Ice Fire Body Tempering

Yang Xiong summoned his martial soul and soul rings, activating his Second Soul Skill, Golden Heart. He even summoned the Dark Tortoise Armor. Though the turtle shell on his back looked rather unsightly, thick tortoise plating covered his chest and abdomen, pushing his physical condition to its absolute peak.

Gripping an iron dagger, Yang Xiong approached the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass. Even with his condition enhanced to the limit, its intensely frigid aura spread through his entire body, as though he were about to freeze stiff.

Yang Xiong gritted his teeth and sliced through the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass in one stroke. Holding it in his left hand, he felt as if his entire hand were freezing into a block of ice. None of his protective measures had any effect.

Yang Xiong's face was filled with resolve. He had no way back now. No matter how severe the pain, he had to endure it.

Yang Xiong hurried over to the Infernal Delicate Apricot and severed it at the root with the Jade Knife, swiftly grasping the Infernal Delicate Apricot in his right hand.

The instant the Infernal Delicate Apricot landed in his hand, his iron glove turned crimson, as if it were about to melt. Even the Celestial Silkworm Silk glove could not withstand such heat, and the smell of scorching flesh seemed to rise from his hand.

Even though Yang Xiong had activated his Second Soul Skill, Golden Heart, and his Soul Power was rapidly healing his body, both hands suffered immense pain. His left hand seemed to have solidified into ice, while his right felt as though it were being roasted in magma.

Yang Xiong gritted his teeth and quickly pressed the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and Infernal Delicate Apricot together. As the extreme cold and heat collided, their icy and fiery auras actually vanished for a brief moment, like red and white currents locked in battle.

Without the slightest hesitation, Yang Xiong quickly shoved the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and Infernal Delicate Apricot into his mouth, chewing and swallowing the two Immortal Herbs as fast as possible. The cold and hot auras of the two herbs were merely suppressing each other. In just ten breaths, they would erupt—perhaps with even more terrifying force.

The moment the two Immortal Herbs entered his mouth, their cold and hot auras erupted. An explosive force suddenly burst from his abdomen.

A wave of extreme cold struck first. In an instant, Yang Xiong felt as though he had been plunged into ice. His entire body turned blue—his flesh, skin, cells, even his bone marrow. Every cell seemed frozen stiff, turning him into a block of ice. It was a hundred times colder than when he had tempered his body before.

In the blink of an eye, the blue aura vanished, and his entire body immediately turned crimson, as though he had been cast into magma. Heat waves poured from his body, and even his hair seemed on the verge of igniting.

His body alternated between red and blue, freezing cold like ten-thousand-year ice one moment and blazing like magma the next. Even the Soul Power throughout his body changed beneath the pressure of those two forces, and he felt as though he were about to collapse.

Yang Xiong endured unimaginable agony. His body seemed completely beyond his control, and every inch of him suffered torture as if he were being sliced alive.

With his last shred of reason, Yang Xiong gritted his teeth and staggered toward the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well. Ignoring everything else, he leaped straight into the spring.

After entering the spring, the pain did not lessen. Instead, it became even more intense. Unable to vent the extreme cold and heat from his body, he was in excruciating agony, and his entire body even began to twist.

In particular, after the powers of ice and fire entered the waters of the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well, they became even more violent. His body seemed to be pulled apart by two forces, as though he were about to be ground to pieces.

Although Yang Xiong's Second Soul Skill could repair his body and even eliminate its negative effects, it was far too feeble compared to the spring water of the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well and the ice-and-fire power within him.

Unlike Tang San in the Original Work, Yang Xiong did not possess the endlessly regenerating power of the Mysterious Heaven Skill. But after years of tempering, his body was undoubtedly far stronger than Tang San's. Moreover, the Body Martial Soul was unique—his body itself was his martial soul.

In Yang Xiong's understanding, ice and fire were the two poles of the world. If his body was to truly withstand these two powers, they could only be made to merge and rotate around each other.

Using meditation, and his last remaining consciousness, Yang Xiong drove the Soul Power within his body to surge rapidly. In particular, the Soul Power in his torso circulated back and forth, forming a circular closed loop.

Amid this extreme pain, Yang Xiong seemed to see the essence of his martial soul—the pathways running throughout his body. Soul Power surged and churned through those pathways, seemingly without end.

What Yang Xiong did not know was that as his Soul Power guided the process, the waters of the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well also seemed to be drawn along. The once clearly separated red and blue waters began to merge and rotate around each other.

If someone from Blue Star had seen it, they would have found a distinct symbol forming in the spring water, resembling Tai Chi.

As Yang Xiong used his last conscious thought to circulate the Soul Power in his body, even that final thread of consciousness gradually faded, and he slowly sank into oblivion. Yet the Soul Power in his body continued to circulate rapidly on its own, surging endlessly like a great river, while the ice-and-fire powers of the two Immortal Herbs seemed to form an enormous cycle.

Meanwhile, under the corrosive effects of the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well's waters, the turtle shell on his back gradually began to melt. Yet this External Soul Bone, the Dark Tortoise Armor, had already become like part of Yang Xiong's own skeleton. It dissolved again and again, then regrew again and again, until its form gradually changed into pieces of armor clinging to the surface of his torso.

After an unknown amount of time, Yang Xiong gradually regained consciousness. Though he was still lying in the waters of the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well, he could no longer feel the pain of its ice-and-fire power. Instead, he felt exceptionally refreshed within the well, as though the ice-and-fire power of the two Immortal Herbs had fused into every cell of his body.

Yang Xiong could not help but let out a roar. He had finally succeeded after risking his life. Not only had he completed Ice Fire Body Tempering, but he had also achieved a true transformation of his body. Even the experiment he had once envisioned had succeeded.

But Yang Xiong did not hesitate. He quickly climbed out of the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well, immediately changed into a fresh set of clothes, then gathered all his belongings and swiftly climbed out of the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well along the iron chains. This was Dugu Bo's lair, after all. He had no idea how long he had remained in the well. If Dugu Bo returned, he would be in trouble.

After undergoing Ice Fire Body Tempering, Yang Xiong no longer feared any poisonous mist. He swiftly left the Poison Array and hurried toward the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. At a time like this, it was best to hide within the sect.