"Take care of something else?"
Dugu Bo and Zhu Zhuyun both recovered from their unparalleled shock and turned to look at Dai Weisi, their eyes full of confusion.
As they saw it, he had subdued a Titled Douluo, obtained a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring, and even absorbed a legendary hundred-thousand-year Head Soul Bone.
Those gains were already more than they could have dreamed of. What could be more important than that?
Dai Weisi did not answer directly. Instead, he turned his gaze to the spring in the center of the valley, its waters sharply divided into two halves, one crimson and the other ice-blue.
"Dugu Bo,"
Dai Weisi said slowly.
"You've kept watch here for so many years. You should know that besides suppressing your toxins and nurturing Immortal Herbs, the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well has one other, even greater use, right?"
"Didn't Tang San tell you about it too?"
Dugu Bo shuddered at his words, a flicker of understanding passing through his emerald-green snake eyes.
"Master... do you mean... Ice and Fire Body Tempering?"
Even his voice trembled a little.
Ice and Fire Body Tempering!
Of course he knew those words!
It was the deepest and most terrifying secret of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well!
That brat Tang San's performance had been nothing short of monstrous!
But it was easier said than done. To attempt it was to face nine deaths for one chance at life! No, ten deaths and no chance at life!
How violent was the energy in that spring? Even a Titled Douluo's body would be torn to pieces and reduced to nothing the instant he jumped in!
Unless he had the two Immortal Herbs that brat Tang San had used?!
But those two herbs had already been used up!
"Master, you absolutely must not!"
Dugu Bo's face went pale as he hurriedly tried to dissuade him.
"The spring's waters are beyond what human strength can withstand!"
Dugu Bo collected himself. Seeing that Dai Mubai remained silent, he continued, "To truly accomplish 'Ice and Fire Body Tempering,' you need two Immortal Herbs as catalysts to neutralize the ice and fire energy inside your body. Otherwise, the two extreme forces will clash inside you, and you'll still end up exploding to death!"
He sighed, a trace of helplessness and heartache on his face.
"To tell you the truth, Master, those two Immortal Herbs were the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and the Infernal Delicate Apricot from this very Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well."
"Unfortunately... some time ago, that Little Monster called Tang San... ate them."
At that, Dugu Bo was filled with regret.
If I'd known I would meet a true god like you, Master, I never would have let that brat Tang San take the Immortal Herbs!
And now look. The treasure ground is still here, but the most crucial key is gone!
Zhu Zhuyun listened with her heart pounding. She too thought Dai Weisi's idea was far too reckless, and hurriedly joined in trying to dissuade him:
"That's right, Your Highness. Since the Immortal Herbs are gone, we should take more time to consider this! There's no need for you to take such a risk!"
Even Zhu Zhuqing, lying unable to move on the ground, had a flicker of emotion in her eyes.
She, of course, also knew Tang San and knew that he had taken the Immortal Herbs from the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. A trace of secret satisfaction even rose in her heart.
Dai Weisi, aren't you so capable? Don't you have everything? At a loss now, aren't you? Without the Immortal Herbs, let's see how you temper your body!
Yet faced with everyone's attempts to dissuade him and Zhu Zhuqing's gloating gaze, Dai Weisi merely smiled.
His smile was full of amusement and disdain.
"Who said there were no Immortal Herbs?"
he said leisurely.
Before his words had even faded, he spread open both hands once more.
Above his left hand, a strange little herb appeared out of thin air. It was white as jade from top to bottom, and all eight of its corners radiated a bone-chilling cold.
Above his right hand, a beautiful peony-shaped flower appeared in turn, its petals crimson as fire and radiating scorching heat.
Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass!
Infernal Delicate Apricot!
The moment the two Immortal Herbs, with their utterly opposite presences, appeared in Dai Weisi's hands, the air throughout the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well's valley seemed to freeze.
"This... this... this..."
Dugu Bo's eyes bulged round as he pointed at the two Immortal Herbs in Dai Weisi's hands. His mouth hung open wide enough to fit an egg, yet he could not get a single word out.
He felt as though his brain could no longer keep up.
How is this possible?!
How could this possibly be?!
That little bastard Tang San clearly ate the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and the Infernal Delicate Apricot!
I watched him do it with my own eyes!
Why does Master still have them?!
It's not as if these things are cabbages that can grow another crop after being eaten, is it?
They haven't grown back here, either!
Zhu Zhuyun also wore a dazed expression. She no longer knew what expression to make when faced with her all-capable fiancé.
Dai Weisi wasted no more words and walked to the edge of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
He first swallowed the two Immortal Herbs, then, without the slightest hesitation, sprang up and jumped straight into the water!
"Your Highness!" Zhu Zhuyun cried out in fright.
"Master!" Dugu Bo's heart was pounding too.
Yet the scene they had anticipated, of him exploding to death, did not occur.
Extreme ice and fire waged a furious tug-of-war both inside and outside his body!
Repeatedly tempered by those twin realms of ice and fire, Dai Weisi's body grew tougher and tougher, increasingly clear and translucent!
His indestructible Vajra Body, which he had originally attained by consuming the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum, broke through once again at that moment!
Ice and Fire Golden Body!
He had succeeded!
When Dai Weisi rose from the spring again, his entire bearing had undergone an earthshaking transformation.
A faint, precious luster flowed across his skin, as though he had been carved from fine jade.
More importantly, he now possessed an almost perfect immunity to the elements of ice and fire!
"Whew..."
Dai Weisi let out a long breath of turbid air. Within it were two utterly distinct halos of light, one red and one blue.
Feeling the unprecedented strength within his body, he curved his lips into a satisfied smile.
The Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well truly was a treasure ground!
He raised his head and looked into the distance, ambition gleaming in his eyes.
"All the preparations are complete."
"Then, next..."
"It's time to go get my Seventh Soul Ring."
When Dai Weisi said he was going to get his Seventh Soul Ring, neither Zhu Zhuyun nor Dugu Bo was particularly surprised.
After all, Dai Weisi's Soul Power had already reached rank seventy. It was indeed time for him to obtain his Seventh Soul Ring and formally enter the Soul Saint realm!
With his current strength and foundation, his combat power after becoming a Soul Saint would probably reach an unimaginable level.
"Congratulations on forging your golden body, Master, and on your imminent breakthrough!"
Dugu Bo immediately bowed, his voice full of heartfelt joy and anticipation.
"Master, quite a few powerful Soul Beasts also dwell deep within Sunset Forest."
"This old servant knows of several places where powerful creatures of fifty thousand, or even sixty thousand years can be found. Surely they would be more than enough for your Seventh Soul Ring!"
In Dugu Bo's view, this was already the best choice he could offer his master.
Sixty-thousand-year Soul Rings were as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns, not just as a seventh ring, but even as an ordinary Soul Master's Eighth Soul Ring!
In fact, for an ordinary Soul Master, one would be enough even as a Ninth Soul Ring!
Yet after hearing Dugu Bo out, Dai Weisi merely shook his head, a matter-of-fact indifference appearing on his face.
"Fifty thousand years? Sixty thousand?"
He chuckled, his voice carrying a trace of undisguised disdain.
"Too weak. Not enough."
Not enough?!
Dugu Bo froze, scarcely able to believe his ears.
A sixty-thousand-year Soul Ring still isn't enough? Then what kind do you want?
Could he be looking for one of seventy or eighty thousand years?
Soul Beasts of that level could only be chanced upon in Sunset Forest, not found on demand!
And even if they found one, its combat power would be very close to that of a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, making it extremely difficult to deal with!
Just as Dugu Bo was still wavering in shock and doubt, Dai Weisi's next words struck the hearts of everyone present like a heavy hammer.
"My Seventh Soul Ring must be a hundred thousand years old."
The valley once again fell deathly silent.
Dugu Bo opened his mouth, then closed it again, his expression a sight to behold.
A hundred thousand years!
He wanted a hundred-thousand-year Seventh Soul Ring?!