Looking at the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and the Infernal Delicate Apricot,
Xiao Xuan raised his right hand, holding two fingers together and lifting them slightly.
The water elements drifting through the air around him seemed to answer a call. In the blink of an eye, they condensed into two translucent blades of water, their surfaces shimmering with a deep blue light.
The water blades darted through the air as nimbly as swallows, slicing precisely through the stems and roots of the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and the Infernal Delicate Apricot.
With a faint cutting sound, both spirit plants were severed at their roots.
The water then formed two trays that caught the severed Immortal Herbs and flew back to Xiao Xuan.
Both Immortal Herbs, whether the utterly cold Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass or the utterly hot Infernal Delicate Apricot, were violently poisonous enough to seal a throat at the first drop of blood.
Eating either one alone would claim a person's life. Even a Titled Douluo would be no exception.
Yet swallowing them together would produce a miraculous effect.
Without a moment's hesitation, Xiao Xuan opened his mouth and took both Immortal Herbs in at once!
Gulp!
The Immortal Herbs slid down his throat and into his stomach.
Rumble-!
Incomparably violent medicinal power exploded deep within Xiao Xuan's dantian and Qi sea!
A force of bone-piercing cold and another like scorching molten lava swept through Xiao Xuan's body at the same time!
A sharply defined dividing line seemed to appear down the center of Xiao Xuan's body. A thick layer of pale frost rapidly formed over the skin on his left side, while his right side glowed with scorching light like crimson subterranean fire!
Cold and heat clashed madly throughout his limbs and bones, neither giving way to the other.
The Qi and blood within him were frozen solid one moment, then roared and surged like boiling magma the next!
As the forces of ultimate yin and ultimate yang tore and swept through him, the meridians and bones in Xiao Xuan's body constantly ripped apart and reformed!
Fortunately, the life force within Xiao Xuan also joined in, greatly reducing his pain.
Shattered!
Reformed!
Tempered a thousand times over!
The agony, as though his entire body were being crushed to pieces, made the veins bulge at Xiao Xuan's temples. A muffled growl rumbled from his throat.
Standing several zhang away, Dugu Bo and Dugu Yan watched with pounding hearts, both fully able to imagine the perilous torment Xiao Xuan was enduring.
"Little brother Xiao Xuan..."
Dugu Yan was frantic, her hands clasped tightly together.
But the next second, a ruthless glint appeared in Xiao Xuan's eyes, and he leaped into the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well without hesitation!
"Don't!"
Dugu Yan went pale with fright, so anxious she nearly burst into tears.
Dugu Bo's pupils contracted sharply, and he raised a hand to use his Soul Power to rescue Xiao Xuan from the spring!
But before Dugu Bo could act, the sight at the center of the pool brought him to an abrupt halt.
The bizarre spring water had not dissolved Xiao Xuan into residue. Instead, a new reaction had appeared!
At the center of the deep pool, the churning ice spring and boiling hot spring intertwined, spontaneously spiraling into a massive yin-yang taiji vortex with Xiao Xuan's body at its center!
Xiao Xuan, at the heart of the water-and-fire vortex, did not sink.
The two medicinal powers within him resonated mysteriously with the spring water's own ice and fire origins.
The once-raging conflict gradually subsided as cold and heat counteracted each other, transforming into the purest divine body-tempering liquid. It surged frantically into him through the tens of thousands of open pores across his body.
His blood was cleansed, impurities were washed away, and his bone marrow took on a resilient sheen like refined steel and jade.
After an unknown length of time, the furious waves on the pool's surface slowly subsided, and the seven-colored mist gradually settled back into the water.
Xiao Xuan exhaled a breath of turbid air and abruptly opened his eyes.
He lowered his head and looked at his hands.
His skin was fair and flawless as mutton-fat jade, even smoother than before.
His bones and meridians were also stronger than before. Not only had they been strengthened severalfold, but they had even gained immunity to ice and fire.
Even the Soul Power within Xiao Xuan had become purer!
"Phew... it worked."
A smile curved Xiao Xuan's lips.
Seeing Xiao Xuan walk ashore safe and sound, Dugu Bo and Dugu Yan's hearts finally dropped back into their chests from where they had hung in their throats.
Dugu Yan hurried forward and looked Xiao Xuan's skin, like fresh white jade, up and down. Her beautiful eyes filled with wonder as she teased him half-jokingly:
"Little brother Xiao Xuan, isn't your body-refining method a little too outrageous?"
"Your skin looks even prettier than a girl's... If you can put yourself through all that, could I jump into the spring and give it a try too?"
Hearing his granddaughter's words, Dugu Bo's beard shook with fright. He hurried forward, grabbed Dugu Yan by the sleeve, and sternly stopped her, his beard bristling and his eyes wide:
"Nonsense! Yanyan, don't scare your grandpa like that!"
"You couldn't find a second person on the entire continent who could survive such a life-risking method!"
"Young friend Xiao Xuan is exceptionally gifted and possesses heaven-reaching abilities. How can you blindly compare yourself to him? Swallow that dangerous notion right now!"
Seeing Dugu Bo acting as though he faced a formidable enemy, Dugu Yan couldn't help bursting into laughter and doubling over.
In truth, she had only spoken on a whim.
When Xiao Xuan had swallowed the Immortal Herbs earlier, the sight of his veins bulging as he suffered the torment of ice and fire had been enough to make her scalp tingle. Even if she had ten times the courage, she wouldn't dare blindly jump into that yin-yang pool.
She admired Xiao Xuan's composure and determination from the bottom of her heart.
Xiao Xuan smiled slightly and said:
"Senior Sister Yan, there's indeed no need for you to try this method. What you inherited is the Jade Phosphorous Serpent, and your position on the battlefield favors wide-area suppression from the middle and rear."
"After taking the thousand-year Whale Rubber, your physical strength is already sufficient. From now on, you only need to slowly channel your serpent venom into the Eight Spider Lances. With your poison formations and the piercing attacks of your external bone lances to control the battlefield at range, you'll be able to sweep aside opponents of the same level. There's no need to face such danger, with nine chances of death to one of survival."
"Did you hear that? Even young friend Xiao Xuan says so. From now on, focus on refining your Soul Power and put those misguided notions out of your head!" Dugu Bo nodded repeatedly, deeply convinced.
Dugu Yan stuck out her tongue and answered him playfully.
After finishing his advice to Dugu Yan, Xiao Xuan turned around and looked toward the scattered rocks on a gentle slope not far away.
There, a strangely shaped blue-white plant swayed in the wind.
Its leaves shimmered with a faint golden light, and three large dewdrops, round as full moons and crystal clear, grew at its tip, giving off a fresh, invigorating scent.
A divine-grade spirit herb-the Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew!
A burning light appeared in Xiao Xuan's eyes as he looked at the spirit plant.
The Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew's primary miraculous effect was to strengthen one's foundation and nurture one's essence, tempering the spirit within the Purple Mansion. It could greatly enhance a Soul Master's mental power and eyesight.
This Immortal Herb's ability was also very important to Xiao Xuan.
Previously, he had gained the water attribute by advancing his Martial Soul through a three-in-one fusion, thereby obtaining the means to manipulate water.
As his Martial Soul continued to rise in grade through further fusions, he would surely gain more attributes, such as fire, wind, lightning, and other elemental powers.
The more attributes he controlled within his body, the higher the demands on his spiritual perception and his fine control over Soul Power.
Only by refining his mental power to a stable level could he avoid mishaps and losses of control when using multiple powers in the future!
The opportunity was right before him. How could he miss it?