Flames roared inside the Jade Tide Condensing Pill Furnace.
This burning was far fiercer than the last time in the Heaven-Refining Furnace. Although Flying Fish Old Ancestor's pill furnace lacked the Heaven-Refining Furnace's wondrous powers, its fire was formed by blending fire drawn from the earth's core beneath the deep sea with the chill of cold jade. Alternating between heat and cold, it inflicted even greater torment than fire alone. Like countless tiny knives, the furnace flames found every opening, boring into every inch of Wang Quan's skin, every meridian, and every bone.
Wang Quan's body was burned to pieces again and again in the furnace flames-his flesh turned to ash, his bones shattered inch by inch, and even his organs were charred to cinders. Yet sustained by the immense vitality of the late eighth realm, his body re-formed time after time-fresh flesh grew over his bones, his meridians reconnected, and skin covered his entire body once more.
Over and over, without end.
Every destruction brought pain that pierced him to the bone; every rebirth tempered him anew, remaking flesh and bone. Beneath the flames, his newly grown muscles became denser and tougher. A faint sheen shimmered across his skin, like refined iron hammered and tempered a thousand times, smooth yet unyielding.
Amid all this destruction and rebirth, only one thing remained unchanged: the heart within his chest.
Thump-thump-thump-
That heart beat steadily and rhythmically. Every beat set the blood throughout his body flowing, carrying streams of renewed vitality into his limbs and bones. Flesh slowly grew in time with its beating, covering his bones layer by layer, as ceaselessly as a spring silkworm spinning silk.
An unknown length of time passed-
Suddenly, a clamor came from outside the furnace, mingled with sobs, pleas, and curses. It drew nearer, gradually