The incoming projectile streaked with impossible speed, traversing dozens of kilometers in the blink of an eye to hang before Gu Xichen. The scorching sphere of fire was entirely crimson, within which faintly swirled a human-head-sized mass of bluish-green gel—clearly the ultimate condensed essence of Houtian Ding Fire1.

Penghua was the first to recoil violently, roaring, “Damn it, the Ding Fire Essence! Evacuate!”

A zombie of Penghua’s caliber was a creature of the ultimate Yin, terrified of any energy imbued with pure Yang righteousness. Thus, he retreated faster than anyone. Daoist Xiao Zhang and the others followed suit, only a fraction slower than Penghua, colored lights igniting beneath their feet to propel them backward in rapid retreat. Siren and Arethusa moved even quicker than Daoist Xiao Zhang, falling back barely two steps after Penghua had begun his own withdrawal.

Only Prajna and the Mohe brothers advanced instead of retreating. Their hands formed secret Buddhist mudras, white and gray mists churning around them as they roared like lions and charged headlong toward the fireball.

Gu Xichen spun and kicked each of the brothers backward, shouting, “It’s not time for you to sacrifice yourselves! If there’s danger, I’ll lead the charge!”

With a clap and a snap of his hands, he funneled every ounce of Zhenqi from the twin vortexes around his arms into the Ruyi Gloves. A thin, gentle halo of soft light erupted from the supple gloves. Wisps of Taiyin Xuan Yan coiled within the halo, and a bone-chilling cold jetted from his palms. The ambient temperature plummeted instantly. Before the fireball had even reached him, delicate blue snowflakes began to fall from the air around them; the very atmosphere surrounding Gu Xichen froze solid.

With a dull thump, the fireball was caught firmly between Gu Xichen’s palms. A colossal, mountain-pressing force bore down on him through his hands. Even with his current formidable physical strength, the hidden force within the fireball drove him backward step by step. The soles of his combat boots screeched across the polished crystal floor, spitting up thick plumes of black smoke.

Chhhh, chhhh, chhhh—it sounded as if a miniature sun had been plunged into an endless ocean. A massive boiling roar rose continuously as the volume of the fireball between Gu Xichen’s palms shrank rapidly.

The fireball contained a core of human-head-sized Houtian Ding Fire Essence, but what Gu Xichen concealed in his palms was the Xiantian Taiyin Jia Yan—the Innate Solar Cold Flame. Innate held an overwhelming advantage over Acquired. The massive fireball rapidly diminished as the pure Houtian Fire-attribute spiritual energy was forcibly refined by the Xiantian Taiyin Xuan Yan. A stream of pure, non-attributed energy surged through the Laogong acupoints in his palms, flowing into his arm meridians like a torrential flood from the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, pouring into Gu Xichen’s Dantian.

A hidden mass of Taiyin Xuan Yan within the Dantian rapidly converted this incoming energy, transforming it into a supremely cold and Yin energy that permeated his entire circulatory system, rapidly strengthening Gu Xichen’s physical body.

The five-colored streams of energy emanating from his internal organs thickened slightly, growing from thinner than a strand of hair to the thickness of three or five hairs bound together. These multicolored currents transformed into a diffuse vapor that penetrated directly into the Sea of Consciousness, where they were swallowed by the cloud-like rolling essence of his Soul Origin. After consumption, specks of five-colored light seeped back down into the five organs, absorbed by the viscera. The five-colored mass upon Gu Xichen’s Soul Origin expanded once more.

In just an instant, over ninety percent of the massive fireball had been devoured and absorbed, leaving only the purest core of Ding Fire Essence at its very center. A faint, grayish-white, semi-transparent Taiyin Xuan Yan shot from Gu Xichen’s palms, forming a net that forcibly enveloped the core of Ding Fire Essence just as it was about to detonate violently. After a process of drawing and transferring that lasted about fifteen seconds, even this core, holding an immensely vast store of Fire-attribute energy, was completely drained by Gu Xichen.

Gu Xichen was drenched in sweat, every pore on his body wide open, thin wisps of cold air continuously escaping, his entire system feeling utterly unobstructed.

“Hah,” he exhaled a long column of frigid air, then strode forward with purpose. He tapped his toe lightly, driving Zhenqi rapidly into his Cloud Boots. Two faint auras of light enveloped his feet, and Gu Xichen moved like a gentle breeze, covering the distance of ten kilometers in a flash, swiftly closing on the enormous monster. He grinned and taunted the beast, “Come on, big fellow, spray a few more rounds for me to see!”

The Zhenqi gained from digesting that single fireball was equivalent to what Gu Xichen had painstakingly cultivated over half a year himself. If this monster could spit out a few hundred more fireballs, Gu Xichen was confident he could complete the cultivation of the Hanyuan and Yunshen chapters of his techniques today.

The monster, standing nearly five meters tall, recoiled in shock several steps. It shook its head and tail, its massive eyes blinking in confusion. It possessed the head of a dragon, the antlers of a deer, the eyes of a lion, the back of a tiger, the waist of a bear, the scales of a serpent, the hooves of a horse, and the tail of an ox. Its body was covered in thick, semi-transparent, reddish scales, beneath which grew golden-red fur nearly a meter long. Flames roared around its form, the raging inferno climbing seven or eight meters high, causing the long fur to writhe and dance within the blaze as if it were a living entity imbued with awareness.

Seeing Gu Xichen dare to approach, the monster impatiently slammed a foreclaw onto the ground and let loose a high, clear dragon’s roar toward the heavens.

Golden flames jetted simultaneously from its mouth and nostrils. The monster glared at Gu Xichen, violently shook its head, and spat another fireball from its mouth. This time, the projectile was entirely golden, and within the three-meter diameter sphere was a bluish-purple viscous liquid mass the size of a human head. Far behind, the small Daoist Xiao Zhang screamed hoarsely, “Be careful! That’s Xiantian Bing Fire Essence!”

From Houtian Ding Fire Essence to Xiantian Bing Fire Essence—the monster was enraged, and the caliber of the flame it expelled had escalated a full level. However, expelling the Xiantian Bing Fire Essence was clearly an immense burden even for the monster’s colossal frame. After unleashing this single fireball, the flames rising from its body instantly dissipated, leaving only small flickers less than an inch high burning upon its hide.

A terrifying heat washed over Gu Xichen, causing his combat suit to instantly vaporize into blue smoke with a hiss. His Daoist robe, crane cloak, and cloud boots—which had been compressed into a tight-fitting undergarment—reverted to their true forms. A powerful azure light enveloped his body. The intense external heat violently eroded the blue light, emitting loud whooshing sounds that splashed firelight dozens of meters high, yet it could not advance an inch toward Gu Xichen’s body.

Protected by his magical artifact, Gu Xichen mustered his courage, extended both hands, and caught the fireball again.

Crack. Crack. Several sounds echoed as countless tiny fissures spiderwebbed across the bones of Gu Xichen’s arms. The force contained within this fireball was at least a hundred times greater than the previous one. The massive impact nearly pulverized his arms into dust. The blue light covering his robe and cloak flared brilliantly, and several ancient, simple azure runes manifested from beneath the robe for the first time. The defensive power of the azure light instantly multiplied several times over, shouldering at least ninety percent of the impact from the fireball and thus saving his arms.

Footnotes

Note: The Pinyin for Jin Ying () has been kept as Essence in context, and Pu Ying () as Essence for consistency with the original text's intent for a core material. ↩