Ice and Fire Golden Body, Rank Thirty Soul Elder

"You brat..."

Dugu Bo's voice trembled slightly. "Don't tell me you've set your sights on these two immortal herbs."

"You can rest assured, Senior."

Ye Han shook his head gently. "I've always valued my life. I would never do anything without some confidence of success. But to consume these two poisonous herbs safely, I'll need your help."

"You really intend to swallow them?"

Dugu Bo asked again to confirm, still unwilling to give up on dissuading Ye Han.

To him, Ye Han's idea was audacious in the extreme.

Had Ye Han chosen any other herbs, it would have been manageable. Even if something went wrong while he consumed them, Dugu Bo was confident he could keep him alive with himself standing guard.

But these two were different. The slightest mishap would leave not even bones behind, giving him no chance whatsoever to intervene.

"Sorry for the trouble, Senior. Please pick them for me, then toss them both in front of me."

As Ye Han spoke, he walked slowly toward the point where the icy and fiery springs met, where cold and heat reached a balance.

"The poisonous herb shaped like a giant white flower at the center of the icy spring is called Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass. To harvest it intact, you must use a refined iron tool."

"And the crimson poisonous herb resembling a cabbage in the middle of the blazing Yang Spring is called Infernal Delicate Apricot. Only harvesting it with a jade implement will preserve its medicinal potency."

Hearing Ye Han clearly explain both poisonous herbs' names and the methods for harvesting them, Dugu Bo realized this was no passing whim. Ye Han truly knew these two poisonous plants inside and out.

Somewhat relieved, he followed Ye Han's instructions, fetched refined iron and jade implements, and harvested both poisonous herbs. Then he wrapped the plants in Soul Power and tossed them toward Ye Han together.

The instant both poisonous herbs landed before Ye Han, the immortal herbs' diametrically opposed auras of extreme cold and blazing heat began to fade simultaneously as they drew close to one another.

A faint red glow rose over the surface of the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass, while a thin veil of white vapor swirled around the Infernal Delicate Apricot.

When Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and Infernal Delicate Apricot met, each suppressed the other's attributes. Those brief ten breaths were the only opportunity to consume them.

Once those ten breaths passed, both immortal herbs would lose all their medicinal efficacy.

Ye Han hesitated no longer. Powerful blood energy surged from within him, forming armor-like gauntlets over his hands.

The armor extended upward from his palms, encasing both arms completely.

With his final preparations complete, Ye Han grabbed one poisonous herb in each hand, opened his mouth, and gulped down both immortal herbs.

With their medicinal properties suppressing one another, the two poisonous herbs no longer possessed their earlier savage toxicity. They melted into liquid the moment they entered his mouth.

The next instant, two overwhelmingly violent torrents of ice and fire energy exploded inside him.

He swiftly stripped off his clothes and tossed them aside.

Without the slightest hesitation, Ye Han leaped under Dugu Bo's astonished gaze, plunging into the place where the icy and fiery springs met.

At the sight, Dugu Bo murmured, "Boy, I hope you come out of there alive. If even these two poisonous herbs fail to take your life, then I'll believe the immortal herb you picked for me earlier really can cure the root of the illness afflicting Yanyan and me."

Ye Han sank completely beneath the waters of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. The formerly tranquil surface churned briefly before soon falling still again.

The violent forces of ice and fire battered and crushed through his body, and his awareness soon scattered as he slipped into a deep coma.

Fortunately, his Qilin Bloodline was no empty boast. Its ability to absorb and refine energy far surpassed that of ordinary Soul Masters.

Even unconscious, without any deliberate control, his body's instincts alone digested these foreign energies far faster than Soul Masters of the same rank.

Time flowed on, and a day and a night passed in the blink of an eye.

Those full twenty-four hours were among the most agonizing of Dugu Bo's life.

He dared not relax for an instant, constantly monitoring Ye Han and the Fire Qilin. His heart remained suspended in dread, afraid that Ye Han might suddenly meet with disaster.

Fortunately, the Fire Qilin's aura remained steady, and his underlying strength was still slowly rising.

Judging by that alone, Ye Han, his host, should not have been in too bad a state.

"Refining and absorbing these two immortal herbs actually takes this long?"

Anxious, Dugu Bo paced back and forth, his gaze repeatedly sweeping over the Fire Qilin and the spot where Ye Han had jumped into the spring.

Splash!

Before long, a disturbance broke the still surface of the icy and fiery waters, filling Dugu Bo's heart with joy.

A figure sprang into the air from the springs' meeting point and landed firmly on the bank, quickly picking up the clothes left nearby and dressing.

It was Ye Han, who had spent a day and a night tempering himself in the icy and fiery spring waters.

"Thank you for standing guard and protecting me here, Senior."

Ye Han bowed slightly to Dugu Bo, his gratitude coming from the heart.

Had Dugu Bo not brought him here, he would never have obtained those two supreme immortal herbs, Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and Infernal Delicate Apricot.

Now, with the medicinal power of both immortal herbs and the natural wonder that was the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, he had successfully attained the Ice and Fire Golden Body.

The Ice and Fire Golden Body was also one of his central reasons for insisting on coming to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

The effects of the Ice and Fire Golden Body were simple and direct: neither water nor fire could invade it, and no poison could touch it.

Put simply, it granted three resistances. Having attained this body, he could now remain immune to ice- and fire-attribute powers below the ultimate level, while resisting every poison in the world.

Compared with its resistance to ice and fire, Ye Han valued its accompanying immunity to all poisons far more.

Ye Han already possessed the Fire Qilin Martial Soul. Even without resistance to ice and fire, ordinary ice and flames would struggle to harm him thanks to his Martial Soul's power alone.

Poisons, however, were different.

In the current Soul Master World, poison was an uncommon specialization, yet plenty of people fell victim to it. The most typical example was Xue Ye, who had been afflicted with multiple mixed deadly poisons without even realizing it.

Poison immunity would help him avoid countless dangers before they arose.

Of course,

This poison immunity was actually a trump card Ye Han had prepared to deal with Tang San.

Of Tang San's two Martial Souls, neither Blue Silver Grass nor the Clear Sky Hammer frightened Ye Han.

Even most of the various hidden weapons Tang San painstakingly studied were, in Ye Han's eyes, like chicken ribs—of little use, yet a pity to discard.

Compared with his hidden weapons, the only thing about Tang San that gave Ye Han pause was his seemingly endless arsenal of poison techniques.

Now that he had immunity to all poisons, however, those threats were no longer worth mentioning.

"Your luck really does defy the heavens, brat..." Dugu Bo shook his head gently, looking down at Ye Han, whose complexion was far better than yesterday. His voice was full of wonder.

"You even managed to turn these two poisonous herbs, which I find deeply troublesome myself, into strength of your own. From the look of you, you must have gained quite a lot, haven't you?"

"Hehe."

Ye Han scratched the back of his head, putting on a harmless smile.

But before he could say anything more, his body abruptly stopped mid-motion, leaving him frozen in place.

His robust Soul Power, which had only recently broken through to rank twenty-nine, now flowed naturally into another breakthrough, like water filling a channel.

His cultivation entered rank thirty, the threshold of Soul Elder.

"You broke through?"

At such close range, the change in Ye Han's Soul Power fluctuations naturally could not escape an expert like Dugu Bo.

"Just luck, just luck."

Ye Han chuckled.

Dugu Bo was speechless.

Since when could a breakthrough be chalked up to luck?