Nirvana

Early the next morning, at the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well.

At the center of the spring.

Ye Feng slowly exhaled a breath of stale air, a flash of crimson-gold light vanishing from his eyes.

After nearly a day of refinement, the medicinal effects of the Whale Rubber had been completely absorbed.

"Ever since my Martial Soul evolved, it feels like I've become much faster at both cultivation and absorption."

His talent had never been poor to begin with. Coupled with the nourishment brought by his Martial Soul's Atavism, his current rate of progress was astonishingly fast.

Still, Ye Feng always felt an inexplicable sense of unease.

For a fire-element Soul Master, was progressing too quickly really a good thing?

Just then, a sharp rush of wind came from beyond the Poison Barrier.

"Young Master! This old man has returned!"

Dugu Bo flashed into view and landed beside the spring, carrying a fairly large bird in one hand.

The bird was crimson all over, its feathers streaked with dark-gold patterns. Its beak was hooked, and its talons curled inward.

It was already barely breathing. Its wings drooped weakly, and several places on its body were charred black. Dugu Bo had clearly put it through quite an ordeal.

"Senior, you really are efficient!"

Ye Feng's eyes lit up. Suppressing his worries, he stepped forward to inspect it. "What kind of Soul Beast is this? It looks pretty imposing."

"A Crimson Flame Golden Eagle, fire-element, roughly five thousand three hundred years old. It perfectly meets Young Master's requirements."

Dugu Bo tossed the eagle onto the ground and wiped away his sweat. "This beast has a fierce temperament, so it took this old man some effort. But rest assured, Young Master. Its Soul Power is scattered now, so it will be easy to absorb."

Ye Feng crouched down and examined it closely. "Not bad. It's pretty good-looking, too."

The Crimson Flame Golden Eagle weakly lifted its eyelids and let out a low gurgle, as if protesting.

Ye Feng's heart skipped a beat, and he instinctively turned to look at the snow-white figure.

"You need not concern yourself with my feelings. This Soul Beast's bloodline contains a trace of ancient Golden Crow blood. Its flames are domineering and highly compatible with your Martial Soul."

Snow Empress's cold, ethereal voice sounded beside Ye Feng's ear.

Ye Feng raised an eyebrow.

A Golden Crow?

Didn't that make it a descendant of the Sun God Bird?

This was a huge win!

"No time to waste. It'll do."

Ye Feng sat down cross-legged. Crimson-gold flames rose from his palm as he gently pressed it against the Crimson Flame Golden Eagle's forehead.

The Golden Eagle's body trembled, but it did not make a sound before collapsing into unconsciousness.

The next moment, a deep purple Soul Ring slowly condensed.

Ye Feng had long been prepared. Crimson-gold flames ignited behind him, and a majestic, divine Crimson Gold Fire Phoenix emerged.

Guided by his Soul Power, the Soul Ring slowly merged into his body.

Scorching energy surged into his meridians like a volcanic eruption, several times more violent than when he absorbed his first Soul Ring.

After all, this was a Soul Beast with an ancient bloodline. Its true strength far exceeded what its apparent age suggested.

Ye Feng groaned, crimson-gold patterns surfacing across his skin.

The Ice and Fire Golden Body began operating on its own, suppressing and absorbing the violent energy bit by bit.

Dugu Bo stood a hundred meters away, his skin still stinging slightly from the flames.

"Such terrifying flames... this old man has never seen anything like them in his life. Young Master's talent is truly heaven-defying."

As he spoke, Dugu Bo turned to Snow Empress and respectfully asked, "May this old man dare ask for Your Excellency's title?"

Now that he had chosen to follow Ye Feng, he naturally wanted to learn more about the strength of this ice-element Titled Douluo.

At his words, Snow Empress replied in her cold, ethereal voice, "Snow Empress."

Snow Empress!

Dugu Bo was inwardly startled.

What an imposing title!

Empress of snow, sovereign of ice!

Anyone who dared take such a title was definitely no ordinary person.

Maybe he ought to call himself Poison Emperor for fun. That sounded far more imposing than Poison Douluo.

At the same time.

Ye Feng was gritting his teeth as he endured the impact brought by the Crimson Flame Golden Eagle's Soul Ring.

Under the dual enhancement of the Ice and Fire Golden Body and Upgrade Refund, his Soul Power was steadily rising.

Level twenty-one... level twenty-two...

[Upgrade Refund] activated!

Level twenty-three!

However, just as the absorption neared its end and the Soul Ring was about to fully merge, a sudden change occurred!

Boom!

The crimson-gold flames around him, which had gradually stabilized, abruptly surged.

Their color suddenly deepened, transforming into a violent torrent of dark gold and crimson that completely engulfed him.

Rather than spreading outward, the flames contracted inward as though they were alive, burning him from within.

Ye Feng's body shuddered violently, and an uncontrollable muffled groan escaped his throat.

"Young Master!"

Dugu Bo's expression changed as he tried to step forward.

"Don't move."

Snow Empress's icy eyes narrowed slightly as she raised a hand to stop him.

Within the flames, Ye Feng's eyes were tightly shut. The crimson-gold phoenix mark between his brows flickered as if it had come alive.

The veins beneath his skin bulged one after another, glowing bright red like molten lava.

It was as though another ancient and violent power was awakening and roaring from the depths of his bloodline.

"Argh—!"

Ye Feng clenched his teeth, veins bulging at his temples as his body trembled faintly from the searing agony.

"These flames... something's wrong!" Dugu Bo's pupils contracted.

He could clearly sense the terrifying heat radiating from those flames. Even he, a Titled Douluo, felt his heart quail.

This was absolutely not something a Soul Grandmaster could withstand!

Ye Feng was completely dumbfounded as well.

Just as he reached the final stage of absorbing the Soul Ring, the Evil Fire within him—no, it should now be called Karma Fire.

This Karma Fire suddenly erupted out of control, as though he had returned to the moment of the Evil Fire Backlash.

Ye Feng should have realized that in less than half a month, his level had risen by nearly ten levels.

On top of that, there had been the tempering of ice and fire, absorbing Whale Rubber, and absorbing a five-thousand-year Soul Ring.

Every single one of them had strengthened the Karma Fire within him.

Small amounts accumulated over time, resulting in this Karma Fire Backlash.

"Are you ever going to stop?!"

"You like burning? Then I'll let you burn to your heart's content!"

Ye Feng suddenly opened his eyes. Rather than using Soul Power to resist, he actively guided the rampaging flames into every corner of his body!

Hiss—!

A faint golden sheen immediately lit up over his body as he endured the mad scorching of the crimson-gold flames.

At that moment, Ye Feng seemed to have been thrown into a furnace to be reforged. His skin cracked and healed, over and over again.

If he had not condensed the Ice and Fire Golden Body in advance, he would likely have been reduced to ashes beneath those terrifying flames.

At the side, Dugu Bo's eyelids twitched.

Actively accepting the flames—how was that any different from suicide?

"Snow Empress, shouldn't we go help Young Master?"

Snow Empress merely shook her head slightly. "Only by being driven to death can one attain new life. This is..."

"Nirvana."

The torment lasted a full quarter of an hour.

Just as Ye Feng felt his body was about to collapse.

The rampaging flames within him suddenly stalled, then flowed back into the depths of his dantian like a hundred rivers returning to the sea.

"Ha... ha..."

As the flames dispersed, Ye Feng dropped to one knee, gasping for breath.

All his clothes had been burned away, yet his skin possessed a strange texture, smooth as jade and faintly gleaming with dark-gold light.

The phoenix mark between his brows had become even clearer, resembling the closed eye of a real phoenix.

He raised his hand, and with a soft pop, a cluster of flames sprang up in his palm.

It was still crimson-gold, but deep within its core was an additional streak of dark-gold radiance, condensed almost into substance.

Its temperature was so high that even the surrounding air warped in rippling waves.