The cave was roughly three meters high and two meters wide—damp and echoing.
Yang Fan ignited the tip of his spear, using its flame to light the path forward.
The tunnel stretched less than ten meters before opening into a stone chamber. A single shaft of light pierced through a crack in the ceiling, illuminating the space below.
"This is the Blue Silver Emperor!"
That lone beam of light fell directly upon the plant—making it impossible to miss.
At a glance, Yang Fan saw how it differed from ordinary Blue Silver Grass: its leaves were longer, slenderer, and traced with mysterious golden patterns.
"Remarkable…"
Yao Lao, ever the connoisseur of rare treasures, couldn't help but marvel. His eyes gleamed with sharp, appraising light. "This continent actually has such a divine herb."
Sensing intruders, the Blue Silver Emperor stirred on its own—its long leaves swaying violently despite the absence of wind.
"Master—dig it up!" Yang Fan said without hesitation.
He felt no pity. The moment he laid eyes on it, memories flashed through his mind: his clan forced to flee, their home lost—all because of Tang Hao and this very plant.
"I'll handle it," Yao Lao said gently.
He lowered himself close to the ground and used soft, controlled Dou Qi to carefully loosen the soil around the roots. Then, he enveloped the entire plant in his soul energy, shielding it from shock, and slowly drew it into his spatial ring.
The whole process was as delicate as handling a flawless gem.
"Herbs like this possess their own spiritual consciousness," Yao Lao explained. "You must subdue them with your soul force. Otherwise, their resistance will be so strong that—even if they don't self-destruct—the potency of any pill refined from them will be severely diminished."
Yang Fan nodded thoughtfully.
With this Blue Silver Emperor in Yao Lao's hands, he'd soon be able to condense his Dou Qi vortex and officially become a Dou Zhe.
"Foolish boy," Yao Lao chuckled, "there's something even better waiting for you in the wall beside you."
The reminder jolted Yang Fan from his thoughts. From Yao Lao's knowing expression, he already guessed what it was.
Heart racing, he carefully used his Soul Breaking Spear to chip away at the nearby rock face.
The moment he pried open a section of the wall, a half-meter-long metal box was revealed.
Yang Fan cradled it in his arms, brushing off the dust to reveal intricate engravings on its surface.
He handled it with extreme caution. As soon as he cracked the lid open a sliver, energy surged out—a spiraling current of power that pushed against him like an invisible gale.
Inside lay exactly what he'd dreamed of:
The Blue Silver Emperor's soul bone!
It shimmered with translucent blue-gold radiance, tiny star-like sparks glimmering within its core.
Unlike soul rings, soul bones had no level or year-limit restrictions.
In theory, even a soul master with just Level 1 innate soul power could absorb a hundred-thousand-year soul bone.
"Master, let's leave—now," Yang Fan urged.
Mission accomplished.
Neither absorbing the soul bone nor processing the Blue Silver Emperor needed to happen immediately.
Right now, their priority was to get as far from these mountains as possible.
They returned even faster than they'd come—in less than two hours, Yang Fan had already crossed into the outer reaches of Fasinuo Province.
…
In a small town, Yang Fan spent one silver soul coin to rent a modest inn room.
Only after confirming the area was secure did he finally pull the soul bone from his storage soul tool.
A hundred-thousand-year soul bone!
Even the Seven Great Sects might never have seen one—let alone absorbed it.
The moment Yang Fan placed his hand on it, a strange, pulsing energy flowed into him.
"Master… can soul bones be refined into pills?" he asked.
"Of course!" Yao Lao replied.
He hadn't dared say so before—he'd never seen a soul bone until now.
But upon examining it, he realized: soul bones were essentially demon cores from his world.
When a magical beast died, it condensed part of its energy into its demon core.
Soul beasts did the same—but instead of forming a generic core, they shaped it into the body part most emblematic of their nature:
- Mental-type beasts → head skull bones
- Strength-type → arm bones
- Speed-type → leg bones
- Balanced, powerful beasts → torso bones
That was the essence of a soul bone.
Beasts without a demon core naturally produced no soul bone upon death.
Hundred-thousand-year soul beasts always dropped soul bones precisely because they developed a true demon core at that stage.
A soul bone was merely a vessel for that concentrated energy. When absorbed, it granted both raw power boosts and unique soul bone skills.
"Thank you, Master," Yang Fan said sincerely, offering the soul bone with both hands.
In Yao Lao's hands, this treasure would yield far greater value than if absorbed raw.
"But let's be clear," Yao Lao warned. "If I refine this into a pill, you won't gain its soul bone skill."
Though he didn't understand the mechanics of soul bone skills, he knew exactly how alchemy worked.
"Thank you, Master!" Yang Fan replied without hesitation.
He trusted Yao Lao completely.
For soul masters, the value of a soul bone depended on how early it was absorbed and attribute compatibility.
Because soul bones possessed astonishing growth potential, absorbing one young gave it more time to evolve alongside the user.
True, refining it into a pill meant losing the skill—but that wasn't necessarily a loss.
Soul rings and soul bones served different purposes.
Soul rings primarily granted skills, with only minor attribute boosts.
Soul bones were the opposite—they offered massive attribute enhancements, far surpassing soul rings in raw stat gains.
Even if they didn't provide flashy skills, they more than compensated by elevating the soul master's foundational strength.
If given the choice, Yang Fan would pick the latter without a second thought.
"Don't worry," Yao Lao said firmly. "Your master won't let you down."
He stored both the Blue Silver Emperor and the soul bone safely in his spatial ring.
These were extraordinary treasures. To refine them into pills perfectly suited to Yang Fan would require deep study and careful experimentation.
The night passed in silence.
…
The next day,
Yang Fan left the town, the Heavy Xuan Ruler on his back, and set forth once more on his path of cultivation.
His next destination: Tian Dou City—where the legendary Ice-Fire Yin-Yang Well awaited.
Based on the Shrek Seven Devils' achievements in the original story, immortal herbs offered far greater benefits to soul masters than even soul bones.
The Ice-Fire Yin-Yang Well was his—without question.
Buoyed by his success with the Blue Silver Emperor, Yang Fan now felt strangely confident about finding it.
Located deep within the Sunset Forest, the Ice-Fire Yin-Yang Well sat in a secluded ravine surrounded by hills roughly 500 meters tall.
The terrain was treacherous—nearly inaccessible to ordinary travelers.
And encircling the outer hills? Poison barriers laid by Dugu Bo himself.
The original story mentioned that when Tang San was kidnapped by Dugu Bo, Flender and Liu Erlong—burdened with a "deadweight"—had searched for an entire day before locating it.
That proved the Ice-Fire Yin-Yang Well couldn't be far from Tian Dou City.
His plan was clear:
Enter the Sunset Forest from Tian Dou City
2. Locate Dugu Bo's poison barrier
3. Identify the 500-meter hills
4. Penetrate the defenses—and claim the Ice-Fire Yin-Yang Well…
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