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Dugu Bo had also spoken with Su Wen over these three months. He knew this kid was purely a researcher of spirit theory and genuinely didn't know much about poisons or herbs.
Of course, Su Wen's understanding of basic common knowledge was comprehensive.
After testing, Su Wen confirmed that they could only be cut with metal. He immediately prepared an iron sheet to cut the two immortal herbs.
He didn't have the "Mysterious Jade Hand," but he did have book pages that could transform into hands to take their place.
Although they were instantly scorched and frozen, Su Wen immediately replenished the pages, swiftly presenting both immortal herbs in front of himself.
Strangely, the two herbs that had just been radiating extreme cold and heat, lost both auras the moment they were brought together.
Seeing this, Dugu Bo felt a little more at ease. He knew Su Wen's theory was, at the very least, feasible.
Su Wen took a deep breath and activated his second spirit skill.
He mobilized the surrounding heaven-and-earth energy, which was filled with the extreme ice and fire auras, to envelop the two herbs. Then, outside of that energy, he wrapped them again in his own spirit power.
Only with these two layers of buffering did he swallow both herbs.
He truly swallowed them whole.
Without a trace of hesitation.
Then, he leaped into the very center of the spring, where the milky-white and vermilion-red waters intertwined.
Dugu Bo's heart leaped into his throat.
However, seeing that Su Wen didn't instantly melt, he let out a breath of relief.
Even as Su Wen's face constantly shifted between red and blue, Dugu Bo felt it was normal.
He's taking medicine, after all. And he's taking two extremely poisonous, treasured herbs. This kind of reaction is very normal~
As long as the kid didn't die, the absorption theory was basically sound.
Su Wen's success now had a chance.
That was the most important part.
...
Inside his body, the two violent forces of ice and fire collided, causing Su Wen excruciating pain.
This was far more painful than when he had absorbed a spirit ring beyond his limit.
To be precise, his previous "exceeding-limit" absorption had been a trick; he hadn't truly surpassed his own limits.
Now, the medicinal powers of the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and the Fiery Apricot Delicate Vegetable were clashing within him. The forces of ice and fire continuously destroyed every part of his body, only to be smoothed over and repaired by the gentle, fused medicinal power of the two immortal herbs.
Over and over again.
Su Wen's body grew stronger and stronger under this tempering.
However, the impact of this ice and fire was extremely fierce. Su Wen was currently using the external pressure from the spring water to avoid the fate of his body exploding from the conflict.
And the ice and fire power within his body, along with the ceaseless gentle medicinal power, was what allowed him to resist the erosion from the spring water outside.
A strange equilibrium was formed.
Su Wen felt every cell in his body being destroyed and then repaired.
His entire being was undergoing a metamorphosis.
About two and a half hours later, Su Wen felt he had already built up a certain resistance from this tempering and could now bear some of the imbalanced fluctuations.
He drew the ice and fire power from the spring into his body.
Just a tiny wisp... and the pain, which had just slightly abated, instantly returned to its previous extreme.
He didn't dare to draw in any more of the spring's power.
This wisp of power was ferried by him into his spirit space.
As this power surged into his spirit space, it instantly began to be ravaged by the extreme ice and fire auras, and Su Wen's spirit was also eroded.
However, the medicinal power of the two great immortal herbs washed over it, and the damage from this erosion was instantly repaired.
At the same time, his spirit was also transforming, bit by bit.
...
Another two and a half hours passed.
Su Wen floated in the center of the spring, his entire body soaking in the water. He opened his eyes, not a trace of pain on his face.
His complexion was no longer alternating between blue and red.
Seeing this, Dugu Bo was astonished, his expression soon turning to one of admiration.
"Testing the law with your own body... Little Wen, you've used your own actions to prove the correct way to use these two treasured herbs!"
Two great poisons could actually be mixed and, with the help of the external environment, one could ultimately absorb their medicinal effects.
As for the result?
Just seeing Su Wen soaking in the spring water without a trace of pain was enough to know the effect was certainly extraordinary.
Su Wen leaped out of the spring and landed on the ground beside it. The water that dripped off him instantly caused half the ground to freeze and the other half to be charred black.
"Grandpa Dugu, I was fortunate to succeed."
"How is it? What are the effects?"
Seeing Dugu Bo's eager expression, Su Wen smiled and summoned his spirit.
As his spirit was released, the surrounding heaven-and-earth energy began to change.
Auras of ice and fire wreathed his spirit. Its cover, which was originally an interweaving of purple and rock-like patterns, was now mostly covered in magnificent blue and red patterns.
Overall, Su Wen's spirit now gave off the feeling of an 'Ice-Fire Grimoire'.
"It should be considered a top-tier spirit now," Dugu Bo said.
Su Wen nodded, acknowledging this.
Without the transformation from these two immortal herbs, if he had wanted his spirit to reach the top-tier, he probably would have failed even if he'd absorbed a ten-thousand-year ring for his fourth.
At the same time, his spirit power had now reached level thirty-five.
After absorbing his third spirit ring, Su Wen's spirit power had directly broken through to level thirty-two. In the three months before this, he had advanced two levels. Now, under the impact of the spring water and medicinal power, he had advanced one more level.
It was a pity that the power of the two immortal herbs was only suitable for tempering the body; their effect on Su Wen's spirit power limit wasn't that significant. Furthermore, Su Wen, wanting his spirit's metamorphosis to be as complete as possible, hadn't dared to waste a single drop of the medicinal power. As such, he had only used the stimulation from the ice and fire to complete his breakthrough to level thirty-five.
Level thirty-five...
Su Wen considered his current condition, calculating the time it would take to break through to level forty.
"There should still be a little over a year until Tang San leaves Nuoding City. I should, ideally, reach level forty within a year, then get my fourth spirit ring. I'll take that opportunity to return to Nuoding, and while I'm picking up Grandpa Jack from New Moon Village, I'll search for the whereabouts of the Blue Silver Emperor."
A 100,000-year spirit bone... that was a top-tier item.
Although its flying skill seemed useless to him, its other skill was a god-tier recovery skill, capable of healing even severed limbs.
"I will need to take at least one more immortal herb, that's a must."
The Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and Fiery Apricot Delicate Vegetable he had just absorbed were, strictly speaking, just for body tempering.
He needed one to accelerate his spirit power cultivation, and also to ensure that the level-forty bottleneck wouldn't trouble him, which would disrupt his plan to break through within a year.
"I'll cultivate on my own first, and then absorb an immortal herb when the time is right."
That way, he could perfectly time his breakthrough to level forty.
For the time being, Su Wen remained in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well to cultivate.
Even Dugu Bo occasionally went out, but Su Wen remained focused on his cultivation.
This place had practically become Su Wen's private training ground.
And the environment of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well was, for the current Su Wen, a type of 'mimicry environment'. Coupled with the rich heaven-and-earth energy here, Su Wen's cultivation speed advanced by leaps and bounds.
In the blink of an eye, ten months passed.
Su Wen's spirit power had reached level thirty-nine.
"Without even realizing it... it seems I'm already going to far exceed the goal I originally set..."
Breaking through to level fifty before the Spirit Master Tournament... it really doesn't seem impossible.
In fact, Su Wen might even exceed that expectation.
The future was bright!
(End of this chapter)