Guardian, Cultivating the Great Sun Burning Heaven Seal

Inner Academy, Moon Spirit residence.

Qin Han's figure descended silently. He walked to the pavilion where Han Yue was staying, but his Soul Power detected no trace of her presence.

"Where is Han Yue?"

He stopped a female student who was walking out of the pavilion and asked.

When the female student saw Qin Han, her eyes lit up. She hurriedly replied, "Qin Senior! Sister Yue said she had a sudden insight and that the opportunity for a breakthrough had arrived. She couldn't wait for you to return, so she went into seclusion in the Back Mountain yesterday."

"The Back Mountain..."

Qin Han nodded. That was indeed her style—decisive and swift. "I understand."

Jia Nan Academy's Back Mountain was far from an ordinary academy's rear garden.

It was a true primordial mountain range, said to cover an area ten times that of the academy itself.

Ancient trees towered within it, magical beasts roamed freely, and Poisonous Swamps and Cliff Valleys could be found everywhere. Many unknown ancient ruins and Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures were also hidden there.

Existences like the Snow Demon Heavenly Ape were not uncommon in the depths of the mountain range.

It was simply that ordinary students lacked the ability to provoke them.

On the northwestern edge of the mountain range lay an exceptionally unique area: Cold Creek.

The mountains here were shrouded beneath clouds all year round, and the accumulated snow never melted. The deeper one went, the more intense the cold became. At the Core Region, there was even Myriad Years Profound Ice that would never thaw.

The cold was fierce enough to freeze an ordinary Dou Ling's Dou Qi, but for those cultivating ice- or water-attributed Cultivation Methods, it was an excellent place to train.

Qin Han had originally discovered this place by chance while searching for beast fire. After returning, he had told her its location.

From then on, this became Han Yue's preferred place whenever she faced an important breakthrough.

Familiar with the route, Qin Han swept past several frozen waterfalls and Glacier Fissures before arriving at the Core Region of the Cold Domain.

This was a tranquil valley surrounded by crystalline ice walls. At the valley floor was a bottomless Cold Pool. Its surface was not frozen, yet white cold mist continuously rose from it.

At the edge of the Cold Pool, Han Yue sat cross-legged atop a massive piece of mirror-smooth profound ice.

Her eyes were tightly shut, tiny ice crystals condensed upon her long lashes, and dense silver cold mist lingered around her body.

With every breath she took, the cold mist was continuously drawn up from the Cold Pool and absorbed into her body.

Her aura was slowly rising and strengthening with a steady, powerful rhythm. She seemed only one final push away from breaking through that barrier.

Qin Han did not disturb her. He merely watched from afar, and after confirming that her condition was stable, he turned and set up a semi-transparent Flame Barrier at the valley entrance, sealing off the entire entrance to the valley.

Only after finishing this did he leave the valley and arrive at the outer area, where he sat down cross-legged.

With a flick of his wrist, a dark-red scroll appeared in his palm.

As he unfurled it, a scorching and ancient stream of information instantly flooded Qin Han's mind.

The Great Sun Burning Heaven Seal draws upon the essence of the resplendent great sun, gathering the might of myriad flames that burn the heavens...

Those without the utmost refined and pure control over flames, and whose Physical Body and soul are not sufficiently resilient, must not cultivate it lightly, lest they suffer its backlash...

According to the scroll, the Great Sun Burning Heaven Seal was divided into three stages: Fire Seal Initial Condensation, Burning Heaven Momentum, and Great Sun Descending.

Once cultivated to completion, it could form an enormous Flame Square Seal like a scorching sun, radiating boundless light. When it descended to suppress its target, it was like a great sun falling upon the world, incinerating the Eight Desolations.

At full power, it possessed the ability to burn mountains and boil seas...

"Good stuff!"

A sharp glint flashed through Qin Han's eyes, and he could not help praising it once more.

He calmed himself and carefully studied the specific method for the first stage, "Fire Seal Initial Condensation."

It involved the complex circulation routes of Dou Qi through dozens of specific Meridians, as well as the Soul Power needed to finely sculpt the shape of the flames. The difficulty was extremely high.

"I'll try it first."

Qin Han held his breath and focused his mind, mobilizing the Qi Whirlpool in his Dantian. Pure fire-attributed Dou Qi began circulating according to the method described in the scroll.

At the same time, he split off a thread of Soul Power and attempted to guide the Dou Qi into outlining the first basic flame Rune above his right palm.

Buzz...

Just as the Dou Qi began to gather, a violent scorching backlash suddenly exploded from his palm!

The Dou Qi that had been forcibly compressed in an attempt to form the Rune instantly lost control, rampaging through his Meridians like a crazed Fire Beast.

"Pfft—"

Qin Han let out a muffled groan, his face flushing red. He hurriedly dispersed the Dou Qi by force and suppressed his churning Qi and Blood.

His first attempt had failed.

"Again!"

Without waiting for the injury in his palm to recover, he immediately began a second attempt. This time, he was even more careful. His Soul Power was completely focused, and he strove to keep the Dou Qi output steady.

Failed.

The third attempt also failed.

On the tenth attempt, the skin on his palm had been burned several times, and he had expended a considerable amount of battle qi.

By the thirtieth attempt, he had finally managed to keep the battle qi running along the Rune trajectory for part of the way before it collapsed again.

The fiftieth attempt...

Time slipped quietly away amid repeated failures.

Qin Han lost himself completely, wholly immersed in cultivation.

His clothes were soaked through with sweat, only to be instantly dried by the heat radiating from his body, over and over again. His palms were even more of a mess, blackened burns alternating with fresh tender skin.

He constantly adjusted the intensity of his battle qi output, the force of his soul guidance, and the rhythm of tracing the Runes. Every failure deepened his understanding of "Fire Seal Initial Condensation" by another degree.

When the hundredth attempt began, Qin Han's gaze had already become calm and still.

His battle qi flowed smoothly and naturally. Above his right palm, a three-dimensional phantom composed of countless tiny flame Runes was slowly and painstakingly taking shape!

Though the phantom was small, it radiated a palpitating fluctuation.

Even the surrounding chill seemed to have been driven back somewhat, and the surface of the icy rocks had begun to melt.

A surge of wild joy rose in Qin Han's heart. Once the final few crucial nodes were connected, the Fire Seal would be fully condensed!

Pfft—!

At that most critical moment, a crisp laugh brimming with mockery suddenly came from directly above him!

"Idiot! It takes you this long to form one little hand seal!"

Qin Han's concentration faltered, and the already unstable phantom of flame Runes burst apart with a soft pop.

His face darkened as he looked up.

"Brute! Force! King!"

Qin Han ground out the words through clenched teeth.

Following that familiar, infuriating laughter, he abruptly raised his head. The next instant, every expression on his face froze, and his eyes widened uncontrollably.

Sitting sideways on the branch of an ice pine was no longer that small, delicate little girl.

It was a... young woman.

She looked around seventeen or eighteen, with a slender, graceful figure. Even sitting casually, her astonishing proportions and curves were impossible to miss.

A simple purple dress wrapped around her budding youthful body, revealing straight, well-proportioned calves beneath its hem.

Looking higher, there was a breathtakingly beautiful face that made even the surrounding ice and snow pale in comparison.

Every one of her delicate features was perfectly placed, combining into a beauty that was both noble and lively.

Those signature amethyst eyes were still clear and bright, though their shape had grown slightly longer.

As her gaze shifted, there was less of a child's innocence and more of a young woman's cleverness and vivacity.

At that moment, those beautiful eyes curved into crescents, her long lashes fluttering, filled with undisguised teasing and amusement.

"You..."

"You successfully transformed??"