His martial soul evolved!

The next day.

After taking an antidote pill, Lin Ye successfully crossed the poison barrier in Sunset Forest.

Now.

He stood above the valley.

Looking down...

White mist rose continuously from the red-and-blue hot spring.

"How do we get down?"

Dugu Yan had barely finished speaking.

Then she saw the Mystic Ice Dragon Wings suddenly spread behind Lin Ye, their span exceeding three meters.

Like two enormous blades forged from ten-thousand-year-old ice, they beat fiercely, scattering ice crystals across the sky.

"Holy shit!"

"A s-soul bone?!"

Dugu Yan's eyes went wide at the sight of the Mystic Ice Dragon Wings.

"Handsome, right?" Lin Ye asked, showing off.

He and Dugu Yan had known each other since they were very young.

They were childhood sweethearts, more or less.

He knew perfectly well that she would never reveal the secret of his external soul bone.

"Yes!"

Dugu Yan nodded emphatically.

With his good looks and those Mystic Ice Dragon Wings, Lin Ye was one outrageously handsome bastard.

At that moment.

Her eyes brimmed with envy.

"Yanyan... hold on tight!"

Lin Ye wrapped an arm around Dugu Yan's supple waist and swept down to the valley floor with a single beat of his wings.

Excitement covered Lin Ye's face.

This was his first flight, after all, and he even had a girl along for the ride.

This feels so fucking good!

However...

What excited him even more were the immortal-grade herbs growing around the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

Singular velvet sky chrysanthemum, narcissus jade muscle bone, the Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew, and aromatic silk beauty.

At a glance...

He recognized most of the immortal herbs.

What truly caught his attention, however, was the octagonal mysterious ice grass growing at the center of the extreme cold.

He had already walked toward it without thinking.

"Careful!"

"That ice grass is poisonous."

Seeing this, Dugu Yan immediately stepped forward to stop him.

Her grandfather had once told her that most of the immortal-grade herbs here were poisonous, and the most poisonous were that ice grass and its corresponding fire herb.

"Not worried."

The octagonal mysterious ice grass did indeed possess extreme icy cold. Touching it would instantly freeze the meridians and crack the foundation of one's martial soul.

Ordinary soul masters had to take it together with infernal delicate apricot.

But he was different!

He possessed the Ice Dragon King bloodline, which shared the same root and source as the octagonal mysterious ice grass.

Lin Ye gently touched the leaves and stalk of the octagonal mysterious ice grass.

Hmm...

It did him no harm.

If I can touch it, I can eat it!

Lin Ye immediately pulled the octagonal mysterious ice grass out by the roots, rinsed it in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, and stuffed it straight into his mouth.

"Whew~ cold!"

Wisps of ice-blue medicinal power seeped into his meridians, instantly coating his skin with a thin layer of ice crystals.

Before that cold could run rampant inside him for even half a second, a dragon's roar from his sea of consciousness suppressed it.

The Ice Dragon phantom coiled behind him, the dragon markings along his spine lit up one after another, and extreme cold flowed throughout his body along his bloodline, awakening the Ice Dragon King bloodline a little further.

"Rooar—"

The Ice Dragon phantom threw back his head and roared toward the sky.

His ice-blue dragon scales began peeling away layer by layer, replaced by deep, translucent layers of mystic ice crystals.

The cold shifted from diffuse to concentrated, and his draconic might climbed steadily.

In just a few breaths...

The Ice Dragon phantom behind Lin Ye transformed into a Mystic Ice True Dragon.

"Gasp~"

Dugu Yan drew in a sharp breath.

Lin Ye's martial soul had actually evolved right before her eyes.

Even standing dozens of meters away, she could feel the oppressive weight of its overwhelming might.

The next second.

Something even more inconceivable unfolded before her.

Lin Ye jumped into the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well with a splash.

This hot spring had formed from extreme cold poison and extreme fire poison holding each other in balance.

Never mind Lin Ye...

Even her grandfather would not dare grit his teeth and jump in.

"Lin Ye!"

"Have you gone crazy?"

"Get out!"

"..."

All Dugu Yan could do now was stand on the bank and fret helplessly.

She dared not touch even a drop of the water in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

Touching it meant certain death!

Lin Ye made a reassuring gesture from the water, then began diving.

He felt as though he were soaring with delight.

The octagonal mysterious ice grass had not only evolved his martial soul, but also given his soul power the attribute of ultimate ice.

As a result, the effects of his soul skills had doubled again.

He was diving deeper now.

His goal was to find the Ice Dragon King's corpse and see whether there were any better treasures for him to absorb.

However...

Reality was all skin and bones.

He had descended only fifty meters when a powerful cold current pushed him back.

Lin Ye tried several more times.

All to no avail!

He could only attribute it to his insufficient strength and reluctantly give up for the time being.

"You scared me to death."

Seeing Lin Ye return safely to shore, Dugu Yan finally felt her heart settle back into place.

"Here—"

"This is for you."

Lin Ye selected a stalk of narcissus jade muscle bone for Dugu Yan.

Narcissus jade muscle bone nourished the tendons and bones and cleared the Eight Extraordinary Meridians.

This immortal herb was just right for repairing the tendons and bones that years of jade phosphorous serpent poison had corroded, while also opening her blocked meridians.

At the same time...

This was also his first move in dealing with Dugu Bo.

When Dugu Bo returned and learned that his granddaughter's foundation had been restored and her cultivation had soared.

Would he still blame him?

That old fellow would probably shed tears of gratitude instead.

"Am I supposed to thank you, too?"

Dugu Yan rolled her eyes.

Her grandfather had carefully tended all these immortal-grade herbs for decades.

This fellow was borrowing flowers to offer to Buddha, and doing it without the slightest shame.

"Lin Ye."

"Can I really eat this?"

Looking at the narcissus jade muscle bone in her hand, Dugu Yan began to have doubts again.

Ever since she was little, her grandfather had told her that all the herbs here contained deadly poison.

That belief had been branded deep into her mind.

And yet...

Lin Ye had just eaten the most poisonous ice grass right before her eyes.

Not only had he been fine.

His martial soul had even evolved.

"I guarantee you won't be in any danger, and you'll gain something you never expected."

Lin Ye's words gave Dugu Yan another surge of confidence.

She recalled the sight of Lin Ye's martial soul evolving.

I'll risk it!

Dugu Yan took a deep breath and copied Lin Ye, stuffing the narcissus jade muscle bone into her mouth.

Immediately afterward...

She sat cross-legged and began absorbing the medicinal power flooding into her body.

Lin Ye did not idle around either.

He dug up all the surrounding immortal-grade herbs, one after another.

In the end, only the infernal delicate apricot and some undeveloped seedlings remained.

Infernal delicate apricot inherently contained extreme fire poison.

Without octagonal mysterious ice grass to neutralize it, ordinary soul masters could never harvest it, let alone swallow it.

Then...

He selected a stalk of singular velvet sky chrysanthemum and began absorbing it.

After consumption, this immortal herb could "circulate energy through the four limbs and carry blood through the eight meridians," greatly improving a soul master's physique.

This time.

He and Dugu Yan reached the finish line almost simultaneously.

The first thing Dugu Yan did after opening her eyes was dart forward and plant a firm kiss on Lin Ye's cheek.

"Lin Ye... I love you to death!"

She wrapped her arms around Lin Ye's neck excitedly.

The medicinal power of the narcissus jade muscle bone had repaired her damaged meridians and also helped her break through the level barrier to become a Soul Ancestor.

She was certain her soul power had risen by far more than just two levels.

Definitely more!

"Tell me."

"How do you want me to thank you?"

For such an enormous kindness...

Even if Lin Ye asked her to strip right now and offer herself to him, she, Dugu Yan, would gladly do it.

"Then get down on all fours and bark like a dog."

Dugu Yan's expression darkened.

She now took back that lewd thought.