Pure Yang Fire

"To hell with it. I'll treat a dead horse like it's still alive. If I don't use this pill, I'm dead anyway. But if I do, maybe I can find life in a desperate situation. As long as Xiaoyu survives, then so be it if I die. At worst, I'll be a good man again in thirty years."

Li Mu did not deliberate for long before deciding to take a gamble with the Pure Yang Sky Burning Pill.

Nie Xiaoyu's final words lingered in Li Mu's heart. Even at the very end, that foolish girl had only wanted him to run.

If even a young girl could cast life and death aside, how could he, someone whose soul had already died once across two lifetimes, fear tigers ahead and wolves behind?

"Xiaoyu, even if I have to stake my life today, I'll keep you safe!"

Grabbing the crimson Pure Yang Sky Burning Pill in one hand, Li Mu's consciousness returned directly to the real world.

The scene before him shifted. Li Mu was still lying on the ground, the blood flowing from him having already stained his vision red. In the distance, Beast Armor was walking toward him step by step. Frost Armor covered his body, and the frigid temperature sent wisps of cold mist curling from him. Carrying an overwhelming aura, he pressed toward Li Mu. His azure pupils had long since transformed into snake eyes, gleaming viciously as they stared at Li Mu. The Ice Ling Snake Soul was terrifying indeed.

"Damn it, I'm going for it!"

Li Mu knew he could not sit around and wait for death. He could not keep trusting those novel clichés about villains dying from talking too much. With difficulty, he raised his right hand. In his palm lay the crimson Immortal Grade Pill. The Pure Yang Sky Burning Pill radiated waves of pill light, a trait possessed only by pills of Immortal Grade. It was said that when legendary high-grade Immortal Grade Pills emerged, they could even trigger celestial phenomena. Its power was self-evident.

Without hesitation, he shoved the pill into his mouth. He did not even bother chewing before swallowing it whole. A stream of heat wound down his esophagus all the way to his abdomen. After merely two breaths, an intense burning sensation swept through him. Li Mu clearly felt that searing heat racing through all the meridians in his body before finally entering his dantian and violently colliding with the vortex formed from golden Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi. Blinding light illuminated his entire dantian, while its core shone like the sun itself, impossible to look at directly.

Seeing Li Mu swallow a pill glowing with pill light, Beast Armor showed no reaction. He continued strolling unhurriedly toward the prey before him. After all, it was a Beast Soul controlling the body, and its understanding of pills was extremely limited. Had it been another cultivator, they would likely have erupted into action on the spot and finished Li Mu off immediately.

This was why, although the demon beast lineage was incomparably powerful and occupied a vastly larger territory than humans, it had never become the mainstream of the Immortal Realm. The gap in accumulated knowledge and learning ability was their greatest difference from humanity.

"Hot... hot... so damn hot..."

Li Mu felt an unprecedented heat flooding his entire body. His five viscera and six bowels seemed to be burning, and the blood in his veins was boiling. All of it stemmed from the incomparably potent medicinal power of the Pure Yang Sky Burning Pill continuously merging and clashing with the Golden Vortex in his dantian.

Finally, when it was five steps away from Li Mu, Beast Armor, controlled by the Ice Ling Snake, noticed something strange about the youth before it. His skin had turned crimson, while flames flickered within his eyes. Realizing something was wrong, Beast Armor waved a hand, and a massive ice arrow that appeared out of thin air shot straight toward Li Mu.

Bang!

The indestructible ice arrow failed to strike its target as intended. It could not even get close. Half a step away from Li Mu, it was as though it had slammed into an invisible wall. Dazzling firelight flashed, and the ice arrow shattered before melting away in an instant.

The domineering Pure Yang power constantly washed through Li Mu's meridians and internal organs. His previously damaged body was instantly restored beneath the vast medicinal power of the Immortal Grade Pill. The blockages within his channels and organs were broken through in the blink of an eye. Li Mu felt the Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi in his body flowing more smoothly than ever before. His strength had returned to its peak.

With one palm striking the ground, Li Mu sprang to his feet. As Pure Yang Vital Energy circulated, dim firelight began to emerge beneath his crimson skin. To his amazement, Li Mu discovered that he could now sense the fire elements in the air.

The cycle of Heaven's Dao could not escape the two words yin and yang. Yin and yang gave birth to the five elements; the five elements gave birth to the Eight Trigrams; the Eight Trigrams gave birth to all things. Metal, wood, water, fire, and earth were the five most fundamental elements that made up this world. So-called immortal cultivation was, in truth, the cultivation of Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi, and Yuan Qi originated from yin and yang. Thus, many human cultivators in the Immortal Realm still focused on methods involving the five elements, creating numerous powerful cultivation techniques and martial skills. Throughout history, every cultivator capable of controlling all five powers had been a peerless giant who shook the ages.

Within the cultivation system of the demon beast lineage, these five elements saw even broader application. The Ice Ling Snake, for example, represented the ice attribute, a branch of the water attribute. This more direct control over elemental power was cruder and simpler than the orthodox human cultivation system, yet its might was not inferior in the slightest.

Li Mu carefully sensed the changes in his body. An Immortal Grade Pill possessed such miraculous power—it had completely unleashed the Pure Yang power within him and granted him the ability to control flames.

He tried gathering the fire elements in the air, then clenched his fists. Two masses of flame immediately wrapped around them. Blazing fire roared fiercely, yet he felt not the slightest discomfort. Instead, his entire body brimmed with power.

"So this is an Immortal Grade Pill? It practically steals the creation of heaven and earth. No wonder every Immortal Grade Pill becomes a priceless treasure fought over by everyone in the Immortal Realm. Even money can't buy one."

Li Mu's transformation greatly shocked Beast Armor. It had not expected that, in the time it took to walk a few steps, the prey that had been awaiting slaughter would rise so forcefully. The Pure Yang power he displayed, as well as the scorching flames radiating around him, made it feel faintly uneasy.

Among the five elements, water overcoming fire was an absolute truth. However, the power cultivated by the Ice Ling Snake was not Pure Yin Water, but merely the branch power of frost. In comparison, what Li Mu had temporarily awakened through an Immortal Grade Pill was the Pure Yang power within his Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi—the true fire of the five elements. Which was stronger and which was weaker required no explanation.

At this moment, Beast Armor—or rather, the Ice Ling Snake Beast Soul—had raised the strength of its Frost Armor another level. It watched Li Mu warily as he controlled flames with both hands. A demon beast's keen instinct for danger had put it on full alert, and the frost power around its body had been driven to its limit.

Li Mu stared at the frost-covered Beast Armor as if fire might burst from his eyes. Nie Xiaoyu's fate was still unknown, and all of this had been caused by this Beast Tamer. He had risked taking an Immortal Grade Pill and gained tremendous power, but he had no answer as to how long it would last or when the backlash warned of by the Simulation System would begin. Therefore, he could only erupt with all his strength and defeat his opponent in the shortest possible time to ensure Xiaoyu's safety.

Without another word, the Shadowless Sword reappeared in Li Mu's hand. Unlike before, the flames that had covered his fists flowed along the blade until the entire sword was wrapped in fire, its might astonishing.

With a single swing, Flame Sword Energy shot forth toward the Ice Ling Snake Beast Soul. The forest in the dead of night was lit up once more.