Chapter 108: Four Spirits, Primordial Unity, Breakthrough, Kill the Enemy!

Hou Zhongyu's eyes were nearly bleeding.

This batch of Wan Gu Cang Yue was passed down from his teacher; his teacher had betrayed his master, and he, because of this batch of precious medicine, had killed his own teacher—this is why the succession among alchemists is so difficult, and most such tragedies stem from this.

At this moment, his heart felt as if cut by knives, his scream shrill like a screeching owl:

"This batch of medicine has been refined for a full eighty years!"

"Eighty years! Only a few months short of the ultimate yang number of ninety-nine!"

"Just need the mountain marrow of Nanshan—just a few months more! I killed you, I killed you!!!"

Li Guanyi staggered backward, the bronze cauldron in his hand falling to the ground.

Hou Zhongyu saw a trace of residue left inside; he longed to leap in and devour every last drop. Seeing Li Guanyi's skin reddening visibly, Hou Zhongyu felt boundless murderous intent, envy, hatred, and an indescribable emotion.

That emotion—the obsession buried for so many years after killing his teacher and hiding within the imperial palace—was the need to know whether he had succeeded, surpassing all else, driving him to scream:

"What does it taste like?"

"Tell me—what does taking this medicine feel like?"

"Do you feel your blood surging? Do you? I didn't mess up the refining, did I?"

"Was killing that old bastard right? Was it?!"

"It was worth it!"

"Was it?! Was it?! Answer me!"

Li Guanyi had no time to answer this mad alchemist; he felt as if he had swallowed a ball of flame—or a cloud of qi—that shattered instantly upon entering his mouth, flooding every part of his body.

A new layer seemed to form between his meridians and bones.

Swelling. Pain.

Ten times worse than numb legs after sitting too long.

And this swelling and numbness enveloped his entire body.

Li Guanyi instantly realized: if this continued, he might lose all sensation, becoming like a tree—long-lived but immobile—and he snapped to clarity.

This cannot continue.

He must refine this medicinal force.

The techniques Li Guanyi knew included Po Zhen Qu, Yu Bi Shen Gong Jue, and Tai Ping Shu—all top-tier methods—but the only one specifically for refining his foundation was that single method.

Without hesitation.

Li Guanyi clenched his fist and began performing a stance.

The Tiger Roar Bone Forging Art!

The Bai Hu manifestation stirred in response; in the void, a mighty tiger roared. He channeled the force flooding his body, refining once more the art already ranked first in history—his muscles, bones, skin, and marrow began a slow ascent.

It could still rise further!

Perhaps the medicine contained Fire Qilin blood.

At this moment, beside the tiger's roar in his ears, Li Guanyi seemed to hear the solemn low growl of the Fire Qilin, as the technique merged with the immortal medicine.

His skin, bones, and blood were stirred by the punches and kicks.

Until every part of him began to be refined.

His physique, already comparable to that of a supreme ruler from eight hundred years ago at the same realm, advanced steadily.

Seeing this phenomenon, the alchemist Hou Zhongyu grew even more jealous, more insane; he shouted: "You—you're not allowed to refine it! Not allowed! Spit it out! Spit it out!!!" He raised his hand, altering the array's flow, no longer caring whether the commotion would draw attention from outside.

He had devoted his entire life to this.

He had even killed the teacher who had rescued him from the freezing winter snow.

This obsession was all he had left.

If this thing was swallowed, life had no meaning.

The stone chamber's mechanism was triggered.

One wall collapsed; the seven nodes merged back into the great array. The Four Symbols Sealing Spirit Array was restored and surged violently. The stone chamber crumbled. From nowhere, a massive stone pillar flew toward Li Guanyi and crashed down.

Li Guanyi turned and punched out.

The giant stone shattered under his fist.

This blunt-force impact did not break his skin, but shook his internal organs. Li Guanyi spat a mouthful of blood onto his armor, yet felt no pain—only comfort, exhilaration.

His body had lost blood, but under the effect of this miraculous medicinal force,

Li Guanyi's body began regenerating blood anew.

At an astonishing speed.

Fire Qilin blood mixed in—not replacing, but strengthening Li Guanyi's own blood.

He felt his heart beat with sudden power.

This accelerated depletion of his lifespan was compensated by the Wan Gu Cang Yue immortal medicine.

Ultimately, it would comprehensively elevate the overall quality of his physical form.

In a world where transcendents roamed, capable of moving mountains and filling seas, the transformation occurring in Li Guanyi was precisely the obsession of the alchemist lineage, who had died by the thousands to attain this one achievement—

【Blood Replacement】!

Human flesh is weak; blood and flesh transform.

All spirits of heaven and earth refine this body!

Hou Zhongyu did not miss Li Guanyi's transformation; his envy turned to madness. He relentlessly activated the array's defenses to attack Li Guanyi, yet dared not strike too hard—he feared turning the boy into charcoal and losing the Wan Gu Cang Yue immortal medicine.

This was his lifelong obsession.

Each strike was heavy, leaving the boy with serious injuries.

He spat blood, his face pale as ash.

But the medicine's power acted swiftly; Li Guanyi's blood was transformed, healing his wounds rapidly, and Li Guanyi realized his internal qi showed no sign of depletion—in this state, every breath replenished what he had spent.

"You!!!"

Hou Zhongyu clenched his teeth and halted the mechanism within the array.

He realized that continuing would only help this young man refine himself.

Calming down, he once again controlled the 【Four Symbols Sealing Spirit Great Array】, intending to seal Li Guanyi and extract his bloodline, refining the medicinal power within it into a Blood Pill.

Li Guanyi felt the suppression of Qi.

He likewise manipulated the array in response.

He was indeed intelligent, but Hou Zhongyu had spent decades immersed in this array's application—something Li Guanyi could not match; the fixed and variant patterns he had memorized by rote appeared to Hou Zhongyu like a three-year-old swinging a sword—full of errors.

Soon, the young man began to fall behind.

"Damn..."

Li Guanyi gritted his teeth and abandoned fixed patterns entirely; those patterns had allowed him to perceive the array's changes, so he now mirrored Hou Zhongyu's shifts—when the Outer Four Spirits Array changed, he responded with the Inner Four Spirits Phased Body Technique, countering each change.

Thus, though this array was profoundly mysterious,

for a time it could not seal the boy.

The more skillfully Hou Zhongyu performed,

the more he sensed Li Guanyi slipping away like a fish, evading the array's constraints in impossible ways.

Slowly, Li Guanyi grew familiar with this exchange; Hou Zhongyu's decades of mastery over the array's transformations were transferred to his Phased Body in reverse—as if being taught hand-over-hand every insight Hou Zhongyu had gained over those years.

Like the flow of Yin-Yang fish.

Li Guanyi's innate talent was already exceptional; now, with perfect fluency, he no longer needed thought—he could instantly comprehend and respond to Hou Zhongyu's array manipulations, reestablishing his stance and restarting the 【Tiger Roar Bone Forging Art】.

Amidst the tiger roars at his ears, the divine essence of the Fire Qilin mingled with his blood, radiating Qilin aura.

Yet the internal flow of his Phased Body was no longer its original path.

It had transformed into the 【Four Symbols Sealing Array】.

Thus, within the tiger roars and Qilin roars, dragon cries, phoenix calls, and the low growls of the Black Tortoise gradually emerged; after two full hours of stalemate, when Hou Zhongyu's Four Symbols Sealing Array reached its peak suppression, Li Guanyi's Four Symbols Phased Body also reached its peak condensation.

Four Symbols Sealing: to seal is to subdue, to subdue is to condense, to condense into one is to become Hunyuan.

Li Guanyi suddenly realized that this array, left behind by one of the Top Three of the Yin-Yang School, inherently contained a supreme cultivation technique—its Four Symbols flow itself was the most stable structure.

Above, it corresponded to the Four Celestial Spirits and the Twenty-Eight Mansions; below, to the Four Directions of the Nine Provinces and the Four Divine Beasts.

It formed an inherently stable framework; this stability was a superb advantage in battle, but a disadvantage in breakthroughs—the more stable, the harder to compress and condense into one, the harder to Break Through the Realm.

This was why combat-oriented techniques were often difficult to Break Through the Realm.

Techniques designed for rapid breakthroughs rarely excelled in combat.

Li Guanyi's Four Spirits Phased Body had clearly condensed to its limit, yet still lacked a single thread—it remained in balance, and to merge them into Hunyuan required power exceeding what the Four Symbols Phased Body currently held; without a breakthrough, Li Guanyi's own cultivation could not reach that level.

He needed a natural external force to assist, to take this step.

Li Guanyi looked at Hou Zhongyu, now frantic and pained, and his heart stirred; suddenly he said:

"Sorcerer, your strength isn't enough—I'm already nearly fully refined."

Hou Zhongyu ignored him.

So Li Guanyi activated the technique taught by his aunt.

His Qi surged, striking the surrounding railings with crisp, tinkling sounds like music—yet capable of shaking the spirit.

After a moment's thought, the boy's face broke into a mocking smile as he spoke three words:

"Didn't eat?"

The technique Murong Qiushui taught acted directly on the soul.

Hou Zhongyu, already agitated from swallowing the Elixir of Immortality, now felt the tinkling sounds unbearable; the boy's smile looked pleasant, yet inexplicably ignited a fire in his chest—he roared aloud and formed the Daoist Nine Character Mantra.

The entire Fire Qilin Palace trembled.

Spiritual aura surged, reaching a level that could draw attention from others.

The Bai Yu beneath the Fire Qilin Palace was instantly drained of its spiritual aura.

The Four Symbols Sealing Array erupted instantly; Li Guanyi's vision went black—he felt his Four Symbols Phased Body suppressed to its absolute limit.

By a third-rank sorcerer giving his all.

By activating the array of the Top Two of the Yin-Yang School, the Madman Si Wei.

By ingesting the Eternally Ancient Moon Elixir of Immortality!

By the Four Spirits Phased Body!

At the very instant his Four Symbols Phased Body was crushed to its limit, Li Guanyi lost all five senses; his spirit grew still, free of fear, worry, or dread—only the unshakable heart realm of a youth, then he stepped forward.

He raised his arm.

Clenched his fist.

And punched forward into the darkness.

The 【Tiger Roar Bone Forging Art】 surged, ascending to a higher level.

The darkness before him tore apart.

All things and forms flooded back into his vision.

With one punch, Qi flowed—his suppressed Phased Body exploded outward.

Blood and Qi surged violently; the aura radiating from his fist was visible as white clouds and mist, swirling around the youth, spreading backward into the shape of a Green Phoenix, a Fire Dragon, a Bai Hu, and a Black Tortoise.

Twining around his body!

The intent of this technique had already diverged from the original, simple 【Tiger Roar Bone Forging Art】.

Li Guanyi pressed his left hand down, raised his right.

The Taiji Cloud Hands he had learned in his past life.

Yet now, effortless and natural, executed at this realm, it carried the bearing of a master from his former life—the white clouds and mist coiled around him.

Dragon roars, tiger bellows, phoenix cries; the Fire Qilin stirs, the Mystic Turtle turns.

The Four Symbols seal the spirit and anchor this body.

Second Tower!

Completed!

Foundation—

Supreme!

Hou Zhongyu suddenly clapped his hands and laughed loudly: "Hahaha, yes, yes, it's done! Such a foundation—bloodline mighty, qi unceasing—truly a supreme foundation! Hahaha, I didn't mess up, I didn't!"

At this moment, what he had pursued his entire life was no longer an illusion.

The sheer exhilaration and sigh of having truly accomplished this step.

Pure, without hatred.

But the next instant, human emotions surged forth, drowning out the pure joy a sorcerer feels when his sought-after goal manifests before him—he went mad with rage, roared aloud, lightning and fire surged, charging toward Li Guanyi, who leapt up instantly and punched out.

Dragon's roar and tiger's bellow appeared simultaneously!

The fist's force, overwhelming beyond reason, shattered the sorcerer's lightning and fire incantation.

Residual lightning and fire struck Li Guanyi.

Li Guanyi felt his body go numb, his meridians tingling as if controlled; the lightning and fire were shattered the next instant—sorcerers' techniques often restrain and limit opponents.

Yet Li Guanyi now had golden skin and jade bones, blood and qi like a dragon.

He possessed extreme resistance to such methods.

He had just broken through; some of the pill's potency still lingered, while the old sorcerer had drained his essence, spent two hours maintaining the array, and just now unleashed a massive explosion—this imbalance lessened the gap of one realm, and moreover—

Warriors excel at close combat!

In the next instant, Li Guanyi vanished from Hou Zhongyu's sight, and the jade pendant on the sorcerer shattered.

The next moment, a fist appeared before Hou Zhongyu's eyes.

The qi network shattered.

The defensive aura bought by the shattered pendant made Li Guanyi's punch feel as if striking mud.

He retreated instantly, drew his sword, and slashed.

Hou Zhongyu formed a hand seal, casting another incantation.

His plain robes suddenly changed; Li Guanyi's sword struck down with a sharp, clear clang.

As if clad in armor.

The sorcerer clapped his palms together and unleashed the Three Emperors Cannon Fist—its instantaneous burst of power made Li Guanyi blink; sorcerers could temporarily enhance themselves through unimaginable means, achieving explosive strength surpassing warriors of the same realm, but it was always fleeting.

Li Guanyi and Hou Zhongyu clashed, fists and feet colliding, swords and blades tearing.

They overturned pavilions, shattered pillars.

Now blinded by rage, they no longer cared if they were discovered.

As long as they killed the other, all problems could be blamed on the opponent—that was the only path to survival.

Li Guanyi brought down a heavy slash, nearly severing the old man's neck.

The next second, the sorcerer's wound healed at visible speed.

Only Hou Zhongyu's black hair turned white.

Such arcane methods made Li Guanyi nearly curse aloud; Hou Zhongyu said: "Sorcerers seek immortality. Since I dwell within this imperial palace, my arsenal is vast—how could a mere warrior like you possibly understand? Even if you die here from exhaustion, I will not!"

Li Guanyi slashed again; this time, the old sorcerer fought desperately, using some unknown method—the heavy sword of the Golden Guard shattered as if striking stone. Hou Zhongyu said: "My lineage's Dragon-Tiger Golden Armor Divine Art took me twenty years to master, but during this one hour, I possess a supreme golden body."

"Impervious to blades and spears!"

"Impervious to blades and spears?"

Li Guanyi threw his sword, then stomped down on the chest of the now white-haired elder.

Power erupted.

But it was a pushing force.

Hou Zhongyu, not a warrior, had an unstable stance—he was kicked backward, crashing through the door and into the grand hall. Li Guanyi lunged forward, bent low, and embraced the elder, who lunged to bite his neck: "Your blood—I understand!"

"You've already digested the pill's power—you've become a great medicine."

"Hahaha! Using a body like yours as a crucible, refining it into a great medicine—that is the treasure of immortality!" Li Guanyi thought the sorcerer was mad; he held the sorcerer tight, restraining his movements.

Hou Zhongyu shouted: "You cannot break my defense—I am impervious to blades and spears!"

Li Guanyi said: "Impervious to blades and spears."

"Perhaps immune to water and fire?"

Hou Zhongyu froze, then suddenly recognized the boy's face—the tear mole by his eye… his pupils shrank.

Here, they were inside the grand hall.

The boy let out a long howl:

"Fire Qilin!!!!!!"

And as if legend had returned.

Intense flames surged once more at that cry!