Chapter 193 : Ice Soul Condensation Pearl
The sensation of having strange fire enter one's body was deeply unpleasant, especially when this strange fire had not only developed consciousness but also harbored malicious intent.
Almost the instant it entered Yun Qingyue's body, the originally small cluster of flames seemed to suddenly explode, almost immediately igniting her meridians and flesh. Then, following the meridians, the strange fire spread throughout her entire body. Wherever it passed, spiritual energy was burned away and meridians were damaged as it headed directly toward her dantian, nascent soul, and spiritual roots—clearly intending to ruin her completely.
Even though Yun Qingyue had cultivated for many years and possessed a steadfast mind, she couldn't help breaking out in a cold sweat—half from pain, half from fear. If this strange fire succeeded, she would likely not survive the day!
With no time to think further, Yun Qingyue quickly activated her cultivation technique, mobilizing all the spiritual energy in her body to counter the threat.
As Yun Qingyue's ice spiritual energy began to intercept it, the strange fire, which had previously advanced unimpeded, finally encountered resistance, its forward momentum suddenly halting. At this moment, Yun Qingyue couldn't help feeling fortunate that she possessed ice spiritual roots, naturally countering the strange fire. Although her spiritual energy was being burned away, that was the strange fire consuming its own energy to force the burning. Conversely, if she had possessed spiritual energy of another attribute, it would have likely already become fuel.
Seeing this, Yun Qingyue let out a small sigh of relief, but before she could fully relax, the hindered strange fire suddenly turned vicious. In Yun Qingyue's internal vision, the originally tiny flame expanded several times in an instant, and the ice spiritual energy blocking its path became no match.
The strange fire burned forward again, this time more slowly but more viciously.
The meridians were burned inch by inch, with devastation in the strange fire's wake that couldn't be easily soothed or repaired by circulating spiritual energy. This pain was ten or even a hundred times worse than washing marrow and tempering bones, and more terrifyingly, the destroyed meridians caused a sinking feeling in one's heart, unlike the hope brought by washing marrow and tempering bones... Fine beads of cold sweat immediately appeared on Yun Qingyue's forehead, her body scorching hot like a branding iron. The sweat had barely emerged before it evaporated.
Fortunately, Yun Qingyue was a person of firm character. Even in this dire situation, she didn't give up resistance. However, the strange fire was malicious, seemingly deliberately tormenting her, or perhaps wanting to burn everything thoroughly. Its advance was not fast, but it completely ruined the meridians.
The two sides seemed to be engaged in a tug-of-war, with Yun Qingyue's body as the battlefield, but she was clearly the weaker side.
The strange fire pushed the battle line forward, advancing bit by bit while Yun Qingyue struggled to resist while desperately absorbing spiritual energy. Unfortunately, she was already on the magma pool—the strange fire's territory—where fire spiritual energy was exceptionally active and ice spiritual energy was scarce. The spiritual energy she absorbed through her cultivation technique compared to what was consumed in fighting the strange fire was like a drop in the bucket.
Soon, Yun Qingyue's absorption couldn't keep up with the consumption. Her resistance weakened, and her defensive line retreated again and again. The strange fire also changed its previously unhurried attitude, suddenly accelerating its advance with ferocious momentum.
As the strange fire drew closer and closer to the nascent soul in her dantian, Yun Qingyue's resistance grew increasingly feeble. She couldn't help feeling anxious and powerless—what could she do? Over half of her meridians had already been destroyed, though these could potentially be remedied with rare treasures. But the nascent soul and spiritual roots were a cultivator's foundation; if damaged, her cultivation path would end there.
Of course, after being burned by the strange fire, the more likely consequence was that she would perish, leaving no future or path to speak of.
Just as Yun Qingyue was feeling desperate and terrified, suddenly, another stream of spiritual energy entered through her arm. It felt somewhat unfamiliar yet somehow familiar, but this strange spiritual energy was clearly not allied with the strange fire.
It advanced directly, reaching Yun Qingyue's dantian before the strange fire, yet it did nothing to the small nascent soul with slightly furrowed brows. It merely circled the nascent soul, gently brushing against it while emanating goodwill, seeming highly sentient. Then, before the strange fire could arrive, it transformed into a barrier of light, directly protecting the nascent soul within.
It appeared completely impenetrable.
༻༺❀༻✧⋆｡°✩☽༓☾✩°｡⋆✧༺❀༻༺
The system mall's processing speed was impressive—the complaint feedback and compensation arrived almost simultaneously, without the slightest delay or haggling, a model of commercial efficiency. If Jiang Mo hadn't been so concerned about Senior Sister's injuries, she would have likely submitted a thousand-word positive review on the spot.
But obviously, she had no time for that now, as Senior Sister's condition seemed to have worsened in the brief three minutes.
"System, quick, get me the Ice Soul Condensation Pearl," Jiang Mo urged impatiently, temporarily ignoring the system's attempt to claim credit.
Fortunately, the system didn't drag its feet this time, immediately opening the mall, placing the order, and completing the payment in one smooth process. The mall's delivery was as swift as ever—in just a breath or two, a small jade box appeared before Jiang Mo.
She hurriedly raised her paw to catch it, then quickly opened the jade box. Before she could even see what the Ice Soul Condensation Pearl looked like, she felt a wave of cold air hit her face. Even while on the magma pool, she shivered from this sudden cold—the sensation was like coming out of an oven and immediately being placed in a freezer at minus one hundred degrees, an absolutely electrifying experience.
But the powerful effect of the Ice Soul Condensation Pearl was a good sign, proving that her 200,000 points hadn't been wasted.
She waved away the momentarily rising vapor and finally saw the true appearance of the Ice Soul Condensation Pearl—truthfully, in terms of appearance, this thing didn't live up to its high price and grand name, as it looked very much like a transparent glass marble.
The white tiger's paw hesitated, but she still reached out to take the "glass marble," instantly feeling so cold that she almost dropped it into the magma pool. She hurriedly discarded the jade box, using both front paws to hold the Ice Soul Condensation Pearl, then asked the system while trembling: "System, how do I use this thing? Surely I can't eat a glass marble?"
The system, seeing the host's comical appearance, wanted to laugh but didn't dare. It hurriedly replied: "According to the mall description, this is usually worn as an accessory to constantly help the user improve cultivation. Of course, in emergencies, it can also be consumed. Given Senior Sister's urgent condition, internal consumption would be best."
Cultivators, after all, would dare to put all sorts of bizarre things in their mouths—as long as it didn't kill them, it was fine.
The white tiger turned her head to look at Senior Sister lying on her back, feeling that her body was growing increasingly hot, almost hot enough to scorch her skin and flesh. She didn't dare hesitate and, after hearing the system's advice, gritted her teeth and fed the Ice Soul Condensation Pearl to Yun Qingyue. She only hoped that this clash of ice and fire wouldn't cause Senior Sister any irreversible harm.
༻༺❀༻✧⋆｡°✩☽༓☾✩°｡⋆✧༺❀༻༺
In fact, this Ice Soul Condensation Pearl arrived at exactly the right moment.
In Yun Qingyue's dantian, a three-way standoff was currently taking place—the strange fire had advanced all the way through and had now reached the dantian. Yun Qingyue's ice spiritual energy was no match and could only retreat to one corner. Compared to these two opposing forces, the sudden appearance of a third party was puzzling. Its origin was unknown, yet it had thoroughly protected the nascent soul, and the strange fire couldn't break through the light barrier despite burning for some time.
The body's owner calmly observed the situation. Although she also didn't know where this spiritual energy came from, she could clearly see its protective intent. This spiritual energy was likely on her side, at least for now.
This discovery gave Yun Qingyue a slight sense of relief, but her heavy mood didn't lighten much, because the light barrier was only defensive, not offensive. Currently, it could block the strange fire temporarily, but if there was no ability to counterattack and they could only allow the strange fire to do as it pleased, even the strongest barrier would eventually be burned through.
Yun Qingyue calmly observed, calmly assessed the situation, and calmly accumulated strength.
While the strange fire's full attention was drawn to the light barrier and nascent soul, the ice spiritual energy that had retreated to one corner was gradually growing stronger, though not as quickly as anticipated. Besides being in the magma pool and lacking favorable conditions, the strange fire's earlier burning had destroyed too many of her meridians, making it difficult to circulate her cultivation technique.
But difficult as it was, she had to persevere. At this moment, no one could save her but herself. She had to accumulate enough strength before the light barrier was burned through, then counterattack, or face certain death!
Her cultivation technique operated slowly, ice spiritual energy accumulated bit by bit, while the strange fire ran rampant in her dantian.
Yun Qingyue was numb with pain yet perfectly clear-headed, fully understanding how precarious her current situation was. She had already prepared for the worst when suddenly, another powerful stream of spiritual energy containing extreme cold surged into her body—in an instant, she felt as if she had been transported from the unbearably hot magma pool back to the freezing ice plain with its howling winds and snow.
The large amount of spiritual energy surging into her damaged meridians was actually not pleasant, even causing the damaged meridians to become more fragmented. But at the same time, this spiritual energy brought Yun Qingyue tremendous hope, revitalizing her spirit.
Yun Qingyue was, after all, the master of this body. Under her intentional concealment, the ice spiritual energy that had retreated to one corner rapidly accumulated and expanded. In almost a single breath, the ice spiritual energy that had been nearly depleted was restored to its peak. But this wasn't enough—this spiritual energy was still insufficient to defeat the strange fire. So she continued to absorb, continued to accumulate, continued to compress.
One time, two times, three times...
Yun Qingyue endured the excruciating pain of her meridians repeatedly breaking and being temporarily repaired by spiritual energy, continuously compressing the energy. She was preparing for a final strike, until her dantian began to ache and the spiritual energy could no longer be compressed.
At that moment, the light barrier protecting the nascent soul seemed to sense something.
Then the strange fire attacked frantically again, burning the light barrier for a while until it suddenly shook. Just as the strange fire was getting excited, thinking the barrier was about to break, the barrier's form suddenly changed, violently turning back on the strange fire, thoroughly suppressing it.
The powerful strange fire was instantly compressed back into a small flame. It was clearly stunned for a moment, then became furious and counterattacked frantically—the compressed flame was obviously more powerful than before, concentrating its energy to burn at a single point. Even though the light barrier was strong, it struggled to maintain itself.
However, the light barrier clearly had no intention of maintaining itself for long. Almost immediately after successfully suppressing the strange fire, it abandoned its restraint. What followed was an overwhelming flood of ice spiritual energy, like a bucket of ice water poured over a burning flame. The effectiveness remained to be seen, but the retreating light barrier transformed into spiritual energy and delivered a powerful kick to the strange fire.