54: The earth's fire refines the golden body! A painful transformation!

Beneath Falling Star Island, in an abandoned Artifact Refining workshop forgotten by the world.

This place was once the most prosperous Artifact Refining center on Falling Star Island, but a shift in the earth's veins a century ago caused the Earth Fire to run wild. Not only did it devour countless Artifact Refiners, but it also made the Spiritual Qi here violent and impure, no longer suitable for Cultivators to stay.

Now, in this dark and damp underground space, collapsed stone pillars and rusted, gigantic anvils were everywhere. The air was filled with a thick smell of sulfur and decaying dust.

Only in the center of the hall, that dilapidated Earth Fire Pool was still "gurgling" with dark red magma, occasionally bursting with a bubble, spraying out a plume of scorching poisonous smoke that blackened the surrounding rock walls.

Gu Yang sat cross-legged in the center of the scorching Earth Fire Pool, completely naked.

The boiling magma submerged his waist, yet he felt nothing. He gripped the pitch-black, strangely patterned shard of "Que Xie Divine Iron" tightly in his hand, his eyes filled with a desperate, ruthless determination.

"The island's protective formation has been activated, and the Divine Sense of a Nascent Soul Stage expert is sweeping through inch by inch, like a sieve filtering sand. It will find this place sooner or later."

Gu Yang closed his eyes, sensing the waves of suffocating, terrifying pressure coming from above. That was the fury of the Falling Star Island Lord, Old Ancestor Xing Yun, and also the initial mastery of the Laws of Heaven and Earth by a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator.

"There is no escaping now. Even if I could luckily escape the island, with my current state, I would still be a living target who can only take a beating when encountering a Spell Cultivator proficient in Spells."

He looked down at his chest, where there was still a charred wound—a Dao injury left by the lightning technique of Venerable Thunder Sword. The flesh around the wound appeared necrotic and grayish-white. Even the powerful recovery ability of the Primordial Indestructible Golden Body could not expel it and heal it in the short term.

"Without resistance against Spells, a Body Cultivator is naturally inferior to a Spell Cultivator."

"Fight! If I don't succeed, I will perish!"

Gu Yang took a deep breath, no longer hesitating, and pressed the palm-sized Que Xie Divine Iron tightly against the Tanzhong Acupoints on his chest.

Blazing Fire Golden Body—full power activation!

He no longer resisted the high temperature of the surrounding Earth Fire; instead, he opened every pore on his body, actively drawing in the magma from the Earth Fire Pool, wrapping himself and the divine iron on his chest in raging flames.

"Give me... melt!!!"

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!

The terrifying high temperature erupted instantly, scorching Gu Yang's skin and making a teeth-grinding sound, as if roasting raw meat.

But this was just the beginning.

As the Earth Fire burned crazily, that incredibly hard Que Xie Divine Iron, known to be immortal for ten thousand years, finally showed signs of softening. It gradually turned red, then transformed into drops of viscous, boiling black molten iron.

But these molten iron drops did not drip to the ground. Instead, under the forced guidance of Gu Yang's Qi and blood, they followed the pores opened on his chest and forcibly drilled into his flesh and blood!

"Arghhhhh—!!!"

Gu Yang suddenly threw his head back, veins bulging on his neck, and let out a roar suppressed to the limit.

Pain!

It was too painful!

The feeling was as if countless small, red-hot, blunt knives were cutting open his skin and flesh bit by bit, drilling into his blood vessels; it was also like countless bloodthirsty poisonous insects were crazily gnawing at his bone marrow and nerves.

With the Divine Iron entering his body, he was forcibly changing the structure of his Physical Body, fusing alien metal with flesh and blood—this was truly Heaven-Defying!

[Warning! Warning! Physical Body damage 30%... 35%...]

[High-density alien metal intrusion detected! Strong rejection reaction! Cells are necrotic! It is recommended to stop immediately!]

The System's red warning box flickered wildly on his retina, the prompt sound as urgent as a death warrant.

"Stop my ass! Shut up!"

Gu Yang's eyes were blood-red, and blood tears even cracked from the corners of his eyes. His muscles were taut like iron, and every muscle was trembling and spasming violently.

He gritted his teeth so hard that his gums bled, his mouth filled with the taste of rust and blood.

"What is this bit of pain? I still want to eat my way through the entire Cultivation world! How can I fall here?!"

"Suppress it for me! Primordial Indestructible Golden Body!"

He mobilized all the Five Elements Qi in his body, crazily scouring the invading black molten iron, attempting to assimilate and fuse them into every one of his cells.

This was an extremely slow and dangerous process, like walking a tightrope over a ten-thousand-foot abyss.

Every second, Gu Yang hovered on the edge of life and death.

His skin turned fiery red, as if it were about to burn out; then it turned pitch black as ink, revealing a metallic dead silence. His breath was erratic, like a candle in the wind, ready to be extinguished at any moment.

...

At this time, above ground.

"Over there! There is a strong fluctuation of Earth Fire in the direction of the abandoned Artifact Refining workshop, and the Spiritual Qi is extremely unstable!"

A team of the Island Lord's guards, wearing black armor and emanating a murderous aura, was speeding over while riding various Magical Artifacts.

Leading them were two Late Stage Golden Core Cultivators. They held tracking compasses in their hands; the needles on the compasses were pointing dead at the underground, and their eyes shone with cruelty and greed.

"The madman who robbed Young Master Duobao must be hiding down there!"

"The Island Lord has ordered, dead or alive! As long as the corpse or the head is brought back, there will be a reward of 100,000 Spirit Stones and a top-grade Magical Artifact!"

"Brothers, the opportunity to get rich has arrived! Charge!"

"Boom!"

With a loud noise, the thick stone door of the abandoned Artifact Refining workshop was blasted to pieces by a jointly cast Spell. Gravel flew, and dust filled the air.

Over a dozen Cultivators rushed in like wolves and tigers. With a sweep of their Divine Sense, they instantly locked onto the figure wrapped in flames and with weak breath in the Earth Fire Pool.

"Is he practicing? Or self-mutilating?"

A Cultivator looked at Gu Yang's inhuman appearance and hesitated.

The leading Late Stage Golden Core Cultivator sneered: "Who cares! Looking at him like this, he is already at the end of his rope! Hit him while he's down!"

"Do it! Don't give him a chance to catch his breath!"

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

In an instant, the narrow underground space was filled with spiritual light.

Over a dozen colorful Spell lights lit up simultaneously.

Crimson fire snakes, icy blue ice cones, pitch-black poisonous mist, golden Flying Swords... flooded toward the immobile figure in the center of the Earth Fire Pool.

At this moment, Gu Yang was at the critical moment of Fusion. Even moving a finger could lead to failure and the collapse of his Physical Body. He couldn't dodge at all and could only take it head-on!

Bang, bang, bang!

Dense Spells bombarded Gu Yang, exploding into sky-filling fire and smoke.

"Pfft!"

Gu Yang's body trembled violently, and a mouthful of blood sprayed out, instantly evaporated by the high temperature.

His back was sliced open by a Golden Blade Spell, deep enough to see the bone, revealing the wriggling flesh and blood with a metallic luster inside; his left shoulder was pierced by an ice cone, cold energy eroding it, freezing his blood.

But he still didn't move, not even opening his eyes.

He was gambling!

Gambling with his life!

Gambling that he would finish that final Fusion before being beaten to death!

[Fusion progress: 80%... 85%... 90%...]

[Warning! Vitality below 10%! Physical Body on the verge of collapse! Please take measures immediately!]

"Still not dead? This kid has a really tough life!"

The leading Late Stage Golden Core Cultivator saw this, a flash of ruthlessness in his eyes. He didn't want to delay any longer; delay brings change.

He flipped his wrist and offered up a three-edged awl, pitch-black as ink, emitting a cold aura.

Top-grade Magical Artifact—Armor-Piercing Bone-Penetrating Awl!

Specialized in breaking various protective Spirit Shields and tempered bodies!

"Go to hell! Be a smart person in your next life!"

"This strike will send you on your way!"

Whoosh!

The armor-piercing awl turned into a black stream of light, its speed reaching the extreme. It instantly tore through the air, carrying a piercing whistle, and accurately pierced toward Gu Yang's heart!

If this strike landed, let alone a Foundation Establishment Body Cultivator, even a Late Stage Golden Core Body Cultivator would have their heart burst and die!

Just at this critical moment, the tip of the armor-piercing awl had already pierced the skin on Gu Yang's chest, touching that boiling hot blood.

Hum—

Gu Yang suddenly opened his eyes.

In that instant, his pupils seemed to turn into two bottomless black holes, profound, cold, and emotionless.

The original glazed crimson-gold skin faded all its luster at this moment, replaced by a dark, ancient, heavy black-gold color that exuded a cold metallic texture!

An aura as heavy as a mountain erupted!

Clang!

A crisp, extremely sharp metallic snapping sound rang out.

That Armor-Piercing Bone-Penetrating Awl, capable of piercing gold and stone and breaking precious armor, after piercing half an inch into Gu Yang's chest, unexpectedly seemed to have hit the hardest barrier in the world and could not move an inch further.

Immediately after, in the horrified eyes of all the Cultivators, that top-grade Magical Artifact...

Directly snapped in half!

[Congratulations Host! Fusion successful!]

[Acquired new Physical Body trait: Que Xie Golden Body (Elementary)!]

[Effect: Physical Body Spell resistance increased by 50%! Defense against Metal-attribute and Armor-piercing Magical Artifacts increased by 100%! Acquired "Spell Deflection" ability!]

"Are you done attacking?"

Gu Yang slowly stood up.

The boiling magma slid down his steel-cast-like body, dripping onto the ground with a "hissing" sound.

He reached out and pulled out the half-broken armor-piercing awl from his chest, rubbing it gently with two fingers.

Rustle, rustle, rustle...

The hard Magical Artifact shard was actually rubbed directly into metal powder by him and scattered from between his fingers.

His cold eyes, looking like he was looking at dead people, swept over all the Cultivators present. His voice was hoarse and low, like metal rubbing against metal, making people's scalps tingle:

"It felt good hitting me just now, right?"

"Now... it's my turn."