420: Chapter 420 A powerful tonic, enhancing both physical and mental well-being.

Guanlan District, Qingshui Bay.

Lead-gray clouds pressed heavily down upon the surface of the sea.

Torrential rain poured down, relentlessly whipping the sand and waves.

The roaring of the waves was deafening, as if an imprisoned giant beast was letting out an endless roar.

Yet, amid this violent natural scene, a naked figure sat cross-legged in the waist-deep ocean water like a reef.

He allowed giant waves to wash over his head and shatter against his solid chest, turning into white foam in the air.

Rain washed down his sharp face, sliding along his high nose bridge and jawline, outlining clear muscle contours on his bronze skin.

Fang Cheng sat cross-legged in the churning waves, his eyes slightly closed, his breathing long and steady.

It was as if he was using this storm to perform Meditation Cultivate.

But the furrowed brow and tight-pressed lips betrayed that he was enduring immense pain at this moment.

Even with the icy seawater constantly washing and cleansing him,

Fang Cheng's body still radiated astonishing heat, his skin red and glowing, as if an unquenchable lava burned within him.

Suddenly, a cluster of dark red flames erupted from within him, instantly engulfing his entire body.

The color of these flames was bizarre, far from the bright, pure red-gold of the past.

As if stained with tainted blood, it presented an unsettling deep red, its light significantly dimmed.

Sizzle—

The seawater around Fang Cheng began to boil violently, as if a red-hot iron had been dropped into it.

Large swathes of scalding white steam intertwined with the freezing rain, dramatically staging a grand spectacle of water and fire blending together.

Though the light of the flames on his body's surface had dimmed considerably, this power remained intense, showing signs of slipping beyond Fang Cheng's control.

Compared to his past precise control that was easeful and wouldn't harm external things, at this moment only wild berserk fury remained.

Fortunately, the seawater managed to carry away a portion of the scorching heat, causing Fang Cheng's pain-contorted face to ease slightly.

Right now, he was like a torch burning in the storm, using his own light and heat to contend against the boundless darkness around him.

The wind howled in his ears, and black waves surged time and again, attempting to completely engulf this final spark of light.

It was at this moment that Fang Cheng's consciousness quietly sank into a much deeper battlefield.

This was a dead silent world.

The sky was a frozen blood color, and the land was shrouded in thick fog.

Deep within the fog, roars and chewing sounds were endless.

Countless hideous silhouettes flickered within, ready to move, exuding the purest malice.

At the very center of this bizarre realm, an eye of indescribable size hovered silently.

Its surface was covered in countless thick blood vessels that extended outward like hideous root systems into the surrounding space.

It was also like a blood-red sun hanging high in the sky, blooming with twisted dark red light.

Fang Cheng stood directly beneath this colossal eye, as tiny as an ant.

The eyeball also looked down at him, its slowly turning pupil like an abyssal vortex that devoured all things.

A majestic pressure, akin to a god descending upon the world, crashed down, almost causing the entire space to solidify and freezing the Soul.

Ancient and obscure whispers echoed leisurely, as if Transmigration through time from a distant primeval era to tell of unknown secrets.

In the blood-colored sky, strange combat scenes flickered like fleeting shadows.

As if the end of the world had arrived, countless angels with light wings and demons fell amidst a rain of blood, and stars flickered out like dust...

"Ugh..."

Fang Cheng let out a muffled groan, his hands involuntarily clenching into fists.

That terrifying pressure caused his straight spine to bend downward inch by inch, his bones letting out an overburdened creak.

The muscles all over his body shuddered slightly, and the flames burning on his skin were suppressed, becoming even dimmer, nearly turning black-red.

Bloodshot veins quickly filled his eyes, and fine blood-red patterns extended outward from his eye sockets, as if carving some sort of curse mark onto his face.

Thump, thump...

Under the skin on both sides of his forehead, something was throbbing.

As if it would burst through his flesh at any second and grow a pair of hideous horns.

A tyrannical thought originating from destruction and slaughter attempted to completely devour him, transforming him into a Devil King who knew only destruction.

The crimson eye floating in the air cold-heartedly stared at the ant below, continuously emitting whispers.

Every syllable carried a sense of distortion, belonging to no language in this world.

But Fang Cheng, who possessed the Omniscient Language talent, could understand it crystal clear.

These echoing whispers merely repeated a single sentence over and over:

"Achieve Fusion with me, become a part of me, and I shall bestow eternity upon you..."

Fang Cheng scoffed at this.

The Flame of Spirituality in his mind burned fiercely, resisting the erosion on the mental level.

However, the power of the crimson eye was far too bizarre; it could launch erosions on both the mental and physical levels simultaneously, causing him double the pain.

Just as Fang Cheng's consciousness was locked in fierce confrontation with the crimson eye...

A faint sound of tides and a grand chanting suddenly echoed from a distant shore.

This familiar sound allowed Fang Cheng's tense mind to relax slightly, secretly catching his breath.

Then, with great effort, he raised his head and looked into the distance.

That massive azure-blue phantom that had once appeared in his subconscious now materialized once more.

It stood at the boundary of the blood-red space, exuding a serene and ancient aura.

However, this time, it did not issue a summons as usual, but instead directed its gaze toward that colossal red eye.

Buzzing—

Accompanied by countless voices of praise, the residual waves of spatial tremors spread in all directions, as if raising layer upon layer of giant waves.

Two wills from different dimensions, yet equally ancient and powerful, confronted each other silently, competing for dominance over this consciousness space.

However, the last time, Fang Cheng had already completely refined that drop of "faint blue light" attached to the Flame of Spirituality.

Now, the remaining power of this blue phantom in his mind was scarce, appearing far too weak.

The crimson eye clearly held the upper hand.

Around the blood-red space, an impenetrable dam seemed to rise; no matter how the blue tides washed against it, they could not intervene.

And so, this battle for dominance reached a stalemate.

The entire space buzzed and hummed incessantly as a result!

"So both of you want to use my head as a battlefield, huh?"

Seeing this scene clearly, the corner of Fang Cheng's mouth pulled back into a grim, ruthless arc instead.

His clenched fists let out loud cracking sounds, as if he could crush solid steel with his bare hands.

Under this immense pressure, the muscles across his entire body suddenly bulged rapidly.

Angry veins, like flood dragons, snaked and slithered under his flushed skin.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Accompanied by the tension-filled sound of steel cables unlocking, his back muscles suddenly flared open, actually revealing the pattern of a weeping demon face!

The ferocious aura radiating from his entire body terrified the monsters hidden in the fog, causing them to tremble in fear.

"Then bring it on together!!!"

A roar from the depths of his Soul suddenly exploded across this blood-colored realm.

Fang Cheng's arms turned glowing red first, like molten steel.

Bang!

Immediately after, an even fiercer and purer flame was forcibly ignited, sweeping across his entire body with unstoppable momentum.

The dim flames surrounding his body instantly regained their brightness, becoming hotter and more intense than ever before.

It seemed that in this consciousness space, what was burning was no longer energy, but his unquenchable Battle Intent.

Boom!

The ground beneath his feet shattered completely.

Fang Cheng's body sprang back like a spring compressed to its absolute limit.

Whoosh! Enduring the heavy pressure, he shot into the sky, recklessly charging toward that colossal eyeball that blotted out the sun and sky.

Boom boom boom boom—boom boom boom boom—

Sonic booms resembling continuous cannon fire abruptly exploded across the entire space.

In an instant, Fang Cheng's arms turned into countless afterimages indiscernible to the naked eye.

All punch force condensed to the extreme at this moment, bursting out at high speed.

Before the vacuum shockwave left by the previous punch could spread, the destructive force of the next punch had already landed.

Wild flames danced wildly alongside his movements.

Countless punch shadows intertwined into an airtight net of death, completely blanketing that colossal eyeball.

Facing this punching speed that transcended the limits of thought, the giant eye finally reacted.

Countless tangled blood vessels turned into tens of thousands of crimson tentacles, whipping over relentlessly.

However, when these tentacles touched the storm of punch shadows formed by pure power and speed, they were mercilessly blasted to pieces, torn apart, and vaporized like being dragged into a meat grinder!

With the buff from the "Infinite Combo" special effect, Fang Cheng's punch speed grew faster and faster, fiercer and fiercer.

The sonic booms caused by his fists piercing through the air shifted from heavy rumbles to sharp, piercing "tat-tat-tat" sounds.

The intense impact force from his fist peaks stacked frantically, forming a continuous, outward-spreading wave of destructive air that blew away all the churning fog around.

It also tore those hideous monsters hiding in the fog, along with their bloodcurdling roars, into shreds of flesh and blood!

Crack!

Finally, after enduring an uncountably massive number of heavy blows, a clear crack split open on the surface of that huge red eyeball.

Yet Fang Cheng's assault showed no sign of stopping; instead, it became increasingly wild!

His arms rubbed violently against the air at super-high speed, like missiles bombarding a target.

Tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat—

The sonic booms grew faster and sharper, and his punch speed mounted to the limit once more.

A wild hurricane swept across the entire blood-colored space, ravaging everything in sight.

Upon that crack, a second, a third, up to hundreds and thousands of wounds were carved into it.

Seeing that... it was on the verge of complete collapse!

The black-red flames on the surface of Fang Cheng's body had vanished, replaced by an intensely brilliant red-gold!

At the same time...

In the endless darkness, that wisp of Flame of Spirituality representing his self-awareness was also operating at unprecedented efficiency.

The eyeball fragments smashed to pieces by the storm of fist force turned into countless mental energy and information surges.

They surged frantically toward the Flame of Spirituality, attempting to pollute and assimilate it.

However, the current Flame of Spirituality was like a high-efficiency furnace.

The red-gold flames swept all these fragments inside, burning and purifying them over and over again.

Those negative Impurities full of slaughter, chaos, and madness were burned to ashes in the flames, dissipating into wisps of green smoke.

What remained was exceptionally pure energy, which was completely absorbed by the Flame of Spirituality, turning into its own nourishment, causing it to burn brighter and hotter.

In another dimension, the faint blue light screen flickered slightly.

Prompt messages drifted past like flowing water:

[You are absorbing a type of abnormal consciousness, refining your self-awareness; Mind +0.001]

[You are absorbing a type of abnormal consciousness, refining your self-awareness; Mind +0.001]

[You practiced the Meditation skill under an abnormal state; EXP +1]

[You practiced the Qigong skill under an abnormal state; EXP +1]

...

In the real world, the heavy rain had stopped at an unknown moment, leaving only a continuous drizzle.

The ocean waves also gradually calmed down, gently lapping against the beach.

Fang Cheng still sat cross-legged in the seawater, maintaining his original posture without wavering in the slightest.

A wave surged over, covering his shoulders, then slowly receded, revealing that robust body that looked as if cast from steel.

The flames on his body underwent an earth-shattering change.

The deep blood-red color rapidly faded, and the bright golden light reclaimed dominance.

The flames transformed from dark red to crimson, and then evolved from crimson to a brilliant red-gold, even more dazzling than before.

In the dark rainy night, it was like a rising sun slowly ascending from the sea level, radiating light in all directions.

Gradually, that light turned soft again, finally withdrawing into his body and extinguishing completely.

The originally boiling seawater had long cooled down, and the last wisp of white steam dissipated into the cool air.

Only a muscle-bound man remained, sitting quietly in the ocean.

As if blending together with the reef in this wind and rain.

The city lights in the distance turned into a hazy glow in the curtain of rain, like another distant, warm world.

After an unknown amount of time, he slowly opened his eyes.

"Phew—"

Fang Cheng exhaled a long breath, a condensed white arrow spouting from his mouth and traveling over five meters in the air before slowly dispersing.

He raised his hand and wiped his nose, his fingertips catching a speck of blood that hadn't dried yet.

"Too weak to handle such a strong tonic, huh..."

Fang Cheng sighed softly in self-deprecation, his thoughts returning to a few hours ago.

After Xiaosa drove him back to Haitian Garden, he thought everything was over.

Who knew that right after taking a shower, he felt unbearable heat all over his body, his nose began to bleed without warning, and fine red rashes even began to break out on his skin.

What was even scarier was that crazy thoughts of slaughter and devouring kept surging in his mind, and his temper became inexplicably violent, wanting to find someone to vent on fiercely.

Fang Cheng instantly realized that it was the "crimson eye" he had swallowed into his stomach causing trouble.

According to past experience, he immediately decided to purify this foreign consciousness through Meditation Cultivate.

But the moment he entered deep concentration, flames spontaneously erupted from his body out of control.

Fortunately, Fang Cheng noticed in time and forcefully interrupted his Meditation.

Otherwise, this newly decorated new apartment would probably be destroyed in a fire.

At least the expensive athletic flooring would definitely have a huge hole burned into it.

Left with no choice, Fang Cheng could only select this most primitive and reliable method.

Braving the heavy rain, he ran to the seaside, letting the cold ocean water "physically cool down" his body.

On this quiet, rainy beach with no one around, he completed this perilous "digestion."

At this moment, all the dust had settled.

With a slight thought from Fang Cheng, a faint blue light flickered before his eyes, clearly presenting his final gains.

[You consumed a rare ancient ingredient; Physique +6]

[You refined a type of spiritual consciousness; Mind +7] (End of Chapter)