The Tribulation of Water and Fire

The gale atop Xuanming Mountain intensified in an instant.

The figure of Xue Yuheng transformed into a pale golden stream of light, merging directly into the body of Xiao Xiao, who was sitting cross-legged in meditation.

Their soul power intertwined instantly, and Xue Yuheng could clearly sense every inch of Xiao Xiao's skin and senses.

This was the combat style of Xue Yuheng, an auxiliary-type soul master; he attached himself to his teammate like a possessing spirit.

The two had experimented before: in this state of possession, all of Xiao Xiao's attributes—total soul power, attack power, speed, and physical strength—increased by nearly twofold.

The phantom of the Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldron rose slowly behind Xiao Xiao, its green light solidifying into reality.

"Xiao Xiao, focus your mind, leave the rest to me!" Xue Yuheng's voice was firm, echoing directly within Xiao Xiao's soul sea.

Xiao Xiao gritted her teeth, pouring her Innate Soul Power into her martial soul without reservation.

The cauldron's body trembled, emitting a dull hum as if resisting the impending destruction.

Xue Yuheng's palms erupted with the Golden Crow True Fire and the Xuanming Cold Qi simultaneously, slamming them one after the other onto the cauldron.

An agonizing, bone-deep pain swept through her entire body instantly. Xiao Xiao felt as if she had bitten through her own teeth, her face turning deathly pale at a visible rate, yet she did not make a sound.

The excruciating pain of the martial soul shattering felt like thousands of steel needles piercing through Xiao Xiao's limbs and bones all at once.

Xue Yuheng's expression shifted abruptly; in this state of possession, he shared this tearing agony.

"Hold on!" Xue Yuheng roared lowly, the Power of Creation surging wildly as he attempted to stabilize Xiao Xiao's collapsing soul power.

But the pain was too violent, and Xiao Xiao's soul power meridians fell into instant chaos.

Puff—

A mouthful of scalding blood sprayed from the corners of her mouth, splashing onto the bluestone in front of her and blooming like striking red plum blossoms.

"Xiao Xiao!"

Xue Yuheng's heart tightened violently. In the moment his focus wavered, the Power of Creation fluctuated intensely.

The golden stream of light turned manic, nearly spiraling out of control.

Under the tearing force of ice and fire, the phantom of the Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldron began to crack inch by inch.

Fine, dense fissures spread across the entire cauldron like a spiderweb.

With every crack that appeared, Xiao Xiao's body convulsed violently.

The shared pain left Xue Yuheng nearly suffocated as well.

"Crack... crack!"

The dense sound of shattering was piercingly sharp.

The Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldron could no longer hold on, and amidst their shared roar of pain, it exploded with a boom.

Countless cyan-gold fragments scattered in all directions, carrying violent energy.

Xiao Xiao's vision went black, and her body slumped backward, limp.

Xue Yuheng forcibly steadied his mind, separated himself from Xiao Xiao's body, and caught her tightly before she hit the ground.

This was merely the first step: shattering one's own martial soul.

"Xiao Xue... con... continue. I can do it," Xiao Xiao said weakly.

For a soul master, a martial soul is no different from a second life, and the pain of shattering it is something few can endure.

Xue Yuheng did not feed Xiao Xiao any medicinal pills; the Power of Creation was the best medicine.

The golden Power of Creation flowed through Xiao Xiao's limbs and bones like a warm current.

The meridians that had been torn by agonizing pain were repairing themselves at a visible rate.

The burning sensation on Xiao Xiao's body gradually faded, replaced by a feeling of being bathed in gentle, radiant light.

Xiao Xiao's eyelashes fluttered as she slowly opened her eyes. The remnants of pain lingered in her gaze, but it was now clearer.

She could clearly feel two distinct, restless forces within her body.

On one side was the scorching heat of the Golden Crow True Source, as if a sun were burning in her chest.

On the other was the heavy stability of the Xuanming Turtle Shell, suppressing her sea of consciousness like a deep-sea boulder.

"Xiao Xue..."

Xiao Xiao's voice was faint. Not wanting to let all their efforts go to waste, she said with resilience: "I feel... my meridians don't hurt anymore.

Continue, I can hold on."

A flash of relief crossed Xue Yuheng's eyes. He exhaled a breath of stale air and nodded in response:

"Alright."

Xue Yuheng formed hand seals once more, and the power of the Golden Crow True Source and the Xuanming Turtle Shell surged violently.

The golden flames and the deep blue cold qi intertwined completely, transforming into a rotating band of yin and yang light that coiled around the fragments of the cauldron in mid-air.

The cyan-gold fragments began to rapidly reorganize amidst the power of water and fire.

On the body of the cauldron, the scorching pattern of the Golden Crow Chasing the Sun emerged on the left, while the profound design of the Xuanwu Carrying the Mountain was engraved on the right.

Almost at the same time, the Xuanming Turtle Shell erupted with deep blue cold qi, which surged into her body through her crown chakra like a spring of ice.

Fire and water—two extreme forces—instantly detonated within the meridians of Xiao Xiao.

Ah!

Xiao Xiao's body arched violently, and the meridians that had just been repaired by the Power of Creation were once again wracked with pain even more intense than when her martial soul had shattered.

The Golden Crow True Fire burned within her blood vessels, and every inch of her skin felt as if it were being roasted over a fire.

Her skin gradually turned red, and the beads of sweat seeping from her forehead were evaporated into white mist the moment they appeared due to the high temperature.

Her internal organs felt as if they were being melted by this flame, and a thick, metallic taste of blood surged into her throat, burning her until she nearly suffocated.

On the other side, the Xuanming Cold Qi wandered between the bones of Xiao Xiao, and wherever it passed, the chill was bone-piercing.

Her blood seemed to be freezing, and a stiff, numbing sensation spread through her limbs and bones.

The forces of water and fire clashed and tore at each other crazily inside Xiao Xiao, showing no signs of merging; instead, they seemed intent on tearing her body in two.

Xiao Xiao's consciousness began to blur, her teeth chattered, and her lower lip had long since been bitten through, fresh blood dripping continuously from the corner of her mouth.

Her body trembled uncontrollably; half of her skin was scorching red, while the other half was cold and pale, two extreme states coexisting upon her.

"Xiao Xiao! Hold on! Use your soul power to control the forces of water and fire!"

Xue Yuheng's voice trembled; in this state of possession, he was also enduring this agony of ice and fire.

The Power of Creation operated frantically, forcibly guiding the water and fire forces toward the fragments of the cauldron while doing everything in his power to protect Xiao Xiao's soul sea and heart meridians.

But the forces of water and fire were too violent, far exceeding his expectations.

The unruly Golden Crow True Fire and the aloof Xuanming Cold Qi refused to merge, instead triggering a destructive catastrophe within Xiao Xiao's body.

Xiao Xiao felt as if her soul were about to be torn apart by these two forces; her vision went black, and only the crackling of flames and the shattering of ice remained in her ears.

She wanted to give up, to simply fall into a deep sleep, but the anxious face of Xue Yuheng flashed through her mind, along with her own obsession to become stronger.

"No... I cannot fail..."

She used her last ounce of strength to roar, her voice hoarse and broken, yet filled with an unyielding stubbornness.

"Xiao Xue... I... I can still hold on... continue..."

These few short words exhausted all her strength; as her voice faded, her vision went black, and she nearly fainted.

Xue Yuheng's heart tightened, and not daring to slacken in the slightest, he poured all the remaining Power of Creation into Xiao Xiao's body.

The Power of Creation acted like a patch on the various meridians of Xiao Xiao, resolving all the out-of-control water and fire forces, while her Creation Points plummeted.

It was on the verge of breaking through the two hundred points required for the first stage.

The golden flow of light acted like a sturdy dam, forcibly separating and guiding the water and fire forces toward the cauldron body that was reforming in mid-air.

Under the scouring of the water and fire forces, the cyan-gold fragments of the cauldron began to fuse rapidly.

The Golden Crow True Fire was branded onto the left side of the cauldron, transforming into the pattern of a divine bird spreading its wings to chase the sun; as the flame patterns flowed, they radiated the might to incinerate all things.

The Xuanming Cold Qi was engraved on the right side of the cauldron, transforming into the pattern of a Xuanwu turtle crouching to suppress the mountain; the ice patterns were deep and heavy, revealing the dominance to suppress the four seas.

The two patterns intertwined and collided, but under the neutralization of the Power of Creation, they gradually reached a balance.

The cauldron body continuously expanded and contracted, its three legs becoming thicker and its belly more rounded, and a majestic pressure far exceeding that of the Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldron radiated from the embryonic vessel.

The original Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldron had been reborn.

The outline of the Four Symbols Heaven-Suppressing Cauldron was clearly visible.

The legs of the cauldron were sturdier, the belly more rounded, and it faintly exuded the aura of suppressing heaven and earth.

"This is... the prototype of the Four Symbols Heaven-Suppressing Cauldron."

Xue Yuheng understood in his heart that the Golden Crow and Xuanming aspects had been condensed, leaving only the Dragon and the White Tiger.

At the very moment the new cauldron was about to fully take shape.

The sky above Xuanming Mountain suddenly darkened.

The once clear firmament was rapidly covered by thick clouds that churned and surged, their colors changing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Red-gold, deep blue, and dark purple—three-colored thunderclouds intertwined and wove together like a giant net of heaven, shrouding the entire Beicheng Mountain Range.

Within the thunderclouds, lightning flashed, and the sound of thunder was as dull as a drum, like the roar of an ancient beast, carrying the pressure to destroy heaven and earth as it pressed down fiercely toward the peak of Xuanming Mountain.

That was the Will of Heaven and Earth of the Douluo Continent, the governing law of the world.

It had sensed the birth of the Four Symbols Heaven-Suppressing Cauldron; this God Level martial soul, which fused the powers of the Golden Crow and the Xuanwu, was not meant to exist.

The three-colored thunderclouds compressed continuously, the lightning becoming increasingly violent, as if in the next second, world-ending thunder would crash down upon the two people on the peak and the newborn cauldron.

Xue Yuheng carefully laid Xiao Xiao flat on a bluestone nearby.

He looked up at the terrifying three-colored thunderclouds, his eyes dark and grim.