Entering the Pool

"What?! You want to go down to the bottom of the pool?! I don't agree!"

The moment Dugu Yan heard that Yu Yuan was preparing to dive beneath the Ice-Fire Yin-Yang Eyes to cultivate, she immediately objected.

Not to mention that Grandpa had already warned them about how dangerous the pool water was.

She had only just succeeded in riding him!

And now Yu Yuan wanted to dive to the bottom and enter seclusion. Shouldn't this be the time when they were newly tasting forbidden fruit and being all lovey-dovey?

Well, I don't think I can take it either.

"There's no helping it. The earlier the immortal herbs are absorbed, the better. And these two immortal herbs will have the best effect if they're absorbed at the bottom of the pool."

Yu Yuan could not let personal feelings affect his cultivation.

Even if it really did feel good.

But wasn't she the one who couldn't take it?

Besides, given the current situation, he had received such enormous help from the Temporal Saint Dragon.

Sooner or later, he would have to lend the soul beasts a hand.

But he was human, so he could not possibly become a traitor to humanity.

So the goal was simple.

I'll fucking stand in the middle again and fight both sides.

As long as he beat the soul beasts and humans into submission.

He could buy time to find a way to change the conditions for cultivation.

If all else failed, he would fucking fight his way up to the Divine Realm and see whether he could directly alter the rules of the world.

And to accomplish all that, his own strength was the most important thing.

He wanted to hold the power of choice firmly in his own hands.

Mere lust could never shake his unwavering resolve.

"Can't you wait another two days? I can stay with you the whole time these next two days."

Dugu Yan did not understand why Yu Yuan was in such a hurry to cultivate.

After all, in her eyes, he was still so young, yet his rank was already higher than hers.

Why was he in such a rush?

So as she asked, she pressed herself against him, trying to seduce him.

"Enough, stop messing around. Your body hasn't recovered yet."

Yu Yuan wrapped an arm around her slender, snake-like waist, but stopped Dugu Yan from going any further.

He had actually considered using time reversal to enjoy himself a little.

But he felt that would be a bit too beastly.

Looking at the unwilling Dugu Yan in his arms, Yu Yuan felt a headache coming on.

There was no helping it. He had done it himself; he could not exactly pull up his pants and pretend nothing had happened.

So he could only comfort her again.

"All right, all right, you win. Once this is over, I'll properly keep you company for a few days, okay?"

"Really? You're not lying to me?"

Dugu Yan only wanted to be closer to Yu Yuan, but she did not want to interfere with his important business either.

Seeing how he always seemed anxious for some reason, she suddenly felt that perhaps she was the one being unreasonable.

"Forget it. Your big sister isn't actually that clingy."

Who was she kidding? She was incredibly clingy.

If her body could handle it, she would already have wrapped herself around him.

"Don't worry. I don't lie."

Yu Yuan felt that he valued promises highly and basically never lied to his own people.

At worst, he could reverse time a few more times and free up time to study soul tools.

Come to think of it, I should probably learn about soul spirits later.

After all, I can't count on Xiao Kong or the Silver Dragon King's side to solve the soul beast problem.

Ah, when I think about it, how many times am I going to have to reverse time?

"Fine. I'll let you off this time."

Dugu Yan also took the initiative to release him.

Damn it. Once I bring Ling Ling in, I refuse to believe that the two of us won't be able to keep Yu Yuan here.

With Ling Ling and me joining forces as sisters, who could stand against us for even one exchange?

Yu Yuan? We'll make sure he comes and never leaves.

Unfortunately, Yu Yuan had no idea what Dugu Yan was thinking. Otherwise, he probably would not have been able to keep a straight face.

At that moment, he was busy handling the plucked Star Anise Mysterious Ice Grass and Infernal Delicate Apricot.

First, he filled a specially made stone pot with the two kinds of water from the Ice-Fire Yin-Yang Eyes.

Strangely enough, even inside the pot, the two kinds of water automatically formed something like a yin-yang symbol, separating themselves to either side.

He then paired the prepared immortal herbs with different supplementary medicinal ingredients.

Finally, he placed the Star Anise Mysterious Ice Grass into the red pool water, while the Infernal Delicate Apricot went into the blue pool water instead.

Fire within ice, ice within fire.

This brought the entire dish closer to a state where yin and yang merged.

Then—

Boom!

It exploded?

Tch, knew it wouldn't be that easy.

Time reversal.

The difficulty of this dish exceeded Yu Yuan's expectations somewhat.

The moment there was even the slightest mistake in balancing ice and fire, they would violently clash and explode.

Balance and harmony.

Yu Yuan had to keep both in mind every moment during the preparation.

The proportions of the ingredients, the timing of when they were added, and the control of the heat throughout the cooking process.

After nine reversals.

Yu Yuan finally completed this Ice-Fire Mandarin Duck Pot.

Rubbing his brow, he still felt somewhat affected by the memories of being blasted away nine times.

Still, it was finally done.

He separated out a portion and handed it to Dugu Yan beside him.

"This is for me?"

"Yeah. I've brought out the medicinal properties to the fullest. After Sister Yan consumes it, you should gain a certain degree of fire and ice resistance, and..."

Before Yu Yuan could finish explaining, Dugu Yan kissed him.

"Hey, be careful. It almost spilled."

Yu Yuan, who had to keep the bowl in his hands from tipping over while being forcibly kissed, could only respond reluctantly.

Why was her tongue so flexible?

It had actually wrapped around his and kept him from moving.

Did snake-type martial souls have an advantage in this regard?

"Honestly, your big sister has really fallen for you."

Having vented the emotion in her heart, Dugu Yan took the stone bowl from Yu Yuan's hand and drained it in one gulp.

"Hey, slow down. I haven't even told you how to regulate your breathing yet."

Yu Yuan could only begin guiding Dugu Yan as her body started to grow hot and cold, while also carrying her to the middle of the pool.

After some time, Dugu Yan finished absorbing the medicinal effects and summoned her martial soul.

There were not many changes to the rest of her body.

But one of her dragon claws turned dark red, while the other became blue.

"So aside from resistance, you've also gained the ability to release fire poison and frost poison?"

After swimming over from the pool, Dugu Yan immediately coiled herself around Yu Yuan.

Just as she was about to recreate what had happened last time, Yu Yuan stopped her.

"All right, Sister Yan. I haven't had mine yet. It's getting cold."

"Mm, let me kiss you one more time."

Dugu Yan also knew that this was not the time, so she released her legs, which had somehow reverted to normal.

"Mmm, I'm satisfied. Go ahead, Little Brother Yu Yuan."

Dugu Yan climbed down from Yu Yuan and moved to the side.

She prepared to stand guard for Yu Yuan beside the pool.

"Okay."

Yu Yuan did not waste any time. He lifted the stone pot, which was bigger than his face, and drained it in one go.

Ugh.

That was a little too filling.

Feeling the medicinal power already beginning to emerge inside him.

After telling Dugu Yan not to wait for him, Yu Yuan jumped into the pool.

The instant he entered the water, Yu Yuan swam toward the center.

He needed to reach the spot where the ice and fire energies were balanced.

Staying on either side would cause the energy and medicinal power within his body to become unbalanced.

There.

Once he reached the center, Yu Yuan activated his dragon transformation. After floating up one last time to take in a breath of air, he began to dive.

The concentration of energy around him grew stronger and stronger as he descended.

More importantly, the distribution of ice and fire energy in the pool water constantly changed.

So Yu Yuan had to keep adjusting his posture.

Simply put.

He spiraled downward.

After reversing time twice.

Yu Yuan finally reached the ring in the middle.

Looking at the red-and-blue ring before him.

Yu Yuan did not hesitate. After adjusting his soul power, he charged straight through it.