The fierce winds atop Xuanming Mountain suddenly grew wild.
Xue Yuheng's figure turned into a streak of pale golden light and merged directly into Xiao Xiao, who was sitting cross-legged in meditation.
Their Soul Power instantly intertwined, and Xue Yuheng clearly felt every inch of Xiao Xiao's skin and every sensation she experienced.
This was how Xue Yuheng, an auxiliary-type Soul Master, fought: by attaching himself to his teammates like a possessing spirit.
The two of them had experimented with this before. In this state, Xiao Xiao's total Soul Power, attack power, speed, physical strength, and other attributes nearly doubled.
The phantom of the Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldron slowly rose behind Xiao Xiao, its green light condensing into solid form.
"Xiao Xiao, focus. Leave the rest to me!" Xue Yuheng's determined voice rang directly through Xiao Xiao's Spirit Sea.
Xiao Xiao gritted her teeth and poured her Innate Soul Power into her Martial Soul without holding anything back.
The cauldron trembled and gave off a muffled hum, as if resisting the destruction that was about to come.
Golden Crow True Fire and Xuanming Cold Qi erupted from Xue Yuheng's palms at the same time, one on either side, and slammed hard into the cauldron.
A bone-deep pain swept through her body in an instant. Xiao Xiao felt as if her teeth were breaking from how hard she was clenching them. Her face turned deathly pale before their eyes, but she didn't make a sound.
The agony of her Martial Soul shattering was like thousands upon thousands of steel needles stabbing through every bone in her body at once.
Xue Yuheng's expression changed abruptly, too. In this state, he shared the tearing pain.
"Hold on!" Xue Yuheng growled as the Power of Creation surged wildly, trying to stabilize Xiao Xiao's dissipating Soul Power.
But the pain came too fiercely, and Xiao Xiao's Soul Power channels fell into disarray at once.
Pfft—
A mouthful of scalding blood burst from her lips and spattered across the bluestone before her, blooming like a bright red plum blossom.
"Xiao Xiao!"
Xue Yuheng's heart clenched. For an instant, his mind wavered, and the Power of Creation fluctuated violently.
The golden stream of light turned wild, nearly slipping out of control.
As the powers of ice and fire tore at it, the phantom of the Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldron began to crack apart, inch by inch.
Fine fissures spread rapidly across the entire cauldron like a spiderweb.
With every crack, Xiao Xiao's body convulsed violently.
The shared agony left Xue Yuheng nearly unable to breathe, too.
"Crack... crack!"
The dense snaps of breaking stone were painfully sharp.
The Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldron could no longer hold together. Amid the two of them crying out in shared agony, it exploded with a roar.
Countless blue-gold fragments, carrying violent energy, flew in every direction.
Xiao Xiao's vision went black, and her body slumped backward.
Xue Yuheng forced himself to steady his mind and pulled free of Xiao Xiao's body. He caught her in his arms before she hit the ground.
This was only the first step: shattering her own Martial Soul.
"Xiao Xue... c-continue. I can do this," Xiao Xiao said weakly.
To a Soul Master, a Martial Soul was no different from a second life. The pain of shattering one was more than most people could bear.
Xue Yuheng didn't feed Xiao Xiao any pills. The Power of Creation was the best medicine.
Golden Power of Creation flowed through Xiao Xiao's limbs and bones like a warm stream.
The channels that had been tearing with pain began repairing themselves at a visible speed.
The burning pain in Xiao Xiao's body gradually faded, replaced by a feeling of warmth and light.
Xiao Xiao's lashes fluttered as she slowly opened her eyes. The pain still lingered in them, but her gaze had grown clearer.
She could clearly feel two utterly different powers stirring inside her.
On one side was the heat of the Golden Crow True Source, as though a sun were burning in her chest.
On the other was the weight of the Xuanming Turtle Shell, like a rock in the deep sea pressing down on her Spirit Sea.
"Xiao Xue..."
Xiao Xiao's voice was faint. Not wanting to let all her efforts go to waste, she steeled herself and said, "I feel... my channels don't hurt anymore.
"Continue. I can take it."
A trace of relief flashed through Xue Yuheng's eyes. He let out a breath and nodded.
"All right."
Xue Yuheng formed hand seals again, and the power of the Golden Crow True Source and the Xuanming Turtle Shell surged.
The golden flames and deep-blue cold merged completely, becoming a band of light that flowed in a yin-yang pattern and wrapped around the fragments of the cauldron in midair.
The blue-gold fragments quickly reassembled amid the powers of water and fire.
On the left side of the cauldron, the blazing pattern of the Golden Crow Chasing the Sun emerged. On the right, the profound design of Xuanwu Carrying the Mountain was engraved.
Almost at the same moment, the Xuanming Turtle Shell released a wave of deep-blue cold that poured into her body through the crown of her head like an icy spring.
One force of fire and one of water, two extremes, exploded through Xiao Xiao's channels in an instant.
"Ah!"
Xiao Xiao's body arched sharply. The channels that the Power of Creation had just repaired now brought pain worse than the shattering of her Martial Soul.
Golden Crow True Fire burned through her veins. Every inch of her skin felt as though it were being roasted over a flame.
Her skin gradually reddened. The moment sweat formed on her temples, the heat vaporized it into white mist.
Her internal organs seemed about to melt in the flames. A thick, bloody taste rose in her throat, and the burning nearly suffocated her.
Meanwhile, Xuanming Cold Qi coursed through Xiao Xiao's bones, leaving bone-deep chill in its wake.
It felt as though her blood were freezing. A stiff, numb sensation spread through her limbs and bones.
The powers of water and fire collided and tore through Xiao Xiao's body with wild abandon. There was no sign of them merging; instead, they seemed ready to rip her in two.
Xiao Xiao's consciousness began to blur. Her teeth chattered, and her lower lip was already bitten open. Blood kept dripping from the corner of her mouth.
Her body trembled beyond her control. One half of her skin was red-hot, the other ice-cold and pale. Both extremes existed in her at once.
"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 suffering the agony of both ice and fire as well.
The Power of Creation surged wildly. It forcibly drew the water and fire toward the cauldron fragments while doing everything it could to protect Xiao Xiao's Spirit Sea and heart channels.
But the forces of water and fire were too violent, far beyond what he had expected.
The unruly Golden Crow True Fire and the aloof Xuanming Cold Qi refused to merge. Instead, they unleashed a calamity of destruction inside Xiao Xiao.
Xiao Xiao felt as if the two forces were tearing her soul apart. Her vision kept darkening, and all she could hear was the crackling of flames and the shattering of ice.
She wanted to give up, to drift into unconsciousness. But Xue Yuheng's anxious face flashed through her mind, along with her determination to grow stronger.
"No... I can't fail..."
She summoned the last of her strength and let out a hoarse cry. Her voice was broken and ragged, but full of stubborn defiance.
"Xiao Xue... I... I can still hold on... continue..."
Those few short words took all the strength she had. As soon as she finished speaking, her vision went black, and she nearly fainted.
Xue Yuheng's heart tightened. Daring not to slacken for even an instant, he poured all the remaining Power of Creation into Xiao Xiao's body.
The Power of Creation worked through Xiao Xiao's channels like a repairman, finding and fixing every disturbance in the forces of water and fire. His Creation Points dwindled rapidly.
They were about to reach the two hundred points required for the first stage.
The golden stream of light became a sturdy dam, forcibly separating and guiding the water and fire toward the cauldron taking shape in midair.
The blue-gold fragments rapidly fused as the forces of water and fire washed over them.
Golden Crow True Fire imprinted itself on the left side of the cauldron, forming the pattern of a divine bird spreading its wings to chase the sun. The flames rippled across it with the might to burn all things to ash.
Xuanming Cold Qi engraved itself on the right side, forming the pattern of a black tortoise crouched atop a mountain. The icy design was deep and weighty, imbued with the majesty to subdue the Four Seas.
The two patterns intertwined and clashed, but under the balancing influence of the Power of Creation, they gradually reached equilibrium.
The cauldron kept expanding and contracting. Its three legs grew sturdier, its belly rounder, and a vast pressure far greater than that of the Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldron spread out from its unfinished form.
The Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldron had been completely transformed.
The outline of the Four Symbols Heaven-Suppressing Cauldron was clearly visible.
Its legs looked sturdier, its belly rounder, and it seemed to carry the might to subdue Heaven and Earth.
"This is... the prototype of the Four Symbols Heaven-Suppressing Cauldron."
Xue Yuheng understood. They had gathered the Golden Crow and Xuanming symbols so far; the Dragon and White Tiger were still missing.
Just as the new cauldron was about to fully take shape—
The sky above Xuanming Mountain suddenly darkened.
The once-clear sky was swiftly covered by thick clouds. They rolled and surged, changing color at a visible speed.
Crimson gold, deep blue, and dark purple clouds of lightning intertwined, forming a giant net that covered the entire Beicheng Mountain Range.
Lightning flashed within the clouds. The rumble of thunder, heavy as a drumbeat, sounded like the roar of an ancient beast. With the force to destroy Heaven and Earth, it pressed down hard on the summit of Xuanming Mountain.
It was the Will of Heaven and Earth of the Douluo Continent, the laws governing the world.
It had sensed the birth of the Four Symbols Heaven-Suppressing Cauldron. This God-Level Martial Soul, infused with the powers of the Golden Crow and the Black Tortoise, was not supposed to exist.
The three-colored thunderclouds continued to compress, the lightning growing ever more violent. It seemed that in the next instant, a world-ending thunderbolt would crash down upon the two people on the mountaintop and the newly born cauldron.
Xue Yuheng carefully laid Xiao Xiao down on the bluestone nearby.
He looked up at the terrifying three-colored thunderclouds, his expression dark.
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