Eight-Petal Immortal Orchid

The Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well lay quietly in the middle of the valley, half blood-red and half jade-blue.

Above the spring, the two colors intertwined into a slowly turning Taiji symbol. The air swung between hot and cold, as if two invisible giants were wrestling with each other.

Luo An'an lay across Luo Chen's shoulder, eyes wide and mouth rounded into a little O.

"Brother, this place is so beautiful!"

"Yeah! It's beautiful."

Luo Chen set her down, took her hand, and slowly approached the spring. The closer they got, the stronger the pressure from the forces of ice and fire became.

Luo Chen shielded Luo An'an with his Soul Power. An invisible layer of spiritual energy formed a thin protective film around them, keeping the excess icy and fiery energy at bay.

Dugu Bo stood beside the spring with his hands behind his back, gazing at the two Immortal Herbs growing right in its center.

"Kid, do you recognize those two things?"

Luo Chen followed his gaze. In the middle of the scarlet spring, a fiery red plant grew in silence.

It was shaped like a cabbage, but was scarlet all over, its surface gleaming like a gemstone. Tiny flames danced across its leaves.

Even from far away, they could feel its scorching aura, hot to the extreme.

In the center of the ice-blue spring, another plant stood opposite it. It was snow-white all over, with an octagonal bud at its tip. The bud was crystalline, as if carved from thousand-year-old ice. Wisps of cold seeped from it, condensing into tiny ice crystals in the air.

"Infernal Delicate Apricot and Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass," Luo Chen said. "Immortal Herbs of Ultimate Fire and Ultimate Ice. Eating either one alone would kill anyone below the Titled Douluo level. But taking them together can neutralize their toxicity, temper the body, and make you impervious to water and fire."

Dugu Bo froze. He didn't recognize these Immortal Herbs. He'd only meant to show them off, but he hadn't expected this kid to actually know what they were.

"You really recognize these two Immortal Herbs?" Dugu Bo asked.

"Yeah. I read about them in a book," Luo Chen replied.

He wasn't lying. He really had read about them in a book—Douluo Continent.

"You came here to use this place to help your sister awaken her Martial Soul?" Dugu Bo looked at Luo An'an. The little girl was very cute. He remembered that his Yan Yan had been just as cute.

That made Dugu Bo feel a little more warmly toward the siblings.

"Yes. I want to use the energy here to help her fully awaken it."

"The energy here is too violent. Even a Titled Douluo might not withstand touching the water of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well directly. Your six-year-old sister probably won't be able to handle it."

Dugu Bo crouched and looked into Luo An'an's eyes. "Little girl, are you afraid of pain?"

Luo An'an shook her head and said in her babyish voice, "An'an isn't scared! Brother said he'd wake up that black ball for me, so An'an isn't scared!"

The corner of Dugu Bo's mouth twitched, and he stood up.

"Kid, what's your plan?"

Luo Chen didn't answer right away. He walked to the spring and crouched down to inspect the surroundings.

All sorts of Immortal Herbs grew in the earth around the spring: scarlet, ice-blue, golden, purple. Each one shone with its own unique radiance.

He closed his eyes and examined them one by one with his spiritual power.

Infernal Delicate Apricot—too fiery. A six-year-old would burn to ash after eating it.

Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass—too cold. A six-year-old would freeze into an ice statue after eating it.

The Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum was neutral. "Eating it sends energy to the limbs and channels blood through the eight meridians, allowing one to cultivate an indestructible body." It sounded impressive, but An'an was only six. Her blood and qi hadn't fully developed, and she couldn't withstand the medicinal power charging through her meridians. An indestructible body required a certain foundation first.

Snowy Swan Kiss was meant to trigger something. Tang San had used it to destroy Slaughter City back then, so it wasn't suitable. But he could take it with him; it might come in handy later.

Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew benefited the eyes, but did little to strengthen the body. He planned to use it himself.

Aromatic Silk Beauty could counteract all poisons, and its fragrance rendered every kind of poison ineffective.

"Within the range of its fragrance, all poisons are ineffective." Aromatic Silk Beauty itself couldn't increase cultivation or alter the body, either.

What An'an needed wasn't protection from poison. She needed a strong foundation and enough capacity to endure the energy absorbed by her devouring power.

Narcissus Jade Muscle Bone, Cockscomb Phoenix Sunflower—these were nourishing herbs, but their medicinal properties were potent. They were tonics for adults, but harsh medicines for a six-year-old.

Luo Chen's gaze swept across one Immortal Herb after another, then suddenly stopped.

To the east of the spring, a short orchid grew quietly in a crack in a damp rock.

The orchid was only as tall as his palm. Its eight petals fanned outward, each milky white and translucent, glowing with a faint golden sheen.

It had no strong fragrance, only a faint orchid scent, clear and delicate, light but not weak.

No other plants grew beside it—not because it repelled them, but because it was so gentle that even the surrounding plants didn't consider it a threat. They had naturally left a small ring of empty space around it.

Eight-Petal Immortal Orchid!

Luo Chen's eyes lit up.

He remembered. In the original story, Tang San had given the Eight-Petal Immortal Orchid to Oscar. It had the effect of "strengthening the foundation and nourishing the source, removing impurities," enough to make up for the slow cultivation speed of food-type Soul Masters. Its effects could even last until level seventy.

It was also the gentlest of all the Immortal Herbs, known as an Immortal Herb that "strengthened the foundation, nourished the source, and purged impurities from the body."

Absorbing it was peaceful. Unlike the other Immortal Herbs, it was neither overbearing nor imposing. Instead, it nourished the body as gently as a spring rain.

This was what he'd been looking for.

Luo Chen extended his right hand. Silver-white temporal power gathered at his fingertips as he carefully reached toward the Eight-Petal Immortal Orchid.

His spiritual power spread across its heart, sensing the energy it contained. It was gentle and pure, like a pool of clear water—neither fierce nor restless. It was just right for building An'an's foundation.

"This is the one." Luo Chen stood and turned to Dugu Bo. "Senior Dugu, I'd like to pick this Eight-Petal Immortal Orchid for my sister."

"Oh? The Eight-Petal Immortal Orchid?"

"Gold for the roots, jade for the container." Luo Chen crouched and looked into Luo An'an's eyes. "An'an, I'm going to use this flower to strengthen your body. Once you can withstand the icy and fiery power here, I'll help you fully wake up that black ball. It might taste a little bitter. Can you bear it?"

"Bitter? How bitter?"

"Hmm, maybe as bitter as bitter melon."

Luo An'an's little face scrunched up at once. She hated bitter melon most of all. Last time, Lin Xiaomei had stir-fried a plate of it, and An'an had spat out her first bite. No matter what anyone said, she refused to take another.

"Th-then can An'an skip it?"

"If you don't eat it, that black ball won't wake up. Don't you want to catch Soul Beasts?"

Luo An'an agonized over it for quite a while. At last, she took a deep breath as if making a momentous decision, clenched her little fists, and said, "Okay! An'an will eat the bitter thing! But Brother has to reward An'an!"

"What do you want?"

"After An'an finishes awakening, you have to take An'an to eat the best candied hawthorns in Heaven Dou City! An'an wants three skewers!"

"Deal."