Reborn

The next day.

Ice and Fire Yin Yang Eye.

"Ah—ah—ah!"

Standing on a patch of neat, clean earth, Dugu Bo screamed with all his might like a madman:

"Who did this? Who did this?!"

Suddenly, Dugu Bo caught sight of several petals from the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum out of the corner of his eye. Instinctively, he beckoned and used Soul Power to draw them into his palm.

"This is... a chrysanthemum?"

"It feels so familiar. Where have I seen it before...?"

"Wait, a purple chrysanthemum with a faint golden glow—wasn't this Ju Hua Guan's martial soul?"

After recognizing the origin of the object in his hand, Dugu Bo's expression immediately became uncertain.

There was no mistake. Ju Hua Guan was famously obsessed with flowers.

There were many rare herbs here that he did not recognize, but Ju Hua Guan might recognize them all.

As for motive, the herbs here were absolutely worth Ju Hua Guan doing something like this.

As for strength, the poison array he had set outside the valley truly could not stop that sissy.

The motive and strength were both there, not to mention that petals unique to Ju Hua Guan's martial soul had been left behind.

Dugu Bo gazed heartbrokenly at the spring in the center of the valley, its effects now greatly diminished, and his hatred for Ju Hua Guan reached its peak.

But when he thought of the gap in strength between them, Dugu Bo could only forcibly suppress the thought of seeking revenge at his door.

"Fortunately, although the spring's effects have greatly weakened, it still gives off the two extreme auras of icy cold and scorching heat. It is still enough to suppress the deadly poison within my body."

After discovering this, Dugu Bo had even less reason to risk his life fighting Ju Hua Guan.

After all, his granddaughter Dugu Yan still needed his care. He could not die yet.

Deep within the Lin Duke Mansion Manor.

Inside a wooden cabin.

Ma Hongjun looked at the soft, cottony herb in his hand, filled with curiosity.

"The Duke said this thing can completely solve the problem of the impure phoenix flames in my martial soul."

"But can this soft little grass really be that miraculous?"

It was an herb made up of red blades of grass, their tips resembling a rooster's comb.

What was strange was that the veins of its leaves were actually reddish gold.

Simply holding it in his hand raised the temperature inside the entire cabin by several degrees.

"Alright, Hongjun." Xu Pan patted Ma Hongjun's shoulder and said, "My lord said this cannot be chewed. You need to swallow it whole, then refine it."

"The refining process may be somewhat painful, but once you succeed, you will never have to worry about turning into a fat man again."

"Uncle Xu is right." Ma Hongjun answered with a smile. The thought that, after absorbing this herb, he would no longer need to worry about Evil Fire turning him into an ugly fat man made him incomparably happy.

Then, catching sight of the purple nine-leaved ganoderma in Xu Pan's hand, Ma Hongjun added, "Uncle Xu, you should absorb this Nine-Rank Purple Ganoderma first. I'll stand guard for you."

"You brat." Xu Pan laughed as he scolded him. "You already call me uncle. Since when does a junior stand guard for an elder?"

"You absorb this Cockscomb Phoenix Sunflower first. I'll stand guard for you."

Ma Hongjun smiled and nodded. "Oh, got it."

Meanwhile, in a remote, uninhabited ancient forest deep in the mountains.

Lin Rong held an entirely emerald-green herb with three snow-white leaves.

At the center of each of those three leaves rested several droplets of water, like dew left behind in the morning.

"Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew, whether I can cultivate the Marrow Cleansing Scripture to the realm of Perfect Wisdom and Self-Awareness in one go depends on you. Don't let me down!"

As he spoke, Lin Rong raised the Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew before him and tilted it slightly, allowing the droplets on its three leaves to fall into his mouth.

The instant those droplets completely left the leaves, the entire Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew withered away in an instant, turning to dust and scattering from his hand.

Having done all this, Lin Rong sat cross-legged on the spot and began cultivating the Marrow Cleansing Scripture to refine the medicinal power of the Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew.

Not far away, Old Butler stood silently, guarding the young master.

Time slowly passed.

The sun rose in the east and set in the west. Before they knew it, evening had arrived.

Inside the wooden cabin at the Duke Mansion.

Ma Hongjun's clothes had long since turned to ash.

The Cockscomb Phoenix Sunflower's medicinal power was extraordinarily overbearing. As Ma Hongjun absorbed it, copious amounts of black fluid seeped from every part of his body.

The black fluid solidified and accumulated across Ma Hongjun's skin, making him look like an old man who had lived in a drought-stricken desert for decades.

His entire body was so dark that not a trace of white could be seen.

Watching everything before him, Xu Pan found it hard to believe that so many impurities could be purged from Ma Hongjun's small, thin body.

He recalled what Duke had once said.

Both the Cockscomb Phoenix Sunflower and the Nine-Rank Purple Ganoderma possessed the ability to completely transform one's body.

At first, Xu Pan had been somewhat skeptical.

But after personally witnessing the effects of Ma Hongjun's absorption of the Cockscomb Phoenix Sunflower, all his doubts vanished.

His gaze at the Nine-Rank Purple Ganoderma in his hand grew ever more fervent.

I thought Soul Emperor would be the end of the road for me in this life.

But with the Nine-Rank Purple Ganoderma bestowed by Duke, after my body is remade, becoming a Soul Emperor is certain. I may even have hope of reaching Soul Saint—and perhaps I can dare to aspire to become a Soul Douluo as well.

Just as Xu Pan was imagining the scene of himself becoming a Soul Douluo, a clear phoenix cry suddenly rang throughout the wooden cabin.

Towering golden-red flames burst from Ma Hongjun's body.

The flames shot skyward, instantly surging up to the cabin's roof as though they intended to burn it away entirely.

Fortunately, Lin Rong had specifically ordered this wooden cabin to be built from thousand-year-old parasol tree wood, effectively preventing the flames from bursting into the sky.

Ma Hongjun's body stretched out amid the flames. Having cultivated at the volcano's crater for so long, his skin had turned a healthy wheat color.

But now, his wheat-colored skin became fair and tender once more, while his golden-red hair streamed behind his head.

Firelight flowed across his entire body, and the vague image of a phoenix appeared upon his back, making him look as though he were a phoenix reborn from the flames.

A pure phoenix's pressure radiated from Ma Hongjun's body, lending him an even more legendary air.

"Uncle Xu, why are you looking at me like that? Did I get handsome again?"

Within the flames, Ma Hongjun narcissistically rubbed his cheek.

"It feels so bouncy and smooth. Has my skin really become this nice?"

"That's enough!" Xu Pan covered his face with one hand and said helplessly, "Stop admiring that egg-smooth face of yours and put on some clothes already."

"You're so young—what are you showing off for?"

"Huh?" Only then did Ma Hongjun realize that his clothes had somehow disappeared.

Once he realized what had happened, Ma Hongjun immediately covered his body in embarrassment, then lowered his head and looked around for something.

"Found it, it's here."

After finding the Soul Tool that had fallen to the floor, Ma Hongjun hurriedly took out a set of clothes and quickly put them on.

"Alright, Uncle Xu." Somewhat embarrassed, Ma Hongjun changed the subject. "I've finished absorbing the Cockscomb Phoenix Sunflower. That feeling was simply amazing."

"Uncle Xu, hurry up and absorb the Nine-Rank Purple Ganoderma too. It's my turn to stand guard for you."

Xu Pan naturally understood that Ma Hongjun was changing the subject to ease his embarrassment.

But Xu Pan had no intention of exposing him. He merely nodded, placed the Nine-Rank Purple Ganoderma into his mouth and chewed it, then sat down on the spot to refine the Ganoderma's medicinal effects.

At the same time.

Within an ancient forest deep in the mountains.

Lin Rong's cultivation had also reached a critical moment.