Dugu Bo's herb garden had the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well at its heart and encompassed the surrounding thirty zhang. Within ten zhang was the growing area for immortal-grade herbs; beyond that lay ordinary rare herbs and poisonous plants. These medicinal plants were also materials Dugu Bo commonly used to refine medicine and concoct poisons.
Fang Lin walked out of the herb garden into a long, narrow valley over three hundred zhang in length. A few exotic flowers and plants grew there as well, though they were considerably less valuable.
"This will do."
He took his inner armor and other equipment from his Soul Tool and put them on one by one. Light flickered over his palm, and his Martial Soul condensed in his hand.
The long saber cut through the air with a sharp, clear hum. Blue-white saber light darted through the mist as he chopped, thrust, slashed upward, and swept. Each basic saber move was so fast it left afterimages.
After nearly a quarter of an hour, Fang Lin finished the sequence and lowered his saber, the light in his eyes undiminished. Soul Power flashed across his Soul Tool ring, and four pieces of animal hide embedded with iron blocks fell into his hands. After tying them tightly to his arms and calves with black cords, Fang Lin resumed practicing his saber techniques.
The fierce wind from his saber carved out a white vacuum around Fang Lin. Not far away, a pair of feet in dark green snakeskin-patterned boots landed firmly on the tip of a jutting boulder.
Dugu Bo looked at the patch of broken roots and severed stalks that had been swept bare, the corner of his eye twitching slightly. Though these plants could not compare with the treasures in his herb garden, they would all be considered exotic flowers and plants outside. He usually enjoyed looking down at them from above. Now it was as though someone had gouged a chunk out of a beautiful painting, leaving him uncomfortable all over.
"There's... something strange about this boy's Martial Soul." Dugu Bo narrowed his eyes slightly. He remembered his granddaughter mentioning Fang Lin's aptitude: an ordinary Iron Saber Tool Martial Soul, with Innate Soul Power no higher than level five.
Dugu Bo circulated Soul Power to his eyes and saw the full shape of the long saber in Fang Lin's hand. It was longer and heavier than an ordinary Iron Saber Martial Soul. Fine red and blue flowing-cloud patterns were shallowly engraved across the blade, and cold light flowed along its edge. No matter how he looked at it, it did not resemble an ordinary Iron Saber Martial Soul.
"The weights this boy is wearing look like Black Armor Army equipment, and there are iron blocks on the hides too. That's not the kind of physique a Tool Soul Master should have. I'm afraid even a Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Soul Master of the same level wouldn't measure up."
By now, Dugu Bo was almost certain that the two herbs had brought Fang Lin tremendous benefits, even improving the quality of his Martial Soul.
"There are more than just those two herbs in there. If I could get Yanyan to take one..."
Given Dugu Yan's aptitude, her achievements would be around the Soul Saint level, and even reaching Soul Douluo was uncertain. Dugu Bo had only managed to break through to Titled Douluo because his Martial Soul had evolved into the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor. If Dugu Yan could do the same, she might have a chance at a title too.
Dugu Bo was tempted, but when he thought of how Fang Lin had picked and consumed the two Immortal Herbs, a troubled look appeared between his brows.
Fang Lin had no idea that Dugu Bo was watching him from above. Immersed in his saber practice, he felt an indescribable exhilaration in both mind and body. The two Immortal Herbs had not increased his Soul Power, but the improvement to his physique far exceeded his expectations.
No wonder Tang San had been able to absorb a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring at level forty, far exceeding the five-thousand-year limit for a fourth Soul Ring. Setting aside the spiritual impact of a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, the physique a Soul Master needed for a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring was at least at the Soul King level. Not even Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Glue could produce such an improvement.
"Today my saber points where layered clouds arise; I dare laugh that Huang Chao was no true man!"
With Fang Lin's exhilarated cry, the saber strokes filling the sky dispersed, and the fierce wind in the valley fell still.
After the excitement passed, Fang Lin looked around at the mess and guiltily scratched his nose. These herbs looked expensive. He wondered whether Dugu Bo would make trouble for him.
"Next time, I'd better practice farther away."
Fang Lin glanced toward the entrances at either end of the valley. The exotic flowers and plants grew far more sparsely there, replaced by expanses of green Jade Phosphorus Seven-Absolute Flowers.
The Jade Phosphorus Seven-Absolute Flowers had been deliberately planted by Dugu Bo.
Seven-lobed green leaves cradled glowing green flowers. Wisps of poisonous mist rose slowly from their centers, forming a thick green miasma that kept out venomous insects and ferocious beasts. Even ordinary Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts dared not venture in.
Fang Lin stared at the sea of flowers before him for a long while, then stepped forward, picked two, wrapped them in cloth, and placed them in his Soul Tool.
Back at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, blue-white mist filled the air above the springs. The Yin Spring was icy, while the Yang Spring boiled. Fang Lin stripped off his clothes and leaped into the pool where the waters met. He stuffed the freshly picked Jade Phosphorus Seven-Absolute Flowers into his mouth and chewed them down, then closed his eyes and began meditating and cultivating.
Under normal circumstances, the medicinal power of the Infernal Delicate Apricot and the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass could not be fully absorbed until one reached at least the Soul Saint level. Tang San had relied on Dugu Bo's Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor Poison to refine seventy percent of it in an instant, which had enabled him to obtain a ten-thousand-year fourth Soul Ring later.
Fang Lin did not dare try the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor Poison lightly. Besides, letting Dugu Bo know that he was immune to all poisons might not be a good thing.
The Jade Phosphorus Seven-Absolute Flower shared the same origin as the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Martial Soul. Together with the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, it might help him refine the medicinal power of the two Immortal Herbs.
The sun rose and the moon set, and autumn gave way to winter.
Apart from contributing a little blood to Dugu Bo each day, Fang Lin led a simple, comfortable life, occupied only with saber practice and meditation.
He cultivated far faster in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well than in a mimetic cultivation chamber. Perhaps because some power from the ice and fire herbs remained, Fang Lin's Soul Power Level broke through to twenty-nine in less than two months.
At this rate, Fang Lin would be close to level thirty by the time he left Dugu Bo's place.
The one flaw in the otherwise perfect arrangement was the lack of nourishing food. The ice and fire Immortal Herbs mainly improved his foundation rather than providing energy, and Dugu Bo supplied only plain water and dry rations. For Fang Lin, who was still growing, that was nowhere near enough to make up for what he expended.
One day, after Dugu Bo had taken his blood, Fang Lin asked to leave the valley.
"Senior Dugu, I'd like to hunt some Soul Beasts for meat."
The best food for a Soul Master was ingredients condensed from Soul Power by a Food System Soul Master. Soul Beast meat was the next best choice.
Dugu Bo glanced at Fang Lin, his tone indifferent. "What big words. The Soul Beasts around the outskirts of this valley are at least a thousand years old. If you run into one, there's no telling who'll eat whom."
"Wait here." With those words, Dugu Bo vanished.
Moments later, the enormous corpse of a bear-like Soul Beast crashed to the ground. It was the size of a small mountain of meat, its gaping maw far larger than Fang Lin's head, yet there was not a single wound on its body.
Fang Lin swallowed. "Senior, can we eat this?"
What Fang Lin meant was that he was worried Dugu Bo had poisoned the bear. Not only would the corpse contain deadly poison, but it would also have lost most of its nutritional value.
"Look how timid you are." Dugu Bo chuckled. "I wouldn't need to use poison to deal with a Thousand-Year Soul Beast."
After two months together, Dugu Bo treated Fang Lin much more casually and no longer stood on his status at every turn.
The greatest reason was that Fang Lin's blood had taken effect. The poison in Dugu Bo's body had visibly improved, the green of his hair was gradually fading, and even the bottleneck in his Soul Power cultivation had loosened somewhat.
The other reason was Fang Lin's impression on Dugu Bo: decisive, diligent, and clever. Setting aside his background, he was among the finest of the younger generation Dugu Bo knew, and Dugu Bo could not help considering drawing him to his side.
In the long, narrow valley, a patch of ground had been cleared and a wood fire built.
A palm-sized slice of meat was skewered on two branches. Fat rolled down its charred edges and dropped onto the coals, raising wisps of white smoke.
Once the surface had slowly roasted to a crisp golden brown, Fang Lin sprinkled on a handful of red and green bits. The flavors seeped into the meat, and a rich aroma instantly spread.
The wind carried the aroma through the valley entrance and into the herb garden. A figure appeared behind Fang Lin.
"What did you just sprinkle on it?" Dugu Bo asked curiously. He had lived alone in the valley for years and hunted and roasted meat for himself, but his cooking had never smelled like this.
"Rock salt crystals, fragrant grass, ground cinnamon bark, and crushed, dried thorn-pepper flower stamens." Fang Lin "tactfully" handed Dugu Bo the freshly roasted slice of Soul Beast meat for a taste.
"You know herbs too?" Dugu Bo took the roasted meat, an indistinct look in his eyes.
No wonder the boy's eyes had lit up a few times when he stared at those herbs in the garden. But if he recognized them, why hadn't he secretly picked and eaten them...
"They aren't herbs, they're seasonings." Fang Lin grinned. "We had a cook at home when I was little. We worked it out together and found that putting these plants in Soul Beast meat could remove the gamey smell and make it more fragrant."
"But those aren't the key to the flavor. The most important thing is controlling the heat. Roasting meat over an open flame can give it a smoky, greasy taste. Senior, if you let me cook by the Yang Spring, I guarantee it'll taste even better roasted over indirect heat..." Halfway through, Dugu Bo shot him an unfriendly look, and Fang Lin hurriedly changed his tune. "Hey, I was just saying. Look at you getting worked up again, Senior."
Dugu Bo said irritably, "You little brat, roasting meat at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well-only you could come up with that. You soak in it every day, and you don't mind how dirty it is?"
Fang Lin smiled silently and continued turning the slice of meat in his hands.
With the temperature and toxins in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, neither poisonous insects nor bacteria could survive. How could any grease or bloodstains remain? But there was no use explaining that to Dugu Bo.
After they had eaten their fill, Dugu Bo looked content and asked casually, "Boy, how old are you this year?"
Huh?
Fang Lin paused as he buried the coals, and for some reason, Dugu Yan's long, fair legs flashed through his mind.