Body as a Furnace

This was, after all, only a nascent pill embryo. Would it not be even better if he waited until the embryo was refined into a complete, perfected elixir? At this thought, Xiang Yin’s gaze toward Qin Chuan changed suddenly. This was a treasure that defied the very heavens—it must not be destroyed by anyone.

At this moment, even if a celestial immortal of the highest order appeared, Xiang Yin would risk his life to protect Qin Chuan, just like a dog fiercely guarding its food. He even feared that Qin Chuan might suffer excessive harm and perish in the Azure Lightning or under the Dust Burial. With a tap of his right forefinger at his throat, he forcibly drew out a drop of heart’s blood. It fell into his palm, gleaming with a gem-like, deep wine-red luster.

Though his face turned pale, his eyes shone with determination. He gently pushed his hand forward, and the drop of blood traced an imperfect arc before landing squarely at the center of Qin Chuan’s brow.

In that instant, Qin Chuan’s barely stable, fractured body was instantly restored, and a fine, serpent-scale pattern of blood-red lines emerged beneath his skin. Xiang Yin swept his gaze aside and, catching sight of Shang Lu—who was barely holding on—his face darkened in displeasure. “The Shang clan truly is worthless. Their ancestors were blatant frauds, sealing me away for ten thousand years, and their descendants are even more useless. Hmph!”

He snorted coldly, as though recalling some unpleasant memory.

With a light cough, he summoned a glob of dark yellow phlegm from his throat, gathering his breath.

“Pah.”

The phlegm, too, drew an incomplete arc before landing between Shang Lu’s brows. Immediately, a surge of force coursed through him, and the burning sensation in his dantian eased considerably.

For reasons unknown, a coolness arose in Shang Lu’s body, and in moments, the sensation grew ever clearer. An uncontrollable force began to surge through him, driving out much of the burning pain and allowing him to breathe a long sigh of relief.

It must have been the work of that elder. The thought ignited a burning fervor within his heart.

In Shang Lu’s eyes, if that senior chose to intervene, not only Qin Chuan, but even if everyone present joined forces against him, they would not last a single round.

I must rely on this elder’s miraculous powers to return to Wang Hai. Now, more than ever, I must fight with all my might! Qin Chuan, by some unknown method, has managed to withstand the third bolt. But he knows not that, with the elder’s aid, I could endure dozens or even hundreds of thunder strikes!

His killing intent surged. Chanting incantations under his breath, he directly summoned the fourth and fifth layers of falling thunder.

A deafening explosion resounded.

Twin bolts of lightning plunged simultaneously into the seething mist, their collision producing a tremor that made his vision blur and double.

Long moments passed. Guided by the lingering energies, Shang Lu saw the vortex of clouds above had not yet dissipated. His face grew ashen, and he raised his right hand, pounding his chest with a heavy thud.

A mouthful of heart’s blood spattered into the void, transforming into a blood mist that was swept up into the dark clouds above. Instantly, the swirling cloud-vortex boiled, morphing into a mass of blood-colored clouds.

Still uneasy, Shang Lu struck his chest several more times, until even those nearby could sense a faint stench of blood in the air.

The vortex churned more violently, like water boiling and bubbling in a cauldron.

“Heavenly Doom Thunder, descend—fall, fall, fall!”

If one bolt would not suffice, then three. If three were not enough, then ten, or a hundred!

Until his meridians and dantian were all but ruined, Shang Lu collapsed to the ground, barely able to keep his eyes open, staring fixedly at the blood-cloud vortex, which continued to rain down bolts of lightning, and at the black and white energies that, though shrinking, still endured each strike.

The roar of thunder filled the heavens, merging into a ceaseless cacophony. Even Xiang Yin, watching from the side, could not help but be surprised at Shang Lu’s tenacity; his heart grew all the more spirited.

Qin Chuan, who had been hovering three feet above the ground, was forced back onto solid earth by the onslaught, the mountains beneath him straining under the force, as if sinking by the slightest measure. Around him, blue flames seemed to burn fiercely.

“This is bad! I was too arrogant!”

He grew anxious.

The swirling black and white mists here were the accumulation of nearly ten thousand years within this domain. Qin Chuan had used the Azure Lightning as his forge, his own body as the cauldron, and sought to refine these dual energies into a great elixir.

But he had overlooked the limits of his dantian. The black and white energies in this place were far too dense; if his cultivation were higher by two levels and his dantian developed to the utmost, he might barely manage to contain a tenth of it.

But now, he was far from sufficient!

With a flicker of thought, he realized that though his dantian could not contain more, perhaps his flesh could. With no other choice, he resolved to gamble everything.

With the Dust Breathing Secret Art, he focused his mind, and the flow of gray and white energies in his meridians suddenly shifted, beginning to pour into his body.

By chance, they merged with the blood-red lines, starting to temper his flesh.

The yin energy refined his body, the white energy his spirit. The two surged back and forth within him, even activating the lingering effects—both medicinal and poisonous—of past elixirs that had accumulated within.

Once his dantian was filled to the brim and he had reached what others deemed the fifth layer of Qi Refinement, even his very flesh began to strengthen.

Suddenly, it was as if a myriad of ants crawled upon his bones, gnawing at his flesh. Qin Chuan drew a sharp breath, muscles tensed, not daring to relax for even a moment, lest his will falter and he lose consciousness.

First layer of Qi Refinement.

Second layer.

Third layer.

Fourth, and finally the fifth!

Until his tendons and fascia creaked like taut leather straps did he come back to himself—his body had reached the fifth layer of Refinement, attaining its peak!

Only then did the numb pain recede like a retreating tide. The moment he relaxed, he nearly fainted outright.

But what followed was a swelling pain; his heart clenched. What now? Unless the Azure Lightning ceased at once, his body would surely burst!

With a thought, he raised his hand to slap his storage pouch.

But the pouch, having endured blow after blow, had long since reached the verge of shattering. At his touch, it broke apart immediately, scattering pills and medicinal herbs everywhere.

Qin Chuan had intended to retrieve the black pill embryo he had gained from gambling stones, but instead all its contents burst forth, bottles and jars breaking, pills exploding in succession—it pained him greatly to see it.

Even the sword talisman rolled out onto the ground.

Neither Qin Chuan nor the others, not even Xiang Yin, noticed that the moment the sword talisman appeared, the magic sword quivered once, then fell silent again, as if it had been an illusion.

But the black pill embryo landed securely in Qin Chuan’s hand!

The instant it was exposed, both it and the embryo within his lower dantian trembled violently, frantically pulling at the surrounding black mist.

Not absorbing, not devouring—but plundering!

In the blink of an eye, the black pill embryo melted, transforming into a drop of indescribable dew, imprinting itself three inches below Qin Chuan’s navel!

Both embryos now drew the surrounding black mist with wild abandon, to the point that Qin Chuan felt his dantian was about to be torn apart.

The mists churned, forming a vortex twenty yards around him—like a giant funnel.