From a long way off, Yu Tianheng spotted a towering, cone-shaped mountain.
Wisps of steam drifted faintly above its crater.
If he was not mistaken, that had to be where the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well lay.
"Yan Yan, you're back?"
All of a sudden, an immensely resonant voice rang out.
Yu Tianheng looked around, but he could hear the speaker without seeing him. Even his Soul Power could not locate the man.
The next moment, a flash of green light faded.
A middle-aged man dressed in a black-and-green robe, his hair completely white, appeared before the two of them.
In terms of age, Dugu Bo was not much different from Yu Tianheng's grandfather.
But with the aid of their Soul Power, neither showed particularly obvious signs of aging.
"Grandpa!"
The moment Dugu Yan saw her grandfather, she hurriedly threw herself into his arms.
After casting a somewhat embarrassed glance at Yu Tianheng, she began introducing him to her grandfather.
"Grandpa, this is Tian Heng, the one I told you about. Hurry up and arrange our engagement!"
"Junior Yu Tianheng greets Senior Dugu."
Yu Tianheng politely cupped his fists at Dugu Bo as he spoke.
"So you're the brat who stole Yan Yan's heart?"
Dugu Bo wore a smile, but the invisible presence of a Titled Douluo had already spread out from him.
Yu Tianheng understood that this was a show of force from his senior.
He activated Martial Soul Possession and began resisting the pressure.
Two purple Martial Souls appeared beneath his feet.
The Thunder Dragon King and Thunder God Domain greatly eased the pressure Dugu Bo released.
On top of that, Dugu Bo's Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor was also a Beast Martial Soul.
Instead, he was the first to show a change in expression.
How could this be? A mere level-thirty brat...
Why was he making me feel this inexplicable suppression?
My Soul Power even nearly flowed backward.
And how could his first two Soul Rings be Thousand-Year Soul Rings?
That should be impossible!
Could he have Twin Martial Souls?
This brat really is no ordinary person.
Dugu Yan naturally sensed the Soul Power standoff between the two of them as well.
She quickly thumped her grandfather's chest twice and complained.
"Grandpa, what are you doing?! If you hurt Tian Heng, I'll never forgive you!"
Hearing that, Dugu Bo withdrew his oppressive presence and smiled as he stroked Dugu Yan's head to soothe her. She was puffed up as though possessed by a pufferfish.
"He's my future grandson-in-law. Shouldn't I see how strong he is? What if he can't protect you in the future?"
Then he turned his gaze to Yu Tianheng.
"You have good talent. You've reached level thirty but haven't absorbed your third Soul Ring yet. If you see a suitable Soul Beast in Sunset Forest, just let me know."
Dugu Bo's praise came straight from the bottom of his heart. In all his years, he had never seen anyone more outstanding than Yu Tianheng.
"Thank you, Senior Dugu. I also brought you a few gifts this time."
Yu Tianheng swept a hand over the ring on his finger, and the gifts he had prepared appeared in his hand.
It was a newly developed storage-type Soul Tool, with a space even larger than the Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges someone would use in the future.
It was named Heaven-Containing Myriad Forms.
"Oh? Is that so? Then let me see what sort of betrothal gifts you've brought."
As an old hand, Dugu Bo guessed Yu Yuanzhen's intentions at once.
When the gift box opened and he saw the Soul Bone inside,
Dugu Bo froze.
Even now, he himself had only a single Head Soul Bone.
He had not expected the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan to be so generous.
Moreover, this Soul Bone was a perfect match for both his and Yan Yan's Martial Souls.
Other clans would probably be unable to show such sincerity.
After all, the value of a Soul Bone was beyond words.
"Good. This Soul Bone can be saved for Yan Yan to absorb when the time comes."
Dugu Bo gave a long sigh, then reached out and patted Yu Tianheng on the shoulder.
He might as well have had the word "satisfied" written across his face.
"We'll have a proper chat when we get back."
With a broad wave of his hand, Dugu Bo took the two of them back to the residence beside the herb garden.
Yu Tianheng also saw the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well in its entirety.
The milky-white and vermilion waters in the hot spring were as distinct as the Jing and Wei rivers.
All kinds of plants grew around the spring.
Their abundance was beyond words.
"Tian Heng, Yan Yan's safety is in your hands from now on. If anything happens to her one day, I'll hold you responsible!"
After they sat down around a stone table, Dugu Bo spoke.
Before Yu Tianheng could answer, Dugu Yan immediately protested.
"Grandpa, what are you doing?! I told you not to be so fierce to Tian Heng. If you keep this up, I'll pull out every hair of your beard!"
"Rest assured, Senior Dugu! I'll never let Yan Yan come to any harm, but..."
At this point, Yu Tianheng suddenly changed tack.
The change made Dugu Bo frown.
"What do you mean, 'but'? Whatever you want to say, just say it."
Hearing that, Yu Tianheng no longer held back.
"Senior Dugu, when I spent time with Yan Yan before, I noticed that she seemed to be cultivating some kind of poison art. There were already faint signs of poison backlash. During my time at home, I studied it for a long time and finally found a way to alleviate it, or even cure it completely."
As soon as the words left his mouth, Dugu Bo sprang to his feet.
A sharp light flashed in his dark-green eyes.
"Is that true?"
He knew all too well the ill effects of cultivating poison arts.
When the poison backlashed, the pain bored into the heart and gnawed at the bones. It was more than an ordinary person could endure.
He knew Yan Yan would be affected sooner or later, and he had been searching for a solution all along.
Yet Yu Tianheng had learned of the problem only a short time ago and already had a method.
"It's true. With poison, all you really need to do is transfer it to another medium. If you have a Tool Martial Soul, you can transfer it to your Martial Soul, but yours is a Beast Martial Soul, Senior Dugu, so that method might not work."
"You could try forcing the poison into a Soul Bone. The principle is the same, and with the help of an extremely poisonous place like the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, the effect should be even better."
Dugu Bo pondered for a long time, seemingly considering whether the method was feasible.
"Must Yan Yan do the same?"
In the end, his attention returned to his granddaughter.
He did not want her to suffer even a bit of that pain.
"The poison accumulated in Yan Yan's body is still slight. I'm completely confident I can cure her. This method was prepared specifically for you, Senior Dugu."
Yu Tianheng was telling the truth. Dugu Yan's current condition was not difficult to treat.
The real difficulty lay with someone like Dugu Bo, who had been steeped in poisonous mist for who knew how long.
"Then I'll give it a try. From now on, you don't need to call me Senior Dugu. Just call me Grandpa, like Yan Yan does. I'll go cure the poison first."