As that breath of immortal qi entered his body, billions of brilliant rays streamed from Li Hao's pores, as though he had swallowed a dazzling sun of divine flame.
The snow around him rapidly evaporated and melted.
His flesh writhed, transforming and tempering itself, purging impurities and cleansing his marrow. Silvery radiance seeped from his pores, shrouding him in the white glow of immortal mist.
His body transformed, and so did his true power. Even his divine soul's dharma form transcended its former state under that breath of immortal qi. His golden divine soul contracted, changing from a youth into an infant.
Then it grew from an infant back into a youth.
Only now, his previously unyielding, intensely yang soul carried a touch of ethereal purity, aloof from the mortal world.
Little White Fox leaped from Li Hao's arms in fright. Sensing that vast immortal might, the fox's eyes filled with fear, wanting to approach yet not daring to.
The fox merely raised a little paw and gingerly touched it.
But the immortal mist seemed illusory. The little paw caused no change, as though it could not be touched.
The transformation continued. Snow on the mountain evaporated and melted into clear springwater, flowing down its gullies. The entire peak seemed to awaken anew.
The bitter winds sweeping toward him became gentle rain. Within several yards of Li Hao, the drops quietly changed course and fell elsewhere.
Only the spot where the youth sat alone remained clean and silent.
The rain fell like spiritual rain upon the mountain, washed free of snow and glowing anew. Green slowly emerged from the ground-tender shoots that had drawn on some power and stubbornly pushed out of the solid mountain.
Nourished by the rain, they grew at incredible speed.
In the depths of winter, warm