Seeing his granddaughter's anxious expression,
Dugu Bo let out a helpless sigh.
"Sigh…"
Now he truly understood the meaning of 'a grown daughter can't be kept at home.'
The girl's thoughts were written plainly on her face.
"Zhexian, you've freed the Dugu family from the curse of serpent venom."
"This kindness is as heavy as a mountain. I've been racking my brain on how to repay you."
Dugu Bo withdrew the gloom from his weathered face and, surprisingly, revealed a gentle smile.
"If you find this medicinal garden pleasing to your eyes, then I shall gift it to you."
These words were sincere, without a trace of reluctance.
Even though he didn't fully understand the properties of all the herbs here,
the fact that they could thrive in such extreme heat and cold meant they were no ordinary plants.
However—
Compared to what Li Zhexian had done for the Dugu family,
no matter how rare the herbs were, they were simply not worth mentioning.
Perhaps fearing that Li Zhexian would refuse, Dugu Bo added:
"These herbs aren't worth the lives of my granddaughter and me."
"If you decline, it would be as though you're rejecting my sincerity."
Dugu Yan was far more straightforward.
"If you don't take them, Brother Zhexian…"
"I'll pull them all out and toss them."
Watching the two perform in perfect harmony—one playing the stern face, the other playful—
Li Zhexian couldn't help but smile wryly.
"There's no need to do this, Senior Dugu, Sister Dugu."
His clear gaze was unwavering as he said honestly:
"There are indeed herbs here I need."
"Even if you didn't offer, I'd likely have thickened my skin and asked for them anyway."
His openness and lack of pretension brought visible relief to Dugu Yan, whose worried eyes turned bright and crescent-shaped with delight.
Dugu Bo, too, silently nodded.
They had already said so much—
had Li Zhexian continued to refuse, it would've felt like false modesty.
But his honesty at this moment...
It only made the elder appreciate him more.
Li Zhexian drew his gaze away from the herbs and turned serious as he looked at Dugu Bo.
"Let's set the herbs aside for now."
"Senior Dugu, I'll begin purging the serpent venom from your body."
Despite being a veteran of countless battles,
Dugu Bo's heart still surged with emotion upon hearing those long-awaited words.
"Good!"
The Serpent's Venom Rice Spirit, brewed using Dugu Bo's own venom, exuded a pungent medicinal aroma.
"Zhexian, cheers!"
Without hesitation, Dugu Bo downed the brew in one gulp.
It was like molten lava pouring down his throat. His face twisted in pain.
Wisps of inky green poison mist curled from his body, coalescing mid-air into the shape of a massive, menacing serpent.
The toxic aura radiating from the serpent spread through the basin.
Everywhere it touched—aside from the herbs within the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well's protected boundary—withered and blackened in an instant.
A few sparrows brushed by a trace of the miasma and dropped dead on the spot, reduced to bone.
Li Zhexian's pupils shrank sharply at the sight. He quickly took two swigs from the Clear Spring Wine Gourd to steady himself.
No wonder this was the venom a Titled Douluo had cultivated over decades.
If it had erupted within the royal city, it would've spelled disaster for tens of thousands of lives.
Fortunately, the vapor rising from the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well surged upward like twin blades,
entangling the toxic serpent and slowly dismembering it under the pull of searing heat and bone-chilling cold.
Dugu Bo let out a long, high-pitched roar toward the sky.
For decades, he had to constantly use Spirit Power to suppress the venom within his body—
his cultivation had been stuck at Rank 91 for years.
Now, freed from that suppression, his Spirit Power surged in an explosive wave.
His voluminous gray robe billowed, and his hair—once a deep green—faded to a mottled white.
"Hahahahahaha—!"
"I don't even remember the last time I felt this free!"
His bright blue eyes sparkled as he turned to Li Zhexian and bowed with rare solemnity:
"Young friend Zhexian, my deepest thanks!"
Li Zhexian smiled and returned the bow.
"You're too kind, Senior Dugu."
Dugu Yan's gaze, soft as spring water, overflowed with warmth as she watched this scene unfold.
"Right,"
Li Zhexian seemed to recall something and added:
"Sister Dugu, Senior Dugu—please wait a moment."
With that, he turned and walked toward the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
After a while of searching,
he returned holding a spiritual herb shaped like a swan with drooping neck, its petals glistening like blood-red jade.
"Sister Dugu, Senior Dugu…"
Li Zhexian extended the herb toward them.
"This plant is called Blood Swan Kiss. For Spirit Masters with poison-type Martial Souls, it is a rare treasure for refining and tempering the Martial Soul itself."
"But take heed—this herb is not toxic by nature, yet it amplifies any toxin it touches by a thousandfold. Use it with extreme caution."
Dugu Bo's eyes gleamed brightly.
"What a wondrous plant!"
"This will be of immense benefit to Yan Yan. In that case, I'll accept it thick-skinned. Many thanks, young friend Zhexian!"
"Tsk, tsk…"
Dugu Bo's gaze lingered on the Blood Swan Kiss, then slowly shifted back to Li Zhexian.
That intense stare made Li Zhexian quite uncomfortable.
Then came Dugu Bo's heartfelt sigh:
"I've roamed the continent for decades, yet never encountered a sword cultivator as monstrous as you."
"Even that Sword Douluo Chen Xin was not your equal at this age."
"And rarer still—you have a pure, untainted heart."
"The path of your sword… will only grow purer."
The more he looked, the more admiration he felt.
He had already gifted this entire medicinal garden to Li Zhexian.
Even if Li Zhexian had never offered him the Blood Swan Kiss, he would not have complained.
But the boy gave it anyway.
That willingness to act without expectation of repayment—
that honesty and integrity—was the purest sincerity.
Faced with such direct praise, Li Zhexian scratched his cheek in mild embarrassment.
"Senior Dugu overpraises me."
He wasn't the type to covet what wasn't his.
Since he had received the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well,
a herb that held no value to him but immense benefit to the Dugu family was naturally theirs to take.
Hardly worth mentioning.
"My little brother gives me herbs."
"As his big sister, of course I have to return the favor."
With a playful smile, Dugu Yan retrieved a palm-sized green silk pouch from her chest.
"This is a Wishful Hundred Treasure Purse."
"A rare spatial Soul Tool. What makes it special is that it can even store living creatures."
Li Zhexian's eyes lit up. He didn't bother with pretenses and accepted it directly.
"Thank you, Sister Dugu."
His straightforwardness only made Dugu Yan beam even more brightly.
"There's plenty of time ahead. No need to be so formal with me."
At that moment, Dugu Bo asked, just in time:
"Zhexian, what are your plans next?"
Li Zhexian thought for a moment.
"I plan to stay here and cultivate in seclusion for a while."
Dugu Bo nodded approvingly.
"There's no one to disturb you here. It's a perfect place for closed-door cultivation."
"And with the help of the Blood Swan Kiss, Yan Yan's Spirit Power will soon break through Rank 40."
"I'll take her to hunt her fourth Spirit Ring. We'll meet again in a few days."
Upon hearing this, Dugu Yan felt an unexpected pang of reluctance.
She had grown used to bothering Li Zhexian almost daily.
Suddenly having to part ways like this… felt unnatural.
But she wasn't the kind to mix up priorities.
She raised an elegant brow, her familiar mischievous charm returning, and teased:
"Brother Zhexian, just wait till I get my fourth Spirit Ring. I'll definitely teach you a lesson!"
Li Zhexian chuckled softly.
"I'll be waiting."
Watching the two figures disappear into the swirling mist beyond the Yin Yang Well,
Li Zhexian slowly turned around.
His eyes burned as he gazed upon this treasure-laden land.
Here, he would build a small hut and take up residence—
To complete a transformation that would define the next chapter of his path.