Ice Fire Dragon Pearl, Attempting the Poison Core

Just after crossing the poisonous miasma, Yu Hengqing immediately felt the heaven and earth energy around him rise exponentially.

With such dense heaven and earth energy, let alone growing immortal herbs, even if one were to raise pigs here, one could raise a pig at the hundred-thousand-year level!

"This place is my Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. The red and blue pool water at the center is the core of this location, and all the plants surrounding it are immortal herbs that have never appeared in the outside world."

The term "immortal herb" was coined by Dugu Bo himself; he felt that any medicinal material capable of growing near that pool of water was definitely no ordinary item!

"Of course, I have also planted some medicinal materials, but these cannot withstand the dense heaven and earth energy of the core area, so I can only plant them on the very edge."

Following the direction of Dugu Bo's finger, Yu Hengqing saw a small plot of land that clearly showed signs of cultivation.

On that plot of land were planted some precious medicinal materials that were worth a thousand gold on the market; taking any one of them out would cause a crowd to scramble for it.

"The Century-Old Purple Vein Ginseng that Yan Yan gave you previously was produced here."

Reminded by Dugu Bo, Yu Hengqing indeed spotted several Purple Vein Ginsengs among the pile of herbs.

However, these were not the "cheap goods" that Yu Hengqing had obtained before.

These Purple Vein Ginsengs had already grown eight leaves, their medicinal power had reached the thousand-year level, and their efficacy was dozens or even hundreds of times greater than the hundred-year ones!

"Xiao Qing, I have already sensed the positions of the Ice and Fire Dragon Kings. Their Dragon Pearls are currently sleeping at the bottom of that pool."

"You only need to walk to the side of the pool, and I will be able to use my soul power to awaken their Dragon Pearls."

Listening to Yu Zhantian's constant urging from within the pearl, Yu Hengqing felt nothing but helplessness in his heart; as expected, he couldn't escape this.

Now, Yu Hengqing only hoped that the Ice and Fire Dragon Kings had long since perished in the long passage of time, leaving only two Dragon Pearls waiting for him to inherit.

"Senior, could you take me to the side of the pool to take a look? I want to see that magical pool water and also take a look at the immortal herbs surrounding it."

It was rare for Dugu Bo to see Yu Hengqing show such curiosity, so he immediately agreed to the request.

"Alright, just like before, you must keep up with my pace and do not step outside the range of my soul power barrier."

After giving his instructions, Dugu Bo once again deployed his soul power barrier to protect Yu Hengqing, stepping closer to the core area of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well step by step.

Perhaps because Dugu Bo's martial soul was the Jade Phosphorus Snake Emperor, which was naturally fond of the cold, he led Yu Hengqing toward the direction of the Cold Spring.

Under the protection of Dugu Bo's soul power, Yu Hengqing did not feel particularly cold at first.

But as the distance shortened, the surrounding cold air grew increasingly intense. By the time they were close to the Cold Spring, Yu Hengqing had to summon his martial soul to increase his physical strength just to keep his soul power functioning normally.

Upon approaching the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, the crimson pool water erupted with waves of scorching heat like molten lava from the earth's core, while the deep blue pool water emitted a bone-chilling cold like ten-thousand-year black ice.

Two types of extremely violent energies formed a strange yet harmonious scene in this place.

Looking at the pool water within arm's reach, Yu Hengqing clearly felt his body failing to hold up and hurriedly urged Yu Zhantian to exert his soul power.

"Ancestor, please hurry. With my current strength, I cannot stay here for too long!"

No sooner had Yu Hengqing finished urging him than a surge of soul power shot out from the pearl at his waist, silently entering the pool water.

"You only need to hold on for one minute, and I will be able to activate the Dragon Pearls and bring them up!"

Yu Zhantian promised Yu Hengqing with great certainty. In truth, Yu Zhantian could have been faster, but he wanted to test Yu Hengqing's mettle.

"One minute, that's no problem."

Hearing that it would only take one minute, Yu Hengqing breathed a sigh of relief. He was afraid that Yu Zhantian would suddenly tell him, "I can't activate the Dragon Pearls immediately; you might need to hold on for an hour or so."

If that had actually happened, Yu Hengqing would have ignored Yu Zhantian entirely and turned to leave.

"Senior, what do you think of these two immortal herbs closest to the pool?"

To kill time, Yu Hengqing immediately asked Dugu Bo, who was standing beside him, what he thought of the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and the Blazing Apricot Delicate.

"I have basically never researched these two immortal herbs. They are simply too special, and I am afraid of damaging them."

The look in Dugu Bo's eyes as he gazed at the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and the Blazing Apricot Delicate held a mix of awe and curiosity.

It was impossible to say that Dugu Bo didn't want to study these two herbs, but the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well was simply too unique.

This made even the usually bold Dugu Bo cautious.

"I see. I agree with your approach, Senior. After all, with such special immortal herbs, no one knows if there will ever be a second one. Being careful is never wrong!"

Yu Hengqing could naturally guess that Dugu Bo would answer this way; if he had studied them, he wouldn't have been so ignorant as he was in the original story.

Just as Yu Hengqing and Dugu Bo were chatting, Yu Zhantian had already fished both the Ice and Fire Dragon Pearls out of the pool water.

"Xiao Qing, there are remnant souls inside the Dragon Pearls. It is difficult for me to awaken them directly, and I fear that doing so would cause the pool water to riot, so I have brought them up instead."

Under the cover of Yu Zhantian's soul power, the red and blue Dragon Pearls successfully entered Yu Hengqing's Ruyi Treasure Bag.

To prevent the Dragon Pearls of the Ice and Fire Dragon Kings from damaging Yu Hengqing's Ruyi Treasure Bag, Yu Zhantian specifically left a safe distance between them.

"Senior, I feel like I can't hold on much longer. Let's head back first!"

Dugu Bo couldn't tell how much of Yu Hengqing's words were true, but he still led him back to where they had been standing earlier.

Once they reached a safe place, Dugu Bo withdrew his soul power barrier and said calmly to Yu Hengqing:

"For the next period of time, I will try to deduce my 'poison-as-core' method while also going out to borrow classics to study."

"If I am not here, you stay in this place yourself. Do not run around; this place is very dangerous. There are some areas where even I feel a threat to my life when I get close."

Facing Dugu Bo's instructions, Yu Hengqing did not act arrogant; the functions of immortal herbs were bizarre and varied, and it was certainly no exaggeration to say they could poison a Title Douluo to death.

"Understood, Senior. I will cultivate quietly here by myself while you are away."

And just like that, Yu Hengqing and Dugu Bo successfully moved from Thunder Valley to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

After settling in, Dugu Bo began to demonstrate to Yu Hengqing the Poison Core Condensation Method he had preliminarily deduced.

This method was entirely derived from the Soul Core condensation technique the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had given Yu Hengqing, except that Dugu Bo replaced the soul power that was supposed to condense into a solid with the toxins inside his own body.

However, these were all merely theoretical; only when Dugu Bo actually put it into practice did he truly realize the difficulty of converting soul power that was meant to be condensed into toxins.

After enduring the pain of marrow extraction several times, Dugu Bo finally managed to extract a sliver of the toxin that had accumulated throughout his body.

With cold sweat beading on his forehead, Dugu Bo controlled this sliver of toxin and moved it toward his dantian.

Yet, before it had moved very far, the sliver of toxin dissipated directly, merging back into his body once more.

Refusing to give up, Dugu Bo followed the method again, extracted another sliver of toxin, and attempted to transport it into his dantian.

But the result remained the same; halfway through the transport, the sliver of toxin would dissipate and return to Dugu Bo's body.

Helpless against this, Dugu Bo had no choice but to temporarily leave the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, intending to search for some ancient texts to see if they could provide him with any inspiration.