Over the next few days, Sword Douluo guided Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing, while Ning Chuan left the cave and returned to his quarters to study the uses of the various elements.
In just a few days, Ning Chuan discovered that Elemental Flow had an astonishing range of applications.
Besides granting him various Soul Skills, the natural elements also provided tremendous benefits to his cultivation.
Water element and ice element, for instance, could help Ning Chuan quickly calm his mind and focus;
Fire element could stimulate his meridians and send him into a berserk state.
Light element could bring clarity to his mind;
Wind element could even expand the range of his perception of movement.
In short, each element could branch out within its own domain to produce highly practical cultivation or combat techniques.
There was also the even subtler art of elemental fusion: two elements, three elements, or even more could be fused into new elements;
The more Ning Chuan studied, the more unfathomable he found Elemental Flow. Its intricacies were far too profound; without investing vast amounts of time into studying it, he could not even glimpse its true workings.
After seven days, Ning Chuan could, at best, employ the most basic applications of each element.
He had not the slightest idea how to take things further.
Meanwhile, Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing had mastered the use of soul force and could restrain and conceal their auras on their own. As long as excessively powerful spiritual power did not invade their Spiritual Seas of Consciousness, their divine auras would remain hidden.
Both had reached level forty and could now hunt for their fourth Soul Rings. Naturally, Sword Douluo would no longer leave such matters to Flender, so he had Bone Douluo take them to the Sunset Forest first.
Once they had obtained their Soul Rings, Bone Douluo would take them straight to Blue Tyrant Academy.
Not long after Bone Douluo left with them, Sword Douluo and Ning Chuan were preparing to visit the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. Before they could depart, however, Dugu Bo suddenly returned to the sect, bringing news that caught Ning Chuan completely off guard.
Inside the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's reception hall, Ning Chuan stared at the pair of iron balls Dugu Bo had produced, utterly speechless.
Although Ning Chuan had never seen the Mother-and-Child Soul-Chasing Courage before, he guessed what it was at a glance.
He had never imagined that, even after he had resolved Dugu Yan's and Dugu Bo's problems, Tang San would still manage to get involved with Dugu Bo.
According to Dugu Bo, the morning after Ning Chuan and Sword Douluo left the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, he and Dugu Yan had also returned to Heaven Dou City.
Prince Xue Xing already knew that the Imperial Dou team had lost to Shrek Academy, and that Qin Ming wanted to recommend Shrek Academy's talented students for admission to Heaven Dou Royal Academy.
Upon receiving word that the people from Shrek Academy were approaching Heaven Dou City, Prince Xue Xing had already decided to sabotage the matter.
The sole reason was that Heaven Dou Royal Academy's three chief administrators favored Crown Prince Xue Qinghe. Taking in these talented students with no powerful backing would be tantamount to strengthening the crown prince's faction.
Naturally, Prince Xue Xing did not want that to happen, which was why he had Xue Beng provoke Dai Mubai, giving him a pretext to intervene later.
Prince Xue Xing knew full well that if the three chief administrators insisted on protecting them, he could never accomplish his goal alone. Thus, he sent someone overnight to the Sunset Forest, to the outskirts of the poisonous miasma, to inform Dugu Bo.
Tang San's victory over Dugu Yan had already piqued Dugu Bo's interest in him, so naturally, he did not refuse Prince Xue Xing's invitation.
Thus, events unfolded just as they had in the original story. Faced with Dugu Bo's overwhelming strength, the Shrek group could only leave Heaven Dou Royal Academy with their tails between their legs.
Afterward, Dugu Bo still sought out Tang San. His original intention was merely to test why Tang San did not fear poison;
But because of the incident at Heaven Dou Royal Academy, Tang San believed that falling into Dugu Bo's hands meant certain death. In desperation, he mocked Dugu Bo, saying, "Your poison is nothing but trash." He also detected Dugu Bo's poisoning and uncovered the secret that the Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor Martial Soul brought disaster upon its wielder's descendants, further arousing Dugu Bo's interest.
After comprehending the Poison Scripture, Dugu Bo was already highly confident that he could control the toxins accumulated in his body. However, because they had built up for so long, he still needed some time to accomplish that, allowing Tang San to spot them.
To protect himself, Tang San bluntly claimed that he had a way to neutralize the toxins inside Dugu Bo and Dugu Yan. He even declared that, given enough time, he could kill Dugu Bo without using his Martial Soul.
With the Poison Scripture in hand, Dugu Bo did not care about detoxification at all. Still, encountering a junior who understood poison was rare, and like a hunter sighting worthy prey, he could not help but grow excited.
He wanted to see just how deeply Tang San understood poison, and what methods he intended to use that gave him the audacity to claim he could kill a Titled Douluo.
And so, Tang San was taken to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
Since Dugu Bo already possessed the Poison Scripture, even after bringing Tang San to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, he would not allow him to pick the immortal herbs.
Yet after Tang San arrived at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, he somehow stirred the octagonal mysterious ice grass and infernal delicate apricot into action. As though they had developed minds of their own, the two immortal herbs flew toward Tang San, even drawing out the ice and fire origin qi within the spring water. Dugu Bo was left dumbfounded.
At the time, Dugu Bo did not yet know Tang San's identity, but he knew that Ning Rongrong and Tang San were teammates. Thus, he began considering taking him as a disciple. He thought that bringing such a prodigy under his tutelage would also count as nurturing new blood for the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
Therefore, Dugu Bo did not stop Tang San from absorbing the medicinal power of the two immortal herbs.
At this point, Ning Chuan was utterly speechless. He cursed inwardly, Fucking hell, the world's will is forcibly putting its chosen one's opportunities back on track, isn't it!
"System, is this fair?" Ning Chuan asked helplessly.
The system replied, "They're just two medicinal herbs. Is that really worth getting so worked up over?"
Ning Chuan said, "I have a feeling that, now that Tang San has reached the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, he definitely won't leave empty-handed!"
At that thought, Ning Chuan immediately asked Dugu Bo, "Tang San didn't touch the other herbs, did he?"
"No..." Dugu Bo answered instinctively, only to suddenly remember something.
"Uh... he probably picked a few more just before we left. But that place is covered in medicinal herbs. Picking a few wouldn't do any harm!" Dugu Bo said with a smile.
Hearing that, Ning Chuan knew disaster was coming.
Dugu Bo continued, "Tang San said he could make a hidden weapon capable of injuring me. Naturally, I didn't believe him, so I made a bet with him. The stakes were permission to pick some medicinal herbs."
At that point, Dugu Bo smiled and said, "This Mother-and-Child Soul-Chasing Courage is the hidden weapon Tang San made. I've already tested one pair, and it really can injure a Titled Douluo. The higher the user's soul power, the more powerful this thing becomes!"
"Tang San has already promised that, as long as I supply the materials, he'll make more for me in the future." Dugu Bo sounded as though he had gotten an incredible bargain.
Then Dugu Bo sighed again. "Unfortunately, given his identity... he probably won't join the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect!"
Sword Douluo and Ning Fengzhi both knew Tang San's identity, so naturally, they understood why Dugu Bo sighed.
As Ning Chuan listened, his foreboding grew stronger and stronger. He immediately asked, "Senior Dugu, never mind that for now. You just said Tang San picked some medicinal herbs before you left. Didn't you watch him pick them?"
"No. When I saw how powerful the Mother-and-Child Soul-Chasing Courage was, I spent a while studying it. I lent Tang San the Wishful Hundred Treasure Pouch and let him pick them himself," Dugu Bo said.
Ning Chuan's vision went black, and he slapped his forehead. He truly had not expected Tang San to rob him on his own turf even like this.
"Uh, Ning Chuan, what's wrong?" Dugu Bo had no idea what was happening. Sword Douluo and Ning Fengzhi beside him were also rather bewildered.
Ning Chuan said helplessly, "Senior Dugu, we'd better return to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well as soon as possible and have a look!"
Dugu Bo exclaimed in surprise, "Oh? You know that place is called the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well too? Tang San called it that as soon as he arrived. And I can't even identify all the medicinal herbs there, yet he recognized every single one!"
"Ah!" Ning Chuan sighed. "It's my fault for not telling you the names and effects of all the immortal herbs beforehand, Senior. That gave Tang San an opening to exploit. Let's go back and take a look first. Hopefully, things aren't as bad as I imagine!"
Before you continue