The tenth day.
Before they could find a suitable Soul Beast, the three arrived at a place that gave off a peculiar presence.
Not far ahead, a green poisonous mist spread through the air, shrouding the entire area tightly.
Gui Mei frowned. "There's a huge poison barrier ahead. Who knows what cultivation level the Soul Beast that made it has? We'd better go around."
He had always been cautious. Here in the core of Sunset Forest, anything capable of creating a poison barrier of this scale was no ordinary creature.
But just as Yue Guan was about to nod and take a detour, Gui Yuan suddenly spoke.
"First Dad, Second Dad, wait."
The two looked at him in puzzlement.
Gui Yuan said, "My Martial Soul... seems to have sensed something."
"Sensed something?" Yue Guan froze for a moment. "What did it sense?"
Gui Yuan closed his eyes to feel it out. "My Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum seems to have sensed a very familiar presence inside."
"First Dad, hasn't your Martial Soul sensed it?"
Yue Guan frowned. "No. Could you have sensed it wrong?"
He found it very strange.
He was a Titled Douluo with level 95 cultivation. Could his perception really be inferior to Xiao Yuan's?
Gui Mei said from beside them, "Since Xiao Yuan sensed something, let's go over and have a look."
"With the two of us here, we won't run into any danger in Sunset Forest."
Yue Guan thought it over and felt that made sense.
"All right, let's go in and take a look."
Gui Mei walked at the front to scout the way.
Yue Guan stayed beside Gui Yuan, forming a barrier with his own Soul Power to protect him from the poisonous mist.
As Yue Guan walked, he surveyed their surroundings, his brows drawing tighter and tighter.
"Strange, this poisonous mist... seems a little familiar."
Gui Yuan thought to himself, This is a poison barrier Dugu Bo made. You deal with him all the time, so of course it's familiar.
The three continued deeper.
The poisonous mist grew thicker, but Gui Mei's netherworld power spread around them, keeping every movement within a hundred-meter radius under his watch.
After they had walked for about the time it took an incense stick to burn, the poisonous mist suddenly thinned.
The view ahead abruptly opened up.
They passed through the poison barrier and arrived at a secluded valley.
Mountains enclosed the valley on all sides, their steep cliffs cutting it off from the world.
At the very top of the valley was an entrance resembling a volcanic crater.
A faint hot spring smell drifted out from within.
Gui Yuan pointed below. "First Dad, Second Dad, shall we go down and look? It seems to be right down there."
Yue Guan and Gui Mei exchanged a glance, then nodded. "All right."
Black mist surged from Gui Mei's body, enveloping all three of them.
In the blink of an eye, they landed at the bottom of the valley.
When Gui Yuan saw the sight before him clearly, even though he had prepared himself, he could not help drawing in a sharp breath.
A dazzling array of rare and wondrous herbs greeted his eyes, nearly carpeting the entire valley floor.
Red, purple-herbs of every color gave off different lusters and scents.
At the very center of the valley, a pool of red-and-blue spring water stood out in particular.
The left side of the spring was crimson as fire, while the right was icy blue as frost. The two currents met without mixing, forming a peculiar boundary.
The hot spring smell they had noticed earlier came from this spring.
Yue Guan stood at the valley entrance, utterly stunned. He looked around, his pupils widening and his lips trembling slightly.
"This place... actually has so many immortal herbs and spiritual herbs that exist only in legends?" His voice had even grown somewhat shrill.
Before his words had faded, he suddenly spotted a chrysanthemum-shaped immortal herb.
With a flash of movement, Yue Guan was already standing before it.
"Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum!"
"It's actually a wild Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum!"
His voice changed pitch with excitement.
Gui Mei still did not quite understand what was happening. "Old Chrysanthemum, why are you so excited? Are these flowers and plants very precious?"
Gui Mei knew nothing about medicinal herbs.
He knew only one thing: the more brightly colored flowers and plants were, the more likely something was wrong with them. There was a high chance they were deadly poisonous.
And the strange flowers and exotic herbs before him were outrageously vivid. One glance was enough to tell that something was wrong with them.
Yue Guan forcibly suppressed his excitement and turned around. "Old Ghost, you're wrong."
"The flowers and plants here aren't on the same level as the medicinal herbs we used for Xiao Yuan before."
"I've also been teaching Xiao Yuan about immortal herbs and spiritual herbs over the past six months. He should understand."
"Really, it can be summed up in one sentence-immortal-grade medicinal herbs can improve a Soul Master's talent if they're compatible."
"Improve talent?" Gui Mei was skeptical. "Are they really that miraculous? Wouldn't that make them as precious as Soul Bones?"
Yue Guan smiled. "You're right. The effects of these immortal herbs are comparable to Soul Bones."
"But if I had to choose between an immortal herb and a Soul Bone of below hundred-thousand-year quality, I would choose the immortal herb without hesitation."
That was quite a weighty statement.
In Yue Guan's estimation, if he could absorb this Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum, his future achievements could definitely reach level 97.
That was not actually the limit of the immortal-grade herb, but his own limit.
Without a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring or a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone, he would never reach level 98 in his lifetime.
A Soul Bone below the hundred-thousand-year level, meanwhile, could at most help him reach level 96.
The difference between the two was immediately clear.
Yue Guan gazed at the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum in his hand and remained silent for a long time.
A moment later, he turned and held the immortal herb out to Gui Yuan.
"Xiao Yuan, take it. You'll be the one to absorb this Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum."
Gui Yuan froze. "First Dad, you..."
To be honest, he was somewhat surprised.
Of course he wanted to absorb this Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum, but he felt that depended on Yue Guan's wishes.
After all, Yue Guan's Martial Soul was also the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum, and his compatibility was no worse than Gui Yuan's.
Besides, there were so many immortal herbs here that he could easily absorb another one, which would likewise greatly improve his strength.
Yue Guan smiled. "What? Surprised?"
"Your First Dad isn't someone who would disregard his family for the sake of strength."
"I'm already level 95, and I follow the power attack system."
"Absorbing this immortal herb could replenish some of my origin, but my future ceiling would still be level 97 at most."
"But you follow the food system, and right now you don't have much ability to protect yourself."
"If you absorb this immortal herb right away, you should be able to gain the indestructible vajra body constitution."
"As your level rises later, I suspect your physical toughness won't be inferior to that of an ordinary Beast Martial Soul Soul Master."
"Besides, you have Twin Martial Souls, you can use a Self Martial Soul Fusion Skill, and you even have a divine artifact. Your future ceiling is much higher than mine!"
"As for me," Yue Guan looked at the immortal herbs around them, "I can just take another one. They're all immortal-grade, anyway."
"Old Ghost, I'll find one for you in a bit, too."
Gui Mei nodded. Though his face was expressionless, it would certainly have been a lie to say he was not curious.
P.S. Brothers, please keep reading~~
The storage period for the protagonist's first Soul Skill has been changed to one month. My previous understanding of how long things made by the food system could be stored was off. Sorry~~