Niu Tian had repeatedly reminded him in the letter that Huo Yuhao had to find the book before he began his search for the Yearning Heartbroken Grass.
Huo Yuhao was extremely clear about this. From prior experience, he deeply believed that everything that Niu Tian had said in the letter was important. They were already inside the valley, so the most important thing for them was to find the book that detailed the plants inside and their characteristics.
Huo Yuhao scrutinized the simplified map in his hands while he carefully matched it against the landscape beneath him.
This map was a little too simple, drawn with lines to create a minimal outline. However, Huo Yuhao quickly found the things that were marked out, and the lines did draw the dual-colored lake. He continued to match the landscape against his map as he drifted forward with his flying-type soul tool so that he could match their location with what was drawn on the map.
The map was simple, but the markings were clear, and Huo Yuhao quickly found his target. According to the map's instructions, his target was located at the shore where the lake's blue and red parts intersected. There was a flower drawn at that rough location on the map to show that the book was there.
They were in the air, but Huo Yuhao's Spirit Eyes made it extremely easy for him to directly lock onto a plant beneath him.
It was an enormous light-pink flower that didn't have any leaves. Its stem was almost ten feet long, and its flower was huge, its diameter more than three feet across. Every single petal was almost transparent as if they were water crystals, and the light-pink flower swayed along with the mist in the air. It grew on the shore next to where the lake's red and blue water joined.
Huo Yuhao paid attention to it because it was simply too enchanting and riveting. Its body was also located where the two bodies of water joined, and another reason was because there were no other plants within a hundred feet of it! This plant therefore stood out in a valley that was filled with plants...
Huo Yuhao studied it, and realized that there were other plants with similar characteristics, and also other plants with no other plants in a radius around them. These plants shared the same traits: they were either extremely peculiar, or they were just otherworldly beautiful, and they shone with varying degrees of light.
"That enormous flower should be what we're looking for," Huo Yuhao said to Wang Qiu'er, and he directed her with Spiritual Detection so that she could also locate their target.
"Do you know what flower that is?" Huo Yuhao asked Wang Qiu'er.
Wang Qiu'er shook her head and said, "I can't tell. At least, I have never seen something like that inside the Great Star Dou Forest. However, I have a feeling that the plants contain more energy the closer they are to the dual-colored lake. Plants like this one, that are next to the lake and occupy such a huge territory, have probably evolved into soul beasts, and plant-type soul beasts are more formidable than animal-type soul beasts in the range that they can control. Are you sure the book is located there? What have you discovered?"
Huo Yuhao shook his head as he forced a smile. He had already channeled Spiritual Detection to the highest possible level to detect a single spot when he found this enormous flower. The light-pink flower seemed to emanate a pale light mist that blocked off his spiritual power entirely, while it was obvious that the book was nowhere to be found in the open ground around it. The book would probably have been decomposed by this humid environment if it had been placed on the ground just like that.
"It seems like we have to go closer to investigate." Huo Yuhao lowered his voice as he spoke.
Wang Qiu'er said, "Let me go. Cover me."
She was just about to move, but Huo Yuhao pulled her back and said, "Did you not say that these plants are typically afraid of heat and cold? Let me go, you cover me. Don't worry, I will be extremely careful."
Wang Qiu'er shot a glare in his direction, but she didn't dispute his words. She was confident that she wasn't inferior to Huo Yuhao in terms of fighting strength, but she knew that she wasn't as versatile as he was. Furthermore, Huo Yuhao was adept with soul tools, and he was definitely a lot better than she was at running for his life.
Huo Yuhao gradually descended through the air towards that large light pink flower. He had raised his vigilance to the highest possible level. His right hand's Darkgolden Terrorclaw was extended, while the soul thruster on his chest was charged as much as it could be. He could immediately escape if something were to go wrong.
Diamond crystals transformed into armor and enveloped his entire body, and his entire body began to sparkle under the brilliant lights. Huo Yuhao also released a little of his Domain of Perpetual Ice, and maintained the area of effect at one meter around him while he continuously emanated extremely chilly energy.
The valley's plants seemed exceptionally calm as he drifted down through the air, and not a single plant attempted to attack him. Huo Yuhao chose to land on the edge of the empty space around that enormous flower.
Huo Yuhao was just telling himself that his defenses were raised to the highest possible level, when a faint aroma suddenly wafted into his nostrils.
Huo Yuhao was stunned for a moment before he felt goosebumps break out all over his body in the next moment. How could I have forgotten about that? I calculated everything, but I failed to realize that the fragrance from these plants can also be an attack.
Huo Yuhao subconsciously stopped breathing as he placed his Darkgolden Terrorclaw before his chest, while he channeled the soul power within his body with all his might in an attempt to force out the aroma that he had just inhaled. His Ultimate Ice was extremely effective as a counter to most toxins, after all. Huo Yuhao was astonished at this moment, but he wasn't panicky at all.
However, another situation that exceeded his expectations happened again. The smell immediately integrated with his body once it entered, and he couldn't force it out because he simply couldn't find it within his body.
What made Huo Yuhao even more astonished was that the aroma refreshed his mind, and he felt like his tensed nerves were relaxed before this brain became clear and smooth. Even though he had only inhaled a miniscule amount, it was enough to make him feel as if his body and soul had been rinsed by clean water, and he felt an indescribable comfort over his entire body. This was the first time he had experienced this sensation ever since he had entered the Setting Sun Forest.
What's going on? Why am I having such sensations? Does this mean that the large flower's aroma isn't harmful or poisonous?
Huo Yuhao was about to experiment further by inhaling a little bit more when the pink flower suddenly lit up.
A pink layer of light with the plant at the center appeared, and it reached about a hundred feet in diameter as it encompassed all the open ground around it, and Huo Yuhao as well.
Huo Yuhao began to half-squat. He didn't run away immediately, as he had to try his best to understand more and experience more about this place, or this expedition would be wasted. Furthermore, even though he wasn't yet considered a top-tier soul master, he had his twin martial souls and an Ultimate martial soul, so his fighting strength was comparable to most seven-ringed Soul Sages. Huo Yuhao was also relatively confident in his own abilities.
What surprised him was that he didn't feel very different after that pink light appeared. He took a small breath, and he felt as if the aroma was becoming denser. The sensations he felt in his body were even better than before, and that smooth and comforting feeling made him feel better at controlling and manipulating his soul power.
Huo Yuhao was a spiritual-type soul master, and he could immediately tell that the aroma had a rejuvenating effect. The aroma was energizing, and made him feel exceptionally comfortable at the same time, to the point where he felt at peace, and his state of mind was lifted to an unprecedented level.
However, those weren't things that Huo Yuhao wanted. He began to move once he could tell that the pink light dome didn't cause him any harm, and orange-gold light flickered as the little Snow Lady appeared on his shoulder.
The Snow Lady was even more flexible with her control of Ultimate Ice, and she didn't need to consume too much of Huo Yuhao's soul power. The Snow Lady raised her little finger under Huo Yuhao's direction, and a icy-blue streak of light fired towards one of the enormous flower's petals.
The streak of light struck the flower petal, and it was immediately converted into a circle of icy-blue light that expanded outward. Ultimate Ice wasn't a joke, and this temperature that was more than a hundred degrees below zero was absolutely fatal for plants. The enormous pink flower quivered, and its purple stamen rippled as a pink light immediately rippled from its body.
This light was a lot denser than the dome around them, and Huo Yuhao could feel a sense of majesty in all this.
The giant pink flower shook faintly in the next moment, and the chilly energy carried by the Snow Lady's attack vanished. A fiery-red streak fired out from behind it. However, it wasn't going for Huo Yuhao and the Snow Lady. Instead, it transformed into a fiery-red flower that was similar in structure to the original flower, but was one-tenth the size.
How strange! This was the first time that Huo Yuhao had seen anything like this, and it was truly miraculous. There was no question that this enormous pink flower was a plant-type soul beast, but the surprising thing was that its offensive capabilities weren't that strong.
The fiery-red light didn't come from its own body, it came from the red part of the dual-colored lake behind it!
At this moment, Huo Yuhao began to feel as if something wasn't right. Even though he had the Ice Empress' Armor protecting him, the air around him had become exceedingly dense, while the temperature changes were very intense. He was located at the intersection between the lake's two parts, and this feeling was most obvious in this region. The blue lake water was cold, while the red lake water was a lot warmer. These two bodies seemed to be in conflict, but there was nothing one side could do to the other.
If it hadn't been for his Ice Empress' Armor, Huo Yuhao would have been affected by the temperature in this place with his current cultivation. This was especially true as the dense vital energy in the air around him didn't seem very welcoming to him. He attempted to absorb a little bit of it, but was immediately impeded by the temperature shocks caused by the dual-colored lake. It felt as if these two varying temperatures had already integrated into the vital energy of heaven and earth, and that energy was now especially violent and aggressive.
But Huo Yuhao couldn't just give up just like that. The Snow Lady raised her little hands under Huo Yuhao's direction, and another icy-blue ray of light fired out toward that enormous flower.