"Dance of the Golden Snake"

Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

Xiao Lin stood at the center of this legendary treasure ground, looking at the two utterly different pools before him. Sensing the dense spiritual energy of heaven and earth and the fragrance of medicinal herbs in the air, his heartbeat involuntarily quickened.

He had dreamed of coming to this place.

Every blade of grass and every flower here would be a priceless treasure if placed in the outside world.

Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass, Infernal Delicate Apricot, Aromatic Silk Beauty, Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum... These names flashed through his mind one by one, each representing an effect that defied the heavens.

But he forced himself to calm down.

Now was not the time to get excited. Dugu Bo was right beside him, his hawk-like eyes watching every move he made.

If Xiao Lin showed even the slightest greed or anything unusual, he might arouse the old poisoner's suspicion.

Supporting Dugu Yan, Dugu Bo carefully laid her down at the boundary of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. There was a flat stone there, half submerged in the scorching fire pool and half in the freezing ice pool. Fire and ice intertwined, forming a strange balance.

After Dugu Yan was placed on that stone, her breathing visibly became steadier.

The two extreme forces of ice and fire met within her body and, miraculously, suppressed the rampaging poison, restoring a trace of color to her face.

Watching this, Xiao Lin sighed inwardly. The Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well truly lived up to its name. The power of fire and ice blending alone had such miraculous effects.

"Alright, she's stable for the moment." Dugu Bo straightened up and let out a long breath. Then he turned, his gaze fixed intensely on Xiao Lin.

"Kid, can you tell me now? What exactly is the cure you mentioned?"

Xiao Lin fell silent for a moment, organizing his thoughts before speaking slowly.

"Senior, the poisonous backlash of the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Martial Soul stems from toxins continuously accumulating within the body without being discharged. As Soul Power rises, more and more toxins build up. Once they exceed what the body can bear, they will backlash against the host."

"I know that." Dugu Bo waved impatiently. "Get to the point."

"The point is that these toxins need somewhere to go." Xiao Lin raised two fingers. "There are two methods. The first is to disperse the poisonous cultivation and expel every toxin from the body, never cultivating a poison-type Martial Soul again. Then the poisonous backlash will naturally never occur again."

"No!" Dugu Bo rejected it without a second thought. "Disperse her poisonous cultivation? Wouldn't Yan'er's more than ten years of cultivation have been for nothing? And the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Martial Soul is the inherited Martial Soul of our Dugu Family. How can we just abandon it? What's the second method?"

"The second method," Xiao Lin said slowly, "is to force the toxins into a stable container for storage, so they no longer roam freely throughout the body. For example—a Soul Bone."

Dugu Bo's pupils abruptly contracted.

"A Soul Bone?"

"That's right." Xiao Lin nodded. "A Soul Bone is part of a Soul Master's body. It is closely connected to its host, yet relatively independent at the same time. If the toxins are forced into a Soul Bone for storage, it can not only prevent them from roaming through the body and causing backlash, but also allow them to be drawn out from the Soul Bone for use in battle. It would be like gaining an additional powerful attack method."

After hearing this, Dugu Bo froze.

He stood there without moving, as though he had been struck by lightning.

After a long while, he suddenly slapped his thigh and burst into deafening laughter. "Brilliant! Brilliant! How did I not think of that?! Force the toxins into a Soul Bone... Hahaha! This method is simply perfect!"

In his excitement, he spun around several times before grabbing Xiao Lin's shoulder. His grip was so strong that Xiao Lin grimaced in pain. "Kid! You're a genius! You actually came up with something like this!"

Xiao Lin pulled free, rubbing his aching shoulder with a wry smile. "Senior, don't get too excited yet. This method is theoretically feasible, but there's a major difficulty in putting it into practice."

"What difficulty?"

"The toxins have settled in the body for many years and become tightly intertwined with Soul Power, blood, and meridians. They can't be forced out so easily."

Xiao Lin explained, "An external force is needed to guide and catalyze them, making those dormant toxins active again before they can be forced into a Soul Bone."

Dugu Bo's brows furrowed again. "Then where will this external force come from?"

Xiao Lin smiled faintly and raised the Nine Phoenix Ceremonial Flute in his hand.

"From me."

He walked to a flat patch of open ground, sat cross-legged, and held the Nine Phoenix Ceremonial Flute to his lips.

"Senior, I'm about to play a piece. It may cause some reaction from your Martial Soul. Please don't resist it. Just let nature take its course."

Though Dugu Bo did not understand why, he still nodded and sat cross-legged opposite Xiao Lin.

Xiao Lin closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and slowly began to play the Nine Phoenix Ceremonial Flute.

This time, he played neither "Pure Heart Melody" nor "Guangling Melody," but a tune with a lively rhythm and a leaping melody.

"Dance of the Golden Snake."

This piece originated from traditional Chinese folk music in his previous life. Its melody was passionate and uninhibited, its rhythm exceptionally strong, brimming with vitality and motion.

Especially those rapid, jumping notes—they were like countless golden snakes dancing madly, making anyone who heard them want to sway along with the rhythm.

The moment the flute began to play, Dugu Bo's expression changed.

He felt the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor Martial Soul within him begin to stir under the flute's stimulation. The phantom of the massive serpent coiled inside his body seemed to awaken at the sound, twisting its body and swaying, dancing to the melody's rhythm.

Even more remarkably, as his Martial Soul stirred, the toxins that had accumulated within him for years also began to awaken.

No longer did they cling lifelessly to the walls of his meridians as before. Like a mass of snakes roused from slumber, they began to travel and surge through his body.

"This... this is..." Dugu Bo's eyes widened, his face filled with shock.

He could clearly feel the toxins that had stubbornly adhered to his meridians and internal organs being stripped away bit by bit under the flute's guidance. Following the flow of Soul Power, they gathered toward a Soul Bone in his right arm!

He had obtained that Soul Bone years ago after hunting a Ten-Thousand-Year Poison-Scaled Python, and had always used it as an ordinary storage Soul Bone. But now, it was becoming a massive vessel for toxins, continuously drawing in the toxins roaming through his body.

The entire process lasted about the time it took for an incense stick to burn.

When the final note fell, Xiao Lin lowered the Nine Phoenix Ceremonial Flute. Fine beads of sweat already covered his forehead.

Dugu Bo sat there blankly, lowering his head to look at his right hand.

He could clearly feel that at least one-third of the stubborn toxins that had plagued him for decades had been forced into that Soul Bone.

Though the rest remained in his body, they had become far more docile than before and no longer seemed ready to erupt at any moment.