In the original story, Dugu Bo had already reached the peak Soul Sage level when he found it.
Only then had he been able to suppress those Poison Soul Beasts, kill Medusa, and even break through, absorbing a Soul Ring and soul bone.
But Lan Tian was not like that.
He did not dare gamble recklessly.
But that did not mean there was no chance at all.
If he could slowly map out the distribution of the Jade Phosphor Seven Absolute Flowers along the edge of the poison mist and learn the activity patterns of those highly toxic Soul Beasts, then find a suitable opening to sneak in before alerting that fifty-thousand-year Soul Beast and quickly pluck the immortal herbs, it might not be entirely impossible.
However, this plan carried enormous risks. One misstep, and he would end up with nothing but bones left behind.
Moreover, he did not have the Wishful Hundred Treasure Pouch. Once the immortal herbs left the valley, they would quickly wither.
With his current strength, it was impossible for him to cultivate them.
So even if he took them, he could not possibly take them all.
He could only take a few.
He took a deep breath and put away the map and parchment scroll.
After six years of searching, he had finally made tangible progress. The Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well truly existed within Sunset Forest, and he had already found its approximate location.
But now was clearly not the time to charge in recklessly. He was far too weak and had to wait until he became stronger and better prepared before challenging this poison mist barrier.
"Retreat first."
Lan Tian gave the valley shrouded in green poison mist one last look, carefully committing its coordinates and terrain details to memory. Then he turned and slipped out through the entrance concealed by vines, heading back the way he had come without looking back.
By the time the sun rose overhead, he had already crossed the dense forest again, leaving that hidden valley far behind him.
His footsteps were steady, and he did not look back, but everything he knew about the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well was being repeatedly analyzed, deduced, and planned out in his mind.
After returning, he would need to spend at least two years, perhaps even longer, in Nuoding City accumulating resources and improving his strength before finding another chance to return here.
By then, even if the poison mist remained dense and the Soul Beasts remained powerful, he would at least need the confidence to face them head-on.
Before leaving, he had also filled an iron bottle with some poison mist to study carefully and see whether there was any way to counter it.
That would provide greater safety when entering in the future. After all, the Poison Soul Beasts inside had absorbed this poison mist year-round.
His countermeasure might not be able to kill those creatures, but it could still restrain them to some extent. As long as he had time to spare, there would be more he could do. The more it came to a moment like this, the less he could afford to be impatient.
Now that he had found the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, he had plenty of time to slowly work his way through it. There were still roughly a hundred years before Dugu Bo arrived, after all.
After leaving that hidden valley, Lan Tian hurried along without lingering on the road.
Although he encountered several hundred-year Soul Beasts blocking his path, the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well was weighing on his mind, and he truly had no mood to tangle with them. Most of the time, he used Blue Silver Grass vines to bind them and slow them down, then swiftly passed through with the acceleration effect of Sun and Moon Power.
Whenever a few thousand-year Soul Beasts failed to take the hint and caught up to him, he used Rasengan to force them back. He did not linger to fight, striking once before continuing on his way.
Three days later, he set foot once again on the official road outside Nuoding City's north gate.
The city gate looked the same as ever. Two new faces stood among the guards on watch, but the old guards smiled and greeted him the moment they saw him. "Doctor Lan is back? You were gone for quite a while this time!"
Lan Tian nodded to them and strode into the city.
The first thing he did after returning to the clinic was remove all the door panels to air the place out. The Nine Heart Begonia in the courtyard had grown a little taller than before he left. Its nine heart-shaped leaves stretched beneath the afternoon sun, and its pinkish-white glow remained as gentle as ever.
He crouched down and used Blue Silver Grass to probe its roots. Only after confirming that everything was normal did he straighten up with a sigh of relief.
Then he shut the doors and took everything out of his Storage Ring, sorting it across the open space in the courtyard.
The medicinal ingredients formed a huge pile: thousand-year lingzhi, Ironback Wolf claws and fangs, poison python Snake Gallbladders, Black-Mane Bear paws and gallbladders, high-year Sun-Moon Grass leaves and rhizomes, as well as all sorts of miscellaneous herbs he had casually gathered along the way. Spread across the ground, they occupied nearly half the courtyard.
It took him an entire afternoon to clean, process, sort, jar, and store everything in the medicine cabinets and Storage Ring. By the time he finished, night was already falling.
But there was still one most important thing he had yet to do.
He walked into the kitchen, took out the iron bottle, and placed it on the table, studying it for a moment.
The bottle was sealed tightly, with a layer of wax over its mouth. The pale green mist inside rested quietly at the bottom, giving off a dark sheen beneath the dim yellow lamplight.
This was the poison mist sample he had brought back from the outskirts of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
Lan Tian set the bottle on the table, pulled over a chair opposite it, lit an oil lamp, and began considering where to start his research.
He guessed that the poison mist's main component was some kind of highly toxic gas released by the Jade Phosphor Seven Absolute Flower. But what kind of poison it was, how it harmed living creatures, and whether any common medicinal herbs could neutralize or counter it all needed to be tested one by one.
Opening the bottle and directly smelling or touching it was obviously out of the question. That would be suicide.
He first found an abandoned ceramic bowl and poured in a little water. Then he used Blue Silver Grass vines to wrap around the stopper, carefully opened a narrow gap, drew out a wisp of pale green mist, and injected it into the water.
The mist dissolved rapidly upon touching the surface. The clear water turned pale green and gave off a sharp, spicy scent beneath its cool freshness.
He then went to the backyard and caught a lively field mouse. After tying its hind leg with a thin string, he dipped a wooden stick into the bowl of green poison water and lightly touched it to the mouse's front paw.
The field mouse began struggling violently almost immediately. In less than ten breaths, it convulsed and collapsed limply, its breathing rapid and its eyes unfocused. A dozen or so breaths later, it stopped moving completely.
Lan Tian frowned and quickly wrote on paper: "Poison mist dissolves in water. Symptoms appear approximately ten breaths after skin contact. No obvious external injury to the organism. Cause of death suspected to be respiratory center paralysis caused by neurotoxins."
Next, he switched to another field mouse. This time, he first wrapped the tip of the wooden stick in the life energy of Endless Life before dipping it in the poison water and making contact.
The field mouse struggled noticeably longer, only beginning to convulse after around twenty breaths, but in the end, it still could not hold on.
The conclusion was that Endless Life had a delaying effect on the poison, but could not completely neutralize it.
Then came Sun and Moon Power.
He gathered Sun and Moon Power at his fingertip, then dipped it into the poison water and touched a third field mouse.
This time, the effect was better. The field mouse struggled for nearly half an hour before gradually weakening, and even after finally falling unconscious, it did not die immediately. Its heartbeat remained faintly sustained.
Sun and Moon Power had an obvious suppressive effect on the poison, but it likewise could not cure it completely.
Lan Tian recorded every experimental process and result in his notebook, including detailed data such as poison concentration, onset time, and the effects of different abilities.
From the preliminary results, Sun and Moon Power was the most effective countermeasure against the poison, but it was still nowhere near enough to let him pass through that poison mist unharmed.
He needed to find a more thorough solution, perhaps a particular herb or an antidote formulated from certain ingredients, one that could greatly reduce the poison's effects while maintaining its efficacy for a long time.
He sealed the iron bottle again and placed it in the safest corner of his Storage Ring.
This thing would still be useful in the future. Every experiment might bring a new breakthrough, so he had to preserve it carefully.
After putting everything away, he sat in the courtyard and looked up at the starry sky for a while.
Six years of searching had finally borne results. Although he had not been able to rush in and pick the immortal herbs immediately, at least his target was clear, the location was locked down, and he had even brought back a poison mist sample.
Next, he would advance step by step, conducting research and accumulating strength until he was confident enough to face that poison mist and all the dangers hidden within it head-on.
Nearly a hundred years.
That window of time was enough for him to accomplish many things.
The night breeze swept through the courtyard, and the leaves of the Nine Heart Begonia gently swayed in the faint light, as if welcoming him home.
He stood up, returned to his room, and lay down on the bed. The moment he closed his eyes, he sank into peaceful sleep.
He had been traveling for nearly half a month, his mind constantly taut. Only now that he had returned to his own territory in Nuoding City did he truly relax.
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