57: Cultivation turmoil resurfaces

In the deep pit, deathly silence and the smell of blood intertwined. Lin Chen endured the intense pain that would make an ordinary person collapse, and with difficulty, swallowed the "Life Soul Blood Fusion Pill" gifted by Xiao Yan.

The Medicinal Pill entered his stomach and instantly turned into a gentle yet incredibly majestic torrent of medicinal power, quickly surging towards his limbs and bones. This pill was truly a high-grade healing holy medicine, its effects were astonishing; wherever it passed, broken Meridians were forcibly reconnected, shattered bones emitted a slight hum and began to heal, and damaged internal organs were nourished and repaired. A vigorous vitality blossomed from within his body, temporarily resisting the erosion of deathly stillness brought by the backlash of his Shadow Erosion Dou Qi.

Lin Chen didn't dare waste any of it, fully circulating the Dark Shadow Soul Binding Art to guide the medicinal power in repairing his injured body. At the same time, he cautiously sensed the aura of the wisp of Wind Fury Dragon Flame Sub-fire within him that was about to dissipate.

Although this wisp of Heavenly Flame Sub-fire was about to run out of energy, its essence was extremely high, containing a trace of the vitality and purifying characteristics of the Wind Fury Dragon Flame. For ordinary people, the power of a Heavenly Flame was peerlessly domineering and difficult to utilize, but Lin Chen's Shadow Erosion Dou Qi itself had the characteristic of devouring all energy, and coupled with his powerful Soul strength, he actually came up with a bold idea—to try and refine this trace of Heavenly Flame residue and fuse it into his own Dou Qi!

This move was extremely risky; the Heavenly Flame and the shadow Death Qi conflicted, and a single mistake could lead to self-immolation and eternal damnation. But if successful, it might neutralize part of the backlash and even cause an unexpected beneficial transformation in the Shadow Erosion Dou Qi!

"Wealth is found in danger, let's do it!" A look of ruthlessness flashed in Lin Chen's eyes. His current situation was dire, and only by using extraordinary methods could he fight for a slim chance of survival!

He concentrated all his Soul strength like the most precise carving knife, cautiously guiding that faint green flame. Instead of fusing it directly into his Dou Qi, he guided it toward the strange Tablet Jade on his chest that was emitting a faint trace of vitality.

The Tablet Jade seemed to react to the Heavenly Flame's aura, and the warm vitality it emitted became slightly more active.

Using this as a bridge, Lin Chen tried to use the vitality of the Tablet Jade as a buffer and mediator, slowly peeling off and refining that wisp of Wind Fury Dragon Flame aura bit by bit, then guiding it into his dried-up Meridians.

The process was excruciatingly painful! Even if it was only a trace, the power of the Heavenly Flame was matchlessly domineering, burning his Meridians and bringing heart-piercing pain. Meanwhile, the Shadow Erosion Dou Qi was also full of rejection toward this outsider, becoming violently restless. Lin Chen held fast to his mental state, the veins on his forehead bulging, sweat pouring down like rain as he deathly controlled that delicate balance.

Time passed bit by bit.

At the very moment that wisp of Heavenly Flame aura was about to completely dissipate, Lin Chen suddenly let out a low roar, finally completing the last bit of refining and guidance!

Buzz!

A strange hum seemed to come from within his body. That refined trace of Heavenly Flame residue did not completely fuse with the Shadow Erosion Dou Qi, but instead turned into countless extremely tiny green light spots, like stars, dotting the pitch-black Shadow Erosion Dou Qi!

In an instant, the originally deathly and cold Shadow Erosion Dou Qi seemed to be injected with a trace of extremely faint vitality and spirituality! Although the main body still retained the characteristics of devouring and shadows, it lost some of its absolute deathliness and gained an indescribable resilience! Most importantly, that feeling of life force being backlashed at every moment was actually weakened by a bit!

Success!

Lin Chen was ecstatic! Although he had only initially refined a trace of Heavenly Flame residue and the effect was minimal, it pointed out a brand new path for him! Perhaps, searching for and refining other fire seeds or exotic treasures containing vitality or special powers was the key to controlling or even overcoming the backlash of Shadow Erosion Dou Qi in the future!

He suppressed his excitement and continued to heal with all his strength.

The effects of the Life Soul Blood Fusion Pill continued to work, and with the weakening of the backlash, his injuries improved at a speed visible to the naked eye. His broken Meridians were cleared once more, his shattered bones healed as before and even became tougher. His depleted Dou Qi Sea also began to fill up again.

Three days later, in the deep pit, a powerful aura suddenly erupted, pushing away all the surrounding rubble and dust!

Lin Chen slowly opened his eyes, the light in them restrained, while deep in the darkness, a tiny, almost imperceptible green starlight flashed and vanished. His injuries were completely healed, and his strength had not only fully recovered but, due to this Opportunity of breaking through after destruction and refining the Heavenly Flame residue, he had broken through to the level of an Eight-star Dou Ling in one go! His Soul strength had also become more condensed due to the tempering between life and death.

He clenched his fist, feeling the surging power within his body and the subtly changed Shadow Erosion Dou Qi, his confidence greatly increased.

"It's time to leave." He stood up and, with a flicker of his body, drifted out of the deep pit like light smoke.

His gaze swept across the messy battlefield, and his eyes narrowed slightly. This place was definitely not somewhere to stay for long; the Hall of Souls would never let this matter go.

He performed "Shadow Erosion · Body Fusion," perfectly concealing his aura, and stealthily moved toward the outskirts of the Blackwind Mountains.

Along the way, he found more traces of battle and the corpses of some low-level Hall of Souls personnel, clearly the result of Grand Elder Su Qian's purge. However, he didn't find any traces of Hall of Souls experts; it seemed the main force had already withdrawn.

A few days later, he quietly left the range of the Blackwind Mountains and entered a medium-sized city under the jurisdiction of Jia Nan Academy—Blackrock City.

He needed to gather some news, understand the current situation, and purchase some supplies.

However, as soon as he entered the city, an unusual atmosphere made him alert.

In front of the bulletin board at the city gate, a large crowd had gathered, pointing and discussing the newly posted notice.

Lin Chen approached inconspicuously, his gaze sweeping over the notice, and his pupils suddenly contracted!

It wasn't a notice from Jia Nan Academy, but an Arrest Warrant from the Hall of Souls!

Two portraits were clearly drawn on the document. The first was Xiao Yan, labeled as "Jia Nan Academy rebel, stole a heavy treasure, kill on sight!".

The second portrait, although slightly blurry, had those deep eyes and facial contours... it was clearly him, Lin Chen! The label below made his heart turn cold: "Mysterious accomplice, strange Cultivation Technique, expert at concealment, ambushed an Elder Zun, heinous crimes! Those who provide accurate clues will be rewarded with one Earth Rank Low-level Dou Technique and one Profound Rank Advanced Cultivation Technique; those who capture or kill him will be rewarded with one Earth Rank Intermediate Dou Technique and personal guidance from a Hall of Souls Elder Zun!"

The surrounding crowd was talking animatedly. "Tsk tsk, the Hall of Souls really went all out this time! They even put up an Earth Rank Dou Technique as a reward!" "I know this Xiao Yan, I heard he's a Genius, I didn't expect him to dare provoke the Hall of Souls..." "Who is this Lin Chen? He looks so young, yet he could actually ambush a Hall of Souls Elder Zun? Is it for real?" "Who knows, if the Hall of Souls is wanting him, can he be a good person? Maybe he's some kind of Devil Head..." "Be careful, I heard the Hall of Souls' Secret Agents are already everywhere..."

Lin Chen silently lowered his head, pulled down the brim of his cloak, and quickly left the crowd, his heart churning with stormy waves.

A Hall of Souls wanted notice! And such high specifications! They even put him on the same level as Xiao Yan!

This meant he had completely moved to the opposite side of the Hall of Souls, with no room for reconciliation. From now on, he would face the Hall of Souls' endless pursuit and threats!

A huge pressure weighed on his heart, but following it was a sense of determination to burn his bridges.

He sneered and thought to himself: "Want to catch me? Then come! Let's see who is hunting whom!"

He didn't stay any longer, quickly purchasing a large amount of supplies in the city, such as healing and Dou Qi recovery items, as well as poisons and hidden weapons. He even spent a lot of money to buy an "Illusion Face Pill" that could briefly change his aura and appearance, then left Blackrock City without stopping.

He knew that the city was no longer safe; the Hall of Souls' eyes and ears were likely more numerous than he imagined.

After leaving Blackrock City, he didn't go far, but instead turned back toward the Blackwind Mountains. The most dangerous place is often the safest; the people from the Hall of Souls probably wouldn't expect him to dare return right after escaping.

He found an extremely hidden cave on the outskirts of the mountains with an underground current flowing through it. He set up a few simple warning traps and decided to Cultivate here for a while to completely stabilize his Eight-star Dou Ling Realm, familiarize himself with the Shadow Erosion Dou Qi that had changed after refining the Heavenly Flame residue, and at the same time, lie low.

Inside the cave, the underground current gurgled, bringing a trace of coolness.

Lin Chen sat cross-legged, flipped his palm, and the Storage Pouch obtained from the Hall of Souls Dou Huang appeared in his hand again. Before, he had only cared about checking the scrolls and Medicinal Pills, and hadn't carefully inventoried the other items.

He probed his Soul strength into it and searched carefully.

Besides some Hall of Souls tokens, scrolls, and Medicinal Pills, there were some miscellaneous Materials in the corner and a very old-looking black book that was neither metal nor paper.

There was no writing on the cover of the book, only a blurry, twisted mark that seemed to be composed of shadows.

Lin Chen's heart stirred, and he took out the book.

The book felt cold to the touch and was made of a strange material. He cautiously flipped to the first page.

It wasn't text, but some extremely strange and twisted patterns and lines drawn with some kind of dark pigment, which made one feel dizzy just looking at them.

He frowned and continued flipping.

On the subsequent pages, some intermittent, incomprehensible symbols and annotations began to appear, equally obscure and difficult to understand.

Not until he flipped to the latter half did some common language of the continent appear, but it was still fragmented, like someone's research notes.

"...The power of shadow, neither dead nor alive, drifting in the gap between light and dark, stealing reality, becoming nothingness..." "...The fragments of 'The Shadow Codex' say that at the highest Realm, one can transform into thousands of shadows, being everywhere yet nowhere..." "...However, excessive devouring will surely lead to backlash, requiring 'Source Fire' or 'Treasures of Vitality' to neutralize..." "...The legend of the 'Shadow Realm'... is it real? Is that the ultimate destination of the power of shadow?"

The intermittent information made Lin Chen's heart suddenly race!

This book seemed to be a fragment of an ancient classic about shadow power! Moreover, it mentioned "backlash," and mentioned neutralizing it with "Source Fire" or "Treasures of Vitality"! It even mentioned a so-called "Shadow Realm"!

This was simply tailor-made for him!

He treated it like a priceless treasure, impatiently immersing himself in it and reading it carefully.

Time flew by during his cultivation and study.

Outside, the wanted posters for him and Xiao Yan spread across most of the Black-Corner Region like snowflakes, causing a huge stir. The shadow of the Hall of Souls quietly loomed over.

The storm had not subsided; it was merely brewing for the next, even more violent eruption.

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