The Sunset Forest was vast. Like the Star Dou Great Forest, it was a Soul Beast habitat famous throughout the continent, and powerful Soul Beasts were plentiful in its depths.
When Yu Xuan reached the forest, it was already the afternoon of the fourth day since he had left the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.
He looked up at the lush forest, found a man-made path, and followed it in.
Yu Xuan remembered that there seemed to be a poisonous mist barrier around the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. Dugu Bo had apparently created it by combining his own snake venom with the poisonous plants in the valley.
But Yu Xuan had no idea whether Dugu Bo had found the place yet. He could only follow the clues and do his best to search for places shrouded in poisonous mist.
Yu Xuan stopped and started along the way, avoiding quite a few Soul Beasts. Unless he had no other choice, he would not fight them.
Finally, on the seventh day after arriving at the Sunset Forest, he found the area he was looking for.
Yu Xuan used the power of Ultimate Fire to disperse the poisonous mist and climbed a hill. He caught a faint whiff of medicinal fragrance and sulfur rising from below, and his face lit up. "The Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well should be right down there."
The side of the hill was actually a mountain hollow, with a valley below.
After Yu Xuan descended into the valley, an entirely new scene opened up before him.
Before him lay a strange little pool. One half was milky white, and the other was vermilion. The two colors shared the same pool, yet remained distinct, neither encroaching on the other.
A hazy mist drifted around the pool. Strange flowers and exotic plants covered the ground, shining brightly from within the mist.
"The Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well!"
Yu Xuan's eyes lit up as he looked at the various plants by the pool. He could hardly wait to harvest them.
"You've finally come."
Suddenly, an ethereal voice rang out from every direction.
Yu Xuan went rigid, his expression grave. "Who?!"
His gaze fell on the pool.
Bubbles gurgled up from the red and white springs. With an explosive splash, a crimson dragon soul burst through the surface, sending water flying in every direction.
As the curtain of water fell back into the pool, the crimson dragon soul slowly came into clear view.
It was a dragon soul a hundred meters tall, remarkably similar to Yu Xuan's Martial Soul, but its presence was as deep as an abyss and as vast as the sea.
Yu Xuan looked up at him, his pupils narrowing slightly. "Fire Dragon King?" he ventured.
"That's right. You're human, yet you can withstand my power." The Fire Dragon King looked down at him, his voice seemingly tinged with amusement.
A thought stirred in Yu Xuan's mind. The Fire Dragon King had called it his power. Could it be that his awakening this Martial Soul had not been mere luck?
Unable to contain his curiosity, he asked, "Does my Martial Soul have something to do with you?"
The Fire Dragon King said, "Under normal circumstances, a human could never awaken the Fire Dragon King Martial Soul."
Just as I thought. He didn't say outright that my Martial Soul came from him, but he's already admitted it indirectly... Yu Xuan now had a good idea of what was going on.
But why had he given him this Fire Dragon King Martial Soul?
And how had he bestowed it upon him? Could he have left the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well?
Stranger still, facing him, Yu Xuan felt not the slightest wariness or fear. He could barely even bring himself to be on guard.
As Yu Xuan pondered in silence, the Fire Dragon King suddenly laughed. "Next, I will use the remnants of my origin to baptize you. It will be of great benefit to you."
"Baptize me?" Yu Xuan froze. Then he saw the Fire Dragon King let out an earthshaking dragon roar, and the entire vermilion Yang Spring churned and surged upward.
Caught off guard, Yu Xuan was swept straight into the Yang Spring.
The intense heat instantly burned away Yu Xuan's clothes, and a scorching, suffocating sensation engulfed him. He hurriedly burst through the surface with a splash and shook the droplets from his head.
Soaking in the spring, he found the water extremely hot, but it posed no fatal danger.
This was probably because Yu Xuan's flames and the Fire Dragon King's flames shared the same origin.
In this world, without consuming that Infernal Delicate Apricot, he was perhaps the only human who could bathe in the scorching Yang Spring without suffering harm.
Panting, Yu Xuan looked up at the Fire Dragon King, unsure what he meant by a baptism.
All of a sudden, the water around him began to swirl, forming a whirlpool.
Yet the whirlpool did not sweep him along. The water where he stood remained eerily still.
As Yu Xuan watched in bewilderment, specks of crimson-gold light emerged from within the whirlpool.
The specks of light streamed into his body. They were not scorching; on the contrary, they were exceptionally gentle, even making him drowsy.
No, I can't sleep! The Fire Dragon King is right beside me. How can I be so careless as to fall asleep at a time like this?!
Yu Xuan immediately roused himself and drove away the drowsiness.
Though he knew perfectly well that if the Fire Dragon King wanted to kill him, he would not be able to escape, simply falling asleep like this was really too much.
Nourished by the specks of crimson-gold light, Yu Xuan could feel his body growing stronger with every passing moment. It was marvelous.
He looked up at the Fire Dragon King above him. "Why are you helping me?"
"Hehe, helping you is also helping myself." The Fire Dragon King smiled. His words were ambiguous, leaving his intentions impossible to guess.
Yu Xuan blinked. Seeing that he did not want to say more, he asked instead, "Do you know about the Mystic Fire Secret Realm?"
On his way here, he had sensed danger at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, so he had not brought the Fire Dragon King Reverse Scale with him.
If he encountered the Fire Dragon King, he had intended to sound him out about the Mystic Fire Secret Realm.
Now that the Fire Dragon King seemed to bear him no ill will, and he himself felt an inexplicable trust in him, he brought up the Mystic Fire Secret Realm directly.
The Fire Dragon King said, "You've already obtained my reverse scale, haven't you?"
Yu Xuan was silent for a moment. "Yes."
The Fire Dragon King seemed to see through his thoughts. "The Mystic Fire Secret Realm is a special space. Normally speaking, it has no entrance in the real world. The only entrance is my reverse scale."
"In other words, my reverse scale is both the key to the treasure and the entrance to the secret realm."
"You must comprehend your own True Meaning of Fire before you can use the reverse scale to open the entrance to the secret realm."
"True Meaning of Fire?" Yu Xuan was utterly baffled.
The Fire Dragon King said, "The True Meaning of Fire is the most fundamental law, essence, and principle of flame."
"Everyone comprehends a different True Meaning of Fire, and its uses differ as well."
"A small fire can provide light at night, warmth when it's cold, and roast meat when you're hungry. A great fire can be a fire of destruction, a fire of smelting, or even a fire of new life."
Yu Xuan nodded thoughtfully.
This True Meaning of Fire sounded somewhat similar to insights like sword intent.
But laws and the like were still far beyond his reach...
Gathering his thoughts, Yu Xuan asked, "Fire Dragon King, can you tell me what's inside the Mystic Fire Treasure?"
The Fire Dragon King said, "Within the Mystic Fire Secret Realm is a Super Divine Artifact that I forged with my own hands."
"A Super Divine Artifact?!" Yu Xuan's pupils contracted sharply. That one item alone was enough to make him resolve to open the secret realm.