Martial Soul Second Awakening

The cold and hot springs churned on either side of him, one blue and one red, one cold and one hot. The two forces had made his body their battlefield, and their stalemate had lasted a long time.

Three days. He had absorbed the spiritual Qi of the spring water for three days, yet he had never truly entered it.

Without the corresponding attributes, even a Titled Douluo like Dugu Bo could not remain in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well for long.

Through Lone Bamboo's senses, Lin Qing had succeeded in finding the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and the Infernal Delicate Apricot near the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

According to the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record, only by taking both immortal herbs at once could one withstand the erosion of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

Lin Qing swallowed both herbs at once. Instantly, it was as though ice and fire raged in two opposing realms inside him.

"Go in now." Lone Bamboo's voice sounded in his sea of consciousness. "Walk directly above the source and dive down."

Lin Qing did not hesitate. He stepped forward and sank into the spring.

The water rose past his waist. Past his chest. Past his shoulders. Finally, it closed over his head.

The cold and hot springs enveloped him at once, one half of him piercingly cold, the other searing hot.

But he did not struggle, letting himself sink toward the bottom. He had just taken the immortal herbs, and fire poison and ice poison were also ravaging his body.

The deeper he went, the darker it became. The water around him grew viscous, as though something were slowly churning within the spring's source.

He could feel a heavy, ancient pulse beneath his feet, beating rhythmically.

He felt it.

In the deepest part of the spring's source, two forces of origin were entwined and revolving. One was frigid, the other scorching.

They did not blend, yet neither did they repel each other. They had simply coexisted in a strange balance for countless years.

That was the core essence of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, adrift in the spring water like an invisible vortex, slowly drawing in the surrounding spiritual Qi, letting it settle, and refining it.

Lin Qing reached out, his palm facing the source of the two forces.

Both forces entered his body at once, like two volcanoes erupting simultaneously, surging upward through his meridians.

His body began to tremble violently.

Cold Qi poured in through his left arm, freezing his blood, meridians, and bones.

A wave of heat poured in through his right arm, searing his muscles, nerves, and skin.

The two forces converged in his chest and collided fiercely, like two torrents crashing together, tearing apart and reshaping every meridian in his body, then reshaping and tearing them apart again.

Lin Qing did not know what to do. His consciousness had already been tortured into a haze, and he let the two forces pour in, where his Martial Soul guided them like countless tiny streams flowing into a main channel.

His meridians contained them, growing wider and tougher as cold and heat washed through them in turn, like a sword blank forged again and again.

Deep in his sea of consciousness, Lone Bamboo shone with a brilliant blue-green light.

The ancient patterns on all nine sections of the bamboo lit up, like channels that had slumbered for countless years awakening once more.

The golden-green light on the third section suddenly flared, and then-crack. A faint sound rang out, and that section lit up completely.

Immediately afterward, the entire nine-sectioned green bamboo trembled violently, as though some force were striking it fiercely from within.

Then Lone Bamboo began to transform.

Its stalk grew taller. The green bamboo, originally three feet tall, rose section by section.

The bamboo stalk changed from green to a deep hue, its edges shimmering with a faint golden halo.

The patterns between its sections grew more ancient and intricate, like inscriptions from the depths of chaos slowly emerging on its stalk.

The leaves at its top were changing too. They grew longer and slimmer, their edges curved as though shaped by centuries of wind, faintly gleaming with cold light.

Ice-blue and crimson-gold light flowed through their veins. Two utterly different forces circulated through the leaves in turn, yet neither encroached on the other, as though they had found a strange balance.

Deep in the core of his Martial Soul, two tiny crystals were slowly taking shape.

One ice-blue, the other crimson-gold, they floated in the deepest part of the stalk, pulsing rhythmically like two tiny hearts.

They had not been taken from the spring's source-they were formed after the two forces of origin entered Lin Qing's body

and were absorbed, refined, and condensed by Chaos Lone Bamboo. The essence of the spring water's power, accumulated over countless years, had finally found a resting place in Lin Qing's body.

Each crystal held an ultimate presence, one of extreme cold, the other of extreme heat.

Yet both coexisted within the same stalk of bamboo in a strange way, as though their opposition over countless years had been reconciled at this moment by an even more ancient force.

The original power of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, along with what had been transformed after he swallowed the immortal herbs, had become his own-remaining permanently in his body in the form of Martial Soul crystals.

He could feel his Martial Soul merging anew with his body. The forces of ice and fire were no longer merely washing through his meridians; they were taking root in his flesh and blood.

An ice-blue mark had appeared on his left palm, and a crimson-gold mark on his right.

The two marks flashed on and off, as though responding to the two newborn crystals inside his Martial Soul.

At the same time, the immortal herbs around him trembled slightly.

The Aromatic Silk Beauty, the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum, the Ink Jade Divine Bamboo... Their roots quivered gently, as though sensing something.

Wisp after wisp of exceedingly fine original essence drifted from their leaves, petals, and roots toward Lin Qing, merging into his skin, flesh, blood, and meridians.

The forces of ice and fire met the essence of the immortal herbs within him, like countless tiny tributaries flowing into a great river.

His body was transforming. His meridians expanded and grew tougher, able to contain a greater flow of stronger Soul Power.

His bones grew denser, like bamboo sections tempered a thousand times. His muscles grew more supple, capable of movements he had never been able to perform before.

His Soul Power was compressed layer by layer, refined, and compressed again, as though a riverbed had widened and its waters had grown deeper and steadier.

His senses expanded too, his spiritual power spreading like an unfurled net, slowly covering the entire valley.

Just then, a dark green figure appeared silently at the entrance to the valley.

Dugu Bo had sensed the unusual movement of power at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well and hurried over.

The entire Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well was churning. The surfaces of the cold and hot springs boiled at once, ice-blue and crimson intertwining and spinning through the water to form a massive vortex.

At the center of the vortex, a giant blue-green bamboo was slowly growing-not from the bank, but from the very center of the spring.

Its stalk was as thick as a thigh and blue-green throughout, its golden patterns radiating a halo of light.

Between its sections, ice-blue and crimson-gold patterns wound around it in alternating bands, like two slender snakes spiraling up the stalk.

And Lin Qing was at the top of the bamboo.

Now, dozens of green-gold Lone Bamboos had also grown in the valley, surrounding the Chaos Lone Bamboo at the center of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

Their branches and leaves gathered and spiraled around Lin Qing, clustering about him.

The stalk enveloped him, its sections winding upward around his ankles, knees, and waist.

It was as though the bamboo's roots had found a place to settle, holding him firmly at the top of the bamboo and clustering around him like a flower in full bloom.

His upper body was bare, his eyes closed, and a brilliant golden-green light shone from his body. A powerful presence radiated throughout the area around the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

Dugu Bo held his breath.

The spring had returned to calm without anyone noticing. Lin Qing opened his eyes and was carried back to the ground by the bamboo.

His Martial Soul appeared behind him, accompanied by three green Bloodline Soul Rings.

Yes, he had just completed his Martial Soul Second Awakening and broken through to his third Bloodline Soul Ring.

A blue-green bamboo more than ten feet tall-no, it was now Chaos Lone Bamboo.

Dugu Bo stood on the stone engraved with moss, his vertical pupils fixed on the green bamboo Martial Soul floating behind Lin Qing.

His pupils suddenly contracted-even his breathing slowed for a beat.

"This Martial Soul... how..." For the first time, his voice held a trace of hesitation. "Could it be a Martial Soul Second Awakening?"

He stared at the two crystals deep within the stalk, ultimate power flowing through them, and sensed the presence they emitted.

He looked at Lin Qing again. The youth stood in the spring, a rich vitality radiating from his entire body.

He could even feel the presence of the immortal herbs in the valley inclining slightly toward Lin Qing, as though paying their respects to him.

"What... did you do in there?"

Lin Qing walked out of the spring. Droplets rolled off his skin without leaving a trace of moisture.

He walked up to Dugu Bo and stopped.

"Senior," Lin Qing said, "I can cure your poison now."

[End of Chapter 13]