8: Xiao Yan Devours Poison to Refine His Body

"Want to learn?"

These two words, seemingly ordinary, exploded like a thunderclap in Yun Yun's heart, stirring up monstrous waves.

Her beautiful eyes widened, her red lips slightly parted, and her stunning face was filled with disbelief. Teach her? He was willing to impart such a world-shattering Body Tempering method and that unfathomable Blade Way to her?

One must know that on this Fighting Qi Continent, profound cultivation techniques and Dou Techniques were invariably the secret, life-preserving legacies of sects and families. Even for her Cloud Mist Sect, a direct disciple of the Sect Master had to undergo numerous trials and make solemn vows before being granted access to core inheritances. Yet he, so casually, asked such a question?

Was it a test? Or... was he sincere?

Yun Yun felt her heart beating abnormally fast, the sound of blood rushing in her ears. She looked at Li Ao's deep, calm eyes, which didn't seem to be feigning, and for a moment, she didn't know how to answer.

Li Ao saw her frozen and didn't rush her, just watched her quietly. The night wind blew, carrying the lingering scent of blood, but it couldn't disperse the sudden and strange silence between them.

After a long while, Yun Yun finally found her voice, with a hint of dryness and tremor that she herself didn't notice: "Young Master Li... is that true? You... are willing to teach me?"

"Your aptitude is acceptable," Li Ao's tone remained flat, as if evaluating an object. "The hardship of Body Tempering is unbearable for those without resolute will. The danger of the Blade Way is inaccessible to those without decisive character. You, dare you try?"

Dare she try?

These four words, like a heavy hammer, struck Yun Yun's heart.

Who was she? The Sect Master of the Cloud Mist Sect, one of the youngest Dou Huang experts in the Jia Ma Empire, revered in status, admired by thousands. When had anyone ever dared to speak to her in such a scrutinizing and challenging tone?

If it were any other day, she would have flicked her sleeve and left.

But at this moment, looking at the young man before her, at Mu She's still-warm corpse at his feet, feeling the lingering sharp blade intent that severed everything in the air, and recalling his invincible posture of collapsing a mountain with a single punch... an unprecedented yearning ignited in her heart like a wildfire.

Become stronger! Become as strong as him! Even... stronger!

This temptation, for any cultivator pursuing the pinnacle of power, was enough to override all reserve and apprehension.

Yun Yun took a deep breath, suppressing her turbulent emotions. Her beautiful face regained some of its usual coolness, but her eyes shone astonishingly. She straightened her back, like a green pine in the snow, meeting Li Ao's gaze.

"Why not?" Her voice was clear and melodious, carrying the unique pride and decisiveness of the Cloud Mist Sect Master. "As long as Young Master Li is willing to teach, no matter how great the hardship, Yun Yun can bear it!"

Li Ao looked at the fighting spirit igniting in her eyes and nodded slightly. "Good."

He said no more, turning and walking towards the open space in the center of the valley. Yun Yun followed without hesitation.

"The beginning of Body Tempering lies in stimulating the body's potential, drawing Qi into the body, and tempering the tendons and bones," Li Ao stood still and began to explain, his voice not loud, but every word was clear, containing a peculiar rhythm that went straight to the heart. "The Basic Body Tempering Art is the foundation. It requires using one's own vital blood as a guide to connect with the most violent parts of the world's elemental energy, forcefully drawing it into oneself to refine every inch of flesh and blood..."

As he spoke, he pointed his fingers like a blade, drawing in the air. Where his fingertips passed, subtle distorted traces seemed to appear in the air, clearly demonstrating the trajectory of elemental energy flow, how to guide it, how to temper, and the critical points of enduring that inhuman pain, all before Yun Yun's eyes.

There were no texts, no diagrams, only the most direct transmission of intent and demonstration of trajectory.

Yun Yun held her breath, concentrating, not daring to be distracted in the slightest. She deeply etched his every word, every movement trajectory, into the depths of her mind. She found that the method Li Ao described was completely different from all the Dou Qi cultivation systems she knew; it was more primitive, more overbearing, and also more... dangerous. That so-called "drawing violent elemental energy," if one was even slightly careless, would lead to broken tendons and bones, or even exploding and dying!

But she did not flinch. Following Li Ao's guidance, she tried to mobilize her own vital blood to perceive and capture the violent elemental energy that wandered between heaven and earth, which she usually avoided.

At first, she had no clue. Those elemental energies were like wild horses, untamed. Her vital blood was scattered the moment it touched them.

Li Ao watched from the side with cold eyes, not interfering, only at critical moments, flicking a finger, and a subtle yet incredibly precise sharp Qi current would strike a certain acupoint in Yun Yun's body, forcefully correcting subtle deviations in her vital blood circulation, or instantly dispersing the violent elemental energy when she was about to suffer a backlash.

"Pfft!"

One failed attempt at guidance, and a small ball of violent fire-attribute elemental energy exploded in her meridians. The burning sting made her let out a muffled groan, and fine cold sweat instantly seeped from her forehead.

"Your mind must be calm, your intent focused. Fear is the greatest shackles of the body," Li Ao's voice sounded at the right time, cold, yet carrying a strange, calming power.

Yun Yun gritted her teeth, wiped away the cold sweat, and tried again.

Failure after failure, excruciating pain after excruciating pain. Her clothes were quickly soaked with sweat, clinging tightly to her exquisite body, outlining breathtaking curves. Her face also became pale from pain and exhaustion, but her eyes grew brighter and firmer.

After countless failures, as the eastern sky began to lighten with dawn—

Yun Yun's body suddenly shook!

She finally succeeded in capturing a wisp of extremely subtle, scorching violent elemental energy! That elemental energy, like a red-hot steel needle, brutally rushed into her arm meridians along the path she guided!

"Urgh—!"

An indescribable agony erupted instantly, as if her entire arm was being calcined in a furnace! She couldn't help but let out a suppressed cry of pain, her body trembling violently, almost collapsing to the ground.

"Hold steady! Guide it, circulate it according to the path I taught you! Refine it!" Li Ao's sharp shout exploded in her ears like thunder.

Yun Yun bit the tip of her tongue fiercely, the intense pain instantly clearing her mind a bit. Relying on her willpower, which far surpassed that of ordinary people, she desperately maintained a sliver of clarity in her mind, fully operating the profound method, guiding that unruly violent elemental energy along a specific route, progressing with great difficulty.

With every inch it advanced, the pain intensified twofold! Her meridians seemed to be torn apart inch by inch, yet under the effect of the method, they were forcibly repaired and widened!

Sweat rolled down her forehead like streams, dripping onto the grass beneath her, making soft "hissing" sounds as it was instantly evaporated by the high temperature within her body.

But she did not give up!

After an unknown amount of time, which felt as long as a century, that wisp of violent elemental energy was finally guided by her with great difficulty, completing a cycle of circulation in her arm meridians, and ultimately transforming into a faint but incredibly pure energy, merging into her flesh and blood.

The excruciating pain receded like a tide, replaced by an indescribable comfort and... strength!

Yun Yun slowly opened her eyes, her beautiful eyes filled with exhaustion, but even more so with uncontrollable surprise. She raised the arm that had endured inhuman suffering and carefully felt it. Although there was no visible change on the outside, she could clearly feel that the flesh and bones of this arm seemed to have solidified a bit, and the power it contained was also a fraction stronger than before!

This was merely from refining a single wisp of elemental energy! If it continued like this...

She looked up at Li Ao, who stood in the faint morning light. He remained expressionless, but Yun Yun saw a faint hint of... approval in his eyes?

"How does it feel?" he asked.

Yun Yun took a deep breath of the fresh morning air, suppressing the excitement in her heart, and said solemnly: "Excruciating, but... worth it!"

Li Ao nodded. "The Way of Body Tempering is precisely like this. Competing with heaven for destiny, striving against oneself. That's enough for today. Your body has reached its limit; forcing it further will do more harm than good."

Only then did Yun Yun feel a strong sense of weakness wash over her, her body swaying precariously.

Li Ao reached out and supported her arm. His palm was warm and strong, transmitting a steady power through her thin, damp clothes.

Yun Yun's body stiffened slightly, and an uncontrollable blush rose to her cheeks, but she did not pull away.

"Go back and recuperate. Continue tomorrow," Li Ao released her arm, his tone brooking no argument.

"...Okay," Yun Yun replied softly, turning and walking towards the stone cave. Her steps were a bit unsteady, but her back was held straight.

Li Ao watched her enter the cave, then turned his gaze towards the direction of Wutan City, beyond the valley.

He knew that with Yun Yun, the seed had been planted. Next, it was time to see that Young Miss Nalan.

His figure moved, transforming into a blurry afterimage, silently leaving the valley.

And not long after he left, in Wutan City, the Xiao Family.

Xiao Yan sat cross-legged in a wooden tub filled with a pitch-black, pungently foul-smelling poisonous liquid. He gritted his teeth, his face contorted, and the skin exposed above the poison showed an eerie bluish-black color. Veins bulged like earthworms, pulsating violently, enduring the extreme pain of ten thousand poisons gnawing at his body.

Yao Lao's soul body floated nearby, his expression grave.

"Xiao Yanzi, hold on! Although this 'Poison Devouring Body Tempering' has huge side effects, if successful, your physical strength will far exceed those of the same rank, laying a solid foundation for devouring Heavenly Flames in the future! That Li Ao takes the pure Body Tempering path; we will temper the body with poison, forging a new path. We may not necessarily surpass him!"

Xiao Yan suddenly opened his eyes, which were bloodshot but burned with madness and obsession.

"Teacher... I... can hold on!" He squeezed out a few words through gritted teeth. "Li Ao... Nalan Yanran... you two just wait for me! I, Xiao Yan... will definitely take back everything I've lost with my own hands!"

He let out a low roar and submerged his entire head into the highly toxic black water.

Hatred and ambition fermented wildly in the poisonous liquid.