At the edge of the Flame Pool of the Qingyun Sect, waves of heat rolled in.
Stone sat cross-legged at the bottom of the pool, pale golden flames dancing around him, tanning his bronze skin. How much time had passed was unknown.
A faint gray light suddenly appeared on his body, and countless fine lines emerged from under his skin—these lines were ancient and obscure, like runes carved on bones with the most primitive knife, flashing by so quickly that one might think it was an illusion.
This is a sign of the first level of body refinement in the "Nine Netherworld Burning Heaven Technique," the initial mark of the awakening of the demon god's physical body.
"call--"
Shi Tou suddenly opened his eyes, a fierce glint flashing in them that seemed out of place with his honest and simple nature, before disappearing again.
He raised his hand and punched a huge rock by the pool. With a loud "bang," the rock, which was more than ten feet wide, was smashed to pieces by his punch, and the fragments flew everywhere.
He looked down at his fist, then clenched his arm, feeling the surging power within him, and grinned—revealing two rows of white teeth, he reverted to his憨憨 (simple and honest) appearance.
"Master! I think I've succeeded!" Shi Tou jumped out of the fire pool with a "plop," his body steaming, and ran to Lin Zhou's courtyard shirtless.
Lin Zhou was lying on a bamboo chair eating a spirit fruit when he heard this. He glanced at him, then flicked a wisp of spiritual energy from his fingertip onto the stone.
"Yes, you've completed the first level of body refinement." Lin Zhou nodded casually. "Now, with your physical body, an ordinary Mahayana cultivator would indeed be completely disoriented after taking a punch from you."
Stone scratched his head and chuckled, "It's just... I'm full of energy and really want to fight someone."
"Hold it in." Lin Zhou rolled his eyes at him. "Fighting is not allowed in the sect. If you want to fight, go to the back mountain and beat up that iron-backed bear."
"Okay." Stone obediently replied, turned around and was about to run towards the back mountain, but was stopped by Lin Zhou.
"Come back and put your clothes on. What kind of appearance do you look with your shirt off?"
Shi Tou then realized that he was still shirtless. His face flushed, and he quickly picked up the blue cloth shirt he had thrown aside and put it on. He then walked briskly toward the back of the mountain—it seemed he was really going to burst.
Meanwhile, tensions in the southern region were rising.
"Have you heard? Something's been wrong in the Black Wind Desert to the south lately!"
"Something's not just weird! At night, we can see purple lightning flashing across the desert sky, and we can hear rumbling sounds, like something is about to burst out of the ground!"
"My second maternal great-uncle's third aunt's son's cousin is guarding the edge of the desert. He said that the spatial fluctuations in that place are almost as bad as the Heavenly Road Crack from back then. It might be an ancient secret realm about to emerge!"
Rumors spread like wildfire through the towns and villages of the Southern Region. Some said that the secret realm contained ancient treasures, with cultivation techniques and magical artifacts piled up like mountains; others said that the secret realm was a dangerous place, where the spatial power could tear apart even Mahayana cultivators, and once it exploded completely, at least half of the Southern Region would be razed to the ground.
“How can the Southern Region withstand this kind of turmoil…” an old cultivator said worriedly. “If the secret realm really emerges, I’m afraid there will be rivers of blood again.”
"I heard that all the major powers are rushing to the Black Wind Desert, and even the remnants of the Western Regions are making moves. They're going to plunder it!"
Panic and greed mingled, and the air in the southern region grew hot and dry, as if a storm was brewing.
Deep within the former imperial sites of the Western Regions, the atmosphere was even more oppressive than in the Southern Regions.
In the center of a ruin shrouded in pale golden runes, Jiang Li was trapped inside a transparent light barrier. Holding a rusty iron sword, she slashed at the barrier again and again. The sword's shadow flashed red light, but she could only stir up ripples on the barrier, unable to budge it in the slightest.
Outside the light barrier, Xiao Zhan's soul was pacing anxiously, his voice trembling with tears: "Your Majesty! Don't waste your energy! This formation is extremely evil, it seems to be specifically targeting the cultivators of our empire. The more you struggle, the tighter the runes lock you in!"
Half an hour ago, she and Xiao Zhan separated to search for the Imperial Preceptor's whereabouts. They accidentally entered this seemingly ordinary ruin, and a formation suddenly lit up under her feet, instantly trapping her.
She had never seen the runes of this formation before. They were neither ancient imperial methods nor common formations found in the four regions today. Rather, they seemed to be... specially set up here by later generations, waiting for prey to "walk into the trap".
"I've already tried nine methods to break the formation..." Jiang Li sheathed her sword and stood there, beads of sweat forming on her forehead, her breathing somewhat disordered. She could feel the formation slowly absorbing her spiritual energy; if this dragged on any longer, let alone breaking the formation, she feared she would even have difficulty maintaining her own spiritual energy.
Xiao Zhan said urgently, "How about... how about we invite the sect leader?"
Jiang Li bit her lip. She didn't want to trouble her master anymore, but it seemed there was no other way at the moment.
She took out a specially made communication talisman from her storage bag—it was given to her by Lin Zhou before he left, who said, "If you really can't handle it, just crush it. Don't force yourself to do it."
With a flick of his fingertips, the transmission talisman transformed into a streak of red light and shot into the sky.
At Qingyun Sect, Lin Zhou had just tossed the half-eaten spirit fruit pit to the chicks in the corner of the courtyard when he sensed the fluctuation of the transmission talisman.
"This girl..." Lin Zhou clicked his tongue, sat up from the bamboo chair, his face showing a bit of impatience, but his feet didn't linger, and he disappeared into the courtyard in a flash.
He always complains about the trouble of protecting his own, but his actions speak louder than words.
Not long after Lin Zhou left, a green figure landed in front of the Qingyun Sect's mountain gate; it was Xiao Chen, who had returned from Cangdao Mountain.
As soon as he stepped into the sect, he saw a shirtless figure jumping around by the pool of flames—it was Stone.
After this period of training, he has adapted to the temperature of the flames. At this moment, he is using the residual heat at the bottom of the pool to temper his physical body. On his bronze skin, the ancient patterns are faintly visible, and his physical strength has improved even more than in the morning.
"Senior Brother!" When Shi Tou saw Xiao Chen, his eyes lit up. He jumped out of the pool, grabbed a piece of clothing from the side, put it on, and came to greet him in a simple and honest manner.
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