"Splash, splash, splash-"
A few more hours passed before Beiming Yuan, who had been tempering his body in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, finally stirred. The spring water churned and boiled.
The next moment, a figure leaped out of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. It was Beiming Yuan.
After tempering his body with ice and fire, Beiming Yuan's Ultimate Ice had been purified and strengthened.
Moreover, he had gained the ability to be immune to fire.
Of course, he could take or leave that ability. What truly helped him was the Ice and Fire Golden Body, which had improved his physique.
"As expected of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. Its body-tempering effect is stronger than eating Whale Rubber for years. I can try challenging a fifty-thousand-year Soul Ring for my fourth Soul Ring."
Unlike ordinary Soul Masters, when Beiming Yuan absorbed the Soul Rings of Soul Beasts from the Far North, there was no such thing as Soul Shock.
Those Soul Beasts bore him no resentment, so he only needed to withstand and absorb the purest energy of their Soul Rings.
"Unfortunately, I'm not strong enough yet. If I could face the Dragon Kings' remnant souls beneath the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well and make the Ice Dragon King my Second Martial Soul..."
"Gulp~"
Just as Beiming Yuan was pondering his Second Martial Soul, an ill-timed gulp sounded.
Beiming Yuan came back to his senses and looked over, only to see the Snow Empress and Ice Empress staring straight at him, their gazes as though they wanted to "devour" him.
"Uh..."
Beiming Yuan looked down at his body and realized his clothes were all gone.
"Is that really necessary? It's not like you haven't seen it before." Beiming Yuan rolled his eyes at the two women, then took a brand-new set of silver-white robes from the Ice Jade and quickly put them on.
Clothes made the man, just as a saddle made the horse.
Dressed, Beiming Yuan looked even more handsome.
The Snow Empress and Ice Empress, however, were somewhat disappointed. They hadn't seen enough yet.
Beiming Yuan took in every bit of the two women's reactions.
"You two."
Beiming Yuan smiled helplessly but didn't pay the matter much mind.
"Xiao Yuan, you've got a nice figure," the Snow Empress said with a graceful smile, her tone slightly teasing.
The Ice Empress said nothing. She simply stared at Beiming Yuan, her little face flushed red. As if thinking of something, she shyly lowered her head.
"Xue'er's figure is nice too."
Beiming Yuan smiled, then stroked the Ice Empress's little head and said irritably, "Bing'er, what unhealthy thing are you thinking about now?"
"N-no, I'm not." The Ice Empress's face turned crimson as she muttered, "What's unhealthy about it? It's perfectly healthy."
The corners of Beiming Yuan's and the Snow Empress's mouths twitched.
"All right, we've taken everything we came for. Let's return to the Far North and decide what to do next after you've passed your heavenly tribulations," Beiming Yuan said with a smile.
The Ice and Fire Golden Body only had a remarkable effect on him. For powerhouses like the Snow Empress and Ice Empress, it had little effect; their physiques were already strong enough.
"Mm."
The Snow Empress and Ice Empress nodded, their faces full of anticipation.
With the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow and now the Immortal Herbs as well, they were almost certain they could pass their heavenly tribulations. There was basically no problem.
The Snow Empress and Ice Empress then carried Beiming Yuan high into the sky, and the three of them turned into a streak of light, speeding north.
Meanwhile, at a residence in Heaven Dou City, Dugu Bo was wild with joy.
"Hahaha! It works! It really works!" Dugu Bo, who had never been much given to smiling, laughed-and it was a hearty laugh from the bottom of his heart.
For so many years, he had been searching for a way to stop the Dugu Family's Jade Phosphorous Poison from turning back on them. He hadn't expected a single Soul Bone to do the trick.
He had already tested it on himself, and it truly worked. Not only had he retained all his poison cultivation, but there were even faint signs that he was about to break through to level ninety-two.
"Yanyan is still young, and her Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison hasn't turned back on her yet. As long as she fuses with a Soul Bone beforehand, she'll surely be able to avoid ending up like me."
Dugu Bo thought it over, and his mood grew better and better.
Trading a medicinal garden he knew nothing about for the Dugu Family's continued existence was a profitable deal, an extremely profitable one.
"Grandpa."
Just then, Dugu Yan returned.
"Yanyan."
Dugu Bo looked over, a smile on his lips.
"Grandpa, what's happened?" Dugu Yan looked surprised. She had noticed that her grandfather seemed to be in a much better mood.
"Good news." Dugu Bo smiled and explained, "The method Beiming Yuan mentioned works. I've already tested it."
"It really works?!"
Dugu Yan was stunned.
Since the incident at the medicinal garden, she had learned from Dugu Bo about how the family's Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison turned back on its users.
After learning the truth, Dugu Yan had felt as though the sky had fallen. She had been downhearted these past few days, unable even to concentrate fully on cultivation.
But she hadn't expected a solution to come along so soon after she learned the cruel truth. It was wonderful.
And the method had come from Beiming Yuan, too.
If Beiming Yuan had appeared sooner, Dad and Mom might have... Dugu Yan thought of her parents without meaning to, and her heart grew heavy for reasons she couldn't explain.
Dugu Bo could see it, and a sorrowful expression crossed his face. But he quickly composed himself, reached out to stroke Dugu Yan's head, and smiled kindly. "Yanyan, Grandpa will always be here."
"Mm."
Dugu Yan raised her head and smiled.
"Our Dugu Family owes Beiming Yuan a favor this time. I wonder if we'll ever have a chance to repay him," Dugu Bo said with a sigh.
"Grandpa, how do we owe him a favor? Didn't that bad guy snatch our medicinal garden? He said this was compensation for us."
Dugu Yan pursed her lips. Whenever she thought of the way Beiming Yuan had called her a little girl, she couldn't help getting annoyed.
Is Beiming Yuan any older than me? How dare he call me a little girl? He's so infuriating!
"Yanyan, he may consider it compensation, but can we think of it that way?"
Dugu Bo smiled. "All we lost was a medicinal garden we knew nothing about, but what we gained was a chance to stay alive, even a chance for the Dugu Family to continue its legacy."
"With a single word of compensation, Beiming Yuan saved our lives and our family's legacy. That kindness outweighs the grievance of his taking our medicinal garden."
Beiming Yuan's act of taking it by force was indeed infuriating.
But it was also true that Beiming Yuan had saved them.
To put it bluntly, if Beiming Yuan had been even a little worse, a little more ruthless, he could have taken it by force and offered no "compensation" at all.
That was normal in a world where the strong preyed on the weak.
In his lifetime, becoming Poison Douluo, he had done plenty of bad things himself, including taking things by force and bullying the weak while fearing the strong.
Perhaps his son and daughter-in-law's deaths were retribution. Fortunately, heaven never sealed off every path: he and his granddaughter had met Beiming Yuan.
"Grandpa, I understand."
"But he's still infuriating. I'll surpass him and defeat him someday, and I'll bully him too!"
Dugu Yan waved her fist, her mind full of Beiming Yuan's face.
"Hehe." Dugu Bo chuckled. This time he said nothing more, and an idea even sprang to mind.
"Yanyan, what do you think of Beiming Yuan?" Dugu Bo asked meaningfully.
"He's awful, he..." Dugu Yan answered without thinking, but when she saw Dugu Bo's expression, she immediately understood.