218: Chapter 217 Fusion

Inside Hanzhou Residence, the Spirit Gathering Formation operated slowly.

Jiang Hanzhou sat cross-legged in the center of the cultivation room, a faint dark-golden light swirling around his body.

The light pulsed slightly with his breathing. With every rise and fall, wisps of Spiritual Qi surged from the formation nodes in all directions, drilling into his body through his pores, merging into his Meridians, and flowing into his Dantian.

The Spirit Gathering Formation in the inner sect Immortal Cave was more than ten times stronger than the one in the Outer Sect.

Cultivating for one hour here was equivalent to three days of bitter cultivation in the Outer Sect.

But he was not cultivating.

He simply kept his eyes closed, carefully sensing the flow of the four True Intents within his body.

Tidal True Intent was as continuous as water, flowing slowly through his Meridians. Wherever it passed, the Meridian walls were stained with a faint blue luster.

That was the trace of water: soft, dense, and ceaseless.

Pure Yang True Intent was as blazing as fire, circling and burning around his Dantian. With every rotation, a wisp of scarlet-gold flame escaped from the True Intent and merged into his blood, making it even more fiery and overbearing.

Golden Sharpness True Intent was as sharp as a blade, condensing into countless tiny golden lights that merged into his bones, his muscles, and every inch of his flesh.

Those lights traveled through his flesh, and with every movement, a trace of sharpness radiated from within, making his aura a bit more piercing.

As for the Heavenly Fire True Intent—that three-colored flame formed by simulating Qi Fire with Dragon Blood Power and fusing it with Essence Fire and Divine Fire—it currently floated quietly in the depths of his Dantian, maintaining a delicate distance from the other three True Intents.

Four types of True Intent coexisted in one body.

But they remained distinctly separate from one another.

Jiang Hanzhou's brow furrowed slightly.

He tried to activate the Tidal True Intent, letting it flow slowly toward the depths of his Dantian to approach that three-colored flame.

The moment the Tidal True Intent drew near, the three-colored flame trembled slightly.

The tremor was extremely faint, almost undetectable, but Jiang Hanzhou sensed it.

The dark-golden light within the flame flickered slightly, as if it were wary, on guard, and resisting.

He halted the Tidal True Intent and turned to activate the Pure Yang True Intent instead.

As soon as the Pure Yang True Intent approached, the dark-red light within the three-colored flame suddenly brightened!

Within that brightening light was an indescribable sense of—rejection.

Though the two forces of the fire element shared the same source, they instinctively resisted each other due to their different attributes.

Pure Yang True Intent was blazing and overbearing, pursuing 'purity'.

Heavenly Fire True Intent had fused with Dragon Blood Power; it was overbearing yet carried a hint of violence, and blazing yet carried a hint of sharpness, pursuing 'Fusion'.

Purity and Fusion were fundamentally two different paths.

Jiang Hanzhou fell silent for a moment, withdrew the Pure Yang True Intent, and moved to activate the Golden Sharpness True Intent.

The moment the Golden Sharpness True Intent approached, the invisible Divine Fire power within the three-colored flame jolted violently!

That jolt was even more intense than before.

Golden Sharpness True Intent was incomparably sharp, pointing directly at the core of one's heart.

The Divine Fire power within the Heavenly Fire True Intent was refined with the Heart Blade as its Foundation—the Heart Blade cuts through all things of the Divine Soul and is essentially the ultimate condensation of will.

The two forces of will now confronted each other in the depths of the Dantian like two invisible blade edges.

Though they did not collide, that tense atmosphere caused Jiang Hanzhou's Sea of Consciousness to vibrate slightly.

He took a deep breath and withdrew all the True Intents.

In the depths of the Dantian, the three-colored flame slowly subsided, returning to a state of calm.

The four True Intents also returned to their respective positions, not interfering with one each other.

He opened his eyes and looked down at his hands.

His hands were still intact, but he could sense that the barriers between those True Intents in his body were deeper than he had imagined.

Tide was like water, Pure Yang like fire, Golden Sharpness like a blade, and Heavenly Fire fused the three while transcending them—how could it be easy to merge four completely different Concepts together?

He closed his eyes and began to deduce within his Sea of Consciousness.

Using Tidal True Intent as the Foundation, Pure Yang True Intent as the bone, Golden Sharpness True Intent as the edge, and Heavenly Fire True Intent as the soul—merging the four into one to condense a single sword.

Deducing it once, it seemed feasible.

Deducing it twice, it still seemed feasible.

Deducing it ten times, it remained feasible.

But he knew that deduction was merely deduction. When actually activating them, the conflicts between those True Intents would erupt instantly, just as they had a moment ago.

He needed time.

He needed a vast amount of time to slowly break them in, harmonize them, and gradually fuse the barriers between those True Intents.

But time was running out.

In forty days, the Inner Sect Minor Competition would take place.

He took a deep breath, closed his eyes again, and continued his deductions.

Outside the window, the night grew deeper.

The light from the Spirit Gathering Formation slowly circulated around him, illuminating the entire cultivation room.

Time flowed slowly.

An unknown amount of time passed.

Perhaps it was one hour.

Perhaps it was two.

Jiang Hanzhou was immersed in his deductions, trying the Fusion methods for the four True Intents over and over, repeatedly adjusting the proportions and coordination between them.

A fraction more of Tidal True Intent would make it overly continuous but lacking in sharpness.

A fraction more of Pure Yang True Intent would make it too blazing but lacking in softness.

A fraction more of Golden Sharpness True Intent would make the edge too exposed and the Foundation unstable.

A fraction more of Heavenly Fire True Intent would...

He hadn't reached that step in his deduction yet.

Because Heavenly Fire True Intent was itself an embryonic form created by fusing three powers. It was too special, too unstable, and its conflict with the other three True Intents was also the most violent.

He needed to first let Tide, Pure Yang, and Golden Sharpness reach some kind of balance before he could attempt to merge Heavenly Fire into them.

But even achieving balance among these three was extremely difficult.

Fire and water are incompatible; this is a fundamental principle of the world.

Tide was like water and Pure Yang like fire. When the two met, either the water would extinguish the fire or the fire would evaporate the water; they could never coexist.

But in his deductions, they could coexist.

Because the Golden Sharpness True Intent served as a buffer in the middle.

Golden Sharpness True Intent was sharp and piercing, yet it did not conflict with any attribute. It could act like a blade, temporarily separating Tide and Pure Yang, allowing them to circulate on either side of the blade without encroaching on each other.

But that was only in deduction.

When actually activated, would Tide and Pure Yang bypass the Golden Sharpness and collide directly?

He didn't know.

He could only deduce and adjust over and over, trying to find that most perfect point of balance.

Suddenly—

In the depths of his Sea of Consciousness, the Heart Blade trembled slightly.

That tremor came without any warning, yet it caused Jiang Hanzhou's brow to snap into a frown.

Because that tremor was not a normal one, but rather—

Instability.

The Heart Blade was unstable.

He closed his eyes, his Divine Sense sinking into the depths of his Sea of Consciousness.