Ultimate Fire and Ultimate Ice, Cultivation Breaks Through to Level Twenty-Seven

Ice and fire—two utterly opposed powers—rampaged through their bodies, like two savage beasts that had broken free of their shackles.

"Qinglian... I... I'm so cold..."

Shui Bing'er's voice trembled. Her lips had turned blue, and every breath she exhaled condensed into white mist.

A thin layer of ice crystals clung to her lashes, and even the ends of her blue hair had begun to freeze.

"Hold my hand... Don't let go."

Li Qinglian forced out the words through gritted teeth, yet his own skin was burning red.

The air around him rippled from the intense heat, and sweat evaporated into white vapor the instant it appeared.

Their hands were clasped tightly together.

The energies of ice and fire began to flow along the point of contact between their palms.

The excess power of flame within Li Qinglian surged through his meridians into Shui Bing'er, helping her dissolve the overly pure extreme cold of the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass.

The surplus power of frost inside Shui Bing'er flowed in the opposite direction into Li Qinglian, cooling and buffering the energy of the Blazing Apricot Delicate Herb that was on the verge of burning everything to ash.

In and out, back and forth—the two ultimate energies formed a dynamic closed loop between them.

But it still wasn't enough.

The point of contact between their clasped hands was too narrow. The energy flowing through it was far from able to keep up with the ferocity running wild inside their bodies.

"Sister Bing'er."

Li Qinglian suddenly stepped forward, spread his arms, and pulled Shui Bing'er tightly into his embrace.

Shui Bing'er's body stiffened, but in the next instant, she hugged him back without hesitation. Her face pressed against his chest, her hands locking around his back.

Their bodies fitted together without the slightest gap, and the energies of ice and fire finally found the largest possible channel for exchange.

Heart beat against heart.

Soul power circulated through their bodies along the same path, again and again.

You within me, me within you.

Their soul power surged through each other's meridians, merging, fusing, reconstructing, gradually no longer two separate forces but one complete river of energy flowing in blue and red.

The illusory figures of a Phoenix and an Ice Phoenix circled above their heads, interweaving and entwining.

Head to tail, wings overlapping, they formed a perfect taiji diagram of yin and yang.

Li Qinglian felt the energy of the Blazing Apricot Delicate Herb being tamed.

That violent flame that had once seemed ready to burn everything to nothing gradually settled under the balance of the gentle chill Shui Bing'er continuously poured into him, seeping into every inch of his meridians, every bone, every node of soul power.

The flames of his Phoenix Martial Soul began to transform from their original golden-red into a purer, deeper scarlet-gold.

That was the sign of Ultimate Fire!

Shui Bing'er was transforming as well.

The blue-ice hue of her Ice Phoenix Martial Soul began shifting toward an almost transparent crystalline color. Its chill was no longer merely cold, but carried a killing intent so pure it had reached the extreme.

Ultimate Ice!

Who knew how much time passed.

Li Qinglian slowly opened his eyes.

Deep within his pupils, a glimmer of scarlet-gold fire flashed past, then immediately receded.

The burning, searing pain all over his body had already faded, replaced by a clarity he had never felt before.

"Did we finally succeed? Looks like everything was exactly as I expected..."

He lowered his head and glanced at Shui Bing'er in his arms.

The girl was curled against his chest, her blue hair scattered messily over his arm, and the deathly pallor from before had returned to a healthy flush.

Her long lashes trembled softly, then slowly lifted.

"Qinglian..."

She called his name softly. Her voice was a little hoarse, but there was a smile in it.

"Did we... make it?"

Li Qinglian sensed the flow of soul power inside him. Phoenix fire appeared in his palm once more.

The flame was scarlet-gold, clear as glass. Not only was its temperature a level higher than before, it also carried an ultimate sense of purity.

He gently closed his hand, and the flame drew in, clean and pure, without the slightest impurity.

"We did."

He lowered his head to look at Shui Bing'er, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.

"Ultimate Fire. Ultimate Ice."

Shui Bing'er froze for a moment, then her smile bloomed.

In this era, research into ultimate attributes had not yet reached the level it would in the age of the Peerless Tang Sect ten thousand years later.

But ultimate attributes were easy to understand.

Ultimate flame. Ultimate frost.

Shui Bing'er could not help hugging Li Qinglian even tighter.

But in the next instant, Shui Bing'er and Li Qinglian both realized something was wrong.

"Ah!"

No matter how cool Shui Bing'er's temperament was, she was still only a young girl in the first bloom of youth.

This scene struck Shui Bing'er far too deeply.

Shui Bing'er's legs were wrapped tightly around Li Qinglian's waist, her arms looped around the young man's neck, her entire body pressed snugly against his.

And the clothes on both the boy and the girl had long since been shredded by the vast surge of energy.

Realizing that she was hanging naked from Li Qinglian's body, and hugging him so tightly at that, Shui Bing'er was so ashamed and furious she wished she could just faint on the spot!

In truth, Li Qinglian was even more embarrassed than Shui Bing'er!

This was the second time he had seen a girl's body. The last time had been in Hunting Soul Forest, when he had seen Huo Wu.

"Whew!"

Li Qinglian was speechless at himself.

As a soul master deeply corroded by the Phoenix Evil Fire, why did he keep getting made to see scenes like this?

How was his heart supposed to stay calm?

"Pfft."

Shui Bing'er had put her clothes back on.

Originally, she had been so embarrassed she did not know how to face Li Qinglian.

But when she saw Li Qinglian sitting in meditation like an old monk entering trance, she could not help bursting into laughter.

"Little brother Qinglian, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to."

Shui Bing'er was both embarrassed and amused.

Seeing how uncomfortable Li Qinglian looked, she stuck out her little tongue and hurriedly apologized.

"Don't tell me this is your first time seeing a girl's body."

Li Qinglian rolled his eyes and said nothing.

Once girls started acting shameless, boys simply could not compare.

"My cultivation broke through to rank twenty-seven. Not bad, I suppose."

Li Qinglian examined his own body.

After all, in essence, he had still relied on the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass to suppress the Blazing Apricot Delicate Herb.

It was not to the point where, like Tang San, he had absorbed almost none of the medicinal power, but it had still caused part of that medicinal power to be consumed.

"Though the increase in cultivation was a little low, my flame evolved into Ultimate Fire. That's more valuable than any cultivation increase!"

Li Qinglian was already more than satisfied.

This was an ultimate attribute!

Even tens of thousands of years later, it was still standard issue for the top-tier monsters.

Placed in this era, it was practically a dimensional strike!

Ultimate soul masters were existences capable of clashing head-on with Evil Soul Masters!

An ultimate-attribute soul master at the Soul Sage level was someone who could trade blows with a Title Douluo.

"Wow, Qinglian. My cultivation actually broke through to rank thirty."

Shui Bing'er noticed the change in her cultivation and was utterly shocked.

She was actually rank thirty!

As long as she went and hunted down another soul ring, she would break through to Soul Elder.

"Smack."

"Little brother Qinglian, I seriously love you to death."

Shui Bing'er felt that Li Qinglian was simply her lucky star.

Every time she was with Li Qinglian, it was nothing but good things.