Chapter 134: Overwhelmed with Emotion
Sunset Forest.
According to legend, a sun once fell from the sky and crashed into this land, which is why those who witnessed the event named this place Sunset Forest.
Most people dismissed this as a far fetched myth, a mere folktale passed down through generations.
But Sun Zhongjing did not believe it was baseless.
A story like this surviving for so many years couldn't be pure fabrication it had to be rooted in some kind of truth.
Perhaps…
It really happened.
Considering the unique treasure hidden within this forest and the true origin of that treasure, Sun Zhongjing had already made a bold guess
The so called "sun" that fell from the sky…
Wasn't actually the sun.
What ancient people saw might not have been the celestial sun at all.
Rather, it could have been a massive, radiant entity one that emitted powerful energy.
For example
The corpse of a divine dragon.
Before them was a deep, inverted cone shaped valley.
Sun Zhongjing and Dugu Bo stood at the edge of a towering cliff, gazing down into the misty depths below.
Thick, humid steam rose from the valley, carrying a faint sulfuric scent.
It was clear
There was a hot spring below.
"Sect Master, the strange place I mentioned is down there," Dugu Bo said, pointing below.
"Let's go take a look," Sun Zhongjing replied with a nod.
And with that, the two leapt straight into the seemingly bottomless darkness below.
Due to the dense mist, the nighttime darkness, and the sheer steepness of the cliff, their figures disappeared into the fog almost instantly.
But neither of them hesitated.
After all, as Titled Douluo, flight was basic mastery.
A terrain like this, which might pose a life threatening danger to ordinary people, was nothing to warriors of their caliber.
Before long, they landed in the valley below.
Before them lay a mystical hot spring.
The pool was small, but its most striking feature was that it was divided into two distinct halves.
One side of the oval shaped spring was milky white, while the other was crimson red.
Even more astonishing
Despite sharing the same pool, the two waters remained completely separate, like two opposing forces that refused to merge.
The steam rising between them was thick, filling the air with billowing mist, which only began to disperse near the mountaintop.
"Finally… I'm here."
Looking at this legendary sight, Sun Zhongjing maintained a calm exterior, but deep inside, he was thrilled.
If he hadn't had his system's support
Then this place this very spring
Would have been the key to his rise.
For twenty long years, before he had access to his overpowered abilities, he had dreamed of finding this place.
But as a mere ordinary person, no matter how much money he had, no matter how many soul masters he hired,
He never stood a chance.
Sunset Forest was vast.
How could a regular person like him locate a hidden treasure in the middle of nowhere?
Not to mention
The area was surrounded by poison arrays that Dugu Bo himself had set up.
Anyone who got too close would simply drop dead.
And as for trying to deceive Dugu Bo, like how Tang San did in the original story?
Impossible.
He neither understood poisons, nor had medical knowledge.
What was he supposed to do?
Try to bluff his way through?
That would've just gotten him poisoned to death on the spot.
For these reasons, even though he knew of this treasure,
Even though he knew this place held the power to change his fate,
For twenty years, he remained an ordinary man.
If not for his system awakening,
He might never have stepped into this valley.
Sun Zhongjing sighed inwardly.
So many wasted years.
But
He no longer needed this place.
Still, while he may not need it anymore, this treasured land was invaluable for nurturing his subordinates.
Most importantly
There was no way in hell he'd let Tang San get his hands on it.
If he had to
He'd destroy this entire valley before letting an enemy benefit from it.
"What a marvelous place! What a truly marvelous place!"
Sun Zhongjing looked around, feigning fascination, and let out a series of impressed exclamations.
"Now I understand," he continued, "why despite the immense poison in your body, you've been able to survive all these years and even reach Titled Douluo."
Dugu Bo's expression shifted.
"Does this place… have special properties?" he asked.
Sun Zhongjing stroked his long beard and explained:
"This valley is saturated with two opposing, extreme elemental forces."
"If humans or beasts were to stay here too long, their bodies would be overwhelmed, and they would explode from the conflicting energies."
"But for someone like you, whose body is filled with poison
This place is a miracle."
"Both extreme heat and extreme cold are capable of suppressing toxins."
"But for a place to harbor both at once? That's an unheard of phenomenon."
"This land is a natural sanctuary for plants,
Yet for you, it has unknowingly acted as a life saving shield."
Dugu Bo listened in complete astonishment.
This valley had been a chance discovery when he was in his thirties.
At the time, his martial soul had not yet evolved into the Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor
It was still just a Jade Phosphor Serpent.
Even back then, the poison in his martial soul had started to threaten his life.
By sheer luck, he stumbled upon this mysterious valley and noticed something
Even though he didn't recognize most of the plants,
The few he did recognize were far beyond ordinary, with insanely high medicinal properties.
That was when he knew
This was a sacred land.
So he settled here, living in seclusion, using its medicinal plants to make poisons and tonics.
Thanks to these high quality herbs,
He had been able to advance to Titled Douluo step by step.
But when his martial soul evolved, its toxicity became extreme.
At that point, the valley's effects began to weaken
His body could no longer withstand the poison's corrosion.
Sun Zhongjing, having finished his explanation, began carefully inspecting the surrounding herbs.
His sharp eyes analyzed each plant's attributes and name.
To his delight
This place contained far more than what was described in the original story.
Not only were all of the known immortal herbs present,
There were many more varieties that had never been mentioned before.
But Sun Zhongjing knew them all.
Why?
Because according to his character's backstory
He had tasted every herb in the world.
He knew every medicinal plant in existence.
Whether this was actually true or not
Nobody could prove otherwise.
Because in the end
That was just how the legend of Sun Zhongjing was written.
And who could argue with that?
(End of Chapter)
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