"An external spirit bone can be used like this?" A flash of surprise crossed
Tang San did not look at Dugu Bo. Instead, his gaze was fixed on the scene within the valley before them. To his slight surprise, the hot spring in the valley was not as he had imagined. The spring wasn't large in area, but it was split into two sections. Within the oval-shaped pool, the water colors were actually milky white and crimson red. Even more bizarre was that although they were in the same pool, they were clearly divided, neither encroaching on the other, each staying on its own side.
The rolling columns of steam rose precisely from the boundary between the two springs, constantly ascending until they dissipated slowly at the mountain's peak.
"This... this is..." Tang San's body trembled uncontrollably with excitement as he looked at the scene before him. He had never imagined he would see such a magnificent sight in this world. Although he had never witnessed it before, within his memories, there was a description of a similar scene.
Within the Hundred Hidden Weapons Manual of the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record, besides the hidden weapons, there was a specialized secret record concerning poisons. It recorded various extremely rare medicinal herbs, both lethally poisonous and heavenly treasures. And at the very end of this secret record, there was a detailed account of the Three Great Treasure Bowls.
These so-called Treasure Bowls naturally did not refer to vessels of gold or silver, but rather were treasure bowls for medicinal substances—three types of special natural environments. Within the environments of the Three Great Treasure Bowls, ordinary plants simply could not grow, because ordinary plants couldn't adapt to the unique climate. However, the Three Great Treasure Bowls were the breeding grounds for all rare and precious plants. Moreover, they would shorten the growth time of these rare plants tenfold. Simply put, if a spirit mushroom grew in any one of the Three Great Treasure Bowls for ten years, it would possess the effect of a hundred-year spirit mushroom.
The Three Great Treasure Bowls possessed unique conditions, being the gathering points for the finest spiritual energy of heaven and earth. And wasn't the scene before him exactly identical to the description of one of the Three Great Treasure Bowls in the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record?
"Ice and Fire Eyes. This is actually the Ice and Fire Eyes?"
The Ice and Fire Eyes referred to this uniquely blessed spring source before him—one eye giving birth to two, the two principles mutually restraining each other. It was a treasure land that might not form even once in tens of millions of years!
How could Tang San not be excited at the chance to see, in his lifetime, one of the Three Great Treasure Bowls where the essence of heaven and earth condensed? At this moment, he finally understood why the old monster before him, despite having such potent toxins in his body, could still survive and even cultivate to the Titled Douluo realm. This was inextricably linked to the Ice and Fire Eyes before him.
The Ice and Fire Eyes not only nourished things but also had an extremely special effect on the human body. Once humans or animals lived beside the Ice and Fire Eyes, in a short time, their bodies would be impacted by the spiritual energy of heaven and earth possessing two extreme attributes. If they couldn't leave in time, their bodies would inevitably explode and perish. But for someone like Dugu Bo, who was saturated with deadly poison, it offered immense benefits. Extreme heat and extreme cold both restrained toxic substances. And a place harboring a natural treasure like the Ice and Fire Eyes restrained toxins even more powerfully. Otherwise, it would be impossible for various rare plants to grow here simultaneously.
With the suppression of the Ice and Fire Eyes, Dugu Bo's body had been able to continuously hold the deadly poison within him in check, preventing it from erupting. The very nature of the Ice and Fire Eyes, originally meant to protect the surrounding plants, had become Dugu Bo's life-saving treasure.
"Ice and Fire Eyes? What are you saying?" Dugu Bo looked at Tang San with some confusion.
Tang San forcibly calmed his surging emotions, trying his best not to cheer aloud. "It's nothing. I simply didn't expect such a wonderful place to exist. If my original confidence in curing your poison was only thirty percent, then now, with the presence of these Ice and Fire Eyes, my confidence can rise to fifty percent."
"What did you say? Only fifty percent?" Hostility immediately colored Dugu Bo's tone. "Boy, have you been deceiving me this whole time?"
Tang San said coldly, "Is there any need for me to deceive you? Your body has been steeped in poison mist for so many years. A fifty percent chance of cure is already the maximum. However, even if it can't be completely cured, it will be enough to alleviate your body's pain. As for your granddaughter, I don't even need the help of the Ice and Fire Eyes to have the confidence to cure her."
Dugu Bo's expression finally eased slightly. He pointed around the Ice and Fire Eyes. "All my medicinal herbs are planted here. All kinds of poisonous and nourishing herbs. You may use them, but if you dare to destroy anything here, I will make you wish for death. I'll give you a bit more time. The day after tomorrow, at dawn, if you haven't passed my test, then it will be your end. Of course, you can also try to run. I won't hide it from you—this is a very famous Soul Beast forest. Except for this mountain, which is sealed by my poison formation so the Soul Beasts don't dare enter, outside are Soul Beasts at least a thousand years old. If you run, you won't even need me to lift a finger; the Soul Beasts will tear you to shreds."
Having said this, Dugu Bo leaped into the air. The tip of his foot touched the mountain wall, and he soared upward like a great bird towards the mountain peak. As his figure receded, his voice once again carried down clearly, "Boy, remember—do not touch those two hot springs. The extreme heat and extreme cold there, even I cannot withstand for long. If you come into contact with them, the only path is death."
Watching Dugu Bo's figure gradually disappear into the mist, a slight curve formed at the corner of Tang San's mouth. As if you needed to tell me that? I'm not going to commit suicide. Why would I easily touch the spring water of the Ice and Fire Eyes? After all, that is the place of ultimate cold and ultimate heat in the world.
Dugu Bo was gone. Tang San no longer needed to suppress the excitement in his heart. He quickly walked to the side of the red spring water in the Ice and Fire Eyes. Strangely, the surface of this tranquil hot spring gave off no hint of temperature.
Tang San would not be deceived by this outward appearance. This seemingly calm red liquid had a temperature comparable to molten rock. If curiosity drove him to touch it, then wherever it touched would be instantly burned away.
Taking a deep breath, Tang San felt his heart beating faster and faster. The excitement he could not suppress was appearing for the first time in this life. Even in his previous life, it had only occurred when he crafted the
Gathering his energy, he activated his Purple Extreme Demon Eye.
The crystalline purple light condensed within his eyes. Under the full power of the
Surrounding the Yin-Yang Ice and Fire Spring, all manner of plants flourished in every direction, displaying a thousand shapes and ten thousand postures — it looked like a paradise for flora. Yet not a single plant here was anything less than rare and precious. Just one glance was enough to leave Tang San somewhat dumbstruck.
Not far in front of him, near the edge of the milky-white hot spring, sat a cluster of something that looked like small worms. Tang San carefully crouched down to get a closer look, and his heart was instantly filled with a surge of powerful shock.
"This… this is a Snow Silkworm? The supreme grade of Cordyceps — the Snow Silkworm." He recognized the thing before him at a single glance, and his heartbeat seemed to quicken even further.
The
Cordyceps was itself a supreme-grade medicinal ingredient. The so-called "winter worm, summer grass" — abbreviated simply as "Cordyceps" — was in fact an entomopathogenic fungus, a low-grade parasitic organism. In winter, the Cordyceps fungus would parasitize lepidopteran insects — the larvae, pupae, or adults of moths and bees living in the high mountains — invading their bodies and feeding on their nutrients. Once the mycelium gradually filled the entire insect body, the larva would stiffen and die. Come summer, the fungal spores would proliferate within the dead insect, sprouting from the top of its head into a club-shaped fruiting body. This was Cordyceps, and it was from this cycle that it derived its name.
The Snow Silkworm was simply another name for the supreme grade among Cordyceps specimens. This variety had an ashen-white exterior with ring-like markings across its body, and eight pairs of legs in total — the four pairs in the middle being the most prominent. It had a smooth texture that snapped easily when broken, with a cross-section that was slightly flat and white with a faint tinge of yellow. The fruiting body was slender and elongated, deep brown to brownish in color, cylindrical in shape, and generally longer than the insect body itself, with a slightly swollen spore-bearing tip. On the outside it shone a bright yellow, while the interior was white — plump and substantial. Not only was it far larger than ordinary Cordyceps, but its medicinal efficacy was vastly superior as well.
The "Snow Silkworm" now before Tang San was more than twice the size of what he remembered from his previous life. This single cluster had to weigh at least several jin. While the Snow Silkworm might not qualify as a true heavenly treasure, Tang San had never even heard of specimens of this quality before.
Immediately after, Tang San noticed yet another plant growing beside the "Snow Silkworm." This one had a yellowish-brown outer skin and a yellowish-red cross-section. Its leaves grew alternately along a slender, curving petal — the leaves themselves were ovate and heart-shaped, tapering to a pointed tip. In summer, small yellowish-green flowers with purple spots emerged from the leaf axils, growing along twisted, ribbon-like shapes — a truly peculiar sight.
(End of chapter)