Chapter 1242, Refining
A day later, Yang Kai opened his eyes.
Meditating for a day allowed him to adjust his condition to its optimal level. Immediately, he waved his hands and a number of delicate jade bottles and rare herbs appeared around him, all of them possessing rich and vigorous auras.
These things were the auxiliary materials that were required to refine the Profound Yin Sunflower Water. Zong Ao told Yang Kai about these things, and since his time on Rainfall Star he had managed to collect all of them.
After all, although these materials were also rare and precious, Yang Kai had harvested a lot of herbs on the floating continent and later searched through Rainfall Star’s Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce branch warehouse for the rest, so it hadn’t been any trouble.
Zong Ao had said that it was best to reach the Origin Realm before attempting to refine the Profound Yin Sunflower Water because only with such cultivation could they withstand the pain from the refining process.
Yang Kai chose to start refining it in the Saint King Realm though, because of his self-confidence.
Whether it was in terms of physique, Soul, or Saint Qi, Yang Kai estimated that he was no worse than any ordinary Origin Returning Realm master, the only shortcoming he might have was being unable to comprehend Shi. On top of that though, his tenacity and endurance weren’t comparable to an average cultivator’s, otherwise, it would have been impossible for him to integrate Great Demon God’s Unyielding Golden Skeleton into his body when he was so weak, or realize the profound Unyielding Will Martial Skill.
As such, Yang Kai wasn’t worried about his cultivation being too low, his only consideration now was how to get the most benefits out of refining the Profound Yin Sunflower Water.
Zong Ao had said that this thing could greatly improve the cultivation of a cultivator without any harmful side-effects. Yang Kai felt that his current First-Order Saint King cultivation was too low, and if he could improve it quickly it would increase his safety and ability to survive.
He wasn’t worried about damaging his foundation, state of mind, or comprehension of the Martial Dao and Heavenly Way.
His physique was abnormally strong, so even if his cultivation realm soared this time, it wouldn’t cause him any physical harm or create any difficulties in his later cultivation. There was also no need to worry about his mental stability. After absorbing so many Soul remnants from various cultivators, Yang Kai’s state of mind was no longer on the level of a Saint King Realm cultivator. Similarly, his understanding of the Heavenly Way and Martial Dao far exceeded others in his realm.
Now that everything was prepared, Yang Kai naturally wasn’t going to delay any further.
Although he had carefully prepared everything beforehand, Yang Kai still inspected all the materials that were placed around him to make sure one last time there were no omissions before nodding lightly. After thinking about it, he also took out a few Golden Sun Fruits and set them down nearby.
He had obtained these Golden Sun Fruits together with Dai Yuan in the Flowing Flame Sand Field and each of them contained a large quantity of potent Yang Attribute energy, which would be perfectly suited for use at this time.
When everything was ready, Yang Kai’s expression became solemn and he sent his Saint Qi into a nearby stone table. After this stone pier absorbed his Saint Qi, its surface flashed and the Spirit Array engraved in the room, which had been stopped for some time, began rumbling again.
After a while, pure Fire Attribute energy was drawn from the Earth Lung Fire Pond and poured into the spot where Yang Kai was sitting.
The fire and aura condensed into a tangible substance that immediately wrapped around Yang Kai, rushing into his body like a great flood in the next instant. Yang Kai’s expression remained unchanged as he ignored the surge of pain he felt, not only not trying to resist, but instead opening all of his body’s pores and allowing this fire aura easier access.
Soon, all of Yang Kai’s clothes were reduced to ash, exposing his intrepid body and solid muscles. His skin was releasing a golden glow and its surface was beginning to crack, allowing golden blood to flow out. These ruptures were quickly restored under the effects of the Golden Blood before cracking again, forming a cycle of destruction and repair.
Yang Kai stretched out his hand and a jade bottle which had been placed on the ground flew into it. Opening the bottle immediately, Yang Kai poured the crimson red pill inside it into his mouth before closing his eyes to refine its efficacies.
After an hour, the effects were fully absorbed and were filling every bit of Yang Kai’s physique. He then took out a dark red spirit grass and stuffed it into his mouth.
Different pills, different herbs, and even the Golden Sun Fruits were ingested by Yang Kai one after another.
The entire process lasted for three days and three nights.
Each time he took one of these materials, the heat pulsing from Yang Kai’s body increased in intensity, quickly reaching a point which would terrify any ordinary person.
Every strain of Yang Kai’s muscles were spasming and his face had become terribly fierce, his eyes completely red as if he wanted to bite someone to death. Although his appearance was miserable, Yang Kai’s powerful Soul cultivation allowed him to maintain his sobriety, which at this point he couldn’t tell if it was a blessing or a curse.
In this lucid state, Yang Kai could clearly felt the efficacies of the pills and herbs he had taken colliding and mixing in his meridians and physique, inducing some incredible changes as they did. It currently felt like millions of ants were rioting about inside his body, creating a kind of torment no Saint King Realm cultivator could possibly bear.
No wonder Zong Ao had repeatedly warned Yang Kai to not act hastily and try to refine the Profound Yin Sunflower Water before reaching the Origin Returning Realm. [That old guy really wasn’t spouting nonsense.]
The pain he was experiencing right now would be too much for an ordinary Origin Returning Realm master, and this was just the beginning. If not for his Golden Blood’s incredible restorative ability, at this moment he would have to give up, otherwise, if he continued, his body would literally explode.
All the pills and herbs Yang Kai used were either Yang or Fire Attribute, and coupled with the natural Fire Attribute energy of this place, his body had accumulated an unimaginable amount of burning power and was bearing torment difficult to imagine.
Yang Kai’s eyes opened again, and with a wave of his trembling hand, sent his Saint Qi into a second stone table.
*Hu…*
With a low rumble, the Spirit Array in the stone chamber began operating faster, and the Fire Attribute energy being extracted from the Earth Lung Fire Pond increased exponentially.
This time, Yang Kai couldn’t bear it anymore and had to release a series of miserable howls to help stabilize his mood.
Not daring to delay, Yang Kai pushed his Saint Qi fiercely to forcefully refine and fuse the various medicinal efficacies into every part of his physique.
It was only three days later that Yang Kai finished merging all the violent medicinal efficacies in his body and suppressed them into his meridians.
Immediately, with a dignified expression, Yang Kai took out a special bottle and stared at it for a moment before opening it resolutely and extracting a single drop of crystal-like liquid from it with a light jolt.
The moment this drop of liquid flew out, the stone chamber, which was akin to an extremely hot furnace, was suddenly filled with a deep chill.
It was obvious to the naked eye that the space surrounding this drop of liquid had been completely cleared of all burning aura, the dense Fire Attribute energy unable to even approach it closer than one metre. What was even stranger though was that after being extracted by Yang Kai, this drop of liquid simply floated mid-air in front of him.
Profound Yin Sunflower Water!
This was a treasure that could elicit greed from an Origin King Realm master and Yang Kai actually had twenty drops of it.
Seeing this drop of Profound Yin Sunflower Water, Yang Kai couldn’t help thinking of that enchantress Xue Yue! At that time, that woman had deadly appeal to both men and women, and had been poisoned by this Profound Yin Sunflower Water. It had taken Yang Kai extraordinary effort to awaken her.
However, if it weren’t for the fetters of the Soul Chains, Yang Kai wouldn’t have cared about whether she had lived or died; after all, far from being friends, the two of them could be considered enemies.
When Yang Kai left Rainfall Star, he had also been chased down by people from Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce.
Slowly shaking his head to dispel these thoughts, Yang Kai no longer dallied and directly swallowed this drop of Profound Yin Sunflower Water.
A frigid sensation instantly spread from Yang Kai’s mouth, not only showing signs of freezing his physical body but even his Knowledge Sea. At that moment, an extreme heat erupted from Yang Kai’s body to swiftly dispel this icy cold chill.
But the energy contained in this drop of Profound Yin Sunflower Water was truly terrifying. As soon as the initial cold had been dispersed, an even stronger chill began diffusing through Yang Kai’s body.
The next moment, endless scorching power burst out.
These two hot and cold forces took Yang Kai’s body as a battlefield and collided with one another, neither of them dispersing the other but instead undergoing some profound and mysterious changes.
Yang Kai’s solemn expression collapsed immediately and a series of muffled roars escaped from deep in his throat while veins bulged across his skin, giving him a terrifying appearance.
Ha Li Ka, President of Rainfall Star’s Heng Lou Chamber of Commerce’s branch and a peak Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master had been injured by this Profound Yin Sunflower Water and forced to cut off his own arm to save his life. If Yang Kai had not taken so many Yang and Fire Attribute pills and spirit herbs to accumulate a terrifying scorching power inside his body, this drop of Profound Yin Sunflower Water would have killed him the instant he swallowed it.
The first difficulty in refining Profound Yin Sunflower Water was to suppress enough burning power inside one’s body. If one’s physique wasn’t strong enough and their Soul wasn’t tough enough, it would be impossible for them to even temporarily store this kind of hot energy in their meridians, much less move on to the next step of the refining.
The second difficulty was the situation Yang Kai was enduring right now. He had to remain awake and alert to maximize the fusion of the hot and cold powers rampaging inside his body.
If he was unable to pass this hurdle, at best he would suffer crippling injuries, while at worse his body would be completely destroyed.
Inside the stone chamber, Yang Kai’s bestial roars continued to resound and his condition was extremely difficult to even understand. Sometimes his whole body was cold like profound ice, the air around him filled with frost and his skin a dark blue, then in the next moment, his skin would be red hot and releasing steam as if he was a cooked crab.
As he withstood this alternating extreme hot and cold, Yang Kai was pleasantly surprised to find that his cultivation was growing at a horrifying speed. Not only was his cultivation realm increasing, but the Demonic Flame in his body also seemed to be undergoing some subtle changes.
Yang Kai’s Demonic Flames were themselves a strange coexistence of hot and cold forces. It was a unique Saint Qi that only belonged to him. The situation in his body created by refining the Profound Yin Sunflower Water actually mimicked the properties of the Demonic Flame perfectly and was gradually causing some changes in the Saint Qi in his body. Not only had Yang Kai not anticipated such a development, Zong Ao likely hadn’t either.