73: Chapter 73 The Strange Flame Erupts: Who is the Prey?
The second round of the Pill Meet: Soul Fire Control.
Although Xiao Han had been left in a wretched state by Lin Que in the first round, he was, after all, a half-step Core Formation Prodigy. Relying on his deep foundation and the "Soul-Stabilizing Pearl" bestowed by his Family, he managed to endure through the second round.
At this moment, the atmosphere in the square was solemn to the extreme.
Of the hundred contestants, only ten remained.
And placed before them was that icy cage floating in mid-air, emitting a terrifyingly low temperature.
The Final Round: Subduing the Unusual Fire!
The Rules: Whoever can endure the longest under the burning of that Bone Spirit Cold Fire and attempt to draw it into their Pill Furnace for refinement will be the champion!
"Young Master Que, your luck has run out."
Xiao Han stood on the foremost pill platform, his face as gloomy as water. He swallowed a top-grade "Meridian-Protecting Pill," and a purple spiritual energy shield lit up around his body.
"This Bone Spirit Cold Fire is a thing of extreme cold; it cannot be approached without a special Physique or an exotic treasure. Your little opportunistic tricks are just seeking death here."
Lin Que stood opposite him, waving a newly replaced folding fan in his hand as he let out a nonchalant yawn.
"Senior Brother Xiao, you talk too much."
"With this time, you'd be better off wearing two more pairs of pants, lest you freeze and wet yourself again in a moment."
"You!!"
Xiao Han trembled with rage, the killing intent in his eyes surging.
"Release the Seal!!"
Following the Pill Tower Master's command.
Crack!
The icy cage high in the sky shattered with a bang.
Whoosh—!!
A cluster of forest-white flames, like a vengeful ghost escaped from its bonds, instantly swept across the field!
It lacked a scorching temperature, but what it brought was an extreme cold capable of freezing the Soul!
"Ah!!"
In just a single encounter.
The three closest fourth-grade Alchemists didn't even have time to scream before they were frozen into ice sculptures, which then shattered into a floor of ice shards with a "clatter"!
"What terrifying cold poison!"
The others were scared out of their wits, their Souls Flying Away and Spirits Scattering. They quickly summoned their respective beast fires to resist, yet their eyebrows still frosted over as they shivered uncontrollably.
Only two people remained motionless.
A "Blazing Sun Pearl" (a quasi-fifth-grade Magic Treasure) floated above Xiao Han's head, emitting a red glow and forming a warm light shield that isolated the cold air.
He walked toward the Unusual Fire in the air step by step, his eyes filled with greed.
"Bone Spirit Cold Fire... it's mine!"
And on the other side.
Lin Que didn't use any Magic Treasures at all.
His skin took on a faint golden luster as the Arhat Golden Body operated on its own. The cold air, capable of freezing and cracking metal, struck his body and actually produced the crisp sound of clashing metal before being directly evaporated by his boiling blood and Qi!
"Warm-up's over."
Lin Que looked at Xiao Han, who was already nearing the Unusual Fire, and a mischievous smirk curled on his lips.
"Senior Brother Xiao, since you want it so much, then I'll... help you out."
Boom!
Lin Que stomped his foot, and his whole being became like a golden cannonball, charging directly into that forest-white sea of fire!
"Seeking death!"
Seeing this, Xiao Han gave a sinister laugh and quietly crushed a black "Spirit-Inducing Needle" in his hand.
This was a one-time-use insidious Magical Artifact that could cause an Unusual Fire to go berserk and attack a specific target.
"Go die! Draw the fire upon yourself!!"
Buzz!
The Bone Spirit Cold Fire, which had been attacking indiscriminately, suddenly seemed to receive some kind of stimulation. it violently contracted and then transformed into a massive white fire python, opening its maw to bite down fiercely on the charging Lin Que!
If this bite landed solidly, let alone the Spirit Sea Realm, even an Early Stage Core Formation expert would suffer instant death.
The entire audience gasped.
"It's over! That Lin Que is far too reckless!"
"The Unusual Fire has gone berserk!"
However.
Facing that terrifying fire python lunging at him.
Lin Que didn't just fail to dodge; he actually opened his arms as if he were seeing a long-lost relative.
"Coming at the right time!"
Pfft!
The fire python instantly swallowed Lin Que whole!
The terrifying forest-white flames frantically bored into his seven orifices and pores, seeking to freeze his internal organs into ice.
[Detected lethal-grade Unusual Fire intrusion!]
[Attribute: Bone Spirit Cold Fire (Extreme Cold/Soul Burning).]
[Malady Judgment: Full-body freezing, Soul shattering, life force severed.]
[Transfer initiated! Logic reorganization—Shifting the misfortune onto another!]
[Locking target: Xiao Han, who is currently using the 'Spirit-Inducing Needle' to control the flames!]
[Multiplier: Full eruption + double the joy!]
"For me... catch this!!"
Buzz!
Xiao Han, who was just a short distance away gloating and waiting to see Lin Que turn into an ice sculpture, suddenly felt the "Blazing Sun Pearl" in his hand let out a wail.
"Crack!"
That priceless quasi-fifth-grade Magic Treasure split open with a crack without any warning.
Immediately after.
An indescribable, extreme chill appeared out of thin air within his body! It was as if that fire python hadn't bitten Lin Que, but had instead teleported directly into his own body!
"AAAAAHHH!!!"
Xiao Han let out an incredibly shrill scream.
His skin instantly turned a ghastly white, and his eyebrows and hair all froze over. His proud purple spiritual energy shield shattered like a soap bubble at this moment.
"Cold! So cold!!!"
"How can this be?! It's clearly burning him! Why am I the one being frozen?!!"
Xiao Han rolled frantically on the pill platform, trying to circulate his cultivation to expel the cold, but his Meridians had already been frozen solid.
Looking back at the center of the sea of fire.
Lin Que was bathed in the forest-white flames. Although his clothes had turned to ash, his dark-golden muscular lines shone brilliantly in the firelight.
As the cold poison was transferred, what remained... was the purest Origin energy within the Unusual Fire.
Inhale—
Lin Que took a deep breath.
The surrounding white sea of fire actually formed a funnel and was swallowed into his stomach like a whale!
[Currently devouring Bone Spirit Cold Fire...]
[Arhat Golden Body (Fire/Ice Dual Resistance) strengthening in progress...]
[Cultivation increasing...]
*Burp.*
Lin Que spat out a mouthful of white cold air.
He took a step forward and instantly arrived before the still-rolling Xiao Han.
By now, most of Xiao Han's body had turned into a block of ice, his consciousness was blurred, and he only had one final breath left.
"Senior Brother Xiao."
Lin Que squatted down and extended a finger still burning with white flames, gently poking Xiao Han's frozen-stiff face.
"Is this what you called... the might of an Unusual Fire?"
"It really is quite refreshing. Thanks."
Having said that.
Lin Que no longer paid any mind to this crippled person.
He slowly stood up, his gaze sweeping across the field before finally fixing on the Pill Tower Master, who had long since stood up with a face full of shock.
"Tower Master."
Lin Que extended his right hand.
Whoosh!
A forest-white fire lotus bloomed quietly in his palm, as docile as a domesticated pet.
"I'll take this Unusual Fire."
"Who else... is not convinced?"
Dominant!
Arrogant!
One person suppressing the entire field!
The Tower Master took a deep breath, suppressing the stormy waves in his heart.
This boy's Alchemy techniques were not only bizarre, but his Physical Body and fire control techniques were unheard of. Even the Pill Tower's Ancestral Master back then didn't have such methods!
"This seat announces..."
The Tower Master's voice spread throughout the city.
"The champion of this Pill Meet—Lin Que!!"
"The Bone Spirit Cold Fire belongs to him!"
Cheers erupted like a tsunami.
And amidst those deafening cheers, Lin Que slowly closed his eyes.
The liquid spirit sea within him, after devouring the Origin of the Bone Spirit Cold Fire, had finally reached a critical point.
That was... the sign of liquid turning to solid.
[System Notification: Cultivation has reached Spirit Sea Realm Great Perfection!]
[Detected Core Formation opportunity: Bone Spirit Cold Fire + earth core flame marrow + Undying Blood Body.]
[Do you wish to initiate 'Extreme Realm Core Formation'?]
Lin Que snapped his eyes open. Within his eyes, a crimson earth fire danced in the left, while a forest-white cold fire burned in the right.
"Of course."
"But before that..."
Lin Que glanced at the carried-away Xiao Han, as well as several sneaky, murderous gazes in the crowd (the hidden agents of the Xiao Family and the Blood Fiend Sect).
"I need to find a quiet place first to... clean up these tails."