Choosing Immortal Herbs

A child of six or seven had slipped into the Breaking Clan without a sound and emerged unscathed. She did not need to guess how gifted he was.

As long as they kept him in the Ye Family and waited for him to grow up, the Ye Family would never again have to bow to the whims of other powers.

"Come, Lingling, take the food over to your little brother."

The beautiful woman pressed the food box into the little girl's hands and nudged her forward, repeatedly signaling with her eyes for her to approach.

The little girl shyly walked up to Gu Ping'an, picked up a pastry, and offered it to him.

"My mother made these pastries. Would you like one?"

Gu Ping'an's brows drew together almost imperceptibly.

"You eat first."

The Ye Family had shown no ill intent, but the human heart was hard to fathom. Who knew whether they might have poisoned the pastries?

"Hmph! Fine, I'll eat it!"

Realizing that Gu Ping'an was wary of them, the little girl pouted unhappily.

She stuffed the pastry into her mouth, took a fierce bite, and chewed hard, looking as though she were biting Gu Ping'an instead.

Crunch~ Crunch~

With the sound of the little girl eating pastries constantly in his ears, Gu Ping'an could not help turning to look. Once he confirmed that the pastries were safe, he picked one up and popped it into his mouth.

Gu Ping'an, who had not tasted anything good in six years, felt his eyes brighten slightly.

The pastry was crisp and fragrant, and biting into it sent a mingled aroma of milk and wheat bursting through his mouth.

Six years!

This was the first time in six whole years that I've eaten anything this delicious!

Back in Holy Soul Village, Old Jack had been more reliable than Tang Hao, but he was still an ordinary man, at the very bottom of Douluo Continent's lower classes.

Simply keeping him alive and raising him had been hard enough, let alone providing the expensive pastries enjoyed by Soul Master families and nobles.

"What are you looking for, little one? Shall I help you find it?"

Seeing Gu Ping'an accept the pastry, the beautiful woman approached with light steps and spoke softly.

Gu Ping'an set down the book in his hands and looked up with furrowed brows at the beautiful woman, who was doing her best to appear gentle.

"I need information about immortal herbs."

After some thought, Gu Ping'an told her what he wanted.

As far as he knew, immortal herbs should count as Exotic Plants and Herbs, yet the volume of Exotic Plants and Herbs in his hands contained no information about them.

Either the Nine Heart Begonia Ye Family had no information about immortal herbs, or he had failed to find it.

To settle that question, he could only go through the books one by one.

But having a member of the Ye Family help him search would make things much easier.

"Immortal herbs?" The beautiful woman frowned slightly, looking puzzled and uncertain.

"Yes! Immortal herbs!"

Gu Ping'an nodded firmly, took out the Herbal Compendium from the Breaking Clan, and turned to the page on aromatic silk beauty.

A flicker of understanding crossed the beautiful woman's eyes when she saw the information about aromatic silk beauty. She turned toward a bookshelf and pulled a dust-covered volume from its lowest shelf.

Immortal Herb Illustrated Record.

"Several generations of our Ye Family searched for these so-called immortal herbs. In the end, all we learned was that Spirit Hall's Chrysanthemum Douluo had awakened the immortal herb singular velvet sky chrysanthemum as his Martial Soul. We found no other leads.

"Gradually, we came to regard immortal herbs as something elusive and unreal."

No wonder!

Gu Ping'an had wondered why the Nine Heart Begonia Ye Family had not sought aromatic silk beauty to try to break through their Martial Soul's limitations. It turned out they had already searched and found nothing.

He reached out and accepted the Immortal Herb Illustrated Record.

Lovesick Heartbreak Red!

Octagonal mysterious ice grass!

Infernal delicate apricot!

Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew!

To his delight, Gu Ping'an discovered that the Immortal Herb Illustrated Record documented every immortal herb from the original story, along with information on some that had never appeared in it.

As he continued turning the pages, Gu Ping'an frowned again and looked up at the beautiful woman.

"Do you have a Soul Tool that can store living things?"

Once he entered the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, he would not leave a single immortal herb behind. He needed a Soul Tool capable of storing living things to hold them.

With enough lice, one stopped feeling the itch; with enough debts, one stopped worrying.

He had already read the Ye Family's books, so asking for a Storage Soul Tool hardly amounted to much more.

At worst, he could give the Ye Family an immortal herb afterward.

"A Soul Tool that can store living things?

"Wait a moment, little one. I'll go get one for you."

The beautiful woman walked toward the door, her hips swaying.

The Soul Tool she wore could actually store living things, but it held quite a few personal garments that would be awkward to take out.

"What's your name?"

With the complete information on immortal herbs in hand, Gu Ping'an felt the relief of having achieved his goal and began chatting with the little girl.

"My name is Ye Lingling. What's yours?"

The girl's soft, sweet voice sent a jolt through Gu Ping'an's heart.

He had not expected her to be the aloof, solitary, sensitive, and insecure Ye Lingling from the original story.

"My name is Gu Ping'an. Once I find the immortal herbs, I'll give you a share. Perhaps they can break through your Ye Family's Martial Soul limitations."

Gu Ping'an raised his hand and gently stroked Ye Lingling's little head as he reassured her.

Since he was a full head shorter than Ye Lingling, the scene looked rather odd.

Pfft~!

A stifled laugh suddenly came from the doorway.

"It looks like you two are getting along splendidly!"

The beautiful woman could not contain the delight shining in her eyes.

Gu Ping'an quickly withdrew the hand he had been rubbing over the little girl's head.

As though caught doing something shameful, Ye Lingling's fair cheeks swiftly flushed red.

"Here, little brother. This is the Storage Soul Tool you wanted."

The beautiful woman bent down and handed Gu Ping'an a Storage Bracelet.

As she drew closer, a milky fragrance mingled with the warmth of her body drifted into his nose.

Gu Ping'an involuntarily stepped back. Her presence was simply too overwhelming.

"I... I'll remember the Ye Family's kindness. I'll certainly repay it someday."

Gu Ping'an accepted the Storage Bracelet and quickly isolated himself within a separate space.

The beautiful woman stared blankly at the spot where Gu Ping'an had vanished.

First, she had not expected him to be so easily flustered by teasing.

Second, his methods astonished her.

Even as a dignified Soul Saint, she could not tell how he had disappeared. She reached out and swept her hand through the space before her, but her fingers passed through empty air.

That shocked her even more.

He had not turned invisible. He had truly vanished.

No wonder he could enter and leave the Breaking Clan as though no one were there. With this ability alone, even a Titled Douluo might be helpless against him without a suitable countermeasure.

"Mom, where's little brother?"

Ye Lingling gazed blankly at where Gu Ping'an had stood, not understanding how he had suddenly disappeared.

"Uh... your little brother Gu has probably already left."

Outside the Ye Residence, Gu Ping'an was red from his face to his neck, his heart pounding incessantly.

In his previous life, he had been a hot-blooded virgin. How could he withstand such teasing?

He shook his head, forcibly casting the strange thoughts out of his mind. Any further thought would be impolite.

After preparing some supplies, Gu Ping'an set off for Sunset Forest.

He had a Storage Soul Tool that could hold living things, and he had the Immortal Herb Illustrated Record.

Once he strengthened himself with immortal herbs and absorbed his second Soul Ring, he would leave Tang San far behind.

In Sunset Forest, Gu Ping'an used Blue Silver Grass to sense his surroundings and soon found the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

"Is this the Poison Miasma Dugu Bo laid down?"

Dense green poisonous fumes spread before him, obscuring everything within.

With the Poison Miasma blocking his senses, Gu Ping'an could not use Blue Silver Grass to perceive what lay inside. There might not even be any Blue Silver Grass within the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

"Is there Poison Miasma overhead too?"

Gu Ping'an looked up. Light flowed across his right leg, and he rose into the air.

"There's some even this high up!"

From above, Gu Ping'an took in the entire surrounding landscape.

The green Poison Miasma formed a ring, sealing the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well tightly within.

Only directly above the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well were the green poisonous fumes slightly thinner.

They were merely thinner, not absent.

That made sense. Douluo Continent had plenty of flying Soul Masters, both those who had appeared in the original story and those who had not.

If there were no Poison Miasma overhead, a single curious flying Soul Master would be enough to expose the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well's secret.

"Spacetime Isolation!"

After isolating himself in a separate space, Gu Ping'an flew straight toward the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

Dugu Bo was not there.

Upon landing at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, Gu Ping'an scanned his surroundings and breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Dugu Bo might be unable to do anything to him, but he still had no desire to provoke the man for no reason.

Octagonal mysterious ice grass!

Infernal delicate apricot!

Earth Dragon golden melon!

Gu Ping'an's gaze wandered between the octagonal mysterious ice grass, infernal delicate apricot, and Earth Dragon golden melon.

The octagonal mysterious ice grass and infernal delicate apricot, combined with the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, could greatly improve his physique and talent. The Earth Dragon golden melon, meanwhile, was connected to an idea he had conceived.

Eat them all?

Probably not.

If eating them all had been possible in the original story, Tang San would surely have done so himself.

So even if a person wasn't limited to consuming just one immortal herb, they still couldn't eat too many.

Greatly improve my physique and talent?

Or try an idea whose prospects were unknown?