"Fine! I hope you keep your promise."
Dugu Bo ultimately agreed to Yu Tianling's conditions.
Even if he did not consider himself, he had to consider his granddaughter, Dugu Yan.
She was still young and could not follow his old path again. Besides, going with Yu Tianling to Spirit Hall Academy might be much better than staying at Heaven Dou Academy. Spirit Hall was a powerful organization with deep foundations, after all, and Spirit Hall Academy was undoubtedly among the continent's finest academies.
"Then please recover from your injuries here for now, Senior. I'll remove your poison in a few days."
Seeing that Dugu Bo had submitted, Yu Tianling rose, left him with those words, and walked toward the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Spring.
"Octagonal mysterious ice grass, infernal delicate apricot!"
Looking at the two immortal herbs growing at the respective centers of the Extreme Cold Yin Spring and the scorching Yang Spring, Yu Tianling's heart burned with excitement.
In the original story, Tang San had used these two immortal herbs to gain immunity to both ice and fire within the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Spring. His physique had grown stronger, the poison of his Eight Spider Lances had become more potent, and he had even gained a body completely immune to all poisons.
Thinking of this, Yu Tianling could not help anticipating the powerful effects he would experience after consuming them.
Forcing down his longing, Yu Tianling looked around and began searching for his next targets.
"Found them! Eight-petal immortal orchid and nine-grade purple ganoderma!"
Yu Tianling planned to use these two herbs to attempt Martial Soul Fusion in the future.
Eight-petal immortal orchid was an immortal-grade herb with gentle medicinal properties. It had to be "harvested with gold and stored in jade." As long as it was kept in a jade vessel, it would not wither for a thousand years or fade for a hundred generations. Its rich orchid fragrance could clear the mind and invigorate the spirit with a single breath. It could strengthen one's foundations, nourish one's vitality, and expel impurities.
Nine-grade purple ganoderma, meanwhile, was among the finest varieties of ganoderma, capable of strengthening one's foundations, nourishing one's vitality, replenishing Qi, and increasing one's cultivation.
Only after consulting reference materials for a long time had Yu Tianling finally confirmed that these two herbs could fully achieve his intended goal.
Over the following stretch of time, Yu Tianling began harvesting with abandon. Aromatic silk beauty, singular velvet sky chrysanthemum, eight-petal immortal orchid, aromatic silk beauty... he harvested them all using the appropriate methods and placed them in his storage ring.
"Ghost Elder, consuming this Ghost Shadow Jade Flower should strengthen your Martial Soul. Your Martial Soul might even transform completely into Ultimate Darkness, and you might have a chance to break through to Limit Douluo in the future!"
Yu Tianling never treated his own people poorly. After securing all the immortal herbs, he immediately took out a black flower with the texture of Hetian jade and handed it to Gui Mei.
The Ghost Shadow Jade Flower was a darkness-attribute herb that could greatly enhance the consumer's darkness-attribute abilities. If their power of darkness was sufficiently profound, it could even transform it into Ultimate Darkness. Moreover, this herb could temper the consumer's physique, indirectly broadening their chances of advancing further in the future.
"This... Holy Son."
Gui Mei looked at Yu Tianling, at a loss. He had never imagined that Yu Tianling would let him consume such a precious immortal herb.
"Go on, take it. You've followed me for several years now. Whenever anything comes up, you're always the one accompanying me. If you grow stronger, won't you be able to protect me better too?"
With that, he stuffed the Ghost Shadow Jade Flower into Gui Mei's hands.
"In gratitude for your trust, Holy Son, I, Gui Mei, swear to protect you unto death and defend Spirit Hall unto death!"
Gui Mei solemnly knelt and swore his oath.
Hearing Gui Mei's words, Yu Tianling smiled in satisfaction. He knew he had not misjudged him.
He then told Gui Mei how to consume the immortal herb.
"Just swallow the entire plant."
"Understood."
Gui Mei nodded in understanding and began consuming the immortal herb. In mere moments, he entered a meditative state, his entire body enveloped in black flames.
"Then it's my turn now."
Seeing that Gui Mei had entered his meditative state, Yu Tianling decided to begin cultivating as well.
"Martial Soul Possession!"
With a beat of his wings, he flew directly above the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Spring and swiftly plucked the two immortal herbs.
Without even waiting to withdraw his Martial Soul, Yu Tianling swallowed both immortal herbs.
In an instant, red and blue light burst from Yu Tianling's entire body, swiftly establishing two evenly matched forces. One directly burned away half the Soul Power in his body, while the other froze the remaining half.
Splash!
With no Soul Power available to use, Yu Tianling fell straight from midair into the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Spring, landing precisely in the center where the two spring waters met.
"Glug, glug..."
Amid the churning spring water, Yu Tianling disappeared completely beneath the surface. Dugu Bo, who had just finished healing his injuries, happened to witness this scene.
Fuck! We're finished!
The thought instantly arose in Dugu Bo's mind.
Even he dared not enter the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Spring, yet Yu Tianling, Spirit Hall's Holy Son, was at most rank twenty right now. Having fallen in, wouldn't he die without even an intact corpse?
As these thoughts raced through his mind, Dugu Bo hurried to the spring, intending to see whether there was still a chance to save him.
Truthfully, if Spirit Hall's Holy Son died here, Spirit Hall would most likely send people to raze this place to the ground, and neither he nor his granddaughter would escape death.
Upon reaching the spring's edge, Dugu Bo's heart turned ice-cold. He could see absolutely nothing.
Thus, Dugu Bo went over to Gui Mei, left with no choice but to hope that Gui Mei could save his and his granddaughter's lives after waking up.
With these thoughts in mind, Dugu Bo paced back and forth beside Gui Mei. The black flames around Gui Mei burned ever more fiercely, while Yu Tianling gradually sank to the bottom of the spring, already unconscious.
No one noticed as two masses of light suddenly appeared at the bottom of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Spring before merging directly into Yu Tianling's body. In an instant, the powers of ice and fire that had still been fighting within him gradually settled down, then began intertwining.
Had Yu Tianling still been awake, he would have discovered that his Soul Power was continually rising, then dropping sharply again. The Soul Power within him gradually began forming a crystalline core-a seven-colored crystalline core of exquisite beauty.
Meanwhile, deep within the Star Dou Great Forest.
"The Ice and Fire Dragon Kings!"
A mysterious, enormous shadow opened its eyes, murmured those words, then fell into a deep slumber once more.
A night passed.
"Phew."
Gui Mei suddenly opened his eyes and let out a long breath.
He flexed his hands and examined them, then clenched his fists. Feeling the power within them, far surpassing what he had possessed before, he could not help smiling.
Dugu Bo, who had waited beside him all night without resting, finally saw Gui Mei finish cultivating.
The black flames around Gui Mei were far deeper than before, as though no light could penetrate them. Dugu Bo could clearly sense that Gui Mei was now far stronger than he had been yesterday.
"Brother Gui, I'm afraid the Holy Son is in danger."
Dugu Bo called out to Gui Mei urgently.
"What?!"
Gui Mei, who had still been feeling rather pleased, instantly withdrew his Soul Power and stared at Dugu Bo in shock, his eyes filled with murderous intent.
Could Dugu Bo be the thief crying thief, having secretly ambushed the Holy Son while I was absorbing the immortal herb?
"Uh, Brother Gui, if I said it wasn't my fault, would you believe me?"
Unnerved by Gui Mei's stare, Dugu Bo could not help speaking with an awkward laugh.
"The Holy Son fell into the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Spring while we were both cultivating. An entire night has passed now, and he still hasn't appeared. I'm afraid..."
Seeing ghostly flames appear in Gui Mei's hand, and his clear readiness to attack unless given an explanation, Dugu Bo hurriedly explained. Only when he saw the ghostly flames gradually disappear did he slowly breathe a sigh of relief. He had nearly taken another beating.