Hurricane Body Tempering, Unleashing His Talent

"Uh... Old Feng... what are you going to do...? Could you act normal? You're scaring me."

Xue Mingqing rubbed his arms and instinctively shuddered. He took half a step back, feeling that whatever Feng Qingyang was about to do probably wouldn't be very pleasant for him.

Seeing this, Feng Qingyang gave a carefree laugh.

"Hahaha, it's nothing much. I'll simply channel my power into your body to cleanse your meridians, completely purge the impurities inside you, and bring your talent out to its fullest potential."

"If it works, your talent should reach the level of Innate Full Soul Power, and your Soul Power cultivation should reach level ten."

"But there's a price: it'll be very painful."

After a moment's silence, Xue Mingqing raised his eyes to Feng Qingyang.

"Is there a chance it could fail? What are the approximate odds, and what would the consequences be?"

Feng Qingyang raised an eyebrow and shook his head with his hands behind his back.

"As long as you can endure it, there's no chance of failure. Even if you can't take it and we have to stop, the tempering will simply be less effective. It won't endanger your life or your talent."

After hearing the risks, Xue Mingqing lowered his gaze and began to think.

Seeing this, Feng Qingyang didn't disturb his thoughts. He let the boy stand there, contemplating amid the snow drifting down all around them.

If you wanted to grow and become stronger, pain was the best whetstone.

That had been true since time immemorial. If Xue Mingqing couldn't endure it, then even with all his strength, Feng Qingyang could only help him through a few difficulties.

If that was the case, Xue Mingqing would never achieve anything great, nor could he fulfill his grand ambition of sweeping every evil from the land.

Wasn't that right?

After a brief silence, Xue Mingqing finally raised his head. He looked at Feng Qingyang, who had his eyes closed in quiet repose. All that remained in his gaze was a steadfast determination to grow strong.

"Have you made up your mind?"

Sensing Xue Mingqing's gaze, Feng Qingyang opened his eyes and met it.

Xue Mingqing nodded. "I have, Old Feng. Please help me temper my body. I want to become stronger. I want the power to make everyone listen to reason, whether they like it or not!"

This was the worst of times: darkness ran deep, the nobles bled the people dry, and simply staying alive was the greatest achievement an ordinary person could hope for.

And yet—

This was also the best of times. As long as you had power, as long as your fists were harder than everyone else's, whatever you said became the truth.

Xue Mingqing had never been a saint who considered world peace his responsibility.

He was just an ordinary man, but...

The blood feud with the Evil Soul Master who had slaughtered his village was one he could never leave unavenged.

Even if revenge was his only reason, he still had to gain great power. To achieve his goal, a little pain was no more than snow drifting through the sky...

It couldn't block his resolve, and it couldn't stop his will.

Seeing the resilience and defiance in Xue Mingqing's eyes, Feng Qingyang shook his head and chuckled.

"It's that very nature of yours that made me take an interest in you. You avenge your grudges and fear no danger."

"Heh, you're growing more and more to my liking."

"Come on, get ready. All you need is a wooden tub filled with water. Leave the rest to me."

Xue Mingqing nodded, turned around, and went to prepare a tub full of water.

Once everything was ready—

"Old Feng, what do I do now?"

Feng Qingyang glanced at Xue Mingqing, then raised a hand and slapped a silk handkerchief over his face.

"Wrap it around a wooden stick and bite down. I don't want you breaking your teeth when the pain hits."

At that, Xue Mingqing shuddered, but he still found a wooden stick, wrapped it in the handkerchief, and put it in his mouth.

Pointing at the tub, Feng Qingyang spoke in a cool voice.

"Take off all your clothes and get in."

Since they were both men, Xue Mingqing had nothing to hide. He promptly stripped and climbed into the tub.

Immersed in water cold enough to chill an ordinary person to the bone, Xue Mingqing felt no discomfort at all. If anything, he felt a trace of relief.

After all, his Martial Soul was ice-and-snow based. A cold environment couldn't hurt him.

"Are you ready?"

Feng Qingyang's seductive voice sounded behind him.

Eyes closed and teeth clenched around the wooden stick, Xue Mingqing nodded.

"Heh... then let's begin!"

With a low shout, Feng Qingyang raised his hand and pressed it against Xue Mingqing's back.

In an instant, vast, surging spiritual power became a teal-green hurricane. It poured from Feng Qingyang's palm straight into Xue Mingqing's body!

"Kh—?!"

Xue Mingqing jerked his head back, his eyes widening to their limits!

Under the onslaught of the teal-green hurricane, his entire body—every inch of skin, even every strand of hair—turned teal green!

Seated cross-legged in the tub, Xue Mingqing felt as though he'd become a kite trapped in a storm.

All he could do was passively endure the razor-sharp hurricane as it swept through every meridian and every inch of flesh inside him...

Imagine a biting cold wind, one that could sting your cheeks, being forced straight into your body without any protection, then whirling around your internal organs and slicing them to pieces!

You couldn't die, but the pain never let up. That was what Xue Mingqing was enduring now!

"Ugh...!"

Xue Mingqing groaned in pain, his eyes bloodshot. His once-gentle, refined face was now twisted with agony, blue veins bulging across it!

The pain was too intense, far beyond what he'd expected. He was about to lose his grip!

"Clear your mind and focus. Use your Soul Power to protect your consciousness."

Feng Qingyang's timely reminder—

Feng Qingyang's words brought a little clarity back to Xue Mingqing's consciousness, which had been on the verge of collapse.

He closed his eyes, clamped down on the wooden stick, and gripped the edge of the tub so hard that veins stood out on the backs of his hands.

He circulated his Soul Power to steady his mind, forcing himself to resist the agony of the tempering.

Seeing this, Feng Qingyang raised an eyebrow. The hand he'd lifted to ease Xue Mingqing's pain quietly retreated behind his back.

He was growing fonder of the boy by the minute.

At the same time, he was curious whether the boy could endure this wave of pain on his own.

After all...

An opportunity was only an opportunity if you fought for it yourself. If you could get it without pain or hardship from beginning to end,

that wasn't an opportunity. That was a meal spoon-fed to you.

Feng Qingyang steadied his mind. The hand pressed against Xue Mingqing's back grew even more teal green.

He had plainly increased the intensity of the Hurricane Body Tempering!

"Kh—?!"

Xue Mingqing's pupils contracted. Feeling the pain in his body suddenly intensify, he desperately wanted to look back at Feng Qingyang.

But—

The pain was so severe that he couldn't even turn his head.

And Feng Qingyang?

As he increased the intensity of the tempering behind Xue Mingqing, the corner of his mouth curled into a mischievous smile.

It was true that he valued talent and cherished the boy, but the more he valued him, the less he was willing to go easy on him.

Because—

Only the heaviest suffering could forge the sharpest sword. He, too, had once gone through the same ordeal.

As time passed, a thin layer of grime gradually surfaced on Xue Mingqing's skin.

These were the impurities clogging his meridians and slowing his cultivation.

As the impurities were expelled, Xue Mingqing's Soul Power climbed steadily, one level at a time.

From level eight to level nine, then from level nine to level ten.

At last, it stopped just before the level-ten bottleneck.

But by now, both Feng Qingyang and Xue Mingqing could feel that the total amount of Soul Power within him was still increasing.

He simply couldn't rise to the next level without a Soul Ring.

With his face deathly pale, Xue Mingqing spoke hoarsely.

"Old Feng... I have a guess..."

The most troublesome impurities had been expelled, and the pain had eased considerably. Xue Mingqing could bear it now—he could even speak.

Feng Qingyang raised an eyebrow. "Let's hear it."

By now, a large portion of his spiritual power had been transformed into Hurricane Force, leaving his soul form somewhat more transparent.

Xue Mingqing didn't notice the change in Feng Qingyang. He hadn't even turned around.

His throat dry and raspy, Xue Mingqing spoke.

"I wonder... could it be that, in the beginning, everyone in this world had Innate Full Soul Power?"