"Are those all the ingredients you need?" Dugu Bo asked, frowning as he looked at the herbs Ye Yin had pointed out. They were all plants he didn't recognize, things he was certain didn't grow anywhere else in the world.
"No," Ye Yin replied with blunt honesty. "Those are all Immortal Herbs. Consuming them would be incredibly beneficial for me, so I'm just thinking about how to pack them all up and take them with me."
[Resentment from Dugu Bo +10!]
Dugu Bo's beard bristled with anger. "You haven't even started on the Bezoar Detoxification Pill, and you're already planning to raid my entire garden? Hurry up and make the pill! As long as you don't waste anything, you can take whatever ingredients you need from here afterward."
Ye Yin patted his chest confidently. "Don't worry, I'll definitely make the pill. It'll take a day at most. But you can't watch. No secretly learning my techniques."
[Resentment from Dugu Bo +20!]
"You dare speak to me like that, kid?" Dugu Bo sputtered, his pride wounded. "This old man, secretly learn your skills? Who do you think you're looking down on? What a joke! Seeing how proficient you are with herbs, and as thanks for helping me, I was actually considering taking you as my disciple. But since you've said that, then forget about it!"
With that, Dugu Bo turned and began to walk away stiffly. "In one day, this old man will return for the medicine!"
However, his pace was incredibly slow, his feet inching along the ground as if he were waiting for Ye Yin to call him back and apologize.
"Senior Dugu," Ye Yin called out. "Is the sole of your foot itchy? If it is, you should take off your shoe and scratch it. I hear it becomes both painful and itchy then."
Dugu Bo froze.
[Resentment from Dugu Bo +20!]
Why hadn't he realized how infuriating this boy was before? He wasn't angry, not really. He just had the overwhelming urge to beat Ye Yin up to vent his frustration.
"Hmph!" Dugu Bo snorted coldly and, abandoning his slow walk, shot up into the air and disappeared.
Ye Yin watched him go, a smirk playing on his lips. He never missed an opportunity to earn a few resentment points. His gaze then fell upon the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and the Fiery Apricot. Ice and fire body refining—a path taken by countless protagonists. Ye Yin was no exception.
He fully activated his spirit power and walked toward the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass. The plant resembled a large white flower with sparkling stamens that looked like ice crystals. Ye Yin flicked his wrist, and a throwing knife whizzed through the air, cleanly slicing through the stalk. The octagonal flower fell, and an intense cold aura instantly spread out, covering the surrounding herbs in a faint layer of white frost.
Without lingering, Ye Yin sprinted to the opposite side of the well, arriving beside the Fiery Apricot. The plant resembled a large cabbage, but it was entirely, brilliantly red. From Ye Yin's back, the black and white Eight Spider Lances erupted. He used their power to launch himself into the air, flying past the fiery plant. Coating his hand with the Mysterious Jade Hand technique, he performed a quick back-handed swipe, cutting the Fiery Apricot free in mid-air.
His leap landed him right next to the severed Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass he had harvested moments before. When the two opposing immortal herbs were brought together, a delicate balance formed between their extreme energies, mirroring the two halves of the well itself.
Without hesitation, Ye Yin grabbed both herbs and stuffed them into his mouth. An incredible fragrance exploded on his tongue, the pleasure so intense it nearly made him pass out. He skillfully stripped off his clothes in an instant and jumped into the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
A wave of agony so powerful it felt like being torn apart struck him, nearly causing him to leap back out.
"System, spend one hundred resentment points on pain suppression," he thought desperately.
The purchase was successful. The system confirmed he would feel no pain until he left the well. Instantly, the agony vanished, replaced by an extreme comfort. He swam freely in the bizarre, two-toned water, diving deeper and deeper.
"I wonder what's at the bottom of this spring," he mused.
His body continued its descent until, at the very bottom, he felt two immensely powerful spirit power fluctuations. The two auras were ancient and overwhelming, far beyond anything he could hope to contend with.
"So, the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well has a secret like this," he thought. "When I'm stronger, I'll have to come back and explore properly."
*Blub.*
A bubble slowly rose from behind him.
[Resentment from the remnant soul of the Fire Dragon King +10!]
[Resentment from the remnant soul of the Water Dragon King +10!]
Seeing the system prompts, Ye Yin's eyes lit up. The remnant souls of the Water and Fire Dragon Kings were down here! He vaguely recalled that the well was formed where the two dragon kings had fallen. If their souls were here, then their bodies—and more importantly, their Spirit Bones—were likely here as well.
The thought of two top-tier Spirit Bones waiting for him was almost too much to bear. Unfortunately, he wasn't strong enough to retrieve them now. He estimated he would need to be at least rank seventy to have a chance. To get there, and to deal with whatever challenges lay ahead, he would need a lot of resentment points.
That being the case, he decided the remnant souls of the Water and Fire Dragon Kings would just have to suffer a little.
Ye Yin smirked and took a can of his enhanced surströmming from his system space. The moment the can was exposed to the spring, the intense heat instantly vaporized its contents. A foul stench, far worse than anything imaginable, spread through the water.
[Resentment from the remnant soul of the Fire Dragon King +11!]
[Resentment from the remnant soul of the Water Dragon King +11!]
[Resentment from the remnant soul of the Fire Dragon King +12!]
[Resentment from the remnant soul of the Water Dragon King +12!]
...
The resentment points from the two ancient souls began to rapidly increase.
"It's still a bit slow," Ye Yin thought, deciding to escalate. "Let's speed this up." He then took out dozens more cans of surströmming. The pungent, suffocating smell intensified, filling every corner of the underwater cavern. The two remnant souls couldn't escape; they could only endure the horrific odor, their resentment growing by the second.
Time passed. Ye Yin felt the ice and fire body refining process nearing its end. It was almost time to get out.
[Resentment from the remnant soul of the Fire Dragon King +80!]
[Resentment from the remnant soul of the Water Dragon King +80!]
...
[Resentment from the remnant soul of the Fire Dragon King +99!]
[Resentment from the remnant soul of the Water Dragon King +99!]
[Resentment from the remnant soul of the Fire Dragon King +99!]
[Resentment from the remnant soul of the Water Dragon King +99!]
...
Ninety-nine was the system's display limit, but Ye Yin knew this was definitely not the limit of the Water and Fire Dragon Kings' hatred.
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You can read advanced chapters here: patreon.com/GregariousLion