In the blink of an eye, Mo Lin and Xiao Yi Xian had spent more than half a month of peaceful days in this isolated valley.
Over the past half month, Mo Lin had devoted himself almost entirely to cultivation and experimentation.
The abundant natural energy within the valley provided him with an excellent environment. Aside from the necessary breathing exercises and refinement each day to consolidate his cultivation at the Peak Five-Star Dou Shi level, he spent most of his time repeatedly pondering the secret of "Yin Yang Genesis" that he had glimpsed under Yun Yun's guidance after turning disaster into fortune that day.
He sat cross-legged atop a smooth boulder deep within the valley, his mind sinking into his body.
A wisp of dark purple flame rose quietly from his left palm. It was the Purple Fire, the Origin Beast Fire derived from the Purple Crystal Winged Lion King.
Though it was not one of the Heavenly Flames, its violent, blazing energy was still not to be underestimated.
In his right palm was a thread-thin stream of white air that radiated an aura of Extreme Ice. It was the power of extreme cold that he had carefully drawn from the Snow Emperor's Origin.
He carefully controlled the two energies of utterly opposing attributes, slowly bringing them closer together in the air about a foot before him.
Having learned the painful lesson of nearly exploding to death last time, he was exceptionally cautious now, his focus utterly concentrated as he remained ready to separate them before they lost control.
"Hiss, hiss..."
The instant ice and fire met, fierce energy repulsion still erupted, producing faint sounds of scorching and freezing.
But this time, Mo Lin did not forcibly suppress them. Instead, he attempted to use a profound intent recorded within the Yin Yang Feather Transformation Art to guide them—to visualize these two energies not as opposites, but as two aspects born from the same source and dependent upon one another.
He imagined vitality gestating within extreme cold, while blazing heat contained a cycle of destruction and rebirth.
This intent seemed intangible and ethereal, yet under the mysterious support of the Emperor's Art, it truly produced a faint effect!
At the edges of the ice and fire energies, which had originally been clashing fiercely, the repulsive force seemed to weaken for an instant beneath the guidance of Mo Lin's unusual intent.
In that fleeting moment, a strand of chaotic-colored energy, finer than a hair yet containing a strange balance and vigorous vitality, silently came into being before swiftly vanishing.
Though it had only appeared for an instant, a stormy sea surged within Mo Lin's heart!
"It worked! It's only a trace, but it proves my idea was right! Yin and yang are not absolute opposites—they can transform into each other and give rise to all things!" Wild joy burst from Mo Lin's eyes. "Though this Purple Fire is not one of the Heavenly Flames, it has allowed me to prove this path is viable! If I can gather true Heavenly Flames in the future, use them as the ultimate 'yang,' and use the Snow Emperor's Origin as the ultimate 'yin,' then when yin and yang merge, the Origin Power they can evolve will surely shake heaven and earth!"
This discovery pointed out a clear and grand direction for his future path of cultivation—gathering Heavenly Flames and tempering Yin Yang Origin Power!
After his excitement subsided, he played with the Purple Fire in his palm once more. Only after controlling it as easily as an arm or finger did he reluctantly draw it back into his body.
He rose to his feet and gave a slight shake. The Ice Cloud Wings sprang from his back, beating lightly as they stirred gusts of air.
He tilted his head to look at this Flying Combat Skill obtained from that cave encounter, smiled faintly, and leaped directly from the boulder toward the valley floor below!
The violent wind howled past his ears, and the sensation of weightlessness sent a thrill through him.
When he was still more than twenty meters above the ground, Mo Lin's wings suddenly beat, sharply slowing his plummeting body.
At the same time, he aimed his palm at the ground, and a gentle force burst forth. It not only canceled his downward momentum, but even lightly lifted him upward for a short distance.
Borrowing that force, he performed a graceful midair flip. With a swoosh, the Ice Cloud Wings behind him turned into two blue tattoos and settled back onto his back.
His feet landed steadily without stirring even a trace of dust, displaying his exquisite control over his strength.
Mo Lin patted his robes, a satisfied smile from successful cultivation on his face, and leisurely headed toward the crude yet cozy little cottage in the valley.
However, as he gradually drew closer, Mo Lin's brows furrowed slightly.
At this hour on ordinary days, Xiao Yi Xian would have returned from gathering herbs long ago. She should have been sorting medicinal ingredients before the cottage or preparing a simple dinner, and the area around the hut would always have been filled with a faint herbal fragrance and cooking smoke.
But today, the surroundings were unusually quiet. The doors and windows of the cottage were tightly shut, without the slightest sound.
An inexplicable sense of unease quietly passed through his heart. Mo Lin quickened his pace, arrived before the cottage, and lightly knocked on the wooden door. "Xian'er? Are you there?"
The room was deathly silent. No one answered.
The unease in Mo Lin's heart intensified. He knocked several more times with greater force, but there was still no response.
"Not good!" Mo Lin's expression changed. No longer caring about anything else, he stepped back half a pace, filled his right leg with Dou Qi, and fiercely kicked the wooden door!
Bang!
The wooden door flew open at once! Mo Lin immediately darted inside, only to be hit by thick smoke carrying a strange sweet fragrance mixed with bitterness, making him cough violently.
He hurriedly swept out his right palm. A gentle gust erupted from it, instantly carrying the smoke out of the cottage.
As the smoke gradually dispersed, the scene inside became clear. Mo Lin's gaze froze instantly upon the bed—
Xiao Yi Xian lay there with her eyes tightly shut, curled up in one corner of the bed. Her originally rosy, healthy face was now covered in an eerie seven-colored glow!
The glow seemed alive as it slowly flowed beneath her cheeks, sometimes brilliant and vivid, sometimes dim and somber, carrying an ominous aura that made one's heart tremble.
Her body shuddered faintly, as though she were enduring immense pain. Her delicate brows were tightly knit, her teeth clenched, and low, agonized moans escaped her lips.
Even more frighteningly, traces of pitch-black blood seeped from her fingertips and the corners of her lips, giving off a faint bloody smell.
"The Calamity Poison Body... it's acting up!" Mo Lin's heart sank sharply.
Though he had long been mentally prepared, seeing Xiao Yi Xian in such pain with his own eyes still made his heart ache.
He hurried forward, crouched beside the bed, and carefully called out, "Xian'er! Xian'er! Can you hear me?"
Xiao Yi Xian seemed to have fallen into a semi-conscious state. She showed no reaction to Mo Lin's calls, merely curling herself up instinctively as she resisted the ravaging poison within her body.
Mo Lin took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. He did not rashly take excessive measures, knowing full well the complexity and danger of the Calamity Poison Body. Any improper intervention could easily make things worse.
He quickly determined that the most urgent matter was to ease her pain and buy time for her body to regulate itself.
He sat cross-legged beside the bed and formed hand seals. The extreme-cold Dou Qi originating from the Snow Empress began to circulate slowly within him in an exceedingly delicate manner.
He did not attempt to use the cold Dou Qi to forcibly suppress or disperse the poison within Xiao Yi Xian's body—that would have been no different from adding fuel to the fire and would only trigger an even fiercer backlash.
His purpose was clear and restrained: he would only use the natural properties of Extreme Ice to gently soothe the restless poison.
Threads of pure, extreme-cold aura, nearly imperceptible to the naked eye, began to coil around his fingertips.
This aura was not an attacking cold current. It was like the finest, coldest mist, or moonlight's clear radiance, carrying a calming and pain-relieving effect.
He carefully spread this thread of cold aura around Xiao Yi Xian's body, as though weaving an invisible, gentle veil, slowly forming a faint low-temperature field.
This chill was not piercing, much less freezing. It was like applying cool ointment to a burning wound, seeping into her flesh.
Wherever it passed, Xiao Yi Xian's body, burning and wracked with pain from the poison's rampage, seemed to receive a trace of cool comfort.
Her tightly furrowed brows eased slightly, the involuntary trembling of her body lessened, and her suppressed moans of pain gradually grew quieter.
The power of Extreme Ice effectively slowed the poison's activity and spread, creating more favorable conditions for her body's own resistance.
Mo Lin remained intensely focused throughout, controlling the intensity and range of the cold aura to ensure that it only provided calming support and would never penetrate deeply enough to disrupt the complex toxic balance within Xiao Yi Xian's body.
He quietly kept watch at her side like the most patient guardian, staring unblinkingly at the girl on the bed as he sensed every subtle change in her breathing.
Outside the window, the sky gradually darkened and night quietly descended. The valley was silent, while within the cottage, threads of cold aura silently soothed the girl tortured by poison.
Time passed bit by bit in the silence.
Under the continued gentle soothing of Extreme Ice, the violent reaction in Xiao Yi Xian's body seemed to slowly subside.
Though the seven-colored glow on her cheeks had yet to fade, her breathing gradually became even and deep, as though she had entered a relatively stable, deep sleep to weather the storm within her body.
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