"Yes! That's it, use your soul power to stabilize yourself. I didn't expect you to be this talented at flying!"
Bing Di watched Cheng Yang hover and turn in midair, mastering the art of flight in mere minutes.
A flicker of regret crossed her cold, beautiful face.
If this brat could fly this well, chasing him down later would be a nightmare.
Still, he wasn't faster than her, yet, which brought her a small sense of relief.
Cheng Yang, meanwhile, wasn't thinking about any of that.
He was too busy laughing in pure exhilaration.
"Ha! This is incredible!"
He spread his arms, letting the wind rush past.
His silver hair fluttered as he darted higher, the world below shrinking.
With a body that had been cultivated for over nine hundred thousand years, his soul power reserves dwarfed even those of a Limit Douluo.
The principles of aerodynamics were simple enough for him to grasp; flying, once he felt it, came as naturally as breathing.
Down below, Dugu Bo froze mid-sketch, staring at the soaring figure.
He quietly tucked away his earlier idea of using Cheng Yang to threaten the Ice Emperor.
"…You've got to be kidding me," he muttered under his breath.
Even to achieve controlled flight, one usually needed to reach the level of a Title Douluo.
Yet this man, no, this monster, was doing it with ease.
Even if he didn't look that strong, anyone with that much stamina could tank hits for days.
Without a Title Douluo's strength, it'd take pure luck and several prodigies to even wear him down.
The Ice Emperor eventually lost her patience and rose into the air, catching Cheng Yang by the collar like a misbehaving child.
"Hey! Enough showing off! Now tell me, why do you care so much about this little brat?"
Cheng Yang cleared his throat.
"Because he's talented in the art of poison. Think about it, he entered here alone. You've seen the barrier outside; even seasoned poison masters can't breach it so easily. His understanding of toxins runs deep. I plan to take him as a disciple, to teach him chemistry and medicine. With the right guidance, he could become a figure as fearsome as Orochimaru."
The Ice Emperor blinked, completely lost.
"Chemistry? Oro… what now? Is that some kind of meatball? Sounds edible."
Cheng Yang coughed awkwardly, realizing he'd slipped again.
"Ah… Chemistry is the study of how matter changes. You probably wouldn't be interested. And Orochimaru, he's… well, he's a scientist from another world. It's a long story. You see, on a distant continent, there was a place called Konoha Village…"
He trailed off into a tale from his previous life, Naruto.
Ice Emperor listened, eyes bright with curiosity.
To her, every word was fresh snow, untouched and mesmerizing.
For soul beasts, whose lives were often monotonous, Cheng Yang's endless stories were intoxicating, like rare wine.
She could drink them forever and never tire.
By the time night fell, Cheng Yang had only reached the part about the Chūnin Exams.
His throat was dry, and he was about to rest when Dugu Bo returned, looking pleased and slightly out of breath.
"Master Cheng Yang," he said, holding out several pages of notes, "I've finished sketching the herbs I couldn't identify. Please take a look."
Cheng Yang glanced through the pages, jotting down the names of the few he recognized: Panax Notoginseng, Pueraria Lobata, Radix Isatidis.
Most of the rest were unfamiliar, likely unique to this world.
Then two particular drawings caught his eye: one was an ice-blue herb with eight-pointed leaves, the other a fire-red plant shaped like a cabbage.
Dugu Bo had marked both as highly toxic.
Cheng Yang's expression sharpened.
"Where did you find these two?" he asked, tapping the sketches.
"Over there," Dugu Bo replied, gesturing toward the twin springs nearby.
He led them to the edge of the clearing, where the icy mist and fiery steam intertwined like warring spirits.
At the very extremes of cold and heat, the two herbs grew alone, one shimmering with frost, the other glowing with heat.
The contrast was almost divine.
"It should be the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and the Fiery Apricot Inferno." Cheng Yang's eyes lit up, his voice trembling with excitement.
"Hah, luck's on my side today. These are true treasures!"
He reached out to pluck the icy-blue grass, but before his fingers could touch it, the Ice Emperor grabbed his wrist, her tone sharp and cold.
"Don't be reckless! I don't recognize these herbs, but I can feel their toxicity. Even if I ate them myself, I'd be badly hurt. They're not something a human can just swallow!"
Cheng Yang turned, meeting her worried eyes with a faint smile.
He reached out and lightly tapped her head, his tone gentle.
"It's alright. Eaten alone, they're deadly. But together, their poisons cancel each other out. Mixed properly, they'll become an incredible tonic. Trust me, I'm not stupid enough to die for curiosity."
"Hmph! Who cares about whether you live or die?" she huffed, crossing her arms and turning her head away.
"I'm just worried your corpse will smell and ruin my appetite."
Despite her words, her eyes betrayed her.
She peeked at him through her lashes, tense and anxious, like a tsundere child trying too hard to look indifferent.
Cheng Yang only chuckled softly.
Then, under her watchful gaze, he knelt before the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass.
The air around it was so cold that frost instantly crawled up his arm, numbing his fingers.
The pain was sharp, biting, but manageable.
His ice-attribute body dulled the worst of it.
He carefully uprooted the plant, then carried it toward the Fiery Apricot Inferno growing by the opposite spring.
The moment the two herbs came near each other, the air sizzled.
Ice and fire clashed, hissing into a swirl of steam that shimmered like silver mist.
The violently opposing energies gradually neutralized, creating a fleeting moment of balance.
"According to the records…" Cheng Yang muttered under his breath, "I've got ten breaths. Half a minute, no more."
He didn't waste time. Using a small dagger, he sliced both herbs into three even portions.
He swallowed one immediately, tossed another piece toward Dugu Bo, and pressed the last piece into the Ice Emperor's hand.
"Eat it," he said quickly.
"You'll gain tremendous power, and no poison will ever harm you again. But the downside is your old toxins will be purged, completely."
Dugu Bo blinked, taken aback.
Cheng Yang's tone was calm but commanding.
"I won't force you," Cheng Yang continued, already preparing to ingest his portion.
"But know this, your Blue Phosphorus Snake venom is devouring you from the inside. It'll eventually affect your descendants, too. Take this, and I'll teach you something better, poisons even your old self would fear."
Then he added with a small grin, "And if you don't, I'll eat your share. Wouldn't want to waste good medicine."
Without hesitation, Cheng Yang swallowed his piece.
The Ice Emperor's eyes widened.
Her cheeks puffed out, torn between disbelief and frustration.
"You reckless idiot…" she muttered, glaring at him.
Still, she tilted her head back and swallowed her share in one bite, her expression softening as warmth spread through her veins.
Dugu Bo stood frozen, heart pounding.
He knew this was a chance of a lifetime, but also a gamble.
His Blue Phosphorus Snake venom was his pride, his power, his very identity.
Without it, what was he? Just another soul master with decent talent.
But then, a faint tremor ran through his hand.
He could feel his own venom corroding his body, the years of poisoning catching up with him.
And Cheng Yang's confident, unshaken manner wasn't a bluff.
The man truly knew what he was doing.
Slowly, Dugu Bo clenched his teeth.
"To hell with it," he whispered.
He closed his eyes and swallowed the herbs.
The moment the mixture hit his stomach, an icy fire spread through his veins.
His entire body convulsed, alternating between searing heat and bone-crushing cold.
Steam rose from his skin.
The Ice Emperor's breath hitched as she felt the surge in her body too, a perfect harmony of frost and flame, threatening to tear her apart yet rebuilding her from within.
And Cheng Yang, standing between them, endured the same agony.
But amidst the chaos, his expression was calm.
He had expected this pain, the transformation before the rebirth.
In that moment, under the twin glow of ice and fire, three figures stood before the Yin Yang Well, each of them trembling, burning, freezing… yet alive.
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