Soul Emperor.
A Soul Emperor so young.
Yue Guan and Gui Mei were astonished.
He was far more formidable than Tang Hao had been in his youth.
It was not impossible for him to become a Titled Douluo before thirty.
With the help of Immortal Herbs, it was entirely achievable.
"Feel good?"
Bibi Dong went over and asked after him, her voice as gentle as water.
"Not bad. Also, Your Holiness, you'd better stop using that tone. It's too fake."
Bai Guyue really couldn't stand listening to it.
"You really are picky. Wasn't I just getting used to the role of a wife welcoming her husband home after marriage?"
Bibi Dong had done her best.
And he still found fault with her.
This is infuriating.
I'm being so gentle and considerate, and you're still not happy. It seems I need to be a little firmer.
You really respond to force, not kindness.
"I'm not buying that act of yours."
Bai Guyue waved a hand.
"How boring." Bibi Dong snorted.
Bai Guyue ignored her and went to pick the octagonal mysterious ice grass and infernal delicate apricot. After harvesting them using the special methods he knew well, he went to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well and ate both Immortal Herbs at once.
The moment it entered his mouth, the octagonal mysterious ice grass turned into a biting current of ice that plunged down his throat and straight into his dantian. His meridians seemed to freeze wherever it passed, and the piercing chill seeped into his very marrow.
The infernal delicate apricot then burst into a scorching current of heat, surging through his body like lava and searing every inch of his flesh.
The two medicinal forces, one cold and one hot, collided violently in his chest and abdomen. Agony swept through his body in an instant. He grunted and leaped into the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
He hit the water with a splash, sending spray flying in all directions.
Bibi Dong frowned at the sight.
"What's he doing?"
He didn't even answer before jumping in?
Never mind. I'll ask Bai Guyue when he comes back up.
Beneath the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
Half of Bai Guyue's body was immersed in the bone-chilling ice spring, while the other half sank into the fire spring, hot as molten lava.
The ultimate powers of ice and fire poured madly through his pores, answering, colliding, and merging with the two medicinal forces within him.
The powers of ice and fire scoured his meridians and bones again and again, crushing and reshaping his fragile flesh over and over.
Ice crystals rapidly formed on the surface of his skin, only to be melted by flames in an instant. Fine beads of blood appeared and swiftly evaporated, and even his bones gave off faint, crisp cracking sounds amid the two extreme forces.
Bai Guyue gritted his teeth and held his mind steady, guiding the medicinal forces and the power of heaven and earth to temper his body together.
An unknown time later, the clashes within him gradually subsided, and the powers of ice and fire fully merged into his limbs and bones.
When he broke through the water, his skin had a lustrous sheen, and his bones and meridians were far tougher than before. His physical body had undergone a complete transformation.
After he jumped out of the water, Bibi Dong walked over.
"Xiao Bai, why did you jump in?"
"To temper my body."
Bibi Dong was puzzled. "Is this stuff really that good for tempering the body?"
After eating two Immortal Herbs, jumping into this pool of cold and hot water to temper his body probably wouldn't have much effect, would it?
"Don't underestimate it. The two Immortal Herbs I ate, the octagonal mysterious ice grass and the infernal delicate apricot, are both ultimately lethal poisons if taken separately.
"The powers of ultimate cold and ultimate heat are simply more than an ordinary Soul Master's body can withstand.
"But if both herbs are swallowed at once, and you immediately jump into the waters of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well to temper your body, you can attain the legendary Ice and Fire Golden Body."
Bai Guyue explained calmly.
Tempering his body with ice and fire was extraordinarily significant to him, who used only a sword.
"Is there anything else besides that?"
"They're two Immortal Herbs. Their effects can't be limited to just that, can they?"
Bibi Dong didn't believe those were their only effects.
"Of course there's more. This is an ultimate physical transformation that completely remakes the body. Once the tempering succeeds, the most immediate effect is complete immunity to water and fire.
"Besides that, the origins of yin and yang, ice and fire, merge within the body, thoroughly refining all the meridians and flesh and raising the limit of how much Soul Power the body can hold.
"That greatly increases cultivation speed. At the same time, physical toughness, recovery, and resistance to blows all soar, far surpassing those of Soul Masters at the same level.
"Most importantly, the two ultimate powers of ice and fire keep each other in balance and can also temper the soul. They make you immune to all poisons, while the origins of ice and fire in your body automatically neutralize the vast majority of insidious, sinister, and highly poisonous attacks.
"However, this method is extremely dangerous. The powers of ice and fire intertwine inside and outside the body, tearing madly at the flesh. If your will or resolve is the slightest bit lacking, you simply won't survive the tempering process. The powers of ice and fire will tear your body apart, and you'll explode and die.
"Once you attain the Ice and Fire Golden Body, you will truly have forged an unparalleled innate physique, immune to all poisons and undisturbed by water or fire."
After he had described the effects in general, Bibi Dong's face was full of astonishment.
"Doesn't that mean your body and willpower are both extremely strong, and your body is even tougher and sturdier now?"
"Indeed." Bai Guyue nodded.
That's wonderful.
I was worried Bai Guyue's body wouldn't be able to handle it, but now it seems there's no need to worry at all.
These two Immortal Herbs might as well have been made to measure.
"Bibi Dong, what are you thinking about now?"
Bai Guyue kept feeling that Bibi Dong was distracted.
"Nothing."
Bibi Dong waved a hand.
"Your Holiness, we should be going," Yue Guan said.
As soon as he finished speaking, hurried footsteps and an angry roar suddenly came from the distance.
"Going? You stole my Immortal Herbs and think you can run? No chance!"
A jade-green figure came racing over at incredible speed, then leaped and landed directly in front of the four of them.
"You little thieves..."
He stopped abruptly halfway through his sentence.
When he saw the visitors clearly, his body suddenly stiffened.
"I wondered who it was. So it's you, old poison. Been well?"
Yue Guan had thought it was some powerful Titled Douluo, but it turned out to be his old friend Dugu Bo.
The poison formation outside made sense now, too.
Apart from Dugu Bo, almost no one on the entire continent could set up such a powerful poison formation.
Nor could anyone else play with poison to such a pitch of perfection.
"Yue Guan, Gui Mei, the Pope, and the guard at her side, Bai Guyue."
Dugu Bo was terrified.
How had these four discovered his treasure ground?
If there had been only one of them, he might still have been able to deal with them, but against all four, he would surely die.
He could forget about escaping.
"Dugu Bo, weren't you shouting pretty loudly just now?"
"Go on, shout a couple more times for your grandpa Yue Guan."
Yue Guan smiled mockingly.
This time, Dugu Bo had all but walked straight into a net.
He had come confidently, only to be forced to stay in disgrace.
Yue Guan had tried to recruit him before, but Dugu Bo had refused. It had turned into a pursuit, with Yue Guan and Gui Mei hunting him down together. In the end, he had only escaped disaster by fleeing to Prince Xue Xing.
He hadn't expected to meet him in Sunset Forest. Perhaps this was fate.
Otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence?
"Yue Guan, you sissy, cut the nonsense! I didn't provoke any of you, and you're the ones who came onto my territory. You think you're in the right?"
Dugu Bo was filled with frustration.
Bibi Dong's eyes turned cold.
"Dugu Bo, opportunities belong to those capable of claiming them. In that case, why say more? I'll give you two ways out now: join Spirit Hall, or stay here forever."