The forest closed behind him like a dark green curtain, cutting off the clearing that had been steeped in blood and an eerie aura. Li Yuan strode away in haste, each footfall carrying a fierce, determined force as he crushed dead twigs and leaves beneath his feet. A few nocturnal crows startled into flight, flapping their wings as they fled in panic into the deeper darkness.
He wasn't running away.
It was just that the thing inside him was making too much of a fuss.
The Gray-Black Airflow he had forcibly wrenched from the Black Bird Bone looked as if Crimson Sun Qi and Blood had scattered it. But one wisp of its purest, most insidious essence had slipped through like a slippery venomous snake. At first, it had only caused a little numbness in his fist. But once he started running and his qi and blood surged, the thing awakened and burrowed along his meridians toward his heart.
Cold! Not the kind of cold found in the depths of winter, but the sinister chill that seeped into one's bones in a graveyard, carrying with it the stench of decay, the deathly aura of decline. Wherever it passed, his surging qi and blood froze like a stream, its flow suddenly sluggish, while his muscles stiffened and grew rigid. Worse still was its "intent"—venomous and chaotic, like countless Vengeful Spirits whispering in his ear. It left him restless and confused, nearly sending his qi and blood into disarray.
Li Yuan grunted, fine beads of cold sweat forming at his temples. He wiped them away carelessly with his sleeve. He tried to muster all his Crimson Sun Qi and Blood to block the intruder, but that wisp of sinister essence was cunning. It darted this way and that through his meridians, relying on its opposing nature to hold its ground. For the moment, he couldn't purge it completely. The violent clash between the two forces instead left half his body numb in waves, slowing his movements.
"Damn it!" he cursed under his breath, anger flaring in his heart. This accursed thing was even harder to deal with than the most venomous snake in the mountains.
He stopped abruptly and looked around. He was far enough from the place where he had fought moments ago. The trees here were taller and denser, their canopy blocking almost all the light. Only a faint glow from the snow illuminated the bleak night. Beside him stood a half-collapsed Earth Cave, seemingly abandoned by some large beast, its entrance half concealed by dead vines.
He had no choice. He plunged inside. The cave was cramped, filled with the earthy stench of soil and the lingering musk of a beast. He paid it no mind, simply sitting cross-legged with his back against the cold, damp earthen wall. Closing his eyes, he sank all his awareness into his body.
With Internal Vision, the situation became clearer. The Gray-Black Airflow moved like a living thing, darting rapidly through his main meridians and giving off a faint, cold glow. A layer of Thin Frost formed over the walls of his meridians wherever it passed. Crimson Sun Qi and Blood pursued it relentlessly, its scorching heat constantly melting away the frost, but it always fell just short of enveloping it completely.
This wasn't working. He was too passive!
Li Yuan steeled himself, his awareness hammering down on the Crimson Sun in his dantian.
—Swallow it!
Perhaps sensing its master's anger and the challenge posed by that wisp of sinister essence, the Crimson Sun shuddered. Its rotation suddenly accelerated! A torrent far purer and hotter than before burst forth like lava from a breached dam. It no longer scattered its power to surround the intruder. Instead, it condensed into several blazing white strands of fire that swept in from every direction, carrying the resolve to Burn All Things!
"SSS—SSSS—"
The sound of scorching grew clearer and more violent, echoing through his body. This time, the essence wasn't merely being driven away. It was truly being refined! The Gray-Black Airflow was like a block of ice tossed into a furnace. It let out a shrill, soundless wail and writhed and struggled violently. Every collision unleashed a turbulent surge of freezing cold and searing heat, battering Li Yuan's meridians and will.
Pain! Agonizing pain!
Half his body felt as if it had been thrown into the Ice Caves, his blood on the verge of freezing, while the other half seemed to be roasting over a fire, his organs convulsing. The alternating extremes of heat and cold were like torture. His body shook uncontrollably, his teeth clattering, and a mouthful of bloody froth flecked with ice spilled from the corner of his mouth. The blood seeped from his internal organs, injured by the power of the bitter cold.
In the cramped tree hollow, his gasps were frighteningly ragged. White vapor burst from his mouth and instantly crystallized into frost flowers in the cold air. His muscles swelled again, tearing his ragged clothes to shreds. The crimson glow beneath his skin flickered erratically as it fought the spreading Gray-Black Airflow for every inch of his body.
Time seemed to stretch. Every breath was like rolling across the edge of a blade.
Wrapped by the blazing strands of fire, the Gray-Black Airflow steadily shrank, its color fading. But its resistance grew more frantic. It stopped fleeing and suddenly contracted, condensing into a grain-sized black speck that radiated extreme cold and filth. Like a dying venomous snake, it launched one last, most vicious counterattack toward Li Yuan's heart!
A chill that seemed capable of freezing his very soul instantly engulfed Li Yuan's heart!
Li Yuan stiffened all over. His pupils contracted sharply, and he felt his heartbeat about to stop.
At this critical moment!
The Crimson Sun, which had been passive all along and primarily responsible for refining the intruder, seemed utterly enraged by the attack aimed straight at its core! The once-still point of reddish-gold light within it suddenly burst into a dazzling radiance like the sun!
An indescribable hunger to devour, born from the very source of life, descended with overwhelming force!
The several blazing strands of fire instantly withdrew. No longer wrapping around their target, they formed a miniature, swirling reddish-gold vortex before the Crimson Sun! The vortex generated an irresistible pull. It no longer scorched—it simply plundered!
Before that terrifying force, the grain-sized black speck had no chance to struggle. Like a moth thrown into a blazing fire, it was ripped away from Li Yuan's heart and sucked straight into the reddish-gold vortex, vanishing without a trace!
"BOOM—!"
A muffled thunderclap exploded in Li Yuan's mind, making his ears ring.
The more intense pain he had expected never came. Instead, he felt a strange, full sensation, as if ice and fire had mingled within him. The moment the Crimson Sun swallowed it, the extreme cold was forcibly broken down and assimilated by the supremely hot and powerful essence, transformed into a pure, peculiar coolness. Like a mouthful of icy spring water on a sweltering summer day, it swiftly merged with his surging Crimson Sun Qi and Blood.
The qi and blood throughout his body seemed to have been thoroughly cleansed, becoming denser and purer. As they flowed, they even took on a faint trace of the cold properties of Netherworld Curse Power, making their movement less turbulent and more steady. The skin on his arms and chest, previously eroded by the curse and left dull and stiff, regained its healthy luster before his eyes. The metallic quality beneath it grew even more restrained and profound.
More importantly, a vague "understanding" surfaced in his mind. He had gained an innate grasp of this power, so cold, rotten, and corrosive to life. The next time he encountered it, his body would instinctively know how to respond—how to... digest it.
Li Yuan slowly, with great effort, exhaled a breath of Turbid Air. It formed a straight stream of White Silk in the cold tree hollow, lingering for a long time.
He opened his eyes. In the darkness, his gaze was astonishingly bright, like two black onyx stones washed by a cold spring, with a spark of golden heat dancing deep within.
He opened his palm and shifted his thoughts. A wisp of Crimson Sun Qi and Blood appeared in his palm, still scorching. Yet at the edge of its leaping golden-red glow, there seemed to be a trace of dark, Cold Flame, so faint it was almost impossible to detect.
He clenched his fist. His knuckles cracked, and an unprecedented sense of power, cold and piercing, gathered in his fingers.
The taste of this cursefire had been a heart-piercing, bone-eroding torment at first. But after enduring it... it had turned out to be a unique kind of nourishment.
He lowered his head and took the Bone Whistle from his clothes. It had turned gray-white, no longer giving off the slightest unusual fluctuation. He rolled it between his fingertips, then casually tucked it away again. It might come in handy.
He crawled out of the low tree hollow. It was already deep into the night, and the forest was so dark he couldn't see his hand in front of his face. The cold wind swept over the bare branches, keening like ghosts. Yet Li Yuan felt refreshed from head to toe. Even in the absolute darkness, his senses were frighteningly sharp. He could even hear the faint creak of pine branches bending beneath the snow.
He got his bearings and located the general direction of the martial arts hall, then set off.
His steps fell steady and sure, carrying the restrained savagery of a beast that had just eaten its fill.
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