The Furnace Takes Shape

In the dark room, time seemed to lose all meaning.

Li Yuan maintained his state of internal vision, his entire mind sinking into his body as he guided that faint yet resilient thread of "Crimson Sun Qi and Blood" through his withered meridians with painstaking effort. It was a slow and meticulous process, like redirecting water through a cracked riverbed, demanding immense patience and control.

He could clearly "see" that wherever the Crimson Sun Qi and Blood passed, the stubbornly entrenched Yin Sha curse power, like snow meeting a blazing sun, let out silent wails and rapidly melted away, retreating. The meridians, once like silted-up streams, were scoured and nourished by this warm, life-filled energy, becoming unobstructed once more, even slightly tougher and wider than before.

And the tiny "Crimson Sun" at the center of his Sea of Qi, after refining part of the origin devoured from the "Anomaly," seemed to have condensed by an infinitesimal amount, its radiance and heat growing more stable.

He did not know how long had passed when, after the last sizable trace of Yin Sha curse power within his body was dispersed and refined, Li Yuan slowly withdrew from his internal vision.

He still kept his eyes closed, but the entire world in his perception had already changed.

First, the "Bone-Chilling Cold" that had plagued him for ten years, omnipresent like background noise, was gone! Not weakened—an almost imperceptible disappearance! His body felt an unprecedented lightness and clarity, as if a thousand-pound burden had been lifted.

Second, his senses. The howling wind outside, the distant sound of a night watchman's clapper, even the faint rustle of a rat scurrying in the corner of the wall—all became exceptionally clear. The dust and mustiness permeating the air were also sharply distinct.

Finally, his control over his body. He gently moved his fingers, and a full, powerful sensation came through, no longer the weak, sluggish resistance of before.

Hunger, like a waking beast, struck him fiercely again. But this time, it was no longer the hollow, weakening hunger of depletion—it was a hunger filled with craving, a body urgently needing energy replenishment!

His gaze involuntarily drifted to the corner of the room, where the servant had left a swill bucket reeking of sour filth.

In the past, he would have felt only humiliation and despair. But now, looking at the murky liquid and floating scraps, what flickered in his eyes was scrutiny... and anticipation.

"Smelting... can devour and smelt foreign energy, flesh essence..."

That piece of sacrificial cold meat, because it contained a faint trace of "Sacrificial Food Fiend Qi" (a low-level energy), could be effectively converted by the "Crimson Sun." What about the food scraps in this swill bucket? Though filthy, they were essentially composed of various ingredients, and should, more or less, contain a sliver of the most basic "Food Essence," right?

Once this thought arose, it could no longer be suppressed.

He needed energy—massive amounts of energy—to consolidate this nascent "Crimson Sun" and fill the deficits left by years of the Yin Sha curse hollowing out his body! He had no choice; he had to use every resource at hand!

Li Yuan struggled to sit up from the pile of straw, his movements still somewhat stiff but far more agile than before. He walked to the swill bucket, and the pungent odor hit him, churning his stomach. But he only furrowed his brow slightly before reaching out, plunging his hand without hesitation into the cold, sticky grease.

Holding his breath, relying on touch, he quickly picked out the larger chunks that looked like meat or bone scraps, placing them on a relatively clean piece of torn cloth beside him. Mostly cartilage, bits of meat, bones with shreds of flesh, mixed with rotten vegetable leaves and rice grains—a nauseating sight.

After gathering about a handful, he returned to the straw pile and sat down, looking at this heap of "food."

Without hesitation, he picked up a piece of grimy meat scrap, didn't even wipe it, and shoved it directly into his mouth.

Cold, slimy, with a heavy sour-rotten taste exploding instantly in his mouth. A violent physiological revulsion nearly made him vomit on the spot. But he clenched his teeth, his throat moved, and he forced it down!

The moment the food landed in his stomach—

The "Crimson Sun" deep in his Sea of Qi seemed to sense the "fuel" being fed, trembling slightly. An invisible, scorching force swept through his stomach in an instant!

Something miraculous happened.

The nauseating stench seemed purified and stripped away in an instant. In its place, a faint but real "warm current" spread from his stomach, merging into his limbs and bones. This warm current was far purer and more efficient than the energy from digesting the cold meat on its own before!

It was quickly absorbed by his body, the intense hunger easing by a trace, and the weakness seeming to lessen by a fraction.

It worked! It really worked!

A startling brilliance burst from Li Yuan's eyes! It was the light of hope seeing a path to the heavens from the depths of despair!

He no longer hesitated. Like a starving beggar, yet also like the shrewdest diner, he began to "eat" quickly and silently. He shoved the cold, foul-smelling scraps into his mouth one after another, forcing them down.

Each swallow was accompanied by the faint circulation of the "Crimson Sun," extracting the most essential, meager "Food Essence" from the filth and converting it into the most basic "Crimson Sun Qi and Blood," nourishing his battered body.

This process had nothing to do with flavor—only the rawest desire for survival and growth.

He could clearly feel that with each influx of faint warm currents, his strength was recovering bit by bit. His hands and feet were no longer icy, and in his chest cavity, a faint but real heat was gathering and swirling.

When the last piece of cartilage was swallowed, Li Yuan licked the corner of his mouth with lingering satisfaction. A bit of grease still clung there, but he was oblivious.

He looked down at his still-thin palm, beneath the skin of which a hint of toughness seemed to have emerged, and gently clenched his fist.

Crack...

His knuckles let out a crisp sound, a sense of power far exceeding before contained within.

He stood up and tried walking a few steps in the room. His steps were still a bit unsteady, but no longer as ethereal as before, as if he might fall at any moment. A grounded fullness came from the soles of his feet.

He walked to the wall and looked at a blue brick used to prop up a table leg in the corner. Before, even with all his strength, he couldn't have budged it.

He took a deep breath, mobilized the faint but newborn "Crimson Sun Qi and Blood" within him, gathered it into his right fist, and then punched out fiercely!

Thump!

A dull sound. His fist struck the rough, cold blue brick, sending a jolt of pain, but it was bearable. And on that blue brick, several fine cracks had appeared on the surface! Though far from shattered, to him, this was an earth-shattering change!

Li Yuan looked at the cracks, then at his slightly reddened fist, his chest heaving violently.

Not from pain, but from excitement.

He had succeeded!

He had survived! He had found his own path! The "Crimson Sun" and Smelting were the steps by which he would climb out of this hellish abyss!

The scraps in this swill bucket were the first... insignificant yet crucial stepping stone on this path.

His gaze fell again on that filthy swill bucket, no longer with disgust, but as if looking at an untapped treasure.

"Still not enough..." he murmured to himself, his voice hoarse but carrying an unprecedented resolve, "far from enough."

He knew this was only the beginning. This meager "Food Essence" was but a drop in the bucket for his long-depleted body and the "Crimson Sun" that urgently needed to grow.

He needed more! Better! Energy-rich "fuel"!

The night deepened, and the cold wind continued. But in this dilapidated side room, a seed named "Hope" and "Power," under the illumination of that newborn "Crimson Sun," had broken through the cold, hard soil and quietly begun to sprout.