Chapter 67: Condensing the Soul Core

Zhou Heng and Dugu Bo began their quiet cultivation within the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

Dugu Yan often asked Dugu Bo and Zhou Heng for advice on cultivation problems, and with the guidance of the two, she achieved significant progress.

During this period, Zhou Heng continuously strengthened his state.

At the same time, he comprehended the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well's ability to balance Yin and Yang, calming the power of the Five Elements within his internal organs.

He had been tempering his internal organs for years; this time, with his fifth soul ring completed and the Five Elements attributes perfected, he had not only tempered his five viscera but also strengthened his six bowels during this period.

Now, he needed to strengthen his internal organs to a certain level, then condense a Soul Core, allowing the Five Elements attributes to transform freely and significantly improving the quality of his soul power.

When that time came, his endurance would be greatly enhanced, and his strength would naturally increase as well.

Zhou Heng remained immersed in cultivation matters, sometimes even replacing sleep with meditation.

After five months of continuous cultivation, Zhou Heng reached the day of his eleventh birthday.

It was morning on this day.

Zhou Heng sat cross-legged beside the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, while not far behind him, Dugu Bo and Dugu Yan watched quietly.

Around the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, the five Spirit Beasts that Zhou Heng had subdued were all released.

The Mysterious Thunder Purple Bamboo, Dream Water Fish, Evergreen Jade Lotus, Fire Phosphorus Molten Beast, and Earth-Splitting Gold Ant stayed quietly around the pool of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, waiting for Zhou Heng's arrangements.

Zhou Heng was now level 54, and the progress of tempering his internal organs with the Five Elements had reached a state of uniformity, which led Zhou Heng to decide to condense his Soul Core today.

Zhou Heng had just adjusted his spirit to restore his state.

Now, his spirit was full, and his soul power was abundant.

Zhou Heng opened his eyes, gathered soul power in his hands, and then divided it into five threads of soul power, flying toward the five types of Immortal Herbs he had long since chosen.

These five Immortal Herbs were: the Fiery Apricot Delicate, which possessed the power of Extreme Fire; the Earth Spirit Terrain Fruit, which possessed the power of Extreme Earth; the Strange Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum, which possessed the power of Extreme Metal; the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass, which possessed the power of Extreme Ice; and the Enlightenment Longevity Grass, which possessed the power of Extreme Wood.

Zhou Heng plucked these five Immortal Herbs into his hands, then took off his clothes and Storage Soul Guidance Device, leaving only his underwear, before leaping up and jumping into the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well with a "plop."

This time, Zhou Heng intended to perform the Ice and Fire Alchemy Body and the condensation of the Soul Core simultaneously, which was also the reason why Zhou Heng had ninety percent confidence.

As soon as Zhou Heng jumped into the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, he felt his body being eroded by the two temperatures of extreme cold and extreme heat, while also being worn down by the cold and hot energies; he hurriedly mobilized the soul power within his body to resist the erosion of the cold and hot energies in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

However, the temperatures of extreme cold and extreme heat still made Zhou Heng very uncomfortable, though it was still bearable.

Zhou Heng opened his mouth and began to swallow the five Immortal Herbs; he plucked the petals of the Strange Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum by the handful and swallowed them in one gulp.

He grabbed the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass, crumpled it into a ball, and swallowed it into his abdomen again; before the cold energy of the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass could dissipate in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, it was worn away.

As soon as he got his hands on the fiery red Fiery Apricot Delicate, he felt the scorching temperature conducting toward his hands, but compared to the extreme heat of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, it was not enough.

Although the Fiery Apricot Delicate was a bit larger, Zhou Heng still ate it within a few breaths.

As for the Earth Spirit Terrain Fruit and the Enlightenment Longevity Grass, they were also easily swallowed by Zhou Heng.

The powers of the five Immortal Herbs attacked each other within Zhou Heng's body, treating his body as a battlefield, each acting as its own army and attacking one another.

After all five Immortal Herbs were swallowed by Zhou Heng, he ordered the five Spirit Beasts in his heart to help him gather the Five Elements.

At the same time, Zhou Heng directly withdrew the soul power resisting the erosion of the cold and hot energies of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, causing his soul power to begin circulating within his body along a novel route.

Simultaneously, he drew the power of the cold and hot energies into his body, injecting these two energies into his internal organs for transformation, and the transformed soul power was then put back into the circulation route.

After Zhou Heng gave up his defense, the erosion of his body by the cold and hot energies began. Moreover, because Zhou Heng actively drew the cold and hot energies into his body, the speed of this erosion became even more intense.

However, the energy of the five Immortal Herbs within Zhou Heng's body began to manifest their abilities.

First were the Fiery Apricot Delicate and the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass; after sensing the stimulation of the cold and hot energies of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, these two Immortal Herbs spontaneously surged toward Zhou Heng's body.

They began to repair Zhou Heng's eroded body.

Following that was the Strange Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum; the Indestructible Golden Nature contained within the Strange Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum, under the stimulation of the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and the Fiery Apricot Delicate, surged toward Zhou Heng's body together.

This Indestructible Golden Nature was the main reason why one could cultivate a Vajra Indestructible Body after consuming the Strange Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum.

According to Zhou Heng's research, besides the Strange Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum, this Indestructible Golden Nature was only found in Super Spirit Beasts like the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear; the pair of terrorclaws that could tear through everything on the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear were the result of the Indestructible Golden Nature being used for attack.

Immediately afterward, the energies of the Earth Spirit Terrain Fruit and the Enlightenment Longevity Grass surged toward Zhou Heng's body together.

Both of these Immortal Herbs had peculiar effects; the Enlightenment Longevity Grass possessed extremely powerful vitality and wood-attribute energy, which could allow the person who consumed it to live for at least three hundred more years.

If the martial soul of the person who consumed it was related to wood attributes or life attributes, they could also obtain the Ultimate Life attribute and powerful self-healing abilities.

As for the Earth Spirit Terrain Fruit, it had the effect of harmonizing various powers; with the Earth Spirit Terrain Fruit present, the various energies in Zhou Heng's body were all relying on the Earth Spirit Terrain Fruit to harmonize.

The powers of these five Immortal Herbs and the cold and hot energies of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well confronted each other, while his body suffered the pain of being eroded by the cold and hot energies on one side.

On the other side, he relied on the energy of the five Immortal Herbs to repair his body, enduring the unbearable itching and the numb feeling of the body during the repair process.

This caused Zhou Heng's spirit to endure pain akin to being sliced by a thousand knives.

However, amidst this pain, the power of the five Immortal Herbs had not yet been fully stimulated; the Indestructible Golden Nature of the Strange Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum merged with Zhou Heng's First Soul Ring; the Extreme Ice of the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass merged with Zhou Heng's Second Soul Ring; and the powers of the other Immortal Herbs merged with Zhou Heng's soul rings in sequence.

These powers contained the strength belonging to Extreme Power, changing the elemental powers contained within Zhou Heng's five soul rings, making these five soul rings of Zhou Heng possess their own Extreme Power.

Zhou Heng endured the pain and divided his spiritual power into two; half of the spiritual power combined into his soul power, causing the quality of his soul power to soar, while his control over his soul power increased once again.

The other half of his spiritual power waited in his Sea of Consciousness to be mobilized.

He gathered this soul power to the position of the Tanzhong Acupoint in his Middle Dantian, and according to the image of the Yin and Yang fish, transformed this soul power into a vortex, gathering the soul power of his entire body.

The reason why Zhou Heng chose the Middle Dantian as the location for the condensation of his First Soul Core was also deliberate.

It was because, in the Peerless Tang Sect, a Title Douluo condenses the first Soul Core, and later, a Peerless Douluo condenses the second Soul Core, and when condensing the second Soul Core, there are two methods: Yin Yang Complementary and Co-position Resonance.

And to reach the level of three Soul Cores like Huo Yuhao, one could only condense the Soul Core using the Co-position Resonance method.

However, Huo Yuhao's breakthrough was irreproducible; if he were to condense it according to Huo Yuhao's upper, middle, and lower method, he would not dare to say he could succeed in a situation that had never been achieved before.

Therefore, condensing the First Soul Core in the Middle Dantian was relatively safe.

Subsequently, Zhou Heng mobilized the spiritual power remaining in his Sea of Consciousness to apply pressure to the soul power vortex, intending to compress this soul power into a solid.

Under the pressure of Zhou Heng's spiritual power, this soul power vortex was slowly shrinking.

Outside the pool of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, Dugu Bo and Dugu Yan watched Zhou Heng's body in the pool.

Zhou Heng's body was constantly cracking, but at the same time as the cracking, the energy of the Immortal Herbs was still repairing Zhou Heng's body.

Zhou Heng mobilized his spiritual power to observe Zhou Heng's situation closely; finding no danger to Zhou Heng, Dugu Bo also breathed a sigh of relief.

Dugu Yan watched Zhou Heng's body, which was constantly cracking and rapidly recovering, while simultaneously observing the expression of her grandfather, Dugu Bo; seeing Dugu Bo's relaxed expression, her own heart, which had been extremely worried, felt much better.