Dugu Bo was delighted to see this. It seemed the daughter-in-law before him had a very good disposition.
"Don't be afraid. I'm very easygoing. It's Xin'er's good fortune to have you by his side."
At the thought, an inexplicable sadness welled up in Dugu Bo's heart. Given his current physical condition, he feared he did not have many days left to live.
Even with help from the Ye Clan of the Nine Heart Flowering Apple, it was only drinking poison to quench his thirst. There was still no way to resolve the Jade Phosphorous Serpent's backlash.
Fortunately, Xin'er had shown no symptoms so far. As long as he avoided absorbing Soul Rings from serpent-type Soul Beasts in the future, he would not follow in his mother's and elder sister's footsteps.
At that moment, Dugu Xin also noticed Dugu Bo's forlorn expression and said with some excitement,
"Dad, not only is my Martial Soul's backlash gone, but I've also gained an even greater opportunity."
As he spoke, Dugu Xin released his Martial Soul. A dark green draconic phantom appeared behind him. Dugu Bo's eyes narrowed slightly at the sight, then filled with curiosity and excitement.
"Th-this is a dragon Martial Soul? And your Soul Power presence has already reached the Soul Ancestor level?"
"Xin'er, how did your Jade Phosphorous Serpent Martial Soul evolve into this even stronger dragon Martial Soul? How did your Soul Power rise so rapidly?"
Seeing Dugu Bo's confusion, Dugu Xin did not answer immediately. Instead, he swiftly ended his Martial Soul Possession, took Su Qing'er's hand, and entered the carriage.
Dugu Bo followed them inside.
Only once they were in a relatively enclosed space did Dugu Xin recount what the two of them had encountered recently.
As Dugu Bo listened, he became furious when he heard that Dugu Xin had absorbed the Nine-Section Jade.
"Xin'er, you actually dared to absorb that Nine-Section Jade's Soul Ring? Didn't I, your father, warn you over and over not to absorb any more serpent-type Soul Rings, especially venomous serpent Soul Rings? How could you-"
"Dad, look, you're getting worked up again. I haven't finished yet!"
Dugu Xin sighed helplessly, then continued,
"Afterward, once I'd helped Qing'er obtain her third Soul Ring, my Martial Soul's backlash struck, and I met Long Qianming. He is..."
By the time Dugu Xin finished recounting his experiences traveling the continent over the years, Dugu Bo was grinning from ear to ear.
"Hahaha-"
"That Long Qianming truly is an extraordinary man. Not only did he eliminate the backlash from the Jade Phosphorous Serpent's poison, but he also evolved both your Martial Souls into dragon Martial Souls! He's our family's great benefactor!"
"Come on, let's go to that Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well you mentioned right now. I, your father, must thank him properly."
Unable to wait any longer, Dugu Bo immediately scooped up Dugu Xin and Su Qing'er. After leaving a few instructions with the steward, he rushed straight toward Sunset Forest.
His swift, decisive manner left Dugu Xin dumbfounded on the spot.
Surely this old man isn't planning to harm Long Qianming? I, Dugu Xin, am no ungrateful scoundrel.
Meanwhile, within the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Spring,
After a full day of tempering his body with ice and fire, Long Qianming, who floated in the spring's waters, had undergone a fundamental transformation.
Faint golden markings had actually appeared on his bare upper body, particularly his chest, seemingly tending toward the shape of a dragon. The muscles throughout his body had grown fuller, as though boundless strength were spilling out of them.
Long Qianming's eyes suddenly opened, and with a deft application of force, he stepped off the water and leaped out.
Boom-
With the sound of bursting water, the waters of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Spring exploded outward. The mingled cold and Yang Spring waters then separated once more, maintaining their clear division in a shape resembling a taiji diagram.
Long Qianming reached the shore, quickly dressed, and carefully sensed the changes in his body and Martial Soul.
He had now tempered his body into one immune to both ice and fire and impervious to all poisons. His earth, fire, and water elements had also reached great perfection.
Xiao Tian had also gradually developed a peculiar presence. Unlike the sense of closeness its dark attribute gave him, this sensation felt more like a special effect brought about by the slow fusion of the three elements.
Yet at this crucial moment, a wave of pain began in his bladder and traveled upward, first reaching his kidneys, then his entire chest cavity. Long Qianming clutched his chest and hunched over. Only after quite some time did that inexplicable bodily pain disappear.
"Wh-what's going on? Did eating the immortal herbs cause a problem?"
Long Qianming immediately sat cross-legged and carefully examined the inside of his body. He discovered that the kidney Qi, whose water attribute had now reached great perfection, had nowhere to vent. Like chaotic clumps of Qi, it rampaged through the surrounding bodily tissues.
"That's not right! If eating the immortal herbs caused a problem, it shouldn't only affect the kidney Qi whose attribute reached great perfection. There should also be a problem with my fire-attributed heart. Only that would fit the principle of water and fire counteracting each other."
Long Qianming grew even more puzzled. In the original storyline, Tang San had also consumed the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and Infernal Delicate Apricot. But aside from the pain during the initial absorption, he did not seem to have experienced this peculiar, intense pain afterward!
Could it be because I diverted part of the medicinal power to focus on a particular part of my body?
At this thought, understanding dawned on Long Qianming. It seemed that to resolve this recurring pain and clear the chaotic kidney Qi, his only option was to absorb a third Soul Ring primarily of the dark attribute, with water as its secondary attribute.
Immediately afterward, Long Qianming took the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum and Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew out of the Purple Gold Hundred Treasure Bag.
"This Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum is an excellent metal-element supplement. If I eat it, not only can I gain an indestructible body, but I can also strengthen the metal attribute within me ahead of time."
However, when Long Qianming recalled the chaotic kidney Qi from earlier, he lost interest in the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum and murmured to himself,
"Good as the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum is, it won't help much when used on a Soul Master like me who has already consumed three immortal herbs in succession. Wouldn't it be better to give it to someone whose background I know inside out later?"
Long Qianming immediately put away the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum. First, he dripped the few drops of dew held in the Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew's leaves into his eyes, then swallowed the entire Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew and remained seated cross-legged.
After entering his body, the Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew swiftly turned into a mass of clear blue energy and surged toward Long Qianming's spiritual sea of consciousness. The exceedingly gentle immortal herb energy rapidly expanded his spiritual sea of consciousness, causing his spiritual power to soar.
Suddenly, Long Qianming's eyes snapped open. His spiritual power passed through his golden-glowing eyes and swept out to examine the entire Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
"Th-this is an exceedingly pure state of ice and fire energy."
At that moment, Long Qianming could see strands of interwoven red and blue energy continually filling the air above the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well before dispersing toward the banks, where the immortal herbs' roots and stems absorbed them one by one.
Following the strands of energy, Long Qianming looked down into the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, wanting to see the spring's depth and the bones of the Ice and Fire Dragon Kings at the very bottom.
However, just as his spiritual power reached a range of 500 meters, it was reflected back by an extremely hot and extremely cold energy.
"Ah-"
Long Qianming suffered a backlash, and a wave of pain struck his head. Only after quite some time did it slowly fade.
"It seems I'm still being a little too impatient, given my current strength."