Chapter 17: The Water and Fire Dragon Kings' "Sacrifice"
[Your talent and strength dealt a heavy blow to Shui Bing'er.]
[You comforted Shui Bing'er, telling her that you had accidentally obtained a small fortuitous opportunity, which was why you had achieved your current level of strength.]
[Shui Bing'er looked at you doubtfully and asked what kind of opportunity it was.]
[You were her aunt's adopted son—effectively her older brother—so she had no reservations at all.]
[You stammered, unable to answer…]
[Because you hadn't obtained any opportunity at all.]
[Your current strength was entirely the result of personal effort!]
[Your well-intentioned lie was exposed. Shui Bing'er felt extremely aggrieved and burst into tears.]
Wang Li: "..."
Shui Bing'er was a genuine heaven's favored daughter. Without taking any immortal herbs or completing a god's trial, she still broke through to the Soul Douluo level during the Battle of Jialing Pass.
And at that time, she wasn't even thirty years old.
She was also someone who could fight the protagonist's team to a draw during the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament.
What Shui Bing'er lacked was opportunity—not talent.
[When the topic of opportunity came up, you fell into deep thought…]
[The next day, you left Sky Water Academy alone and headed for Heaven Dou City.]
[It took you only one day to reach Heaven Dou City.]
[You wandered around the city. Your objective was to find Dugu Bo's residence.]
[You located the Dugu Estate, rented a house nearby, and began carefully observing Dugu Bo's routine whenever he left the estate.]
[While observing Dugu Bo, you did not remain idle. You went to the Sunset Forest to search for the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well.]
[Days passed one by one. You eventually found the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well, secretly memorized the route, then returned to Heaven Dou City to continue observing Dugu Bo.]
[Time flowed on, days and months slipping away.]
[After a full year, you finally grasped the pattern of Dugu Bo's movements.]
[Whenever it was overcast or rainy, Dugu Bo would not be at his estate and would only return after a long time.]
[You were certain—he was going to the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well.]
[After yet another rainy period passed, you waited for Dugu Bo to return, then immediately left your rented house and rushed toward the Sunset Forest.]
[You were certain that within ten days to half a month, Dugu Bo would absolutely not go to the Sunset Forest!]
"This opening isn't bad, but… it feels like the me in this simulation is being a bit reckless!"
Certain?
There is no such thing as absolutes in this world.
Just because you observed Dugu Bo for a year?
What if he suddenly returned to the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well?
If that happened, this move would probably end in disaster!
[This year, your soul power broke through to rank forty-nine, on the verge of reaching level fifty.]
[Your speed became even faster than before.]
[You arrived at the poison formation beneath the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well. You activated your martial soul, took flight, bypassed the poison formation entirely, and entered the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well.]
[You first arrived above the ice spring and fire spring, plucked the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and the Internal Delicate Apricot, swallowed them, and fell straight into the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well.]
[Your original objective had been precisely these two immortal herbs because you not only possessed an Ice Phoenix martial soul but also a Fire Phoenix martial soul!]
[Your martial souls were born from mutation and always carried a trace of imperfection.]
[After consuming these two immortal herbs, the attributes of your two martial souls would surely evolve and reach the ultimate level.]
[The moment you entered the spring water of the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well, subtle changes immediately began to occur.]
[You drew their attention. The entire Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well began to boil.]
[As you refined the two immortal herbs, the boiling spring water surged upward, submerging all the immortal herbs and precious medicines. The Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well was destroyed.]
Wang Li: "???"
Such a huge commotion?
What were the Water and Fire Dragon Kings up to?
[You were unaware of what was happening outside. You only felt the energy within your body surge violently, as both martial souls were released without any warning.]
[You felt something fusing into your right arm and left arm, but you had no time to care.]
[You broke through to rank fifty.]
[You broke through to rank sixty.]
[You froze in place…]
[A vast amount of inheritance appeared in your mind. You seemed to suddenly comprehend something.]
[You obtained the inheritance of the Water and Fire Dragon Kings. You obtained their divine rings. You obtained their divine bones.]
[You were completely stunned!]
Wang Li: "I'm freaking stunned too!"
On second thought, the Water and Fire Dragon Kings making such a decision didn't seem impossible.
Ice Phoenix, Fire Phoenix—ice and fire as one. Didn't that perfectly correspond to the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well?
The simulated Wang Li was the most suitable vessel to bear the Dao of ice and fire.
The consciousness of the Water and Fire Dragon Kings was on the verge of disappearing, and their inheritance would vanish along with it.
Wang Li's arrival just happened to let them see a successor worthy of inheriting it!
If it were only a single Ice Phoenix or Fire Phoenix, they likely wouldn't have been interested.
But the simulated Wang Li himself was practically a miniature "Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well"!
[You woke up. That massive energy within your body spreads through your limbs and bones. With your current soul power level, it was impossible to refine it all at once.]
[You examined the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well. The spring water had receded, but all the immortal herbs and divine medicines had been destroyed…]
[You took out a set of clothes from your storage soul tool and fled the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well!]
[The Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well no longer had any value. Staying here carried the risk of death!]
"If Old Poison knew about this, death would be the least of it—more likely, it'd be worse than death…"
This could truly be described as: decades of hard work, gone in a single morning.
The Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well naturally contained many immortal herbs and divine medicines.
But a large portion of them had been cultivated by Dugu Bo himself!
The simulated Wang Li had only intended to steal—no, borrow—the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and the Internal Delicate Apricot, at most borrowing a few more immortal herbs.
He never intended to destroy the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well!
Yet the development of events was always so dramatic. Because of the Water and Fire Dragon Kings' "sacrifice," the entire Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well was gone.
[You escaped from the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well and calmly returned to Heaven Dou City.]
[Your attention was no longer focused on Dugu Bo.]
[Another rainy day passed. Dugu Bo returned from the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well with a dark expression, but he did not lose his temper.]
[Dugu Bo inspected the poison formations across the entire mountain range and found no signs of them being triggered.]
[The remnants left behind at the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well led Dugu Bo to believe that the ice and fire springs had suddenly erupted, destroying the entire medicinal garden. Since he found no traces of human interference, he could only accept his loss.]
[After some time passed, you finally left Heaven Dou City and headed for the Frozen Forest to obtain your sixth soul ring.]
[Without any surprises, you arrived at the Frozen Forest. Only then did you dare to release your martial soul and sense your own changes.]
[Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, ice-gold—five soul rings rapidly rose beneath your feet.]
—
End of Chapter