The two of them reached the very center of the valley floor.
Zhang Fei froze, stunned by the sight before him.
At the center of the valley floor lay a spring, its water welling endlessly from underground in two starkly different streams.
One was crimson. Steam rose from its water, and scorching heat filled the air. Even from several meters away, he could feel the waves of heat washing over him.
The other was icy blue. Its water radiated a biting chill, and white mist slowly rose from the surface, coating the nearby rocks in frost.
The two streams met and mingled within the spring, red and blue swirling around one another. Though they shared the same pool, they remained as distinct as two rivers, neither encroaching upon the other.
Red and blue intertwined, magnificent and mysterious.
All around the spring grew plants of every kind, each radiating intensely concentrated energy, their shapes strange and their colors vivid.
Nourished day and night by the aura of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, every one of these plants held pure, concentrated energy.
The Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
Zhang Fei stared fixedly at the plants, his heart pounding.
Immortal herbs!
These were the finest cultivation resources on the entire continent, without exception.
In the original story, Tang San had used a few immortal herbs from the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well to force the overall strength of the Shrek Seven Devils up a whole level.
Any single plant here would make Soul Masters across the continent fight until their heads split open.
And now they lay right before him, his for the taking.
How could he not be excited? Zhang Fei felt even his breathing begin to tremble.
But he quickly crushed the urge to rush forward and turned toward She Long beside him.
She Long swept his gaze around several times. Though shocked, he was not particularly excited. "This place... there's something to it. Those two streams, one hot and one cold, give off extremely pure energy fluctuations. Those plants beside them don't look like ordinary medicinal herbs, either. I don't know much about them, but I can feel how much energy they contain."
He turned to Zhang Fei and asked seriously, "Little Fei, do you recognize these plants?"
Zhang Fei nodded. "A little... just a little..."
She Long rolled his eyes and raised a hand as if to rap him on the head. "Give me a proper answer, or I'll knock you on the head!"
Zhang Fei chuckled without explaining further, offering only a warning. "Grandpa, these plants are all extremely precious, and most are highly poisonous. They require special harvesting methods, so don't touch anything carelessly."
His gaze swept swiftly over the immortal herbs before settling on two near the boundary between the Yang Spring and the Yin Spring. Infernal delicate apricot. Octagonal mysterious ice grass.
She Long nodded slightly at his words. "Then what do we do now?"
He glanced around again, and when his gaze returned to Zhang Fei, he discovered that the boy had deftly stripped off all his clothes and was now stark naked.
She Long asked in bewilderment, "What are you doing? Are you an exhibitionist?"
Zhang Fei was momentarily speechless. He pointed at the infernal delicate apricot and octagonal mysterious ice grass. "Grandpa, help me harvest that red flower with a jade implement, then harvest that octagonal herb with an iron implement. Once you've picked them, bring them both to me at the same time."
Then he pointed at the spring of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. "I'll eat those two herbs, then jump in for a bath."
She Long's expression changed drastically. "Have you gone mad, or have I? Even I wouldn't dare touch that water! If you jump in, will there even be a single bone left? Don't even think about it!"
"Uh..." Zhang Fei scratched his head, at a loss for how to explain.
He said anxiously, "Grandpa, time is short. There's no time to explain everything. If Dugu Bo changes his mind and comes back, things will get complicated again."
But She Long remained unmoved. His instincts told him Zhang Fei had gone mad and wanted to kill himself.
Seeing this, Zhang Fei tried earnestly to persuade him. "Grandpa, trust me. When have I ever been wrong?"
She Long thought it over carefully. Although the boy had always acted a little unhinged, it did seem that nothing he had said had ever been wrong.
He hesitated for a moment before finally forcing out the words. "You... are you sure you'll be all right if you jump in?"
Zhang Fei nodded, his gaze resolute. "I'm sure. Those two herbs will protect me, and the spring water will help me absorb their medicinal power, completely remaking my body from flesh to bone. It might take a while, though. Don't worry, Grandpa. Just stay on the bank and watch over me."
"...Fine. I must have owed you in my past life." She Long sighed and reluctantly gave in.
Zhang Fei chuckled. Seeing that She Long had finally relented, he immediately reminded him, "Just as I said: don't damage their roots. Harvest the red flower with a jade implement and the octagonal herb with an iron implement, then bring them both to me at the same time."
She Long sighed again and resigned himself to following the instructions.
First, he took a small jade knife from his Storage Soul Tool and carefully harvested the infernal delicate apricot. Then he took out an iron dagger and harvested the octagonal mysterious ice grass, before using Soul Power to deliver both to Zhang Fei at once.
Zhang Fei immediately brought the two immortal herbs close together. The infernal delicate apricot and octagonal mysterious ice grass met in midair, their two extreme energies forming a brief equilibrium.
Without hesitation, he grabbed both immortal herbs and stuffed them into his mouth at the same time.
The two immortal herbs melted the instant they entered his mouth, sliding over his tongue and down his throat.
In the blink of an eye, Zhang Fei's entire body turned icy blue, then red, constantly shifting between the two colors.
She Long watched from beside him, his heart pounding with fear.
Boom!!!
The two extreme medicinal powers exploded inside Zhang Fei at once. A tearing pain forced a hoarse scream from his throat.
Summoning every last ounce of strength, Zhang Fei leaped.
With a splash!, water sprayed upward, and Zhang Fei disappeared beneath the surface where ice and fire met.
In an instant, the scorching heat of the Yang Spring and the bitter cold of the Yin Spring invaded his body together, forming a strange equilibrium with the medicinal power of the two immortal herbs.
The interwoven waters of ice and fire washed continuously over him, clashing with and neutralizing the medicinal power of the two immortal herbs.
His meridians tore apart repeatedly, only to rebuild themselves in an instant, the pain sending his whole body into spasms.
At the same time, a sacred, overbearing aura quietly rose from the depths beneath the spring.
It was Dragon Qi.
The Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well was the burial place of the Ice and Fire Dragon Kings. Both Dragon Kings had fallen here, and though their flesh had long since rotted away, the Dragon Qi remaining in their bones had seeped into the spring water, accumulating at the bottom over countless days and months.
Now, with all of Zhang Fei's meridians wide open and his Soul Power circulating wildly, that dense Dragon Qi surged up from the bottom as though summoned, seeping into his body layer by layer through the spring water.
His skin, muscles, bones—every part of his body greedily devoured the Dragon Qi like a sponge soaking up water.
It hurt. It hurt even more than absorbing a Soul Ring.
Soul Power circulated wildly within him as his entire body was reshaped. Zhang Fei had almost passed out from the pain.
An unknown amount of time passed.
She Long remained on the bank, never leaving his post. Had he not still been able to sense Zhang Fei's life force, he would have found a way to fish him out.
Before you continue