"You—you—you—you—you—"
The body of the Aromatic Silk Beauty Immortal Herb, that huge pale-pink flower, shook frantically. Due to the intense shock and fear in her heart, she had even become somewhat incoherent.
When Xu Zihuang's gaze fell upon her, she couldn't help but instinctively shrink backward.
Xu Zihuang gave a cold smile. His gaze swept one by one across the four one-hundred-thousand-year plant-type soul beasts: Aromatic Silk Beauty Immortal Herb, Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass, Infernal Delicate Apricot, and Qiluo Tulip.
With the elevation of his spiritual power realm, he only needed to release his spiritual power outwardly to know that within the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, only these four immortal herbs had broken through to the one hundred thousand years level and developed intelligence not inferior to humans.
All four immortal herbs were deathly silent. Although plant-type soul beasts were far inferior to beast-type soul beasts in combat power, their perception was exceptionally keen.
Feeling the unfathomably deep, abyss-like aura emanating from Xu Zihuang and that heart-palpitating sense of dread, they knew that even if they joined forces, they probably wouldn't be able to gain much advantage against him. The extreme thunder attribute and destruction attribute of Xu Zihuang's second martial soul, Purple Inferno Thunder Prison Dragon Dragon, were a natural counter to plant-type soul beasts like them, let alone his spiritual power realm that far surpassed theirs.
None of this gave them any hope of victory.
Even the achievements that person had accomplished at this age were far inferior to the Xu Zihuang standing before them now.
Even the usually somewhat hot-tempered Infernal Delicate Apricot fell completely silent, not daring to provoke Xu Zihuang's displeasure. However, from the continuous flashing of various colors of light on their bodies, it was clear that these four one-hundred-thousand-year plant-type soul beasts were secretly communicating through some special method.
Xu Zihuang paid them no attention. Together with Ye Guyi, he walked toward a certain area in the valley.
All along the way, the plant-type soul beasts fearfully withdrew their roots, stems, and leaves, creating a clear path.
At the end of the path stood a palm-sized flower that resembled a peony, swaying gently in the wind. Though it looked like a flower, it was actually a herb. Below its stem was connected to pitch-black Wujue Stone. It had no fragrance, no decoration, not even a single leaf. All it had was that faint blood-red color, filled with sorrowful crimson.
One hundred thousand years, Yearning Heartbroken Red. The divine product among immortal herbs.
Despite also possessing one hundred thousand years of cultivation, it had not developed its own intelligence or the power that came with one hundred thousand years of cultivation.
Xu Zihuang and Ye Guyi lowered their heads, quietly gazing at the touch of deep red on the white little flower. Faint light flickered, and it truly seemed as though blood was flowing across that crimson patch.
"Zihuang, is this the Yearning Heartbroken Red you mentioned?" The poignant and heartbreaking beauty of the Yearning Heartbroken Red left even Ye Guyi slightly entranced.
Before coming to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, Xu Zihuang had already explained the situation here to Ye Guyi in detail. And for one hundred thousand years, Yearning Heartbroken Red was their primary target.
As the divine product among immortal herbs, Yearning Heartbroken Red could be perfectly absorbed by anyone. Consuming this herb grants the effect of immortality with heaven and earth. Though the statement might sound somewhat exaggerated, as long as Ye Guyi refined this one hundred thousand years of Yearning Heartbroken Red, the strength of her physical body would undoubtedly reach an astonishing level. It could also greatly increase her soul power.
Xu Zihuang nodded solemnly.
"But the conditions to pick it are very harsh. Sister Lingyi, you—"
Before Xu Zihuang could finish his sentence, Ye Guyi directly showed her determination with action. Squatting in front of the Yearning Heartbroken Red, she gave Xu Zihuang a gentle, sweet smile. Then she raised her right palm, circulating soul power, preparing to strike her own chest.
But at that moment, a stunned voice came from behind them.
"Wait! How do you know about this Yearning Heartbroken Red? And you even know the method to pick it?!"
Seeing Ye Guyi's action, Aromatic Silk Beauty Immortal Herb shouted in disbelief:
"Impossible! Only the book that person left behind should contain the methods for picking and using these immortal herbs!"
Xu Zihuang and Ye Guyi turned around. Xu Zihuang gave Aromatic Silk Beauty Immortal Herb a faint glance.
"This Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well is an ownerless place. The capable obtain it. Since when did you get the illusion that it belongs exclusively to someone?"
Aromatic Silk Beauty Immortal Herb shrank her body and said weakly:
"But we promised that person… Only by passing all the assessments he left behind and joining his sect would we allow anyone to take seven immortal herbs from our Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well."
Xu Zihuang gave an enigmatic light chuckle and slowly raised both hands. His left hand was wrapped in deep purple flames, while black-purple lightning crackled in the palm of his right hand.
Even though he was using the abilities of his second martial soul, Purple Inferno Thunder Prison Dragon Dragon, the six soul rings from his Golden-Eyed martial soul still appeared around him.
Using the abilities of two martial souls simultaneously was now effortless for him.
In fact, he had mastered this technique long ago. The reason he hadn't used it before was simply that the two attributes of his second martial soul were far too domineering. Before condensing a spiritual-attribute soul core, he couldn't withstand the consumption on his mind.
After all, both of his martial souls were among the absolute top-tier existences, especially his second martial soul, Purple Inferno Thunder Prison Dragon Dragon, which was essentially the fusion of two top-tier beast martial souls. Controlling both martial souls at the same time was naturally much more difficult.
But after successfully condensing his soul core, all problems were easily solved.
When using both martial souls simultaneously, he could use the soul power contained within his spiritual-attribute soul core to sustain the Golden-Eyed martial soul, while the soul power circulating in his body was used to mobilize the abilities of the Purple Inferno Thunder Prison Dragon martial soul.
"So today we are going to take them by force anyway. What can you do about it?"
Xu Zihuang snorted coldly.
"Do you really think you can stop me now? You're welcome to try."
As his words fell, an ethereal whale song rang out. White light flashed, and a solid white whale emerged from within Xu Zihuang's body. After happily circling him a few times, it ascended above the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
Its pitch-black eyes were full of liveliness.
Amid wave after wave of whale song, the colors of the flames and lightning on Xu Zihuang's hands became even deeper and more heart-shaking.
This was the 10% attribute amplification effect of his first soul skill, White Whale's Chant.
Immediately afterward, the two differently colored lakes within the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well shot straight into the sky. Like two giant dragons, they spiraled upward, and two figures also appeared.
Hovering above the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well were two giant dragons formed entirely from lake water, one entirely ice-blue, the other entirely scarlet. Both dragons radiated dazzling light, and an extremely powerful aura swept out, pressing all the plant-type soul beasts in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well to tremble, even the one hundred thousand years ones like Aromatic Silk Beauty Immortal Herb and Qiluo Tulip.
But the ones suppressed the most were still Infernal Delicate Apricot and Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass. The light on their bodies became incredibly dim; they probably couldn't even display fifty percent of their usual strength.
"Ah! Ah!" Aromatic Silk Beauty Immortal Herb immediately let out several terrified screams.
"If you want to take the immortal herbs, just take them! I'll pretend I didn't see anything! Can you please put it away first?"
Compared to her own life and safety, who cared about some bullshit rules?
The Silver-scaled White Whale had already awakened its spirit body in Xu Zihuang's spiritual sea long ago. This was one of the reasons Xu Zihuang was unafraid of these one-hundred-thousand-year plant-type soul beasts.
The Silver-scaled White Whale had condensed a true spirit body; it was no longer just an illusory light shadow like before. Now it could even mobilize part of the dragon souls of the Ice Dragon King and Fire Dragon King. Aromatic Silk Beauty Immortal Herb had keenly sensed this, which was why she surrendered so decisively.
Ye Guyi, who had stood up beside Xu Zihuang again, also looked ready to strike at any moment. She, too had received the amplification from Xu Zihuang's first soul skill, White Whale's Chant. The increase in both spiritual power and martial soul attributes raised her combat strength by at least twenty percent compared to before.
Both amplifications were extremely compatible with her Sacred Angel martial soul.
Moreover, thanks to the innate talent of her Sacred Angel martial soul, she could sense that Aromatic Silk Beauty Immortal Herb still harbored a faint trace of ill intent toward them.
Ye Guyi leaned close to Xu Zihuang's ear and softly reminded him:
"Zihuang, this Aromatic Silk Beauty Immortal Herb is very cunning. She's definitely not as honest as she appears."
"I never believed her in the first place," Xu Zihuang slightly nodded, completely ignoring Aromatic Silk Beauty Immortal Herb's pleas.
Although most of the Silver-scaled White Whale's spiritual sense was missing, ever since it signed a contract with him and became his soul spirit, as long as it didn't stray too far, it could freely leave his body and move about.
At this moment, Qiluo Tulip, the one with the highest cultivation and the most authority among all the plant-type soul beasts, finally mustered the courage to speak.
"Greetings, sir. May I be allowed to say a few words?"
Xu Zihuang's gaze focused slightly. His spiritual power locked onto Qiluo Tulip.
"One hundred thousand years, Qiluo Tulip."
Under the dual pressure of the two Dragon King souls and Xu Zihuang's tangible spiritual power, Qiluo Tulip's aura appeared somewhat wilted. Her tone was filled with bitterness.
"We sincerely apologize for the reckless actions that Youyou and Ah Jiao took back then. As compensation, we are willing to allow you to take ten stalks of herbs from here, and we can also carefully introduce you to their types and effects. What do you think?"
"Yes! Yes!" Aromatic Silk Beauty Immortal Herb hurriedly agreed, sounding utterly aggrieved.
"It was our fault back then, but we didn't actually do anything to you! In the end, didn't you leave safely? And at the very beginning, I even gave you a stalk of Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew! Ah jiao, say something too!"
"I…"
Infernal Delicate Apricot was naturally proud. She couldn't bring herself to bow her head so easily to a human. Her moment of hesitation almost led Aromatic Silk Beauty Immortal Herb to death.
"Ah jiao! Ah jiao!"
"Don't trust them, they were planning to deal with you earlier!"
Just then, another heroic and valiant female voice suddenly rang out. Compared to Infernal Delicate Apricot, this voice carried more wildness and unruliness, as well as endless anger and resentment.
Hearing this voice, the four one-hundred-thousand-year plant-type soul beasts all shuddered violently, their hearts turning ice-cold.
Low rumbling thunder sounded. In almost an instant, lightning danced across the sky. Bolts of electricity fell from above. From the ground, countless vines shot up at high speed, each one segmented like bamboo, dark purple in color, but with golden bands at each joint.
With its appearance, the originally seven-colored sky was instantly dyed a deep purple. The falling lightning formed a thunder prison that completely enveloped the entire valley.
"Thunder Hell Prison Vine? And one that's approaching ten thousand years of cultivation?!"
Recognizing the origin of these dark purple vines, Xu Zihuang's pupils suddenly contracted.
Under normal circumstances, when a Thunder Hell Prison Vine reaches fifty thousand years of cultivation, its body would begin to collapse under the strain of containing such vast and violent thunder power.
The Thunder Hell Prison Vine before them, with cultivation approaching ten thousand years, completely defied common sense.
Infernal Delicate Apricot cried out in shock:
"How is this possible?! Wasn't its intelligence suppressed by all of us long ago?"
In this treasure land of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, all kinds of plants could appear—and the Thunder Hell Prison Vine was one of them.
But the characteristics of the Thunder Hell Prison Vine doomed it to be unable to coexist with other plant types. Back when this Thunder Hell Prison Vine had just broken through ten thousand years, Qiluo Tulip had united with the other plant-type soul beasts to suppress it. Otherwise, if it continued to draw heavenly lightning, the entire Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well might have been destroyed.
At that time, the main force suppressing the Thunder Hell Prison Vine had been Infernal Delicate Apricot and Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass. With their extreme fire and extreme ice attributes, respectively, they had drawn on the power of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, cooperating with Qiluo Tulip and Aromatic Silk Beauty Immortal Herb to successfully seal it.
For certain considerations, they had not chosen to eliminate this Thunder Hell Prison Vine. Instead, they erased its intelligence and buried it deep underground. While the Thunder Hell Prison Vine posed a huge threat, the power it contained was also astonishing. If a powerful soul master invaded, the Thunder Hell Prison Vine would be their greatest trump card against outsiders.
Although it could no longer attract heavenly lightning for cultivation, thanks to the special environment of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, this Thunder Hell Prison Vine's cultivation had actually continued to rise steadily, making it the first Thunder Hell Prison Vine in history to approach ten thousand years of cultivation.
"We Thunder Hell Prison Vines possess the bloodline of the Thunder God from birth. Innate intelligence is something you lot could never compare to."
The resentment in the Thunder Hell Prison Vine's voice practically overflowed.
The Thunder Hell Prison Vine grew by tempering itself in lightning. Having been buried underground for so many years, one could imagine how deep its hatred ran.
Although being buried underground and relying on the special properties of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well had allowed its cultivation to reach ninety-nine thousand years, this kind of growth trajectory meant it would never be able to break through the one hundred thousand years bottleneck. It might not even get the chance to attempt it, because the moment it approached that realm, Qiluo Tulip and the others would surely eliminate it ahead of time.
If not for the fact that Qiluo Tulip and the others needed it to deal with Xu Zihuang, it probably would have ceased to exist long ago.
Long ago, the Thunder Hell Prison Vine had already recovered its intelligence. But after its previous experience, it chose not to reveal itself. It did indeed possess cultivation close to ten thousand years, but because it could no longer absorb and refine thunder power, its combat strength was actually inferior to Infernal Delicate Apricot and Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass. However, as long as it was allowed to absorb thunder power, it could unleash its true strength and easily crush Infernal Delicate Apricot and Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass.
Five years ago, there had been hope in Xu Zihuang, who had once entered this place. Rather than remaining here and continuing to be suppressed by Qiluo Tulip and the others, it would rather follow Xu Zihuang and pursue the opportunity to break through ten thousand years. This was the fate of their Thunder Hell Prison Vine lineage.
Even if it perished, it should perish amid endless heavenly lightning.
Moreover, it had witnessed the transformation of that Silver-scaled White Whale. Although only a spirit body, it still retained sentience. It seemed to be a very special existence. Perhaps she could become something similar.
Putting all this together, she had made her decision.
One vine of the Thunder Hell Prison Vine gently draped over Xu Zihuang's right hand. That dark purple vine with golden patterns devoured the black-purple lightning in Xu Zihuang's palm like a whale swallowing water.
"It really is extreme thunder!" The Thunder Hell Prison Vine's voice was filled with excitement. Then she asked the question she cared about most:
"If I choose to become your soul ring, will I be able to retain a trace of sentience like that white whale?"
As long as she could retain even a trace of sentience, she could absorb thunder power to recover.
Xu Zihuang, whose emotions had calmed, gave a faint smile. He transmitted the portion of memory from when he formed the contract with the Silver-scaled White Whale to the Thunder Hell Prison Vine.
"With this method of equal contract, your sentience can be perfectly and completely preserved. So… what is your choice?"
The Thunder Hell Prison Vine answered without the slightest hesitation:
"I am willing to go with you!"
This sudden turn of events was something Qiluo Tulip and the others had never anticipated. Their hearts all sank into the abyss. Without the Thunder Hell Prison Vine, they had completely lost any bargaining power against Xu Zihuang.
And once the Thunder Hell Prison Vine became Xu Zihuang's soul ring, they would be even less able to resist.
The most beneficial response for their current situation would be to forcibly stop the Thunder Hell Prison Vine from joining Xu Zihuang, suppressing it again before it could absorb enough thunder power.
But doing so would mean completely breaking all ties with Xu Zihuang.
And in that single instant of hesitation, they lost their last chance.
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