In order to find the Fire-Snake Orchid, Jiang Yi entered the Purgatory Ruin and followed Yi Chan and Yin Ruobing into the Lava Lake. He scared Xie Fei away and snatched the Fire-Snake Orchid along with many more spirit herbs.
Jiang Yi did not have time to inspect the spirit herbs. At first, he wanted to look for the Shadow Emperor’s subordinates; but given the war with the North Thearch, he forgot. It was then that he remembered.
Spirit herbs that grew in the water were normally water-elemental. Those that grew in the snow were normally considered ice-elemental. Naturally, the spirit herbs that grew in the Lava Lake were fire-elemental.
Buzz!
Something in Jiang Yi’s hand lit up. He opened his fist and saw a Three-Leaf Lotus Flower. This was the last of the spirit herbs that the Lava Lake spat out. Logically, this would be the most valuable. The Three-Leaf Lotus Flowers began to sway around as if it were alive. It showed Jiang Yi all the more that this particular herb was precious and valuable.
“Refine?”
Jiang Yi was beginning to get worried. It was a huge thing to refine the core of the Ice Beast King. If something went wrong, he might not be able to undo his mistake. What’s more, he had no idea exactly what kind of spirit herb this Three-Leaf Lotus Flower was. Who knew if it would serve as a curb to the ice powers?
It was just that…
Ever since the second time he met Su Ruoxue, he had been finding it impossible to remain calm. Every day that passed felt like torture. He could not wait to improve his own powers and wipe out the Dwarf Race and then go back to the Mystic Divine Palace to obtain the monster of the Heaven Hidden Sect in order to save Su Ruoxue.
He could not reveal his identity; neither could he let anyone find out that he had the core of the Ice Beast King with him. That was why apart from asking Mo Yao’er, Jiang Yi did not dare to ask Mo Qi and the others too much about the Ice Beast King. From the looks of it, all that Mo Yao’er knew was superficial as well. Jiang Yi was sure that even if he asked any more questions, she would not be able to explain much else to him.
Since Mo Shen had gone to the Ice Sea, Jiang Yi guessed that it would be at least two days until he would return. Now was the best time for Jiang Yi to refine the core of the Ice Beast King. If he waited until Mo Shen came back, Mo Shen might notice such a huge ice power source.
“To refine or not to refine?”
Jiang Yi was extremely conflicted. He closed his eyes to ponder his options for a couple of seconds. At last, he made up his mind to refine the core of the Ice Beast King.
The battle at the Ice Sea!
He killed the young clan heads of the three sects and then caused a battle to break out between the three sects and the Mantis Blade Sect. Then, Mo Shen went out to the Ice Sea. Before Jiang Yi left, he even saw the Fire Chi Race head out to cause trouble for Cao Duantian. There were still many other sects embroiled in conflict and battles. One could say that chaos was breaking out in the Snow Region.
Although Fifth Eldress had helped him and Cao Duantian released an Ice Beast King, there were still too many gaps in the entire thing. In addition, he had taken the core of the Ice Beast King. After losing their young clan heads and so many formidable martial artists and engaging in battle with the Mantis Blade Sect, the three sects were bound to be enraged. Nobody knew how things in the Snow Region would develop from here.
With the mess that was taking place in the Snow Region now, who knew what the next day would hold?
If his identity was exposed, even Mo Shen would not be able to protect Jiang Yi from the wrath of the three sects’ warriors. That was why he was deciding to take the risk now and refine the core of the Ice Beast King. If this ice power could activate the Smelting Divine Furnace, he would have the capital for him to begin his journey to becoming a Demigod.
“Listen up—I am going to meditate for ten days in order to recover. I do not wish to see anyone—not even the Sacred Lady.”
Jiang Yi walked out of the palace gates and told the four soldiers who had been standing guard. Ten days would be enough for him to refine the core. The four guards were extremely obedient as well. On hearing his instructions, they immediately shut the palace gates. It was then that Jiang Yi returned to his palace and gingerly retrieved the core.
“How should I refine it?”
Jiang Yi held on to the Three-Leaf Lotus Flower in one hand and the core of the Ice Beast King in the other. He looked absolutely confused since he had no idea whether to begin refining the core or the Three-Leaf Lotus Flower.
“I might as well refine them together.”
The moment he decided, he summoned two balls of essence force to encapsulate the Three-Lead Lotus Flower and the core of the Ice Beast King separately. The ice ball and the fire ball began the refinement process at once. Jiang Yi guessed that his body would not be able to withstand the pressure, and so he decided to refine them both together in order to neutralize the process.
“Uh…”
The moment his balls of essence force met the Three-Leaf Lotus Flower and the core, Jiang Yi’s entire body shook violently. Even his soul began to vibrate as a frightening amount of power entered his body from each of his palms.
The power had two extreme sources. One of the sources had a strong Yang character. It was hard and hot, and it felt like molten lava was flowing through his veins. It caused his left hand to burn up. As his hand shook more violently, the Three-Leaf Lotus Flower almost flew out of it.
The other source of energy had a very strong Yin character. It was cold and soft, causing his right hand to feel immediately like it was numb from the cold. As this energy entered the veins in his right arm, he felt the entire right side of his body turn to ice. He could no longer feel anything on that side of his body, much less even move.
“What horror!”
Immediately, Jiang Yi entered the State of the Union of Heaven and Man. He tried not to care too much about what was happening to his body. He was afraid that he would not be able to withstand the pressure otherwise and pass out.
“What should I do? Where should I store all of this power?”
Half of his body was burning up while the other half of his body felt frozen. Jiang Yi was beginning to panic. Power continued to flow into his body, causing his left side to burn up even more and his right side to become even colder.
The Three-Leaf Lotus Flower had a strong Yang character, but it was not made out of flames. Instead, it felt like a pure energy source. Even the Fire Spirit Pearl could not protect Jiang Yi from the effects of this spirit herb. Such aggressive power coursed through his veins, so that even his veins threatened to burst apart.
“Channel them all into the dantian and see if the star sphere would be able to take it?”
Jiang Yi quickly had an idea. If one star sphere would be able to absorb the two types of energies, then the two energies would be able to merge together and neutralize inside his star sphere!
This did not seem like a bad idea!
Thus, Jiang Yi employed his Nameless Divine Art to channel both types of power into his dantian. None of his nine star spheres moved. Not one of his nine star spheres absorbed the power.
“I’m finished… does my body really have no way of absorbing these powers?”
Jiang Yi was getting really afraid now. There were too much of both types of power in his body at that moment, and even more power continued to flow into his body from the Three-Leaf Lotus Flower and the core. It was unstoppable. As the power accumulated in his body, Jiang Yi imagined his body exploding into pieces like an overblown balloon.
“It’s said… the ice power of the Ice Beast King would help Heaven Monarch martial artists form their god spirits.”
Jiang Yi thought about what Mo Yao’er told him. In a flash, he thought, could it be that the ice power is a type of spiritual power that had to be absorbed by the consciousness of the spirit? Was his primordial spirit responsible for absorbing all this power?
However!
These two types of energy were so extreme. If he channeled them to the consciousness of his spirit, there was a chance that it would be too overwhelmed; and his spirit might explode into smithereens. His soul was precious—he could not allow it to get injured.
“Whatever! I’m going to die anyway.”
Very quickly, Jiang Yi stopped thinking so much. There was too much power in his body—so much that he thought that his veins were going to burst open at any moment. He had no choice but to channel all of this power into his own spiritual consciousness.
“Sh*t…”
Jiang Yi wanted to force the two types of energies into one vein in order to see if they could neutralize one another and become less aggressive on his body! He did not expect that the two types of powers would be so averse to each other that they would not even get close to each other. The moment he got one type of power in the sphere, the other type would escape. It was impossible to get them close, much less to merge them!
“I was too risky—I went in too big this time.”
Jiang Yi sighed. All he could do was watch as the two types of power entered his spiritual consciousness.
