Hearing Oscar's words, Dugu Bo only smiled faintly. Then, with a sudden movement, he took Dugu Yan by the arm and leapt straight off the sheer cliff, disappearing into the thick mist below.
"Follow me," his voice echoed back.
In the blink of an eye, his figure had vanished into the steam.
On the mountaintop, only Oscar, Gai Yue, and Shao Xin remained. But descending a mountain posed no difficulty for them. Oscar swiftly retrieved three Flying Swallow Sausages from his soul tool. After consuming them, the three unfurled their wings of light and glided downward in pursuit of Dugu Bo.
Before long, Oscar, Gai Yue, and Shao Xin touched down at the valley floor.
When Gai Yue and Shao Xin caught sight of the scene before them, both men froze in astonishment.
Just as Oscar had said earlier, there was indeed a hot spring here. Yet it was nothing like they had imagined.
The pool was not large, but it was divided into two halves. Within the same oval basin, the waters shone in two distinct colors—icy blue on one side, fiery crimson on the other.
Even more bizarre, the two halves remained completely separate despite sharing the same pool. Their boundary was sharp, each confined to its own side, never mixing, never encroaching.
Billowing steam surged upward from where the two extremes met, rising constantly into the air until it drifted away at the mountain's edge.
"What is this…?" Gai Yue and Shao Xin asked in unison, their voices tinged with disbelief.
Never in their lives had they imagined witnessing such a wondrous sight.
Before their question even faded, Oscar's voice cut in smoothly, filled with excitement:
"This is the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well!"
His body trembled involuntarily, not only from performance but also from genuine exhilaration.
Now that he stood before the legendary place itself, Oscar knew his fate might truly change from this very moment onward.
"Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well? What are you talking about?" Dugu Bo appeared suddenly before him, frowning in puzzlement.
Oscar's gaze remained fixed on the spring as he explained passionately:
"The Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well—this is a miracle of nature. One spring, two essences; two extremes that restrain each other. Even in tens of thousands of years, such a treasure ground may not form once!"
Hearing this, Dugu Bo's heart skipped a beat. Just as he had suspected, Oscar truly knew this place. To recognize it at a single glance and call its name… it proved beyond doubt that the boy understood its secrets.
After a long pause, Oscar finally tore his gaze from the spring, turning to Dugu Bo with fervent eyes.
"Your Majesty, the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well is a true treasure ground—one of the Three Great Treasure Basins recorded in legend!"
Dugu Bo's eyelid twitched. "Treasure Basin?"
Oscar nodded, his voice steady as he explained:
"The so-called Treasure Basins do not refer to gold or riches, but to lands of unparalleled value for medicinal herbs—special environments born of heaven and earth."
"In those places, ordinary plants cannot survive at all. The conditions are too extreme. Only the rarest and most precious herbs can take root. These lands are the cradle of immortal herbs."
"And more than that—the miraculous energy here accelerates growth tenfold. A lingzhi mushroom that would normally take a hundred years to mature could achieve the same effect here in just ten years."
"The Three Great Treasure Basins are places where heaven and earth gather their most exquisite essence, where spirit energy condenses to its peak. And this sight before us matches exactly the descriptions I have read of the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well—one of the three!"
Oscar's detailed explanation made Dugu Bo's expression change drastically. He instantly understood. No wonder Oscar had said he needed immortal herbs—only such a land could produce them.
If those herbs truly grew here, then… did that mean he might already hold the key to dissolving his and Yan'er's poison?
Oscar pressed on, his tone filled with reverence:
"Now I finally understand why, despite the vicious toxins in your body, you were able to live this long and even reach the realm of Titled Douluo. It must be inseparably linked to the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well."
"This not only nurtures plants, but also has an extraordinary effect on the human body."
"For ordinary people or beasts, prolonged exposure to the opposing extremes here would mean certain death—the clash of two extreme energies would tear their bodies apart."
"But for someone like you, Senior, with poison saturating your body, this is a heaven-sent blessing. Extreme heat and extreme cold both restrain toxins. The unique aura of the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well suppresses poison even more forcefully. Otherwise, there is no way such a multitude of rare herbs could grow here side by side."
"With its suppression, your body has been able to keep the venom in check, preventing it from erupting. What was meant as protection for the plants has, by a twist of fate, become your shield of life."
Dugu Bo listened intently, and the more he thought, the more it made sense. He had once mentioned this place casually, but Oscar, at first glance, had unraveled the entire truth.
Now, his respect for Oscar's knowledge reached its peak. His trust, too, was absolute. He had only one pressing question left.
Suppressing the turmoil in his heart, Dugu Bo asked gravely:
"Little Ao, I don't care about anything else right now. Since you know this treasure ground, you may make use of it freely from now on. But tell me this—can you truly find immortal herbs here that will rid my granddaughter and me of our poison?"
Oscar's heart leapt with excitement. He just promised I could use this place freely? Even Tang San didn't get this treatment in the original timeline!
Of course, he knew why. In the original story, Tang San had angered Dugu Yan, and Dugu Bo had captured him with the intent to kill. Only after Tang San impressed him with his knowledge of poisons did Dugu Bo throw him into the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well, giving him the chance to harvest immortal herbs and heal the poison.
But Oscar's encounter was entirely different.
Forcing down his exhilaration, Oscar answered as calmly as he could:
Your Majesty, I cannot yet guarantee whether the exact herbs you need are here. But just by virtue of this treasure ground, my chances of success rise by at least twenty percent.