Absorbing Immortal Herbs!

"You're quite generous, kid." Dugu Bo could not help but say, his tone carrying a hint of emotion.

"Every one of these Immortal Herbs is priceless. If they were put outside, the major powers would fight themselves bloody over them. And you're just giving them away? You don't feel the slightest bit reluctant?"

Lin Ming smiled and replied frankly, "You jest, Senior. Immortal Herbs may be good, but they can only bring out their greatest value when used on the right people.

"I can't use so many by myself anyway. It's better to share them so everyone can benefit and improve together. Besides, I'll be troubling you in your medicinal garden for a while longer, Senior. I should pay some rent, shouldn't I? I can't just eat and live here for free."

Dugu Bo was amused by his words and burst into hearty laughter, the sound echoing through the valley. "Good kid, you really know how to talk! I like you! If you need anything in the future, come find me! So long as it's within my power, I will never refuse!"

Lin Ming secretly rejoiced. This was exactly the effect he wanted. Following the principle of making more friends and fewer enemies, having one more friend was always better than having one more enemy.

Moreover, Dugu Bo was a Titled Douluo. This favor would surely come in handy someday—perhaps it might even save his life.

After distributing the Immortal Herbs, Lin Ming found a level spot beside the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. He sat down cross-legged, adjusted his breathing, and calmed his mind.

"I'm going to begin refining these Immortal Herbs." He looked at the others with a serious expression. "This process may take a long time, and I cannot be disturbed midway through. Master and Senior Dugu, please stand guard for me. Do not let anyone or any spirit beast approach."

Sword Douluo nodded, drew his longsword, and carved a line into the ground around them. Sword energy radiated sharply from him. "Rest assured. With me here, no one will disturb you. Whoever dares cross this sword mark by even half a step will not return alive."

Dugu Bo patted his chest as a faint poisonous mist spread from his body, forming an invisible barrier. "Go ahead and refine them. Absorb them without worry. Whoever dares cause trouble will get a taste of Myriad Poisons Devour the Heart. I'll make sure they'll beg to die but be unable to!"

Lin Ming took a deep breath, picked up the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and Infernal Delicate Apricot, and stuffed them into his mouth at the same time.

The instant two utterly opposing energies erupted within Lin Ming's body, he felt as though he were about to be torn in half.

One half burned like fire. Scorching energy surged through his meridians like magma, seeming to char his blood vessels wherever it passed. An unnatural flush spread across his skin, and the sweat that seeped out instantly evaporated into white mist.

The other half was cold as frost. Bone-piercing chill froze his internal organs like ten-thousand-year mysterious ice, as though even his blood were about to solidify. A thin layer of white frost formed over his skin, and ice crystals clung to his eyebrows and hair.

The extreme powers of ice and fire collided madly inside him, fighting for dominance. Every clash brought tearing agony, as though countless steel blades were slicing through his meridians at once.

Veins bulged from Lin Ming's forehead, throbbing like earthworms. His teeth ground together with a creaking sound that made one's teeth ache.

The sweat that emerged was first evaporated into white vapor, then frozen into frost by the chill, forming a strange mixture of ice and fire across his face.

His body alternated between glowing red like heated iron, steaming as the surrounding air warped from the heat, and turning pale as snow, covered in a thin layer of ice crystals, with even his breath becoming white, frigid mist.

Yet he clenched his teeth and held fast to his consciousness, guiding the two energies along the circulation route of his cultivation technique.

He knew this was a necessary trial. Only by enduring it could he be reborn and forge a physique immune to ice and fire.

Time passed bit by bit.

One day, two days, three days...

Lin Ming sat there motionless like an old monk in meditation, with only the aura around him constantly changing. At times, he was blazing like a furnace, warping the air around him and scorching the grass on the ground until it curled and yellowed.

At other times, he was cold as an ice cellar, freezing a layer of white frost over the ground and even cracking the nearby stones.

His body shifted back and forth between these two extreme states. Every change came with intense pain, but his expression grew increasingly calm, as though he had already adapted to the torment.

Sword Douluo and Dugu Bo stood guard on either side of him, never taking a single step away as they vigilantly watched their surroundings.

On the seventh day, Lin Ming finally opened his eyes.

A gleam flashed through his pupils. His left eye burned like fire, while his right was cold as frost, but they quickly returned to their normal black color, so deep they seemed capable of swallowing all light.

He slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air. It remained suspended in the air, half blazing with heat and half freezing with bone-chilling cold.

The two auras intertwined, forming a miniature yin-yang pattern in the air. It revolved several times before slowly dispersing.

"Success!" Lin Ming clenched his fist, feeling the surging power within him as excitement flashed in his eyes.

He could clearly feel that his body had undergone earth-shaking changes.

His skin had become tighter and tougher, carrying the healthy jade-white luster of the finest mutton-fat jade.

The density of his muscles had increased dramatically. Rather than bulging exaggeratedly, they now possessed sleek, flowing lines, with every muscle containing explosive power.

His bones had become sturdier as well. With the slightest movement, crisp sounds came from his joints, like metal striking metal.

He had a feeling that even if an ordinary thousand-year spirit weapon struck him now, it would only leave a white mark and would not even break his skin.

His Soul Power had surged directly from level twenty-three to level twenty-six—three levels in just seven days!

Although the main benefit brought by these two Immortal Herbs was not the growth of his Soul Power, but the transformation of his physique and improvement of his resistances, the additional increase in Soul Power was already an immense surprise.

More importantly, he could feel that his body had developed an extremely high resistance to ice and fire attributes, almost reaching the level of immunity.

Not only that, due to the special environment of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, his body had also gained a certain degree of poison immunity.

Although it could not compare to Dugu Bo's physique, which was immune to all poisons, ordinary toxins such as snake venom and scorpion venom no longer posed any threat to him.

"With my current physique, perhaps I can try absorbing a Ten-Thousand-Year Spirit Ring as my third spirit ring." Lin Ming murmured, excitement gleaming in his eyes.

However, he did not get up immediately. Instead, he took out the Cockscomb Phoenix Sunflower.

This was the real main event.

The Cockscomb Phoenix Sunflower was crimson all over and shaped like a rooster's comb. Its petals layered over one another like Phoenix feathers, emitting a faint golden glow, as though a flame burned within it.

Just holding it in his hand, he could feel the immense energy contained within. Warmth flowed from his palm into his body, making his martial soul emit a resonant longing.