"This place... it's actually in the Sunset Forest?"
Fang Ling stretched his body, uncomfortable from the tight clothing, his sharp eyes gazing in a daze at the scene below.
From appearances, it was clearly inferred based on the route and direction they came from.
So it wasn't particularly surprising.
"Otherwise, would a place this valuable still be available to me?" Dugu Bo smiled calmly, as if it were a matter of course.
He had a clear sense of judgment and knew how precious this place was. Not a single detail could be revealed.
"Let's go down."
Dugu Bo extended his body and, grabbing Fang Ling with one hand, leapt into the rolling mist ahead.
In an instant, the scenery around them seemed to be crushed and reassembled by an invisible force.
The thick fog surged like a tide, quickly engulfing their figures.
Even before emerging from the fog, Fang Ling's enhanced vision from his Weakness Detection ability revealed an astonishing sight before him.
Scattered throughout were countless miraculous and rare spirit herbs, just a single glance was enough to reveal their value.
In the center of these herbs lay an oval-shaped pond, distinctly divided into two halves.
One side was milky white, the other crimson red.
What was astonishing was that, even within the same pond, the two colors remained strictly separated, never mingling or invading each other, each staying firmly on its own side.
Rising steam came precisely from the junction of these two hot springs, billowing upwards until it slowly dispersed at the mountain peak.
"No wonder you're still alive, senior," Fang Ling said sincerely, staying in character and making a heartfelt remark.
A truly genuine sigh of admiration.
He had been in this world for five years, and under Dugu Bo's protection, this was his first time directly witnessing the awe-inspiring power of the intangible heaven and earth elemental forces converging and colliding.
It was like rivers flowing in reverse, mountains crumbling and falling.
The clash of the ice and fire elemental forces with Dugu Bo's soul power created a fierce confrontation.
The sheer force of this soul power clearly told him: if he stayed here too long, with his mere twentieth-level cultivation, he'd be torn apart, dead from body explosion.
"Yes, as you can see, the reason I was able to become a Titled Douluo is entirely thanks to this place," Dugu Bo said, arms crossed and speaking frankly as he strolled among the spirit herbs with Fang Ling.
"The deadly poison inside me can only be suppressed by the extremely powerful ice and fire elemental force here."
He explained in great detail, precisely so this brat would understand the danger of this place.
Otherwise, if the kid died from messing with something he shouldn't, all their hopes would be wasted.
Dugu Bo knew the odds were slim, but even a glimmer of hope was something.
He had previously scoured all sorts of useless books to no avail, but now at least he had a lead.
Dugu Bo led Fang Ling to an unfamiliar herb.
It was crystal white, each leaf glistening as if it would drip water, long and curved like a swan's neck.
As Fang Ling stared at it, Dugu Bo motioned with his chin, "Here, kid, go touch it, you'll benefit."
"If you want the horse to run, you have to feed it first. I'm giving you the good stuff upfront."
He said this in a warm, almost grandfatherly tone, as if it were completely true.
Fang Ling's gaze shifted, first to the herb, then to Dugu Bo's thin face.
He couldn't recall the exact description, but its snow-white color and swan-neck-like shape made it clear what this was.
Snow Swan Kiss!
The same immortal herb Tang San used to destroy the Slaughter City. Its terrifying effect was to stimulate and magnify toxins by hundreds or even thousands of times.
This damned Dugu Bo was trying to trap him.
"Why don't you go, Senior?" Fang Ling stepped back two paces, hiding behind Dugu Bo.
Without a shred of shame, Dugu Bo lied casually, "I already touched it. It greatly enhanced my talent."
"My martial spirit even evolved from a Jade Phosphor Serpent to a Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor, but it only works once."
"I'm not buying it. Senior, if you want to kill me, just do it directly. My intuition tells me that if I touch that thing, I'm dead for sure," Fang Ling wasn't falling for it.
"Hey, you brat!" A glint of light flashed in Dugu Bo's green eyes.
How could he not test him?
He tried to tempt Fang Ling with the idea of talent evolution.
Didn't this brat keep saying he trusted Dugu Bo's character? That a mere little Soul Master wasn't worth lying to?
Well then, Dugu Bo was going to lie anyway!
He used the same herb that nearly killed him back then to test the boy.
If Fang Ling felt a sense of danger and didn't dare touch it, then his so-called "intuition" might really be something worth trusting.
"Your intuition… seems to be the real deal…"
A thoughtful expression flashed across Dugu Bo's face. Then he suddenly withdrew his soul power protection, letting the powerful ice and fire elemental forces flood Fang Ling's body.
Fang Ling didn't feel much.
Because short exposure didn't matter, just like a normal person taking an X-ray once won't get cancer.
But if someone stood under radiation 24/7, they'd be dead.
And now Fang Ling was effectively under 24-hour exposure to ice-fire elemental energy!
Dugu Bo's expression turned cold as he said to Fang Ling:
"I've removed my protection. You can't feel the erosion of the ice and fire forces on your body, but you saw how my soul power clashed with that force."
"Now, you must rely on your own intuition to survive in this treasure-filled, yet deadly place!"
Fang Ling nodded, frowning as he slowly walked among the dazzling array of herbs, carefully observing them.
After thinking for a moment and assessing the difference between himself and Tang San at the time, he looked up at Dugu Bo.
"Senior, may I ask a favor?"
"What favor?"
Dugu Bo was surprised by this quick change in attitude and asked directly.
Fang Ling handed him a treasured dagger, and also took out a jade bottle filled with insect repelling powder, pouring it into a small pouch.
Then, he carefully broke the jade bottle, selected a larger piece, and handed it to Dugu Bo.
"Senior, please use this knife to cut down the star-shaped herb near the ice spring, and use this jade shard to cut the cabbage-like herb near the fire spring."
With soul power, strength wouldn't be a problem.
"What for?"
"I'm going to eat them."
"You want to _eat_ those two herbs?" Dugu Bo froze, the spinning dagger in his hand suddenly coming to a stop, eyes wide with shock.
He had once tested those herbs himself, and even with his strength, he couldn't stay near either of them for too long.
They contained the purest forms of ice and fire elemental force.
Eating them was suicide!
Fang Ling calmly smiled and explained his reasoning:
"The ice and fire springs here counterbalance each other. Coincidentally, there's one herb on each side that contains ice and fire elemental energy. I figure that if I can balance those two forces in my body, it might just work?"
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