Attempt

The night was as black as ink, and all was silent.

Inside the private dormitory Eastsea Academy had arranged for the Zero Class students, Situ Xuan sat cross-legged on his hard bed, his aura deep and still.

Pale moonlight filtered through the window lattice, casting a cold silver edge over him, yet it could not dispel the faint Malevolent Qi and determination gathered between his brows.

The exhilarating slaughter on the Spirit Ascension Platform during the day, the insights gained at the brink of life and death, and the qualitative change brought by the initial fusion of Malevolent Qi and Soul Power smoldered within him like dying embers, urging him to explore a deeper integration of power.

Within his mind, the methods for wielding two utterly different powers clashed fiercely as he attempted to merge them.

One was the profound secret of Fist of the North Star—the Dragon-Turning Breathing Method.

This method was profound and mysterious. It used breathing to stir the latent energy within the body, commune with Heaven and Earth Essence, turn death into life, and awaken potential through extreme exertion. It also contained the wondrous realm of perceiving the first move and grasping the source of "cause."

Its energy circulated like the dragon veins of the earth, vast and heavy, endlessly vital, leaning toward "righteousness" and "life."

The other was the demonic art from The Legend of Rainbow Cat and Blue Rabbit—the cultivation method of the Black Heart Evil Palm.

This art was tyrannical and ruthless, taking an extreme path. It used intense emotions to draw upon the vicious and baleful energies between heaven and earth, refining them into the body. Once unleashed, its Malevolent Qi would surge to the skies, corroding bones and devouring souls. Its power was astonishing, but it could easily backlash upon the mind, leaning toward "Malevolence" and "death."

During the battle that day, at the critical moment between life and death, he had inadvertently drawn upon the Malevolent Qi of heaven and earth to empower himself. It had even shown signs of initially merging with the Soul Power driven by the Dragon-Turning Breathing Method, allowing him to unleash combat strength far beyond his usual limits.

That realization of yin and yang, motion and stillness, life and death transforming into one another and achieving each other showed him the possibility of thoroughly integrating these two seemingly opposing powers.

If he succeeded, his strength would undergo a qualitative leap!

"Breathe... in..."

Situ Xuan adjusted his breathing, attempting to use the rhythm of the Dragon-Turning Breathing Method to guide and tame the vicious baleful energy hidden within his limbs and bones, and deeper still, within the origin of his soul.

The pale golden Soul Power generated by the Dragon-Turning Breathing Method flowed slowly along specific meridians like a gentle stream. Wherever it passed, it nourished the subtle hidden injuries left by the fierce battle that day, bringing waves of comfort.

However, when he tried to merge a thread of pitch-black Malevolent Qi produced by the Black Heart Evil Palm into that pale golden stream, a sudden change occurred!

"Buzz—!"

The formerly docile pale golden Soul Power abruptly became restless, as though it had encountered its natural enemy. It accelerated on its own, resisting the Malevolent Qi's integration.

That thread of pitch-black Malevolent Qi was even more unruly. Like thick ink dropped into clear water, it not only refused to merge but churned violently, radiating cold, deathly, all-corroding malice as it tried to contaminate and assimilate the pale golden Soul Power instead.

The two powers collided violently within his meridians, as incompatible as fire and water!

"Urgh!"

Situ Xuan let out a muffled groan, and fine cold sweat instantly seeped across his forehead. Needle-like pain shot through his meridians, while his blood and qi roiled in his chest. A violent, irritable emotion surged uncontrollably into his heart, and visions of mountains of corpses and seas of blood flashed before his eyes.

He forcibly suppressed his discomfort, focused his mind, and tried to reconcile them with even greater willpower.

He pushed the Dragon-Turning Breathing Method to its limit, attempting to use its intent of "turning death into life" to contain and transform the Malevolent Qi.

The pale golden soul light slightly suppressed the Malevolent Qi's agitation, but the two remained clearly distinct, like oil and water. They seemed calm on the surface, yet they simply could not truly fuse into one.

Whenever they neared the threshold of fusion, an invisible barrier always emerged. Either the "life" intent of the Dragon-Turning Breathing Method instinctively rejected the "death" Malevolent Qi, or the vicious aura of the Black Heart Evil Palm stubbornly maintained its own purity and destructive nature.

"Still no good..."

After several failed attempts, Situ Xuan slowly opened his eyes. A trace of exhaustion and barely perceptible impatience flashed through his deep pupils. He spread his palm and looked at the skin there, slightly reddened from the conflict of powers, with tiny streaks of blood faintly seeping through.

Under the moonlight, his face looked somewhat pale.

He recalled the wondrous state of First of the First during the daytime battle—the realm in which he saw through everything and grasped the source of "cause."

Perhaps the problem did not lie with the powers themselves, but with the "heart" and "intent" used to control them?

At that time, his mind had been free of distractions. There had been only battle intent and the instinct to survive. In that state of absolute purity, Malevolent Qi and Soul Power had instead found a subtle point of balance, allowing them to coexist briefly and even complement each other.

But now, he was deliberately pursuing fusion. With an "obsession" in his heart, he had instead fallen short and could no longer recreate that natural state.

"The conflict between cultivation methods may have its root in the heart."

Situ Xuan seemed to gain some insight. The Dragon-Turning Breathing Method required a clear mind and a will like steel, while the Black Heart Evil Palm required a heart filled with violent resentment and Malevolent Qi soaring to the heavens.

How could two entirely different states of mind work together as one wished...

Situ Xuan temporarily suppressed the urge to force a fusion. He steadied his mind and instead focused on circulating the Black Heart Evil Palm's cultivation method.

The instant he activated it, the sluggish struggle from his previous attempts at fusion vanished completely, replaced by an overwhelming sense of smoothness.

The Malevolent Qi and bloody aura left behind by the day's slaughter, even the ferocity and battle intent awakened deep within his heart, all became the finest nourishment for this demonic art.

"Buzz—"

The air around him distorted slightly. Thread after thread of black airflow, invisible to the naked eye, gathered from the void. Carrying a cold and deathly aura, they entered his body through every pore.

Within his meridians, the Soul Power that had been somewhat sluggish due to the conflict now seemed to have been injected with a violent catalyst. It swiftly transformed into pitch-black Malevolent Qi energy with intense corrosive properties. As it surged through him, it produced a deep, low howl.

Wherever this Malevolent Qi passed, it brought none of the previous needle-like pain. Instead, it gave him a feeling of utter exhilaration, like a fish returning to water.

Those subtle hidden injuries left by the battle that day were forcibly crushed over and covered by this destructive energy, temporarily "smoothed out" in a tyrannical manner. Yet that smoothing carried an almost destructive quality. If Situ Xuan's body had not been tempered many times by the Dragon-Turning Breathing Method and Soul Power, he likely would have injured himself first.

His Soul Power Level rose at a clearly perceptible rate amid this smooth circulation.

The enormous expenditure from the great battle was not only rapidly replenished, but he also faintly began charging toward the bottleneck of level seventeen.

Yet alongside the increase in power came impulses of violence, slaughter, and destruction that continuously bred within the depths of his heart.

The scenes of mountains of corpses and seas of blood on the Spirit Ascension Platform flashed before his eyes once more—the exploding blood mist of the Bloodthirsty Demon Rat, the twisted face of the wailing Earth-Shaking Giant Ape, the cold vertical pupils of the Seven-Colored Poisonous Miasma Python...