54: Chapter 54 Refining the True Body in Fire

The moment the Gold-Red Fire Crystal touched his hand, Ye Chen felt as if he were holding a burning sun.

An indescribable, pure, and vast Origin Fire Spirit, like the Heavenly River bursting its banks, crashed into his Meridians that were already on the verge of collapse!

This power was gentle and inclusive, yet it contained a domineering essence that could incinerate all things.

It met with the little remaining Profound Ice True Essence barely maintained in Ye Chen's body, as well as the Chaos cold qi emitted by the Ice Lotus Imprint deep within his Soul.

Like cold water dripping into boiling oil, it instantly ignited the most violent conflict!

"Ah—!"

Ye Chen let out a roar of pain that didn't sound human.

His entire body curled up like a boiled shrimp, and his skin instantly became crimson and cracked.

Wisps of white steam and gold-red flames erupted from the fissures!

He felt his body and Soul, under the frantic clash of these two extreme Origins of ice and fire,

being repeatedly torn apart, burned, frozen, and torn apart again!

This was more than a hundred times more dangerous than his previous attempts to fuse the powers of ice and fire!

This was a collision of the most fundamental Origins!

Outside the golden light shield, the phantom of a Giant Fire Bird frantically slammed into the barrier, letting out deafening roars.

More and more cracks appeared on the light shield, and it looked like it was about to shatter!

Once the light shield broke, the terrifying magma and the enraged fire spirit outside would swallow Ye Chen in an instant.

"Ye Chen! Come out quickly!"

The violent fluctuations of the light shield allowed those outside to barely see the situation within.

Seeing Ye Chen's agonized state, Lin Qingxue felt as if a knife were twisting in her heart.

She wanted to rush over regardless of the cost, but Scarface held her back firmly.

"Young Miss! You can't go over! That light shield is about to break!"

Ghost Old Man, Zhao Kun, Wang Mang, and the others also watched this scene in stunned silence.

They hadn't expected Ye Chen to be so insane as to dare touch that core fire crystal directly.

Even less did they expect him to trigger such a terrifying mutation.

"Madman! He's truly a madman!"

Zhao Kun muttered, though a flash of greed crossed his eyes.

If this kid could somehow survive, that fire crystal...

Wang Mang, on the other hand, had a face full of malicious laughter: "Burn! Burn him to death! Hahaha!"

On the surface of the magma lake, that fire spirit root, having lost the suppression of the Giant Fire Bird, had now completely bloomed!

Nine flame petals unfurled, and at the heart of the flower, a small, fist-sized clump of liquid flame—fire spirit marrow—condensed, glowing crimson and emitting an astonishing Spiritual Qi!

This was the true essence of an Earth Rank fire spirit root!

The rich fragrance spread out, refreshing everyone's spirits and reigniting their greed.

But at this moment, most people's attention was still drawn to the heart-stopping ice and fire conflict within the light shield.

Inside the light shield, Ye Chen's consciousness drifted in boundless agony, sometimes falling into an icy hell, other times plunging into a sea of fire.

It was as if his body no longer belonged to him, becoming a battlefield for the two Origin powers of ice and fire.

His Meridians snapped inch by inch, only to be forcibly healed and widened under the wash of Origin power, becoming even tougher.

Yet, this only brought greater pain.

However, amidst this extreme pain and destruction, a strange change was quietly occurring.

The Ice Lotus Imprint deep within Ye Chen's Soul, upon feeling the impact of the same-level Origin Fire Spirit,

did not blindly resist. Instead, under the flow of Chaos-colored light, it began a certain profound rhythm.

It was as if it were actively guiding and harmonizing these two forces.

The jade booklet also emitted a gentle light, protecting his last shred of clarity.

It injected fragments of information regarding the harmony of ice and fire and the balance of Yin and Yang into his consciousness.

At the same time, the black tortoise armor within Ye Chen's body, which had been silently enduring and constantly being refined,

also underwent a transformation under the frantic collision of these two Origin powers!

The earthy-yellow armor was now half-covered in deep blue ice crystals and half-branded with crimson flame patterns, with runes of ice and fire intertwining upon it.

It actually formed a delicate balance, emitting a heavy aura several times stronger than before, faintly touching the threshold of the Profound Rank!

It served as the most reliable cornerstone, firmly protecting Ye Chen's heart Meridians and Dantian.

It provided a relatively stable "container" for the collision of ice and fire forces.

"The Ice Lotus Imprint is guiding, the jade booklet is protecting... and the black tortoise armor is enduring."

In the intervals of pain, Ye Chen caught this sliver of a chance for survival.

"I cannot die! Clear Snow is still outside waiting for me! Xiao Yu is still waiting for me! I must become stronger! I must live!"

An unyielding will originating from the depths of his Soul exploded forth!

He was no longer passively enduring but began to actively try, using the Ice Lotus Imprint as a guide.

With the insights from the jade booklet as his framework and the black tortoise armor as his foundation, he guided the two violent Origin powers within his body.

He attempted to make them no longer simply collide and annihilate each other, but rather form a rotating, merging, and unending cycle!

This was undoubtedly dancing on a knife's edge; a single mistake would result in his Soul being completely extinguished.

But he had no other choice!

"Fuse... for me!"

Ye Chen roared silently in his heart, throwing his entire mind and will into this frantic guidance.

"Buzz—!"

It was as if something within his body had been broken.

After absorbing part of the Gold-Red Fire Crystal's Origin, the color of the Chaos-colored Ice Lotus Imprint underwent a subtle change.

It was no longer purely Chaos-colored, but had taken on a faint, almost imperceptible gold-red glow.

At the center of the imprint, a tiny, phantom vortex of intertwined ice and fire vaguely appeared!

With the appearance of this imprint vortex, the two forces that were originally clashing frantically within his body seemed to find a hub for venting and transformation.

They stopped their chaotic destruction and, drawn by this small vortex, began to rotate slowly.

Ice and fire ground against and transformed into each other during the rotation, and the destructive power was slowly dissipated.

It transformed into a more pure and condensed energy that simultaneously contained the dual Concepts of the silence of ice and the creation of fire.

This energy fed back into and nourished his broken body and parched Meridians.

This was a slow and painful process; every rotation brought new tearing and healing.

But Ye Chen could clearly feel that his body

was undergoing a complete transformation in this purgatory of destruction and Rebirth!

His Meridians were widened and reinforced to an incredible degree.

His bones took on a faint jade-like luster, and his muscle fibers contained explosive power.

His blood even carried faint threads of intertwined gold-red and deep blue!

This was a sign of Origin Body Tempering!

Ye Chen's cultivation also soared like a rocket in this ice and fire purgatory!

The barrier of the Middle Stage of the Meridian Opening Sixth Level shattered instantly, reaching the Late Stage!

It didn't stop, rushing all the way to the Peak of the sixth level!

Finally, in a silent roar, that solid barrier leading to the Wheel Sea Realm, which had blocked countless Cultivators,

shook violently and developed numerous cracks!

Although he failed to break through in one go, he had already touched the threshold!

He was only one opportunity away from a vast new world!

At the same time, his perception and control over external fire Spiritual Qi reached a whole new level.

With a slight thought, he could stir the surrounding scorching air currents.

He could even vaguely sense the energy flow trajectory of the Giant Fire Bird phantom.

"Crack... Crack!"

Just as earth-shaking changes were occurring within Ye Chen's body,

the golden light shield protecting him finally could not withstand the frantic collisions of the Giant Fire Bird phantom and the aftershocks of the internal energy impact.

It shattered with a bang!

"Roar—!"

Without the light shield's obstruction, the enraged Giant Fire Bird phantom, carrying overwhelming flames and magma,

pounced fiercely toward Ye Chen, who had just completed his preliminary Fusion and whose aura was unstable!

It vowed to burn this ant, who had stolen its Origin and desecrated its Domain, into nothingness!

Outside, Lin Qingxue and the others turned pale, while Ghost Old Man, Zhao Kun, and the others showed expressions of schadenfreude or greedy expectation.

However, facing this world-destroying strike,

Ye Chen, who had just opened his eyes, showed a flash of ice and fire light in his pupils but no fear.

Feeling the surging new power within him that far exceeded what he had before, he slowly raised his right hand.

Above his palm, a tiny, slowly rotating cyclone of intertwined ice-blue and gold-red quietly emerged.

Though the cyclone was small, it emitted a terrifying fluctuation that caused the very space to warp slightly.

It seemed to contain the Law flavors of two extremes: freezing and incineration.

"I'll use you... to test the power of my 'Ice Fire Seal'."

Ye Chen's voice was calm, yet it carried a sense of awe-inspiring confidence.

He pointed his fingers like a sword and lightly tapped toward the pouncing Giant Fire Bird phantom.

The Ice Fire Cyclone at his fingertip shot out silently.