The Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well!

At last, they had reached the heart of the matter!

Ye Han's tone eased slightly. "This is difficult, yet not so difficult."

"First, absorb a Soul Ring highly compatible with your martial soul, or a matching Soul Bone."

"Second, absorb a spiritual treasure of heaven and earth highly compatible with your martial soul—in other words, a heavenly treasure."

"Heavenly Treasures..." Dugu Bo murmured, storm-tossed waves surging through his heart.

He abruptly raised his head to look at Ye Han, as though he had made an enormous decision. "If it's spiritual treasures of heaven and earth you need, I may have a way!"

As his words fell, every gaze in the room converged on him.

Dugu Bo stared intently at Ye Han. "But I'll need you to identify which treasures can trigger the evolution of a martial soul origin, and confirm whether they would benefit Yanyan and me!"

The abilities Ye Han had demonstrated had already won over this temperamental Poison Douluo.

He was willing to believe that Ye Han possessed such discernment.

"If what you said today is true, and you really can help my granddaughter and me resolve the deadly poison of our martial souls, the oath I swore today will remain binding forever! Moreover, from this day forward, you will be my greatest benefactor. As long as I remain in this world, no one on this continent will harm so much as a hair on your head!"

"Agreed!" Ye Han accepted without hesitation.

The spiritual treasures Dugu Bo spoke of had to be at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

Since Dugu Bo had brought it up himself, Ye Han naturally would not refuse. That opportunity was precisely what he had come here to secure.

The two settled the details.

Dugu Bo then walked out of the dormitory building.

The three board members, Meng Shenji, Bai Baoshan, and Zhi Lin, were still waiting in the clearing nearby. Seeing him emerge, they immediately approached.

"Esteemed board members, I will be going out with Senior Poison Douluo to attend to a private matter. I'll return soon."

Ye Han bowed respectfully to the three and briefly explained the situation.

Chief Board Member Meng Shenji watched him with a grave expression. "Ye Han, are you certain everything is all right? If that old poison fiend dares to make trouble for you, the academy will not stand idly by."

Ye Han gently shook his head. "Please rest assured. Senior Dugu means no harm. He's merely taking me to identify a few medicinal herbs."

Hearing his explanation, the Three Education Committee Members exchanged glances, their worries easing somewhat.

Dugu Bo delayed no further. Soul power surged thunderously around him, and he carried Ye Han into the air, becoming a streak of light that sped straight out of Heaven Dou City.

A Titled Douluo's speed through the air was astonishing.

Before long, they had left Heaven Dou City far behind and reached the skies above a dense forest.

Lush woods and rolling mountain ridges stretched below them. This was the Sunset Forest, not far from Heaven Dou City.

Without slowing in the slightest, Dugu Bo carried Ye Han swiftly into the depths of the forest.

Soon, a hill roughly five hundred zhang high appeared in their field of view. He changed direction and descended toward its summit.

The two landed steadily on the mountaintop.

Looking down, they saw a vast, inverted-cone-shaped hollow whose bottom lay beyond sight.

Billowing heat rose from its depths, condensing into a blanket of white mist in the air.

Waves of hot air struck their faces, carrying the pungent smell of sulfur.

They stood atop a sheer cliff at the hollow's edge.

As Ye Han surveyed the scene below, his heart involuntarily began to race.

The Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well!

It really was the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well!

He drew a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the wild joy gushing up within him while keeping his expression calm.

Standing at the cliff's edge, Dugu Bo swept his gaze across the mist below and spoke in a low voice. "Boy, do you see that place down there? That is my medicinal garden."

He paused briefly before continuing. "It is also the greatest reason I've survived until now, when the deadly poison in my body should have killed me long ago."

Ye Han listened quietly without interrupting.

Dugu Bo continued his explanation. "This valley has a unique environment, one that greatly suppresses the backlash of the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison within me. Whenever the poison flares up and the pain becomes unbearable, spending some time here eases my suffering considerably."

Then his tone shifted, and a trace of helplessness appeared on his face. "But even so, I cannot remain here for long. The forces of heaven and earth here are far too domineering. Even I cannot endure them for too long."

He turned to Ye Han. "That is why I never bring Yanyan here, despite knowing that the poison torments her year after year. With her current cultivation, merely surviving here would be difficult, let alone using this environment to suppress her poison."

"All right, follow me down." With that, Dugu Bo leaped off the cliff.

His movements were swift. Within a few bounds, his figure slipped into the thick mist and vanished.

At the sight, the corners of Ye Han's lips lifted ever so slightly.

He hesitated no longer. With a thought, he sent the bloodline power within his body circulating rapidly.

A rich, blood-colored radiance surged from his back, swiftly solidifying into a pair of broad, batlike wings.

A faint red glow wreathed the edges of the blood wings, which looked somewhat insubstantial.

Ye Han gave the blood wings a gentle beat, lifting lightly into the air and flying toward the mist-shrouded hollow below.

He was not slow, and soon caught up with Dugu Bo, who had deliberately slowed to wait for him.

Seeing Ye Han descend through the air under his own power, Dugu Bo could not hide the flash of surprise in his eyes.

He paused in midair, his Jade Green Snake Eyes carefully studying the blood wings on Ye Han's back.

"Boy, what ability is this?" Dugu Bo could not help asking. "As far as I know, neither your martial soul nor your External Soul Bone should grant you the ability to fly."

The blood wings beat slowly, keeping Ye Han hovering beside him.

Ye Han smiled faintly. "Senior, this is merely a small application of my body martial soul. By condensing my own aura into wings, I can manage short flights."

He looked at Dugu Bo with a trace of understanding in his eyes. "Senior, did you deliberately go ahead to test me again?"

Though his intentions had been exposed in a single sentence, Dugu Bo showed no embarrassment, nor did he deny it:

"You certainly have plenty of secrets hidden away, boy. This only makes me more confident that you can help resolve my problem. Come, keep up!"

With that, he accelerated once more, speeding toward the valley floor.

Ye Han dared not let his guard down. His blood wings beat continuously as he followed closely behind.

The valley was not particularly deep. They soon passed through the layers of mist and landed on the valley floor.

The scenery below was entirely different from what they had seen atop the cliff.

Standing before Ye Han, Dugu Bo raised a hand and pointed at the plants of all shapes around them, a note of pride in his voice.

"Boy, take a good look. This is my medicinal garden. Almost all the rare medicinal herbs I've collected over the years have been planted here."

"Together with the many unusual plants native to this valley, the medicinal and poisonous plants here encompass every imaginable variety... all manner of poisons and foundation-strengthening herbs, everything you could ask for."

He sighed softly. "To tell you the truth, I know that somewhere among these strange flowers and exotic herbs lies a way to completely eradicate the deadly poison in my body."

"But the difficulty is..."

At this point, Dugu Bo paused, bitterness appearing on his aged face for the first time:

"I've dealt with poisons all my life, and I consider my knowledge of them quite profound. Yet I can identify less than a tenth of what grows in this valley. I dare not experiment recklessly. That would only hasten my death!"

He turned around and fixed Ye Han with a burning gaze. "If spiritual treasures truly exist in this world that can help Yanyan and me achieve a beneficial mutation of our martial souls, then this valley is the likeliest place to find them."

After hearing this, Ye Han smiled. He looked at Dugu Bo and spoke with certainty:

"Senior, if they are in this valley, I am confident I can find a foundation-strengthening herb that will bring about a beneficial mutation of your martial soul."

As his words fell, his gaze slowly swept over the immortal herbs in their myriad forms, a barely containable anticipation flashing deep within his eyes.

Every one of them was a genuine supreme treasure.

In another world, without the aid of these immortal herbs, it would have been almost impossible for every member of Tang San's generation of the Shrek Seven Devils to become a god.

Thus, in this current era, calling these immortal herbs "Foundations of Godhood" was no exaggeration at all.