"Senior Sister, actually… I might have a clue about the Immortal Herbs. Just not a hundred percent sure yet."
"What? You have a clue?!"
Yueguan reacted like a cat with its tail stepped on—springing to her feet, eyes wide, and in the next instant grabbing Gu Han's shoulders with both hands.
"You brat, speak! Where is it? Where's the Immortal Herb?!"
"Uhh—Senior Yueguan, please stop shaking me… my head's spinning—"
"Yueguan, calm down," Ghost said as he stepped forward to pry Yueguan's hands away.
"Honestly, Senior Yueguan, are you trying to shake my junior brother to pieces?" Bibi Dong's tone carried a trace of irritation.
"Ahem… sorry, I just got a little excited." Yueguan withdrew her hands, though her eyes still gleamed with barely restrained urgency. "Quickly then, Xiaohan—what kind of Immortal Herb is it?"
Gu Han shook his head with a deliberately helpless look. "I said I'm not certain. It's only a guess."
Yueguan's expression dimmed slightly, so Gu Han continued, "From the book you gave me, every Immortal Herb grows in a unique and extreme environment. Later, I found a dusty old tome in the Martial Soul Hall—'Wonders of the Continent.' There was a note about a peculiar location in the Sunset Forest."
He wasn't lying. The record really existed, though the book itself never mentioned Immortal Herbs—only oddities of the land. And judging from the thick layer of dust, no one had touched it for years.
"It described a strange lake—half boiling hot, half bone-chilling cold. The details were vague, but compared to other so-called 'wonders,' it stood out. So… I thought there might be a chance."
Yueguan's excitement cooled into thoughtfulness. "It's possible. But let's help Xiao Dongdong hunt her third soul ring first—then we'll go take a look."
"Mm."
Decision made, the group left the hotel and set off for the Star Dou Forest.
"Little Dongdong, brat," Yueguan said seriously as they walked, "the Star Dou Forest is dangerous. You two stick close to me and Old Ghost. No wandering off."
"Understood," the pair replied in unison.
Over the next few days, Gu Han absorbed the energy from five Whale Gums, pushing his soul power from level 26 peak to level 27 in one go. A solid, stable gain—though he knew such tonics gave diminishing returns without greater quality.
The deeper they went, the denser the vegetation became, the air heavy with spiritual energy. This was the thousand-year soul beast territory—home to creatures between three and ten thousand years old.
"Movement."
Ghost and Yueguan froze simultaneously, sharp eyes narrowing. Their senses easily picked up what Gu Han and Bibi Dong could not.
"Chrysanthemum, stay here. I'll take a look," Ghost said, then vanished in a flicker, reappearing high atop a tree to scout.
Through the leaves, a thick green mist drifted. A massive spider, eight meters tall, barreled toward them in panic.
"An eight-thousand-year Human-Faced Demon Spider," Ghost murmured in satisfaction. The perfect match for Bibi Dong's martial soul—just the right age.
He sent a quick sound transmission to Yueguan.
Yueguan's face lit up. "What luck! Xiao Dongdong, your soul ring is served up for you."
"What kind of soul beast?" Gu Han asked, though he already guessed.
"An eight-thousand-year Human-Faced Demon Spider. You two—stay behind us. Leave this to me and Old Ghost."
Yueguan's Qirong Tongtian Chrysanthemum bloomed into existence, two yellow, two purple, and four black soul rings rising beneath his feet. Ghost's martial soul appeared as a looming black shadow—its rings hidden from view, just as Gu Han remembered from the original tale.
The forest shook. The spider burst into the clearing, its many eyes filled with fear, legs thrashing as it tried to flee some unseen threat.
"Leave it to me!" Yueguan's voice rang out. His martial soul's petals hardened like steel as he swung it like a massive hammer—slamming the spider's head. The beast collapsed instantly, unconscious.
With an elegant flick of his fingers to tuck stray hair behind his ear, Yueguan smiled. "Xiao Dongdong, finish it off."
"Stop!!"
A voice barked from the trees. Two green-clad figures stepped out.
Both sides froze—then spoke at the same time:
"Old Poison?!"
"Chrysanthemum?!"
"Why are you here?" they demanded in unison.
The older man wore green from head to toe, hair the same hue, lips tinged faintly purple—Dugubo, the future Poison Douluo. Beside him stood a tall youth, seventeen or eighteen, bearing some resemblance to Dugubo.
Gu Han's eyes narrowed slightly. So this is Dugubo's son, Duguxin.
"Of course I'm here to help our saint hunt for her soul ring," Yueguan said with a faint sneer. "What, couldn't even catch a mere thousand-year beast on your own?"
A vein throbbed on Dugubo's forehead. "Chrysanthemum, I've no interest in trading insults with you. That spider is the prey my son and I have chased for two days. It's already been poisoned by me—capturing it was only a matter of time. Stealing it like this… isn't very honorable."
To be continued…
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