Everything Is Ready, Depart for the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well!

The next evening.

The merchant caravan arrived at Heaven Dou City.

The sun hung low in the west.

At a glance,

Heaven Dou City was many times larger than Soto City.

The broad main street could accommodate eight carriages traveling side by side. Shops lined both sides in neat rows, and tavern signs swayed gently in the wind.

Even the air was filled with the scent of food.

Soon after,

the caravan stopped just inside the city gate.

Li Feng arranged for his men to unload the goods, then strode toward the last carriage.

"Brother Lin, we're here."

Seeing this, Lin Ye quickly jumped down from the carriage and stretched lazily.

Zhu Zhuqing followed close behind, her footsteps light and soundless as she landed.

After cultivating through the night, her complexion had improved considerably from the night before, and most of the weariness in her eyes had faded.

"Well, well, big kitty, you really broke through?"

Lin Ye asked casually.

"Mm. Rank twenty-eight."

Zhu Zhuqing's tone was calm, but the corners of her lips lifted slightly.

"Not bad. Keep it up."

"I don't need you to tell me that."

Meanwhile, Li Feng stood beside the carriage with his arms crossed. As he looked at Lin Ye, undisguised emotion filled his eyes.

"Brother Lin, thank you for looking after us all the way here."

"You've got it backward, Brother Li. You were the one looking after us."

"Ah."

Li Feng waved his hand, scratched the back of his head twice with his rough palm, then extended his right hand.

Lin Ye did not hesitate and reached out to grasp it.

Their hands squeezed tightly once.

"Brother, I'm a rough man. I don't know how to say anything pretty."

"Heaven Dou Empire and Star Luo Empire are a long way apart. Once we part here, who knows when we'll meet again."

"There's something I have to tell you."

He patted Lin Ye on the shoulder with considerable force.

"The road of the martial world is long, and blades have no eyes. You've got skill and a good head on your shoulders, but don't rush headlong into everything just because you're young."

"Remember, as long as the green hills remain, there'll always be firewood to burn!"

Lin Ye smiled at that.

Brother Li was good in every way, except that final saying was a little off.

"I'll remember it, Brother Li."

Li Feng nodded heavily, then gave Zhu Zhuqing one last look.

"Miss, keep an eye on this kid. Don't let him do anything stupid."

Zhu Zhuqing froze slightly before nodding earnestly.

"Alright..."

"Good!"

Li Feng then laughed heartily, turned, and walked toward the front of the caravan. His silhouette stretched longer and longer beneath the setting sun.

After walking more than ten steps, he suddenly turned back and shouted.

"Brother Lin! Next time I pass through Heaven Dou City, let's have a drink!"

"Alright!"

Lin Ye raised a hand and waved to him.

Li Feng laughed loudly, waved back, and led the caravan into the flow of people outside the city.

The creaking of carriage wheels gradually faded into the distance.

Zhu Zhuqing stood where she was, looking in the direction the caravan had vanished, and suddenly said softly,

"Brother Li really is a good person."

"Ah, the road of the martial world is long. Brother Li, take care!"

Lin Ye said solemnly.

"Let's go. It's getting late. We should find somewhere to stay first."

"Mm, alright."

Lin Ye then took Zhu Zhuqing to find a moderately priced inn near the city center.

"Innkeeper, two rooms."

"Right away, honored guests."

The innkeeper looked them over, then skillfully took out two keys.

"Second floor, two adjoining rooms on the left. Two silver soul coins per night."

Lin Ye paid and handed one of the keys to Zhu Zhuqing.

"Big kitty, we've been focused on traveling these past few days. You've had it rough."

"Get some good rest."

Zhu Zhuqing took the key. Her fingertips accidentally brushed his fingers, and her body shrank back instinctively.

"Hmph, I'm not a child."

"Alright, alright. You're a big child."

Zhu Zhuqing glared at him and turned to go upstairs.

After taking two steps, she suddenly stopped again.

"Lin Ye."

"Mm?"

"Um... you should rest early tonight too."

Zhu Zhuqing's voice was very soft. After speaking, she hurried away.

Lin Ye watched her disappear around the bend in the stairs and smiled helplessly.

He then entered his own room as well.

He closed the door.

The room was not large, but it was clean. Moonlight poured in through the window, spreading a patch of silver-white across the floor.

Lin Ye did not light a lamp.

He stood before the window with both hands braced against the sill, his gaze passing over layers of rooftops toward the west of Heaven Dou City.

That was where Sunset Forest lay.

Moonlight fell across his face, making those pitch-black eyes appear especially profound.

He had decided!

He could not delay any longer.

He would make his move tonight.

He would head to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

It was where the finest heavenly treasures of the entire Douluo Continent gathered.

The sooner he used them, the sooner he would become awesome. The sooner he used them, the sooner he could enjoy the benefits!

However, one problem still remained unsolved.

It was Dugu Bo, the Titled Douluo guarding the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

That old man had entrenched himself deep within Sunset Forest for years, guarding the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well to suppress the toxins in his body.

With Lin Ye's current Rank twenty-eight strength, he would not even withstand a single move in a direct confrontation.

The other man could probably crush him to the ground with a single look.

Force his way in?

That would be nothing but seeking death.

But Lin Ye had never planned to force his way in.

He leaned against the window frame, his fingers tapping rhythmically against the wood as his mind raced.

If Dugu Bo was not there tonight... that would be the best outcome.

If he was there...

there was still a way.

Based on Lin Ye's understanding of Dugu Bo,

there were only two things Dugu Bo cared about most in this life.

First, his own life.

Second, the life of his granddaughter, Dugu Yan.

Dugu Yan possessed the Innate Backlash Poison of the Jade Phosphor Serpent Martial Soul.

This poison was hereditary. The higher one's cultivation, the more severe the poison became. Without an early cure, death was inevitable.

What was more, Dugu Bo's son had been tortured to death by this very poison.

Now, the same fate hung over Dugu Yan's head.

In the original story, Dugu Bo searched the entire Douluo Continent but never found a way to cure the poison.

Yet Lin Ye was brimming with confidence, because he possessed an outrageous trump card!

It was the innate skill of the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger,

Devour All Things!

Since it could devour soul power and vital energy, it could naturally devour toxins as well.

As long as he controlled the force properly and precisely targeted the toxins for devouring,

in theory, Lin Ye could completely remove most of the Martial Soul backlash poison from Dugu Yan's body.

If he had a soul bone to serve as a vessel for the toxins, that would be even better.

That was his bargaining chip.

That way, even if Dugu Bo discovered him, Dugu Bo would never give up this opportunity for Dugu Yan's sake!

Of course, there was another problem.

It was the poisonous barrier Dugu Bo had set around the outskirts of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

It was a defensive perimeter created from the venom of the Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor mixed with various natural toxic miasmas.

An ordinary soul master who entered it would be foaming at the mouth and bleeding from all seven orifices within three minutes.

But for Lin Ye...

He slowly raised his right hand and turned his palm slightly. A faint wisp of wind began to gather at his fingertips.

This was the wind attribute of the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger.

No matter how poisonous the barrier was, at its core, it was merely poisonous mist dispersed through the air.

When the time came, he could use a wind barrier to protect his body and blow away the poisonous mist around him,

while activating his second soul skill, Evil God Guard, to cloak himself in evil energy.

Then those poisonous mists would not even be able to touch him!

Naturally, they would lose their effect.

Thinking of this, Lin Ye took a deep breath and cleared away every distracting thought.

Everything was ready.

Depart!