"Whale rubber can enhance the body?"
Hearing Ye Yu's words, Dugu Bo was stunned with disbelief.
However, after setting aside his biases and analyzing Ye Yu's explanation carefully, he realized that whale rubber did indeed possess immense vitality and had the potential to strengthen the body.
Logically speaking, it made perfect sense.
At this point, Ye Yu continued,
"I plan to use whale rubber as the primary ingredient, supplemented by various herbs rich in life force, and also some cold-natured medicinal herbs to suppress the side effects of the whale rubber."
"I want to try refining a tonic that enhances the body's constitution while eliminating the side effects."
"One of the major reasons I sought to study medicine and poisons under your tutelage was exactly for this purpose."
At this, Ye Yu seemed to recall something and sighed slightly.
"There are many herbs rich in life force—like ginseng and ganoderma."
"But cold-natured herbs are extremely rare on the market."
"So developing this body-strengthening tonic might be quite difficult."
As he spoke, he sighed and glanced sideways at Dugu Bo out of the corner of his eye, thinking to himself:
I've already revealed the secret of whale rubber's ability to enhance the body, and I've explained everything up to this point…
Old Poison, are you going to take the hint or not?
Eventually, Dugu Bo took the hint.
After all, they were currently in the Sunset Forest.
And Ye Yu had just rendered great service by helping Dugu Yan obtain an external spirit bone.
After some thought, Dugu Bo said,
"Cold-natured herbs… I do have quite a few in my medicinal garden."
"You helped our Dugu Clan find a solution to the Jade Phosphor Serpent Poison, and even helped Yan Yan obtain an external spirit bone."
"That's a tremendous favor to our family."
"In Heaven Dou City, many people think poorly of me—say that I'm arrogant, eccentric, and unpredictable."
"But there is one thing about me that is universally acknowledged—I always repay kindness!"
With his hands behind his back, a proud expression filled Dugu Bo's sinister face.
"Since you plan to research this tonic, I'll take you to my medicinal garden. You can pick any ingredients you need."
"But if you really do develop such a tonic…"
"Then I hope you'll share some with Yan Yan as well."
Seeing that Dugu Bo had finally taken the bait, Ye Yu was overjoyed and immediately responded,
"Don't worry, teacher! I've been an orphan since I was little, with no family."
"In my heart, Yan Yan is the most important person in this world."
"Once I develop the tonic, she'll definitely be the first to benefit from it!"
Under Dugu Bo's guidance, Ye Yu and Dugu Yan set out together—heading for the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
After traveling through the dense forest for some time…
And passing through the poison formation laid down by Dugu Bo…
They finally arrived before a towering mountain wreathed in dense white mist that lingered persistently in the air.
With Ye Yu and Dugu Yan each held under one arm, Dugu Bo leapt into the air and flew toward a small valley halfway up the mountain.
The valley was shrouded in heavy white fog, making visibility almost zero.
Only deeper in could one faintly make out flickers of ice-blue and fiery-red light.
"Follow me."
With Dugu Bo leading the way, Ye Yu and Dugu Yan stepped into the valley.
Passing through the thick white mist—
Their vision suddenly cleared.
Before them lay a miraculous and awe-inspiring sight.
It was a perfectly circular pool, roughly ten meters in diameter.
One half of the pool was ice-blue, radiating intense cold; the other half was fiery-red, radiating searing heat.
Like a Taiji diagram of ice and fire, the two opposites intertwined in perfect balance, yet the boundary between them remained starkly distinct.
The heavy white fog in the valley was formed by the collision of the freezing cold and scorching heat rising from the pool.
Though Ye Yu had read about the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well before, nothing compared to seeing it in person.
Truly a masterpiece of nature, a miracle of creation!
His heart surged with awe and excitement.
But instead of lingering on the sight of the well, Ye Yu quickly turned his attention to the surrounding area.
All around the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well—
Amidst clusters of ice-blue and fiery-red crystals—
A wide variety of medicinal herbs grew in abundance.
Thanks to his studies with Dugu Bo, Ye Yu could identify many of them at a glance—Cinnabar Lotus, Cordyceps, Ginseng, Ganoderma, and Fo-ti.
But there were also many herbs that Dugu Bo had never taught him about.
They were strange—gorgeous even.
For example:
A stalk three feet tall, leafless, bearing a single giant flower of translucent pink petals like crystal, with a light-purple core that shimmered like a diamond.
Its fragrance was subtle and alluring.
This was none other than the Beautiful Silk Tulip!
Also present was the entirely ice-blue Octahedron Ice Grass, with a snowflake-like eight-pointed flower atop it, exuding intense cold.
There was also the Fiery Apricot Delicate, with its thin, flaming-red leaves and cabbage-like bloom radiating blazing heat.
Another plant was entirely scarlet, soft and delicate, with a flamboyant, cockscomb-shaped flower and golden-veined leaves—clearly the Cockscomb Phoenix Sunflower.
But what drew Ye Yu's attention the most—
Was a clump of pitch-black bamboo, its body as translucent as black jade, with matching black-jade leaves. Only the bamboo nodes and veins of the leaves were golden.
"This is… Black Jade Divine Bamboo!"
Ye Yu's heart surged with excitement.
Among all the immortal herbs found around the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well in the Soul Land series—
The Black Jade Divine Bamboo was the one that most greatly enhanced the Blue Silver Grass spirit.
In canon lore—
This herb didn't appear.
PS: Read Advance Chapters at https://www.patreon.com/c/ReadJin