Blazing Gel and the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Crystal

"Bargain with me? You don't seem to have the leverage."

Du Busi gave a cold snort, his voice dripping with disdain. "If you don't hand over all the Blazing Gel, I'll uproot every Immortal Herb in this garden right now!"

A look of struggle crossed the face of the human form the Infernal Delicate Apricot had conjured from the searing Yang Spring. She seemed to deflate completely. "I understand," she said quietly.

With that, the Infernal Delicate Apricot swayed once more.

This time, she produced a lump of Blazing Gel as large as Du Busi's fist. Once she had given up all of it, she curled in on herself. Already wilted by Du Busi's poisonous aura, she lost much of her remaining luster.

Only then did satisfaction show in Du Busi's eyes. A dark green glow suddenly lit his palm as he took both lumps of Blazing Gel in his hand.

"Tiance, your First Martial Soul, Sun-Moon Radiance, already has both Ultimate Fire and Ultimate Light, but this Blazing Gel should still do you a world of good. Take the larger piece and absorb it. As for the smaller one..."

Du Busi's gaze shifted slightly to Ye Guyi.

Besides Ultimate Holiness and light, Ye Guyi's Angel Martial Soul also had a trace of fire, though it was hardly noticeable. With this Blazing Gel, she might be able to evolve that trait into Ultimate Fire.

After all, the girl could achieve Martial Soul Fusion with Tiance and unleash a Martial Soul Fusion Skill. Making her stronger was as good as making Tiance stronger.

With that in mind, Du Busi set the Blazing Gel before Xu Tiance, then leaned close to his ear and murmured, "Tiance, I'll leave the smaller piece for you to distribute too."

As he spoke, Du Busi shot a meaningful glance at Ye Guyi, who looked a little bewildered.

Xu Tiance's mouth twitched twice.

Only after spending time with Du Busi had he discovered that the man was nowhere near as solemn as he appeared in the original story. He was even a little too old to be acting like this.

"Guyi, try absorbing this Blazing Gel. If it goes well, your Martial Soul might evolve further and gain Ultimate Fire."

Xu Tiance took a Soul Tool shaped like a mechanical arm from his storage Soul Tool and used it to hold the Blazing Gel before Ye Guyi.

Ye Guyi pressed her lips together and nodded gently. A faint ripple stirred in her eyes.

As for the fist-sized lump of Blazing Gel, there was no way he could absorb all of it alone. That was fine. He could take a portion and perhaps give the rest to Meng Hongchen.

If he remembered correctly, Meng Hongchen's Martial Soul possessed the rare combination of fire, ice, and poison.

With the Blazing Gel in hand, Xu Tiance did not rush to absorb it. Instead, he carefully consulted the book Tang San had left behind. He wanted to see whether it recorded an Immortal Herb suitable for Kong Deming.

Kong Deming did not hurry him. He simply maintained the Silver Moon Divine Light Shield and watched Xu Tiance in silence.

Du Busi, meanwhile, wandered all over the herb garden like a man out for a stroll. He treated the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well as though it were his own backyard.

Before long, delight flashed in Xu Tiance's eyes.

He had found an Immortal Herb suitable for Kong Deming!

This herb had never been mentioned in the original story, but Tang San had recorded it in the book.

It was called the September Flowing Cloud Flower. Growing beside the Yang Spring and nurtured by moonlight, it produced a gentle clash of yin and yang within the body when consumed. That force could break through meridian and spiritual barriers formed by stagnant Soul Power. Yet the clash was remarkably mild, comparable even to the Eight-Petal Immortal Orchid, whose medicinal properties were the gentlest and richest of all.

For Kong Deming, who was already a hundred and fifty years old and had a deep-rooted foundation, an Immortal Herb this gentle would not cause a violent conflict. On the contrary, it could help him break through his bottleneck.

After taking the September Flowing Cloud Flower, Kong Deming would have an excellent chance of advancing past level ninety-five.

The September Flowing Cloud Flower also had a strict harvesting requirement: it had to be picked under moonlight. Of course, someone who possessed the power of moonlight could harvest it as well.

When Xu Tiance told Kong Deming about the herb, delight instantly lit the older man's eyes, and his movements trembled slightly.

The herb's effects were a perfect match for him!

He had been trapped at level ninety-four for far too long. At last, he could break through to level ninety-five, become a Super Douluo, and truly attain the rank of Level 10 Soul Engineer!

For a moment, Kong Deming could barely contain himself.

Just then, Du Busi's booming voice rang out again. "Ha! I knew it! The Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and Infernal Delicate Apricot sounded like twin treasures of yin and yang. Since the Infernal Delicate Apricot can condense Blazing Gel, the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass must have its own special essence!"

"You thought you could hide it from this old man? Not a chance!"

As he spoke, Du Busi strode over with a large, palm-sized ice crystal in his hands. It was an exceedingly pale ice-blue, almost transparent, and in the light, a blue radiance could be seen flowing within it.

Though Xu Tiance had not touched the crystal, he could still feel a chill that sank into his bones. He shivered despite himself, surprise flashing in his eyes.

The original story had never mentioned that the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass contained such an essence!

Then again, that made sense.

In the original story, the entire Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass had sacrificed herself to become Huo Yuhao's Soul Spirit. Naturally, she had never needed to yield up her essence separately.

What was more, Xu Tiance could clearly feel the crystal exerting a strange pull on him. It was almost as if... as if his Martial Soul yearned for it!

"According to the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass herself, this is a treasure on the same level as Blazing Gel. It's called the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Crystal, and it can transform an ice-attribute Soul Master's power into Ultimate Ice."

"Teachers, this Octagonal Mysterious Ice Crystal... seems to have an almost irresistible pull on me."

Xu Tiance drew a deep breath, confusion showing on his face.

He did not even have an ice attribute. Why was the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Crystal drawing him in?