Fire Ancestor Demonic Flower

Within the dimly lit space, two enormous crystal grinding wheels slowly turned at a steady pace. As they rotated, strange ripples gradually spread outward.

A twisted figure of light gritted his teeth as he stood at the point where the two crystal grinding wheels met. His face was terrifyingly contorted, and his body trembled uncontrollably, as though he were enduring an indescribable agony.

Yes, immense agony!

As the crystal grinding wheels turned, they crushed the figure of light inch by inch. Whenever it had completely collapsed, white light would spread forth and restore the shattered figure to its original state before crushing it once more.

Through this process of destruction and reconstruction, the figure's entire body rapidly became more solid at a visible rate.

Once, twice, three times...

"Tut, tut, Lin Dong is completely insane when it comes to cultivation. He doesn't treat himself like a human at all for the sake of getting stronger. How can he torture his own Spirit Body like this? That pain reaching deep into the soul is simply unbearable."

Not far from the Mental Grinding Wheel, a pitch-black little mouse stood with its arms folded. As it watched the figure of light repeatedly collapse and reform, it muttered to itself from time to time.

"Eighty-eighth time!"

A voice gritting through clenched teeth rang out. At some point, the figure of light standing atop the Mental Grinding Wheel had already stepped down.

"How is it? Still no feeling that you're about to break through?"

Perhaps finding it uncomfortable to look up at Lin Dong, Little Marten lightly stamped his right foot, and his palm-sized body floated gently into the air.

"No. At most, I'm only at the half-step Four Seal level. It still feels like I'm missing something before I can truly reach the Four Seal Talisman Master stage."

Still twitching involuntarily, Lin Dong carefully sat down cross-legged. He was truly exhausted.

Several months had passed since Lin Zhentian and the others had gone to Yan City. During that time, Lin Dong had remained in the manor in seclusion. More precisely, he had been using the Mental Grinding Wheel within the Ancestral Stone Space to temper his Mental Energy.

Yet for some reason, his Mental Energy cultivation had remained stuck at the Three Seal Talisman Master stage. It was incredibly strange.

"Don't be discouraged. For one, Mental Energy cultivation is inherently more difficult than Origin Energy cultivation. For another, a Four Seal Talisman Master is the pinnacle of beginner talisman masters, comparable to a Great Perfection Yuan Dan Stage martial artist. Beyond that, a Five Seal Talisman Master belongs to the level of a Spirit Talisman Master, comparable to a martial artist of the Creation Three Realms."

Seeing that Lin Dong had made no progress after months of cultivation, Little Marten immediately tried to comfort him gently, afraid that he might lose heart.

"Hah... Of course I know. If eighty-eight times isn't enough, then I'll do it one hundred and eighty-eight times. Two hundred and eighty-eight times."

Lin Dong abruptly rose to his feet and charged resolutely into the towering Mental Grinding Wheel once more. His cultivation began again!

"..."

Watching the high-spirited Lin Dong, Little Marten's eye twitched as he muttered, "I knew it, I knew it. This kid doesn't need anyone to comfort him at all."

Generally speaking, Mental Energy was weak in the early stages but strong in the later stages when compared to Origin Energy.

Mental Energy was more difficult to cultivate than Origin Energy and required greater talent. Moreover, in terms of sheer force, it was slightly inferior to the vast and mighty Origin Energy.

The Symbol Sect realm was a watershed stage in Mental Energy cultivation. Once one stepped into it, the power of Mental Energy would fully unfold.

A Minor Symbol Sect could display might no weaker than that of an ordinary Samsara Stage expert. Once one entered the Great Symbol Sect, their strength would already be firmly above that of some ordinary Cycle Stage Experts.

If one could go further, condense a Divine Palace, and step into the Divine Palace Stage, their might would rival that of a Cycle Stage Expert at the peak who had survived the Three-Stage Reincarnation Tribulation, approaching the Half-Ancestor realm.

Inside the room, Lin Dong, who was sitting cross-legged on the bed, suddenly opened his eyes and forcefully shook his head, trying to dispel the intense dizziness clouding his mind.

This was a side effect of cultivating with the Mental Grinding Wheel. It consumed a great deal of the Mental Energy within the Niwan Palace, but it also made the Life Spirit Talisman more solid and accelerated its division.

"The Four Seal Talisman Master stage... I'm afraid it'll still take several more months before I can break through."

Lin Dong rubbed his slightly swollen, aching brow and got out of bed to stretch his limbs.

"Young Master Lin Dong, there seems to be a problem at the mine. A worker was burned by heat seeping out while digging for Yang Yuan Stones. Would you like to go take a look?"

A knock suddenly sounded from outside the door, followed by the voice of the guard commander, Qin Ying.

Over the past few days, Lin Zhentian and the others had once again departed for Yan City to exchange for Yang Yuan Pills. Lin Ken had remained in the manor to stand guard, while Lin Dong, having "broken through" to the Heavenly Yuan Stage several days ago, had been assigned the responsibility of guarding the mines.

"Burned by heat? The Fire Ancestor Demonic Flower? My opportunity to break through may have arrived."

Lin Dong's eyes immediately lit up. He opened the door at once and hurried toward the mine where the incident had occurred, taking Qin Ying, who had come to report it, with him.

Within the dim, narrow mine tunnel, a bare-chested man pointed at a crack in the wall and said with lingering fear, "Young Master Lin Dong, it was here. That heat was seeping out from this crack."

"Seal off this area. Don't let anyone enter. I'll go in and take a look."

With that, Lin Dong flashed forward, taking Little Flame as he swept deeper into the crack.

Two or three minutes later, a stretch of crimson, scorching shattered rock came into Lin Dong's view. The most eye-catching sight was undoubtedly the enormous beast skeleton lying amid the broken rocks, a colossal skeleton several dozen zhang long.

Behind the massive skeleton, a crimson flower of almost bewitching beauty quietly bloomed, with faint red mist lingering around it.

"A Yuan Dan Stage Demonic Beast, the Skyfire Flood Dragon, and a Seventh-Grade Spirit Medicine, the Fire Ancestor Demonic Flower."

Upon seeing these two expected items, Lin Dong could not help but reveal a satisfied smile. The Fire Ancestor Demonic Flower in particular had miraculous effects on a talisman master's Mental Energy cultivation. It was enough to help him challenge the Four Seal Talisman Master stage.

Whoosh!

Just as Lin Dong was surveying the surroundings, Little Flame, seemingly drawn by something, suddenly shot out. It raced to the Skyfire Flood Dragon's head and swallowed a fiery red pearl inside in one gulp.

Boom!

Violent energy ripples swept outward. After swallowing the Skyfire Flood Dragon's Demonic Core, Little Flame's body began to expand rapidly. Only after taking up more than half the cave did it gradually shrink back to its original size.

"Worthy of a mutated constitution. Its first mutation has already begun."

Lin Dong stepped forward and reached out to stroke Little Flame's head. Its fur had become glossier, its tiger claws had quietly sharpened, and even its python tail had developed a large bulge.

Roar, roar!

Little Flame, equally stunned by its own transformation, hurriedly roared twice at Lin Dong in search of comfort.

"Tch, let's see if you'll dare eat things carelessly in the future. All right, move aside. I'm going to collect the Fire Ancestor Demonic Flower."

Lin Dong irritably patted the startled Little Flame before striding quickly toward the bewitching flower in full bloom.