Chapter 389: Body to Soul to Body

The egg-shaped chaotic space within the Zhurong Tomb didn't seem large when viewed from the outside; after Hua Changxi flew inside, it didn't seem that big either, and the imperial clansman who had entered just before her was not far away.

However, she soon discovered that this was not the case.

Hua Changxi's first action upon entering the space was to assassinate the imperial clansman who had entered before her.

This person who could manipulate her with black flames made her heart hang in constant suspense; she had to eliminate him as quickly as possible.

Hua Changxi summoned her Floating Light Sword and, using all her strength, flew at full speed toward the male cultivator not far away.

Yet the person opposite her remained completely motionless.

Zhu Yan watched the red-robed female cultivator charging toward him with full intent to kill, looking utterly composed. After a few minutes, when he saw Hua Changxi suddenly stop, he raised an eyebrow in understanding.

This female cultivator was indeed alert; she had discovered the oddities of this space so quickly.

This chaotic space, which looked like an egg from the outside, seemed small, but its interior was as vast as a starry sky.

When he first entered, he had exhausted more than half of his internal spiritual power and still could not get far from the spatial barrier. Only by repeatedly using his Star-Shifting Divine Ability was he able to move around within this space.

The female cultivator's flying technique was considered top-tier in the outside world, but here it was of little use.

Unless she also cultivated spatial movement divine abilities, she would never be able to approach him.

Hua Changxi had indeed sensed something was wrong. Given her flying speed, she should have already reached the imperial clansman, but despite flying for so long, the distance between them showed no sign of shortening.

Even more shocking, when she looked back behind her, she found she was still near the barrier—she had flown all that way for nothing.

This space was abnormal!

Hua Changxi looked at the completely calm Zhu Yan, her heart filled with caution.

Her flying technique was ineffective in this space, but that male cultivator could move through it.

In other words, she could not get close to him, but he could get close to her. She needed to always be on guard against a surprise attack from him.

Realizing she could not approach Zhu Yan anytime soon, Hua Changxi decisively abandoned her plan to assassinate him and instead began to explore this egg-shaped chaotic space.

Seeing that the red-robed female cultivator had stopped trying to kill him, Zhu Yan also breathed a secret sigh of relief.

Using the Star-Shifting Divine Ability consumed a great deal of spiritual power; he needed to focus his energy on chasing the fire axe. After he obtained the axe and became the master of this blessed cave-heaven, he could kill the female cultivator at his leisure.

Looking at the fire axe just a few meters away, Zhu Yan felt somewhat frustrated.

Such a short distance—if it were outside, he could grab the axe with a single wave of his hand. But here, it felt as if there was an unbridgeable chasm between him and the axe; no matter how hard he tried, he could never touch it.

This fire axe had not been there from the beginning.

It was only after he entered the space, discovered its vast interior, used the Star-Shifting Divine Ability to wander around without finding anything, and then, thinking that this blessed cave-heaven might be related to the Primordial Ancestor Zhurong, he attempted to use the "Flesh into Fire" divine ability—and only then did the fire axe suddenly appear.

The "Flesh into Fire" divine ability was a closely guarded secret of the Zhu clan, only usable by those with Zhurong bloodline.

And he was the person in the Zhu clan with the most concentrated Zhurong bloodline.

As soon as the fire axe appeared, his intuition told him that it was the token of the master of this blessed cave-heaven.

Because the fire axe only appeared after Zhu Yan used the "Flesh into Fire" divine ability, it further convinced him that he was the chosen one destined by this blessed cave-heaven.

At the spatial barrier, Hua Changxi saw that Zhu Yan ignored her and continued chasing the fire axe. She breathed a sigh of relief, but at the same time, she was extremely anxious.

Yes, she also believed that fire axe was the token of the master of the Zhurong Tomb.

But now, she could barely move within this space and did not even qualify to compete for the fire axe.

Hua Changxi could only suppress her anxiety and carefully examine this space.

The space was oval-shaped; its barrier was neither stone nor jade, but a semi-translucent crystal wall flowing with dark gold bloodline patterns. Unlike any other barrier she had seen, this one pulsed in a regular rhythm.

Each pulse was accompanied by a faint sound; upon careful listening, it somewhat resembled a heartbeat.

At the same time, the space was mixed with three powerful forces: one was a scorching, magma-like energy of blood and qi, one was all-encompassing fire-attribute law force, and the last was an extremely pure soul force.

Before entering this space, Hua Changxi had guessed that it might be the place for the third stage of the "Nine Revolutions Mystic Art" meridian chapter—widening and filling the meridians. The three forces she now sensed were exactly what was needed for cultivation.

Hua Changxi did not immediately begin cultivating the "Nine Revolutions Mystic Art"; instead, she observed Zhu Yan chasing the fire axe for a while.

She noticed that although he could move through the space, each displacement was not very far, and after three moves, he had to stop and sit in meditation to recover his spiritual power.

After confirming that this person could not easily approach her either, Hua Changxi finally began to cultivate the "Nine Revolutions Mystic Art."

The first thing to surge into her meridians was the power of qi and blood.

Only then did Hua Changxi realize that widening the meridians could be so unbearable—as soon as qi and blood entered her body, it was like boiling lava pouring in, causing her to shudder in pain.

Yet the effect of widening the meridians was astonishing.

As the lava of qi and blood scoured through them, the meridians continuously expanded outward. Amid the repeated tempering, a faint crackling sound came from within her body, with an underlying metallic tremor.

Gritting her teeth, Hua Changxi struggled to circulate the Nine Revolutions Profound Art.

Every time the pain made her want to give up, she would think of crises like being controlled by black flames or being powerless to suppress the turmoil in Nanxiang City, and only then could she persevere.

After the qi and blood power cleared the way, the fire law power surged into the meridians right behind it.

Under Hua Changxi's spiritual perception, the fire law power transformed into tiny fragments of red light scattered throughout the space, suspended like stars in the chaos, each containing the might to burn mountains and boil seas.

As the fire law power flooded in, the pain Hua Changxi endured instantly multiplied several times.

If the meridians were like star tracks, then the qi and blood power was the mud paving the road, while the fire law power was the fixed steel mesh compacting the roadbed.

Hua Changxi only lasted through one meridian cycle before she could no longer hold on and collapsed in exhaustion.

She had consumed the Xuanhuang Fruit from the one-stripe grade up to the seven-stripe grade, unlocking seven layers of her physical shackles. By cultivating the seventh chapter of the Nine Revolutions Profound Art, she could refine it to its utmost.

The maximum number of body-tempering sessions per stage was nine. That meant, if she didn't want to waste her potential, she still had to widen her meridians eight more times.

The mere thought of having to endure eight more bouts of agony worse than death almost made Hua Changxi want to cry on the spot, but seeing Zhu Yan not far away still panting as he chased the fire axe, she sat cross-legged again after resting for a while.

The seventh chapter of the Nine Revolutions Profound Art also had a fourth stage: "using the physical body as a furnace and the soul as fire"—the fire burns brighter by borrowing the furnace's momentum, while the furnace hardens as the fire cools; the two grow and nourish each other in symbiosis, achieving the effect of body tempering.

This stage of body tempering caused the soul to grow in sync with the physical body, but it always remained attached to the body and never separated from it. Therefore, unlike Dharma cultivators, one could not condense an independent primordial spirit.

In short, the seventh chapter of body tempering formed a complete cycle: "strong body → vigorous soul → even stronger body."