189: A Tale of Two Extremes: Ice and Fire

With his decision made, he prepared to formally notify the Shang Gong Hall that he would be going into long-term seclusion to attempt Core Formation.

However, just as he was about to form the hand seals, a familiar fluctuation from the Immortal Cave's Restriction caused him to frown and pause.

Xiao Qinghan? Why was she here?

Opening the stone door, Xiao Qinghan stood outside. As Lin Feng's gaze met hers, his heart stirred slightly.

Years had passed, and this Senior Sister gave off a different feeling.

Previously, when she had just entered the Core Formation Realm, her aura, though strong, was like a newly forged sharp sword, its edge exposed, faintly revealing a sense of power that needed to be deliberately restrained.

But now, that oppressive sharpness had been reined in; the Spiritual Qi around her flowed with perfect harmony, calm as water, and unfathomably deep.

Standing there, she seemed to faintly blend with the surrounding Heaven and Earth's Qi, without the slightest obstruction.

"Junior Brother Lin."

Her gaze rested on him for a moment, clearly seeing that the Spiritual Qi around his body had reached the Perfection of the Foundation Establishment Stage.

This was not a deliberate probing, but more like some kind of... familiarity born from their union.

Lin Feng immediately felt that the Spiritual Qi fluctuations within him, which were full and surging due to his Foundation Establishment Perfection and almost ready to break out of their cocoon, seemed unable to hide from her.

This feeling of being seen through did not stem from a suppression of cultivation, but rather from a unique resonance and perception brought about by that Dual Cultivation experience.

"Going into seclusion?"

Lin Feng nodded. Although he had tried his best to conceal it while refining the condensation pill, the unique medicinal fragrance and Spiritual Qi fluctuations when the pill was formed might have deceived others, but not necessarily Xiao Qinghan, who was intimately familiar with his aura.

"Congratulations to Senior Sister on stabilizing your Realm," he said.

Xiao Qinghan flipped her hand and took out two jade bottles, one blue and one red, with vastly different auras.

"This is the nether cold marrow and crimson sun essence. I obtained them by chance. Used externally during Core Formation, they can cleanse the marrow and change the Meridians, stabilizing the dao foundation. I thought you might need these, and I hope they can help you successfully reach Core Formation."

Lin Feng was slightly stunned. nether cold marrow, crimson sun essence—just hearing the names and feeling those diametrically opposed yet incredibly pure auras, he knew they were by no means ordinary items.

Used externally during Core Formation to cleanse the marrow and change the Meridians... this effect sounded simple, but in reality, it was Heaven-Defying.

A Cultivator's Core Formation is essentially a leap in the level of life, a complete transformation of the Physical Body and Divine Soul.

If one could further purify the Physical Body and widen the Meridians during the Core Formation process, not only would the success rate of Core Formation increase, but the quality of the resulting Golden Core, and even the potential of future Dao paths, could benefit from it.

Such spiritual items would be considered strategic resources in any Sect, enough to incite competition among Core Formation Cultivators.

He did not reach out to take them immediately, his gaze falling on Xiao Qinghan's cold face, trying to read something from those calm eyes.

Between them, things were ultimately different from others. Sharing life and death in that Secret Realm, and the subsequent, albeit forced, yet deeply profound Dual Cultivation, had allowed their Spiritual Qi and even parts of their Divine Soul to briefly merge, leaving behind an indescribable tacit understanding and perception.

He pondered for a moment before saying, "Senior Sister, these items are too precious."

Xiao Qinghan's gaze met his without flinching, clear and bottomless. "They are useless to me, but timely for you."

Her voice remained calm, yet held a hint of softness. "You helped me reach Core Formation, and I sought these items for you. It is a settling of Karma, and it is... only right."

This frankness, in turn, caused the slight unease Lin Feng felt due to the preciousness of the gifts to dissipate.

He looked at her, suddenly recalling her tough Heart-Nature, cold on the outside but warm on the inside, during their Dual Cultivation.

That's right, she was just that kind of person; once she decided on something, she would do it without beating around the bush.

"Thank you, Senior Sister. Lin Feng will remember this favor." He no longer hesitated and reached out to take the two jade bottles.

Seeing him accept, a hint of relief seemed to flash in her eyes as she nodded slightly. "The Core Formation barrier relies on the condensation of Spiritual Qi and the stability of the Divine Soul. Used externally, these items can help you cleanse the Impurities from your Physical Body, making the circulation of Spiritual Qi more harmonious."

"When using them, you must dilute them with rootless spiritual water, soak your whole body, and use the power of ice and fire for Body Tempering. The process may be agonizing; you must firmly guard your spiritual platform and circulate your Cultivation Technique to resist until the medicinal power is fully absorbed."

"I understand." Lin Feng took her instructions to heart, his grip tightening on the jade bottles. With these two spiritual items to assist him, his confidence in breaking through to the Golden Core had increased by several folds.

Seeing that he had taken it to heart, Xiao Qinghan said no more. She gave him one last look and left behind a single sentence: "Calm your mind and focus; do not waste this Opportunity." Immediately, her figure transformed into an Escaping Light and drifted away.

After closing the Immortal Cave and activating the Restriction, Lin Feng did not immediately consume the condensation pill. He knew well that the medicinal power of the nether cold marrow and crimson sun essence gifted by Xiao Qinghan was tyrannical and must be used when his own Spiritual Qi was at its fullest and his mind at its clearest.

He walked into the auxiliary room of the Immortal Cave, which was lined with several storage shelves. With a thought, a humanoid Puppet slid over silently; it was "Mu Ya," which he had refined many years ago to handle miscellaneous tasks.

Lin Feng took out a half-person-tall black jade jar from the depths of the storage shelf, its body sealed with complex runes. This jar of rootless spiritual water was the result of over ten years of continuous collection by "Mu Ya" according to his strict requirements.

The conditions for collecting this spiritual water were extremely harsh. Before dawn every day, pure dew from the petals of one hundred types of spiritual flowers had to be collected, then mixed with the first handful of melted snow after the first snowfall of the year from a place with the most abundant Spiritual Qi. Finally, it was gathered in this jar, sealed with a Formation, and nourished to preserve its pure vitality.

He carried the black jade jar back to the center of the cultivation room and carefully poured it into the large black jade basin he had prepared.

Once prepared, Lin Feng first took out the crimson jade bottle. As the stopper was opened, a scorching aura permeated the room, and the temperature in the quiet room rose sharply.

He carefully dripped the crimson sun essence into the jade basin. The crimson spiritual liquid, like molten lava, dissolved upon entering the water, causing the entire basin of rootless spiritual water to boil and churn, turning crimson and sending waves of heat towards him.

Immediately after, he opened the azure jade bottle. A stream of extreme cold burst out, forming a stark contrast to the scorching heat in the room. He dripped the nether cold marrow into the boiling crimson water. With a soft sizzling sound, the extreme cold and extreme heat met, and the scene inside the jade basin changed abruptly.

The water surface stopped boiling and instead presented an eerie balance: one half crystallized into fine blue ice, the cold piercing to the bone; the other half remained a scorching crimson, with undercurrents surging.

The powers of ice and fire intertwined and collided in the basin, forming a clear dividing line, yet they coexisted eerily, emitting heart-palpitating energy fluctuations.

Lin Feng removed his clothes and stepped into the jade basin. The moment his feet touched the water's surface, extreme pain surged towards him like a tide.

His left side was immersed in the water area affected by the nether cold marrow, as if falling into a ten-thousand-year ice cavern. The bone-piercing cold frantically drilled into his body; his blood felt as if it were freezing, and his bones creaked.

His right side was immersed in the area where the crimson sun essence was, feeling as if he had been thrown into an Artifact Refining furnace. The scorching aura burned his skin, drilling into his Meridians, as if it wanted to ignite and incinerate his flesh and blood and Spiritual Qi.

Intense burning pain swept over him, forming a cruel contrast of Heaven and Hell with the extreme cold on his left side.

This world of ice and fire, this extreme pain, almost shattered his sanity.

Lin Feng let out a muffled groan, his face turning deathly pale, veins bulging on his forehead, and his body shaking uncontrollably.

He was almost about to leap out of the jade basin.