Chapter 828: Chapter 828
The light was pure and domineering, filled with the essence of creation and control.
At first, it was merely a spark, but in an instant, it ignited itself in an almost brute fashion, illuminating the world.
What surprised him even more was that, in that blazing light, he "smelled" a familiar "scent."
It was the essence of Ma Family Tai Chi: heavy, balanced, yet with a touch of stubbornness.
But now, this essence was completely refined and elevated by the newborn sun, becoming grander and stranger.
He slowly opened his eyes, the gaze beneath his goggles deep as the sea.
"Someone is... comprehending the truth, condensing the True Self in Ma Family’s Water Prison?"
In his low murmur, there was a rare trace of astonishment.
That place, he knew all too well.
It was once his site for imprisoning himself, honing his mind through arduous cultivation.
To his surprise, years later, someone had followed the same path there, even more fiercely...
As soon as the words fell, his fishing rod jerked upward!
A silver light broke through the ice, carrying a shower of icy shards, and was precisely flung before him.
It was a strange fish, silver white and scaleless, struggling violently on the icy surface, emanating bone-chilling cold.
The next moment, an intangible and scorching airflow swept from him.
The strange fish instantly stopped moving.
The moisture within was evaporated in an instant, and it quickly became an outer crisp yet tender dried fish, even emitting a peculiar meat fragrance.
He casually collected the dried fish and rose from the ice.
The violently howling blizzard seemed to soften slightly as a result.
He removed his wind goggles, revealing an ordinary face.
One might even say it appeared somewhat young, showing no signs of wind and snow erosion.
Yet, when the gaze fell upon his eyes, the entire perception was overturned.
Those were eyes indescribable by words, bright, deep, indifferent.
As if they did not belong to this era, having witnessed the cycle of times and all things.
At this moment, he raised these eyes, gazed eastward, and a meaningful smile curved at the corner of his mouth.
"This pool of dead water is finally going to stir..."
Inside the Water Prison, it was dark as an endless night.
Only the occasional droplets seeping from the rock wall crevices fell into the shallow pool, echoing crisply and solitary.
A figure sat cross-legged on the central stone platform.
The muscular naked body outlined a faint silhouette in the dim light.
The originally smooth head was now covered with thick, black short hair.
Each strand of hair was as tough as a needle, shining with healthy luster in the faint light.
As if the earth below had regrown flourishing grassland, brimming with unruly vitality.
The golden flame burning around the body had long withdrawn and vanished, the surrounding steam no longer billowed.
Yet, this body felt more oppressive than before entering seclusion.
Every inch of muscle seemed precisely calculated and polished, its lines smooth and distinct, subtly aligned with the principles of mechanics.
They adhered to the bones, presenting a texture akin to dense bronze.
Beneath the seemingly tranquil muscular structure, as if lava ready to erupt was restrained.
The whole person, even if motionless, caused the cave’s darkness to weigh heavily, like a sleeping War God statue.
The "statue" moved after an unknown duration.
He suddenly opened his eyes.
Instantly, two substance-like electric lights shot out from his pupils!
The dazzling light instantly tore through darkness, illuminating the cave within several meters as bright as day.
Where the light passed, the mottled inscriptions on the stone walls, the dried sludge at the pool bottom, and even the floating dust in the air were vividly visible.
Such phenomena were the basic manifestations of achieving "Refining Qi and Transforming God," where overflowing spiritual power interferes with reality. The most update n0vels are published on NoveI-Fire.ɴet
Lightning springs in an empty room!
The electric light flashed and vanished, the cave returned to darkness.
But those eyes were like two shining cold stars in the deepest night, brilliant and vivid.
Fang Cheng slowly exhaled a long breath.
The breath condensed and did not disperse, like a white arrow shooting straight for several meters before slowly dissipating into the damp air.
An unprecedented sense of fulfillment and control filled his heart.
As if from this moment, he truly became the master of his body and soul.
Fang Cheng looked around.
The scene inside the Water Prison, at first glance, was no different from when he had entered.
Still the same deep darkness, with only a narrow slit overhead letting in a beam of faint light, the only source of illumination in this space.
Yet upon closer inspection, it was entirely different.
The originally slippery moss on the stone walls had been charred to black and peeled off by high temperatures, fully revealing the dense engravings left by predecessors.
Fang Cheng’s gaze slowly swept over those engravings, and suddenly, it stopped on a few lines of rather complete poetry.
The handwriting was flamboyant and deeply etched into the stone wall, seemingly not carved by knife or axe, but scraped out with bare hands.
Amidst the words, there was an indistinct sense of familiarity, exuding a grand sense of defiance towards the world.
Fang Cheng gazed at the lines of poetry, his lips unconsciously curling up slightly as he softly recited:
"Alone in the myriad cosmos, from the start the Yuan Achievement operates."
"Strategically moving the Northern Dipper, with great mind, courage overturning the Southern Celestial Pole."
"Ghosts wail and gods howl, forming a golden cauldron, chickens fly and dogs transform, the jade furnace empty."
"How do common men seek, without reaching the elusive, one cannot comprehend."
After reciting the poem, a surge of heroic spirit spontaneously arose within his chest.
The predecessors had sat here in solitude, achieving enlightenment, leaving this poem to record their state of mind.
And now, he himself had reached this step, perhaps even going further!
With his heart stirred by grand emotions, Fang Cheng couldn’t help but stand up, stretching his long-seated muscles and bones.
As his limbs stretched out, his joints immediately emitted a series of crisp popping sounds, as dense as frying beans.
He spread his palm open and then slowly clenched it.
Fingers curling tight, knuckles protruding sharply, under the taut skin, each bundle of muscle seemed like tightly wound steel cables, containing a terrifying power that brought reassurance.
How strong had he become now?
This thought surfaced, causing the grand emotions surging in Fang Cheng’s chest to quickly settle down.
A pale blue screen slowly unfolded before his eyes.
Fang Cheng’s gaze calmly fell on the panel, assessing the fruits of his secluded training this time.
First of all, the most direct purpose of this venture and its most crucial harvest—the generation of the exclusive Skill [Visualization] and the establishment of the Inner World.
This signified that he had completely mastered this unique Meditation Method complementing Qigong.
"Establishing Intent" determined "True Sun Fire" as the absolute core, while "Shaping Realm" laid a solid foundation.
From now on, his Spiritual World was no longer a rootless floating duckweed, but had a territory that could continuously grow and self-evolve.
This Inner World was both the source of his power and his most impregnable spiritual fortress.
Secondly, it was the transformation of his physical body.
Fang Cheng’s mind moved, pulling up the Attributes interface, the data clearly presenting itself in his mind.
After digesting the remaining flesh and blood of the Deep Red Eye, all aspects of his body attributes once again received a comprehensive enhancement.
Among them, Strength and Agility increased by 3 points and 2 points respectively.
Constitution, having surpassed the 60-point threshold, continued to steadily climb, reaching 65 points.
Whereas the Spirit Attribute saw the most dramatic increase, suddenly skyrocketing by 10 points, reaching a height of 70 points.
At this moment, Fang Cheng could clearly capture the entire process of water drops condensing and falling on the surrounding rock walls all at the same time.
He could even distinguish the trajectory of a speck of dust floating within that beam of light before him.
The density of his bones, the resilience of his muscles, the vitality of his cells, and his recovery ability all improved to a whole new level.
His entire being, from the inside out, seemed like a thoroughly reforged furnace, filled with majestic Life Energy.
Corresponding to the changes in the physical body was the expansion of the Dantian capacity and the refinement of True Qi.
Originally, the "Dantian Qi Sea" was just a metaphor.
At this moment, it had already transformed into a true, vast ocean in the full sense.
The storage limit of True Qi was thus increased several times over, but more importantly, the quality improved.
After repeated refinements by the True Sun Fire, the current True Qi was more condensed and pure, operating as smoothly as arm and finger, with power incomparable to before.
Now, facing an S-Class Expert like Luo Lie again, Fang Cheng was confident in defeating him more easily.
He would not repeat the previous mistake, allowing the opponent to drag him into a grueling battle where Qi exhaustion was a concern,
Nor would he be forced to activate Potential Activation, using the last bit of vital energy in exchange for combat power, like when faced with three black-clad attackers.
From now on, True Qi endurance would no longer be his weakness.
And the Potential Activation, this life-exhausting trump card, could finally be truly shelved.
Unless caught in a life-and-death situation or encountering an unbeatable enemy, it would never be used.