140: Chapter 140 Emerging from Seclusion

The moment the heavy stone door of the cultivation room slowly closed behind him, Hun Feng knew this would be a long, drawn-out battle.

The medicinal power of the four Grade 9 Profound Pills gathered within his body into a nine-colored ocean, each wave of power like a maddened giant dragon, crashing through his meridians and attempting to break free from the shackles of the Heaven-Slaying Flame.

He sat cross-legged on the cold jade platform, hands forming seals, as the meridian pathways of the Heaven-tier high-grade Burning Technique operated crazily within him; the blood-colored flames of the Heaven-Slaying Flame transformed into nine chains, firmly pinning those four strands of medicinal power to the four sides of his Dantian.

He could not refine them all at once; he had to break them one by one.

If the four Grade 9 Profound Pills were to attack together, an ordinary Nine-Star Dou Sheng would have already exploded and died, but he possessed the Heaven-Slaying Flame—the supreme Heavenly Flame formed by the fusion of nine fires, an existence whose power even Void Swallowing Flame acknowledged as not inferior to its own true form.

In his Dantian, the blood-colored flame was like a blazing blood sun, stripping away, suppressing, and devouring the four strands of medicinal power layer by layer.

He chose the safest sequence.

The first, in the East position, was the main assault.

The Heaven-Slaying Flame transformed into a torrent of blood-colored flames, completely engulfing that cluster of emerald-green medicinal power.

The purification power of the Purification Lotus Demon Flame stripped away the impurities remaining in the medicinal power thread by thread, leaving only the purest origin energy, which slowly flowed into his Dantian along the meridian pathways of the Burning Technique.

The second, in the West position, was supplemented by the dark golden lightning arcs of the Eight Desolation Destruction Flame.

The lightning arcs exploded within the medicinal power, splitting that deep blue energy into dozens of tiny medicinal power vortices, before using the heavy pressure of the Sea Heart Flame to force them one by one deep into his meridians.

The third, in the South position, saw the ink-black wind blades of the Nine Nether Wind Flame slice the medicinal power into countless fine threads, followed closely by the brown heavy pressure of the Turtle Spirit Earth Flame, which crushed those threads into the purest energy particles.

The fourth, in the North position—the most difficult one to refine.

The medicinal power of the first three had already pushed his meridians to their limit; when the fourth entered his abdomen, blood seeped from his seven orifices, a fine layer of blood beads oozed from his skin, and every bone emitted brittle sounds of being unable to bear the burden.

Gritting his teeth, he pushed the resonance power of the Golden Emperor Heaven Burning Flame Child Flame to its limit, allowing the residual medicinal power of the four pills to cancel out each other's sharpness through resonance, and then devoured it bit by bit with the devouring power of the Void Devouring Flame Sub-flame.

Time became blurred during the refinement process.

His consciousness seemed to float above an endless ocean of blood, each breath like swallowing the entire world, each heartbeat like the beating of war drums for an army of thousands.

The bottleneck of the Nine-Star early stage had long been covered in cracks under the impact of these four strands of medicinal power, and the threshold of the Nine-Star mid-stage was already close at hand.

It was unknown how much time had passed when the last trace of medicinal power was completely refined.

The entire energy of the four Grade 9 Profound Pills gathered in his Dantian into an unprecedentedly majestic torrent, surging boomingly along the meridian pathways of the Heaven-tier high-grade Burning Technique.

The bottleneck of the Nine-Star mid-stage finally could not hold up under the impact of this power, shattering with a boom like a dam collapsed by a flood.

An indescribable, terrifying aura soared into the sky from the center of the cultivation room.

The blood-colored light of the Heaven-Slaying Flame dyed the entire cultivation room crimson, and nine rings of fire unfurled behind him into nine wings that covered the sky and sun.

His mid-stage Emperor Realm Soul also completely stabilized at this moment, and his soul perception spread out, covering the entire Soul Realm within his consciousness—he could perceive Yao Yao in the East Courtyard holding her waist while lecturing Hun Muxiao, perceive Medusa leaning on a soft couch flipping through letters, and perceive Xiao Yi Xian with her head bowed under the corridor, embroidering a pouch.

Every detail was as clear as if it were right before his eyes.

He slowly opened his eyes and looked down at his spread-out hands.

Beneath the skin of his palms, nine-colored bloodline patterns could be faintly seen slowly circulating, and the blood-colored flame of the Heaven-Slaying Flame danced silently at his fingertips; that flame contained the origin power of nine types of Heavenly Flames, responding to his every whim, perfectly compliant.

This was the Nine-Star mid-stage, the soul of the mid-stage Emperor Realm.

He slowly clenched his fist, feeling the unprecedented, majestic power within his body.

Back when he broke through to the Nine-Star early stage at the Soul Burial Abyss, he could already crush ordinary Nine-Star practitioners; now that he had stepped into the Nine-Star mid-stage, combined with his mid-stage Emperor Realm Soul and the Heaven-Slaying Flame, he was confident he could defeat any opponent below the Nine-Star level within ten moves.

Even when facing an old-timer expert like Void Swallowing Flame, he now had the strength to fight, and would no longer be completely suppressed as he had been back then.

The stone door of the cultivation room slowly opened.

Hun Tiandi was still in that lazy sitting posture, but the satisfaction in his eyes could not be hidden at all.

The black flame at the tip of Void Swallowing Flame's finger flickered gently; it rarely did not open its mouth to mock him.

Hun Qinger straightened her body from the corner, her ice-blue eyes falling on him, a faint smile appearing on the corners of her lips as she said only two words: "Not bad."

Hun Feng bowed slightly to everyone, then turned and walked towards the East Courtyard.

Several of his wives were already waiting by the stone table—Yao Yao stood up while holding her waist, a mischievous light flashing in her peach-blossom eyes as she said she thought he was going to spend the New Year inside; Xiao Yi Xian gently placed the pouch she had just finished embroidering on the stone table and said calmly that it was good he was back; Yun Yun carried a pot of freshly brewed tea and poured him a cup, her movements still possessing that unhurried composure.

He drained the teacup in one gulp, picked up the lunging Hun Muxiao and spun her around twice, then kissed each of his daughters in turn, before leaning back against the chair and exhaling a long breath.

Home is still the most comfortable.

He accompanied his wives and daughters in the East Courtyard for half a day, enjoying this rare moment of leisure.

Then he stood up, straightened his robes, and said there was still someone on the Heavenly Demon Phoenix Clan side he needed to see.

Yao Yao raised an eyebrow, a trace of mischief flashing in her peach-blossom eyes, as she asked if it was that Feng Qing'er.

Hun Feng reached out and flicked her forehead; he did not deny it, only turned and walked towards the Void Ferry.

This chess piece, Feng Qing'er, had been planted for quite some time; her foundation had been repaired by his own hands, and the threshold of the Dou Sheng level had also been pushed open by him personally.

After this period of time, she should have already touched the edge of that threshold.

It was time to go and check on her progress.

A void crack opened silently outside the main gate of the Soul Realm, and his figure disappeared into it.