Ice and Fire Body Tempering

Lin Qing sat down beside the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

More precisely, he sat on a rock near the boundary between the cold spring and the hot spring. The rock was small, just big enough for one person to sit cross-legged.

Three feet ahead and to his left, the azure cold spring gave off a bone-piercing chill, freezing even the air into a white mist of frost;

Three feet ahead and to his right, the crimson hot spring sent up searing heat, making the surrounding light ripple faintly.

The two utterly opposing forces had faced each other across his left and right sides for countless ages, and the narrow three-foot stretch between them was precisely where they met and balanced each other.

He closed his eyes and sank his consciousness into his sea of consciousness.

Within it, the Lone Bamboo shone much brighter than before. A warm, gentle luster covered the green bamboo from top to bottom. The halo on its first segment had solidified, while its second segment glowed faintly.

Around the bamboo, threads of light as fine as gossamer stretched beyond the borders of the sea of consciousness, connecting one by one to every immortal herb around the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

"Ah Zhu." Lin Qing's consciousness approached the Lone Bamboo.

"Mm." The Lone Bamboo's voice was clearer than before, no longer muffled as though it had traveled across a vast void. "The life energy here is very strong.

"Absorbing the life energy here can help us fuse, and it will also bring about a transformation in your body."

Lin Qing took a deep breath. "Then what should I do?"

"Sit here and circulate the Dou Qi in your body." A rare note of gravity entered the Lone Bamboo's voice.

"The most important thing is..." The Lone Bamboo paused. "Control your thoughts and keep a clear head."

"I'll help you draw in some of the energy from the spring water here. Once the forces of extreme cold and heat enter your body, enduring them may be somewhat painful at your current cultivation level."

Lin Qing nodded to show he was ready and took a deep breath. A green Bloodline Soul Ring then appeared behind him and began to spin wildly.

Drawn by the bloodline's presence, what seemed like countless threads in the air surged into Lin Qing's body.

Lin Qing felt something prick his skin lightly. It did not hurt; it was the subtle sensation of countless fine needles piercing his pores.

He looked down at his arms. At some point, the blue-green lines had emerged and were spreading outward at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Wherever the lines passed, his skin grew warm, as though something were awakening inside his body.

Then he felt an icy-cold current sweeping toward him from the cold spring, seeping into his body through his left arm.

That current was cold as countless ice needles, stabbing into his meridians and freezing his blood until the left half of his body was nearly numb.

Before he could react, another current, this one blazing hot, swept in from the right and poured into his body through his right arm.

One cold and one hot, one from the left and one from the right, the two forces crashed together in his chest like two raging torrents.

"Hold on," the Lone Bamboo's voice sounded beside his ear, calm and steady. "Don't resist. Let them flow."

Lin Qing gritted his teeth. The two forces met, collided, and mingled in his chest.

Cold and heat fought savagely inside him, stretching his meridians until they ached fiercely. His bones gave faint creaks, as though something were squeezing them from within.

But his bamboo breath did not stop. The green lines spread across his body like a living net, wrapping around the ice and fire forces pouring into him and guiding them along a fixed route.

The cold spring's current traveled up the meridians in his left arm, while the hot spring's current traveled up those in his right. After meeting in his chest, they flowed down his spine and spread throughout his limbs and bones.

One cycle, two cycles, three. With each cycle, the tearing pain lessened a little.

The ice and fire forces were tamed bit by bit by the bamboo breath, transforming into pure spiritual Qi that seeped into his flesh, bone marrow, and meridians.

After an unknown length of time, Lin Qing's body stopped trembling.

His breathing steadied, and a thin blue-green glow covered his skin.

Fine white frost coated the left half of his body, while a faint mist rose from the right. Ice and fire faced each other across his skin, but they no longer harmed each other.

"Very good." A trace of satisfaction colored the Lone Bamboo's voice. "Just like that. Continue."

With his eyes closed, Lin Qing sank his consciousness into his body.

He could feel his Soul Power growing at an unprecedented rate, like a dried-up riverbed suddenly receiving a flood, its water level rising inch by inch.

The Soul Power he had spent so long cultivating and accumulating was being pushed higher here by wave after wave of spiritual Qi.

Then he felt his perception spreading outward.

He was not looking with his eyes, but with his bamboo heart. Every thread of light extending from the Lone Bamboo was connected to the pulse of life of an immortal herb.

He could feel the Aromatic Silk Beauty's pale purple petals opening and closing slightly beneath the moonlight;

He could feel the thin frost crystals forming on the leaves of the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass, each leaf as sharp as a blade;

He could feel the roots of the Infernal Delicate Apricot plunging deep into the soil beside the hot spring, greedily absorbing the power of the earth's fire;

He could also feel the distant Ink Jade Divine Bamboo-its bamboo body was calm and solid, like a colossal beast that had slept for hundreds of millions of years and was slowly awakening.

The immortal herbs seemed to sense something. Their leaves trembled slightly and tilted gently in Lin Qing's direction.

Faint wisps of their breath rose from them and flowed into the blue-green glow surrounding Lin Qing.

"This is... a trace of their origin power."

"They're willing to help you." The Lone Bamboo's voice held a hint of surprise. "You're absorbing their breath, and they aren't resisting. That's rare."

"Perhaps they sensed the presence of your Seed of Life. Your Martial Soul has an exceptionally strong affinity for life.

"With the Chaos Lone Bamboo Martial Soul, as your strength increases, sooner or later you will become the Life Core of this plane.

"Of course, there's one more thing: the power of fortune upon you is extremely strong."

Lin Qing understood. The title of son of fortune should originally have belonged to Tang San, but my transmigration seized his fortune. Just as it was Lin Qing, rather than Tang San, who had now come to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

Lin Qing said nothing. His consciousness was immersed in the life pulses of the immortal herbs, and he felt as though he had become the root of a giant tree.

It was spreading in every direction, touching every living presence in the valley.

Time passed.

By the end of the first day, Lin Qing's Soul Power had broken through from level twenty-seven to level twenty-eight.

Yet Soul Power was not what improved most through cultivation here, but his body.

The ice and fire elements came in fine strands and wisps, absorbed by the circulating Bloodline Soul Ring. Most of them fused into the meridians throughout his body along with his blood.

His meridians gradually grew stronger, and his spiritual power and physical constitution strengthened as well.

From the outside, the green lines on his skin had grown somewhat darker, spreading from his back to the front of his chest.