Inside the secret chamber, time seemed to stand still.
That nascent golden light, under Ling Xiao's divine soul's guidance, suddenly exploded!
Boom!
Not a sound, but a detonation from the deepest part of the soul.
Ling Xiao's sea of consciousness was instantly churned by monstrous waves; the small lake formed by Divine Soul Power was violently stirred by a scorching, overbearing force.
The golden flames, like a prairie fire, sought to burn his divine soul, his will, his everything, into nothingness.
"Pfft!"
Ling Xiao's body violently shook, and he spat out a mouthful of blood, which splashed onto the stone slabs before him, emitting a "hissing" sound before instantly evaporating.
Fine bloodstains began to seep from his seven orifices.
That wisp of Chaos Fire Seed was actually trying to betray its master!
"Vermin!"
Amidst the searing pain, a furious roar, like thunder from the Nine Heavens, exploded from the depths of Ling Xiao's divine soul.
The supreme majestic might of a Pill Emperor, upon being provoked, completely awakened!
Within his sea of consciousness, above the chaotic sea of golden flames, a sky-reaching phantom slowly coalesced.
The phantom's face was identical to Ling Xiao's, but its eyes were as indifferent as an ancient glacier, looking down upon the raging fire seed below, like a god inspecting an ant that knew no fear.
"I, the Emperor, perished, and you became a remnant flame, clinging to survival.
Now that I have returned, bestowing upon you new life, you dare to devour your master?"
The Pill Emperor phantom's voice transformed into tangible chains of law within the sea of consciousness, carrying the will to suppress all things, and fiercely lashed out at the ball of golden flames!
Slap!
The golden flames flickered under the lash, emitting a silent scream.
Unwilling to be outdone, the flames surged, transforming into a ferocious fire dragon, roaring as it charged towards the Pill Emperor phantom.
"Seeking death!"
Ling Xiao's Divine Soul Power was unleashed without reservation, transforming into a vast net that covered the sky and earth, descending from above.
The giant net and the fire dragon collided furiously in the sea of consciousness; with every impact, Ling Xiao's physical body trembled violently, and scorch marks even appeared on his skin.
Outside the secret chamber.
In the study, Ling Zhan suddenly stood up, his eyes wide open, staring fixedly in the direction of the backyard.
That terrifying aura, capable of boiling the seas, made him, an old general who had climbed out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, feel a tremor of fear.
"Not good!"
He grabbed the phone on the desk, his voice urgent and authoritative.
"Wang Hu!"
"Here!" Wang Hu's voice immediately replied.
"Seal off the backyard! From this moment on, the backyard is designated a maximum security zone!"
"No one, including myself, is allowed to step foot in there without Er'er's command!"
Ling Zhan's voice was decisive.
"Those who disobey will be killed without mercy!"
"Yes!"
Wang Hu didn't ask why; he heard the gravity of the situation from the Old Master's unprecedentedly solemn tone.
He immediately hung up the phone, gathered all the elites, and surrounded the entire backyard as if facing a formidable enemy, making it watertight.
...
Yanjing, west of the city.
Deep within an ancient and elegant manor, this was the worldly residence of the hidden Medicine King Valley.
In an alchemy room, an elder in brocade robes with white hair and beard was carefully controlling the flames beneath the alchemy furnace.
Suddenly, his movements froze, and he abruptly looked up, gazing in the direction of the Ling Family in the east of the city.
His cloudy eyes erupted with astonishing brilliance.
"This aura... Pure, overbearing, as if it can incinerate all things..."
His expression shifted from shock to confusion, and finally to irrepressible greed and fervor.
"Is it the descent of Heavenly Fire? Or the emergence of a rare treasure?"
He suddenly stood up; the pills in the alchemy furnace instantly turned to charcoal, but he paid no mind.
"Someone!"
"Valley Master!" someone outside the door immediately responded.
"Investigate for me! Spare no expense, find out exactly what just happened in the east of Yanjing City!"
...
At the same time, in the south of the city, within the Sun Family's forbidden grounds.
Beside a dried-up well, a figure even older than Sun Baicao sat cross-legged.
He was as gaunt as a skeleton, as if a gust of wind could blow him over.
He too felt that aura and slowly opened his eyes.
In those eyes, there was no cloudiness, only dead silence.
"This power... The Ling Family..."
He spoke hoarsely, his voice seeming to wear away people's eardrums.
"Issue an order: temporarily halt all actions against the Ling Family.
Until the situation is clarified, anyone who dares to provoke the Ling Family will have their cultivation crippled and be expelled from the family."
...
Inside the secret chamber, the battle of divine souls had entered a white-hot stage.
The Ling Xiao's soul chains were repeatedly severed by the fire dragon's flames.
The fire dragon's arrogant rage was repeatedly suppressed by the Pill Emperor's will.
"Stubborn!"
Ling Xiao's eyes turned cold; he knew that simple suppression of power would not be very effective against such a divine object of heaven and earth.
He suddenly dispersed all his divine soul attacks.
The Pill Emperor phantom sat cross-legged, allowing the fire dragon to roar and charge into its own "body".
"Since you refuse to submit, then I shall... reforge you once!"
His divine soul, at this moment, transformed into an invisible alchemy furnace!
His will became a divine hammer that forged all things!
With his divine soul as the cauldron, he refined the divine fire!
What a crazy, what an overbearing method!
"Boom!"
The golden fire dragon rushed into the Pill Emperor phantom's body and instantly felt something was wrong.
This was not the sea of consciousness where it could run rampant, but a furnace filled with laws and order.
A stream of pure Divine Soul Power, like millstones, began to compress, grind, and decompose its will from all directions.
The fire dragon struggled frantically but found all its power was confined within this divine soul space, with nowhere to escape.
Its insolent will was gradually annihilated before the Pill Emperor's eternal, unyielding will.
Time passed, though no one knew how long.
The fire dragon's roars gradually turned into whines.
Its massive body, refined by the divine soul furnace, continuously shrank, becoming more and more pure.
Finally, all the violent energy dissipated, leaving only the most fundamental, a wisp of closeness and filial affection, the golden fire seed.
That small golden flame floated quietly in the center of Ling Xiao's sea of consciousness, emitting a warm light.
Success!
Ling Xiao's divine soul phantom also became somewhat transparent, having suffered immense consumption.
But he smiled.
The divine soul furnace dissipated, and the docile golden flame immediately danced joyfully around his divine soul before integrating into it.
Buzz—
An indescribable sense of comfort spread through Ling Xiao's entire divine soul.
His Divine Soul Power, tempered by the essence of the Chaos Fire Seed, instantly surged, becoming as resilient as diamond and as translucent as glass.
Concurrently, a vast and pure fire element energy was fed back from the fire seed, passing through his divine soul and pouring into his damaged physical body!
This energy was tens of thousands of times purer and more potent than the Body Tempering Fluid he had refined before!
Crack! Crack! Crack!
His internal meridians were roughly widened and reshaped by this energy!
The impurities hidden in the marrow, which had not been cleared by the previous body tempering, were completely incinerated into nothingness!
His body emitted crackling sounds like popping beans.
His body, which had only just crossed the threshold of cultivation, now shot up like a rocket, his cultivation climbing steadily!
Houtian (Postnatal) Early Stage!
Houtian (Postnatal) Mid Stage!
Houtian (Postnatal) Peak!
Boom!
As if breaking through an invisible barrier.
The power within him underwent a qualitative transformation, from the outside in.
internal force/power spontaneously generated, circulating continuously!
Xiantian (Prenatal) Realm!
Equivalent to the Great Accomplishment of internal force/power, the Grandmaster realm, in Earth's ancient martial arts system!
In the secret chamber, Ling Xiao slowly opened his eyes.
A golden flame flashed fleetingly in the depths of his dark pupils.
The temperature of the entire stone chamber rose several degrees simply because he opened his eyes.
He slowly spread his right hand.
With a thought.
Poof.
A small, golden flame, as if alive, danced quietly on his palm.
The surrounding air was scorched and distorted, emitting faint popping sounds.
Ling Xiao looked at this flame, as if looking at his long-lost child.
"Chaos Divine Fire..."
He felt the river-like power surging within his body, and the feeling of blood connection with the flame in his palm.
"You're finally back."
He stood up; the dangers and consumption of the entire night had now all transformed into strength.
He clenched his fist, and the air exploded with a muffled sound.
"Medicine King Valley, Sun Family..."
Ling Xiao's lips curved into an icy arc.
"I hope your coffins are ready."