"So terrifying?"
Feeling the Dou Qi around him surge into his body, Shen Shihuang froze for a moment. Though the upgraded Ten Thousand Year Technique was a middle-tier Earth-rank cultivation method, this transformation still left him in awe.
The change was far greater than when it had been at the beginner level.
The Dou Qi within him was like a surging river, flowing ceaselessly into his meridians.
Of course, this was only a change in how the cultivation method operated. He still did not know what the method itself had truly become.
As the cultivation method circulated, Shen Shihuang's aura grew ever more ethereal. Earth Fiend, who was sitting cross-legged nearby, sensed it and looked at Shen Shihuang in surprise.
Seeing this, Zi Yan
asked, "What's wrong?"
Earth Fiend looked puzzled. "His aura seems different from an ordinary person's. It's almost as if he doesn't exist."
Zi Yan indicated that she didn't understand. She carefully watched her surroundings, then took out a medicinal herb and crunched on it.
Seeing Zi Yan's behavior,
Earth Fiend also froze for a moment.
She was just going to eat it like that?
He had spent who knew how long in the abyss. When had he ever eaten anything? Watching Zi Yan enjoy her snack, Earth Fiend couldn't help asking, "Do you have any more?"
At that,
Zi Yan eyed Earth Fiend warily.
"What do you want?"
Earth Fiend looked awkward. "I've never eaten anything before..."
Thinking of the place Earth Fiend had been trapped, Zi Yan reluctantly took out a fruit and tossed it to him. "This is the only fruit I have left."
After catching it,
Earth Fiend said to Zi Yan, "Don't worry. I know plenty of good places with lots of medicinal herbs. I'll take you there later."
Hearing that,
Zi Yan, who had been a little unhappy, instantly brightened.
"You said it! You can't take it back!"
And so,
right in front of Heng General, the two of them sat there munching on medicinal herbs.
Heng General: "...!"
At that moment,
Shen Shihuang felt that his Dou Qi was already brimming over. His capacity for Dou Qi was who knew how many times greater than before.
"Ten Thousand Year Boundless Technique."
By now,
Shen Shihuang finally understood what Wu Ci had meant. The Ten Thousand Year Technique within his body had completely fused with the power of the Taisui Flame.
What delighted Shen Shihuang most was that
the Taisui Flame
had actually opened up a unique space inside his body.
"The Taisui Flame's mysteries are still beyond me."
"But now..."
Shen Shihuang looked at the Sea Heart Flame floating before him and slowly reached out. His hand sank into the flame, seized it, and grasped the Origin Flame Seed of the Sea Heart Flame.
"This unique space can hold another Heavenly Flame!"
Naturally, Shen Shihuang had long yearned to wield multiple Heavenly Flames.
Now,
the Taisui Flame had made that possible.
He sent the Sea Heart Flame's Origin Flame Seed into his mouth. In an instant, he felt flames sear his entire body, and excruciating pain struck at once.
"Ah~~~~~~~~~!"
Shen Shihuang couldn't help but let out a low roar.
Around him, azure flames surged, forming a gigantic cocoon of fire.
"Is that a Heavenly Flame?"
Hearing Shen Shihuang's cry, Earth Fiend, Zi Yan, and the others immediately gathered around.
As expected of a being left behind from ancient times,
Earth Fiend recognized the azure flames at a glance.
"The Sea Heart Flame?"
Earth Fiend's expression changed. "Has he gone mad? He already has a mysterious Heavenly Flame, and now he's trying to devour the Sea Heart Flame too?"
Zi Yan didn't understand.
She looked at Earth Fiend curiously. "Is that not allowed?"
Earth Fiend said gravely, "Heavenly Flames are the most violent things in the world. Just possessing one is already an incredible stroke of fortune. Since ancient times, who knows how many alchemists have been reduced to ashes trying to absorb a single Heavenly Flame, let alone a second."
"It's no different from courting death."
Heng General snorted from the side.
Zi Yan looked at the azure cocoon of fire. "But I can tell Old Shen is doing just fine!"
Earth Fiend sensed the situation.
His expression tightened.
What the hell?!
That could actually work?
Because he could sense it too: Shen Shihuang's condition wasn't worsening. If anything, he was gradually growing stronger.
"This..."
The azure cocoon quickly drew back, revealing Shen Shihuang within. Azure flames now wreathed his entire body, and even stranger,
black flames flickered within the azure ones from time to time.
Earth Fiend suddenly understood.
He drew a deep breath. "No wonder. A flame that could torment me for countless years couldn't possibly be an ordinary Heavenly Flame."
Shen Shihuang was in excellent condition.
In fact,
he felt as if he were bathing in the warm sunlight.
The pain had lasted only an instant.
"Sea Heart Flame!"
Shen Shihuang opened his eyes, and the Sea Heart Flame immediately appeared in his hand.
"Now, let's fuse them!"
Having absorbed the Sea Heart Flame, he could now use the energy of its Origin Flame Seed to fuse it with the Taisui Flame.
The Taisui Flame appeared in his other hand.
He slowly brought them together.
The moment they touched, the Taisui Flame acted as though it had spotted a delicious meal. Its flames stretched out like hands and engulfed the Sea Heart Flame.
Boom!!
As the two flames fused, the ground around Shen Shihuang was forced down three finger-widths.
Terrifying power radiated from Shen Shihuang's body.
The fusion happened very quickly.
The once lively Sea Heart Flame grew listless in Shen Shihuang's hand. That was because the energy of its Origin Flame Seed had been stripped away. It would recover on its own after some time.
After a flash of azure passed through the Taisui Flame, it turned pitch-black once more.
After putting away the Taisui Flame and the Sea Heart Flame, Shen Shihuang chose not to keep advancing. Now that the Taisui Flame had fused with the Sea Heart Flame, it could naturally feed its power back to him. But he had only just advanced to Four-Star Dou Zong. If he kept breaking through,
his Dou Qi would probably become unstable. He suppressed the temptation to let the Taisui Flame advance for now.
With the Taisui Flame in his hands, he could choose when to break through.
"Three high-tier Earth-rank Dou Techniques!"
Shen Shihuang waved his hand, and three scrolls appeared before him.
The Dou Techniques recorded on the scrolls were those of Heaven Eye Pupil Elder and the other two.
"High-tier Earth-rank Dou Technique: Heaven-Eye Demon-Slaying Light."
"Cultivate a pair of eyes. Once mastered, they can destroy anything they see."
Shen Shihuang had seen Heaven Eye Pupil Elder use it. It really was terrifying.
"High-tier Earth-rank Dou Technique: Sword Gang."
"Everything becomes a sword; tear the heavens and split the earth."
This was Gai Shentong's Dou Technique.
But
Shen Shihuang realized that he didn't use a sword!
If he cultivated this Dou Technique, he would first need to prepare a sword.
"If only the Dou Techniques I acquired were as familiar to me as the ones rewarded by the system." Shen Shihuang thought regretfully. The Dou Techniques given by the system felt as if he had known them from birth and merely forgotten them, only to remember them later. He didn't need to cultivate them.
But the Dou Techniques he acquired himself
were ones he had to cultivate slowly.
"High-tier Earth-rank Dou Technique: Wild Prison Heaven-King Force!"
The last one
was the one Chu Shanwang had given him.
Compared with the first two Dou Techniques, Shen Shihuang felt that the Wild Prison Heaven-King Force suited him better.
The first two were pure offensive Dou Techniques, but the Wild Prison Heaven-King Force was a body-tempering Dou Technique.
A very rare kind of Dou Technique.