The scorching sun beat down.
Heatwaves thickened the air, making every breath a struggle.
Though deep in the soul beast forest, Yang Fan saw no proper trees—only barren ground baking under the merciless sun. He felt like a salted fish on the verge of being roasted dry.
Yao Lao had chosen this spot.
"It'll help your next stage of training," the old man had claimed.
"Aaah—pain!"
The searing agony of Blood Incineration Paste spread from his back through his entire body, forcing Yang Fan to grit his teeth just to endure it.
"Less whining—cultivate!"
The battle with Elephant Armor Sect had honed both his combat experience and physique.
This was the perfect moment for Blood Incineration tempering!
Yang Fan sat cross-legged, enduring the torment as he began his practice.
A breeze brushed past—
A sharp tearing sensation ripped through his back, draining his Dou Qi at a terrifying rate.
To him, Blood Incineration felt like scraping therapy (gua sha):
Gua sha breaks capillaries to trigger localized inflammation, boosting cellular repair and immunity.
Blood Incineration shattered his Dou Qi only to rebuild it stronger—accelerating cultivation.
Yang Fan steeled his focus, using inner sight to observe his Dou Qi core.
Though he'd borrowed Yao Lao's power against Huyan Hai, the battle still tempered him.
Beyond combat experience, his Dou Qi core was visibly denser than days prior.
Yao Lao once said he might break through to Dou Shi in three months.
Back then, Yang Fan rejoiced. Now? He wasn't so sure.
…
Time blurred.
When Yang Fan finally opened his eyes, night had fallen.
Unlike the daytime inferno, a cold wind now carried a chill across his skin.
He turned to Yao Lao—
"Master… this must be the soul-repairing divine herb, right?"
He'd seen Yao Lao staring at this sky-blue flower countless times—a treasure from the Ice-Fire Yin-Yang Well.
"It's called Starlight Blue," Yao Lao said softly. "A herb that mends the soul."
A fitting name.
Its petals mirrored the heavens, studded with star-like stamens.
"What else do we need to refine it into a pill?" Yang Fan pressed.
Directly consuming Ice-Fire Yin-Yang Eye herbs would surely help—but Yao Lao would never waste them so crudely.
(Or he'd call him a wild boar who can't appreciate fine grain!)
"Just tell me, Master! Maybe I know where to find what you need!"
Yao Lao finally relented under Yang Fan's earnest pleas.
"To refine Starlight Blue into a soul-mending pill, we need three things:
A soul-repairing ten-thousand-year herb as auxiliary
2. A Grade-9 Ginseng King for stabilization
3. The core ingredient—a soul bone with immense spiritual power."
This was why Yao Lao hesitated to share earlier.
Each item was near-impossible to obtain—let alone all three.
If Yang Fan spent his life chasing these, cultivation would be abandoned.
"A soul-repairing herb, Grade-9 Ginseng King, spirit-type soul bone…" Yang Fan murmured. Then his eyes lit up. "Master—if we gather these, can we rebuild your body?"
He'd noticed the eerie similarity to Xiao Wu's resurrection in the original story—only "ancient spirit beast core" was replaced by "soul bone"!
"If only it were that simple," Yao Lao sighed bitterly. "This pill might mend my fragmented soul… but rebuilding a body? That's another matter entirely."
Yang Fan's hope dimmed.
The original story mentioned Xiao Wu's soul was fully sacrificed—reduced to her primal form, worse than Yao Lao's state. Yet she was revived.
Perhaps Yao Lao's soul was too mighty for one divine herb to restore.
Herb. Ginseng King. Soul Bone.
Yang Fan etched the trio into his heart.
Soul-repairing herbs and spirit-type soul bones were treasures of fate. But the Ginseng King?
Time to sweet-talk Grandpa Bai into friendship…
"Stop fretting over me," Yao Lao chided. "Rest! Tomorrow's training awaits."
Truthfully, Yao Lao knew body reconstruction wouldn't happen overnight. He'd rather hunt beast flames to evolve the Flame Devouring Scripture to Xuan-tier.
…
Sunset Forest.
The waterfall thundered into the pool below, where a grim-faced group stood.
"Any leads?" demanded Sect Master Huyan Zhen.
That morning, word reached the Elephant Armor Sect: their disciples' corpses lay in Sunset Forest.
Huyan Zhen raced here with core elders—only to face this horror.
"No… nothing," a subordinate stammered. "The killer erased all traces."
"Could it be the Defense Clan or the others?"
"Them?" Huyan Zhen scoffed. "They couldn't kill Huyan Hai!"
Elephant Armor Sect's "Continent's Premier Defense" title wasn't just empty boasts.
A Soul Saint Diamond Mammoth's defense surpassed even Soul Douluos. Niu Gao of the Defense Clan couldn't pierce it—only Yang Wudi of the Breaking Clan could. But that old fox was busy refining pills in Yunluo City.
"Keep searching!" Huyan Zhen ordered.
Though Elephant Armor and the Four Sects were mortal enemies, he wouldn't falsely accuse them and demoralize his clan.
He needed the true culprit—not just for vengeance, but to prove to the Spirit Hall his sect wasn't weak.
"Should we keep this quiet?"
"No."
News of their entry into Sunset Forest had already spread across Douluo Continent.
To salvage their honor, they must expose the killer.
Anyone who could slaughter a Soul Saint and multiple soul masters without leaving clues?
Such a figure was exceedingly rare in Douluo Continent.
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