This Second Martial Soul has a special trait: it can conceal its attributes. You couldn't detect it because that trait was activated. That's why only the shadow of the jar appeared."

"Then, teacher, what can we do to let her awaken them properly?"

Meng Shenji paused before saying, "She'll need a huge amount of pure, Ultimate Attribute energy. Ordinary energy won't do; it has to be an Ultimate Attribute. I suspect your time attribute is exceptionally pure, which is why it was able to coax her Martial Soul into taking shape."

A huge amount. An Ultimate Attribute. Pure energy!

Luo Chen thought it over. Where could he find energy like that?

The next moment, a place name flashed through his mind: the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well!

Ultimate ice and fire. Legend had it that the corpses of two Dragon Kings lay beneath it, their energy pure and ultimate, and that they had given rise to countless Immortal Herbs.

Luo Chen wasn't a saint. Now that he knew about this resource, he wasn't going to pass it up.

"Teacher, do you know Dugu Bo?"

Meng Shenji was taken aback. "Why are you bringing him up? That old Poison has a bad reputation. What are you planning?"

Luo Chen said, "Teacher, could you speak to Prince Xue Xing for me? I have a letter here addressed to the Green Scaled Douluo, to be opened by him personally."

"What are you—"

"I want to make a deal with Dugu Bo. I'm sure he'll be more than willing."