The cataclysmic influx of power was not a gentle stream; it was a universe being born within him. Twelve distinct, divine energies, the very origin essence of hundred-thousand-year-old immortal herbs, surged through his meridians, a chaotic, beautiful storm of life, death, fire, ice, and starlight.
His body, already tempered by the ten-thousand-year-old Whale Gum, became a crucible. The combined energy, a staggering one hundred and twenty thousand years' worth of pure, condensed life force, did not just fill him; it remade him.
He felt the bottleneck of Level 33 shatter like glass. The dam broke. Level 34. Level 35. The energy was a relentless tide, pushing him ever upward. Level 36… 37… 38… 39… It was a torrent of advancement that would have made any other Spirit Master in history explode from the sheer, untamed power.
Finally, the raging river of energy settled, filling a new, vast reservoir within him. He had reached the peak. Level 40. He was a Spirit Ancestor. In the space of a few minutes, he had crossed a chasm of cultivation that would have taken any other genius years, perhaps even a decade, to traverse.
The transformation was not limited to his spirit power. The potent mental energy from the Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew, combined with the clarifying effects of the other herbs, flooded his mind. His Purple Demon Eyes, already at the 'Detailed' level, underwent a profound metamorphosis.
He felt a 'click' in his perception, a shift in the very fabric of his consciousness. He looked at Ning Rongrong, and he didn't just see her worried expression; he saw the faint, almost imperceptible fluctuations of spirit power circulating within her, the subtle tension in the meridians around her heart. He had reached the third stage, the Mustard Seed level. Illusions would be meaningless to him now, and the secrets of another's internal state were an open book.
But the most fundamental change was to the very core of his being: the Blood Silver Grass. It was no longer just a mutated plant with a devouring ability. It was a divine hybrid, a new species born from the union of a dozen immortal bloodlines.
He could feel the new properties singing in his spirit. The icy cold of the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and the searing heat of the Infernal Delicate Apricot now resided within him, an elemental duality he could command at will. The unshakeable toughness of the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum made his vines nigh-indestructible. And the faint, golden, scale-like pattern that now adorned his crimson grass was a testament to the trace of a true dragon's bloodline, a gift from the Nine Grade Dragon Ganoderma.
'I can even… replicate their abilities,' he thought, a sense of profound awe washing over him. He focused his will, and a single crimson vine in his hand began to emit a soft, sweet fragrance, the exact aroma of the Aromatic Silk Beauty. He knew, with an instinctual certainty, that it now carried a fraction of the herb's poison-neutralizing properties.
'Even with all this,' a gentle, proud voice echoed in his spiritual sea, 'at its heart, it is still the Blood Silver Grass. It is still my clan.' Ah Yin was practically vibrating with excitement. 'To complete the transformation, Zhang Tian, you must still undergo the Second Awakening. You must claim the two drops of my blood essence from the Blue Silver Forest. You must receive the faith of the Blue Silver King.'
She paused, her voice turning soft, intimate, and filled with a teasing warmth. 'And before that, you must convert them all. Turn my old home into a new one. A Blood Silver Forest, for the new Blood Silver Emperor. And when you are the Emperor… and I am the Empress… well, our union will be the most natural thing in the world, won't it?'
He felt a warm chuckle rumble in his spiritual form. 'I will make that trip for my fourth spirit ring, my Empress,' he projected back. 'And I am very much looking forward to seeing you in your true, beautiful, physical body once more.'
With his own transformation consolidated, he turned his attention to his two lovers, who had been watching his radiant display with wide, disbelieving eyes. The time for gifting had come.
He walked first to Ning Rongrong, his expression turning serious. "Rongrong," he said, "I have a gift for you. One that I believe holds the key to your future."
He presented her with a strange, beautiful plant. Its stalk was a rare, inky black, and at its tip grew a single, golden fruit the size of a palm, which glittered with thousands of tiny, starlike points of light. It was the Star Luo Holy Pearl.
"I have a theory," he explained, his voice a low, excited murmur. "Your Seven Treasure Glaze Tile Pagoda's defect stems from an imbalance, a lack of a certain kind of celestial energy. This immortal herb absorbs the pure essence of the stars. It is my hope that its power can do what the essence of the sun and moon can: repair the innate flaw in your spirit and allow you to evolve."
He saw the flicker of hope, so bright it was almost painful, ignite in her eyes. "And even if it cannot," he added, managing her expectations, "its energy is incredibly pure and gentle. It will allow you to condense a Spirit Core in your lower dantian. With a core, your spirit power control, your capacity, and your recovery speed will all undergo a qualitative leap."
'If this doesn't work,' he thought to himself, 'I can always give her the Beautiful Silk Tulip later. Or, I can begin the slow, arduous process of infusing her with the sun and moon essence my own spirit can now gather. But this… this feels right.'
He then turned to Zhu Zhuqing. "Zhuqing, your path will be more… arduous. But the rewards will be immense."
He presented her with a single, unremarkable-looking green plant. At its center, nestled within three snow-white leaves, were a few perfect, shimmering droplets of dew. The Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew.
"First, you will consume this," he instructed. "It will dramatically strengthen your mental force and enhance your perception. You will need this strength to endure what comes next."
Her gaze was filled with an unwavering trust. She took the herb without a word of question.
He then gestured to the two most terrifying plants in the entire garden. "After that," he said, his voice grim, "you will consume both the Infernal Delicate Apricot and the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass. Their conflicting energies, the ultimate fire and the ultimate ice, will wage war within your body. It will be an agony beyond anything you have ever experienced."
He saw the flicker of fear in her eyes and quickly took her hands in his. "But I will be with you. We will enter the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well together. Its waters will help you balance the two energies, to merge them, to forge your body anew in their crucible. You will cultivate the Ice and Fire Refined Body. And your Eight Spider Lances, your Hell Civet spirit… they will evolve into something new. Something terrifying."
The two girls looked at the treasures before them, then at the man who was offering them a future of limitless power. They nodded in unison, their resolve absolute.
Ning Rongrong was the first to begin. She held the Star Luo Holy Pearl, its golden fruit warm in her hands. As she brought her Seven Treasure Glaze Tile Pagoda near it, the fruit began to hum, a low, resonant frequency that matched the shimmering of her spirit. It was a sign of compatibility.
She took a deep breath and consumed the golden fruit. The taste was sweet, like starlight and honey. The moment it entered her system, a vast, gentle river of pure, celestial energy flooded her meridians. She immediately sat down, her eyes closing as she entered a state of deep, profound meditation, guiding the river of power towards her lower dantian, beginning the long, arduous process of forging her very first Spirit Core. Her spirit power, already at Level 32, began to climb at a visible, astonishing rate.
Zhu Zhuqing's transformation was much faster. She carefully collected the dew from the Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew and drank it. A cool, refreshing energy washed over her mind, a sensation like diving into a clear, mountain lake.
Her spiritual sea expanded, her thoughts became sharper, and her Purple Demon Eyes, with a silent, powerful surge, broke through their own bottleneck. She had leaped from the 'Survey' stage directly to the 'Mustard Seed' stage, her perception now equal to Zhang Tian's own.
The plant, its essence spent, withered into dust, leaving behind a small, hard seed that Zhang Tian carefully collected and stored away.
She opened her eyes a few hours later, the world a new, vibrant tapestry of detail. She looked at Zhang Tian, and she could see the faint, powerful aura of his spirit power, the way the energy flowed and circulated within him. It was a breathtaking sight.
"I'm ready," she said, her voice filled with a new, quiet confidence.
He nodded and, with a grim determination, he plucked the two extreme immortal herbs. She took them without hesitation, consuming the fiery apricot and the icy grass in quick succession.
The effect was instantaneous and horrific. Her face went deathly pale, then flushed a deep, feverish red. Frost began to form on her eyebrows, even as a thin wisp of steam rose from her skin. She let out a sharp, choked gasp, her body convulsing as the two warring energies began to tear her apart from the inside.
Her enhanced mental force was the only thing keeping her conscious, a tiny, flickering candle in a hurricane of agony.
Before she could collapse, Zhang Tian moved. A flurry of crimson vines shot out, wrapping around her, cocooning her.
At the same time, the girls lost in their own worlds, had not noticed one particular thing.
A single strand of his Blood Silver Grass, one with particularly vibrant golden patterns, had detached itself from the main mass of his spirit. It slithered away silently, a crimson snake disappearing into the dense foliage at the edge of the garden.
'Go, Ah Yin,' he thought, a silent command. 'Claim your own prize.' The detached vine, which was Ah Yin's temporary physical form, made a beeline for the tall, elegant stalks of the Black Jade Divine Bamboo.
He had no time to watch her progress. He scooped the convulsing, vine-wrapped form of Zhu Zhuqing into his arms and, with a powerful leap, he plunged them both into the center of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
The moment their bodies hit the water, their clothes, unable to withstand the extreme, paradoxical temperatures, disintegrated into ash and steam. They were naked, their bodies submerged in the swirling mist where ice and fire met.
The pain was immediate and absolute. Zhang Tian felt a searing heat on one side of his body and a soul-crushing cold on the other. It was an agony that threatened to rip his very consciousness in two.
He gritted his teeth, holding the writhing, naked body of his lover tightly against his chest. He could feel the soft, full globes of her magnificent breasts pressed against him, the desperate grip of her hands on his shoulders.
He focused his will, his own body and Martial Spirit, now imbued with the essences of the two extreme herbs, flowing into her in the form of Spirit Power while becoming guiding current to help her tame the raging storm within her.
Her body, under the dual stimulation of the herbs and the well, began to transform. Her Hell Civet spirit possession activated on its own, her lithe form covered in a fine, black down.
And then, from her back, the Eight Spider Lances erupted with a wet, tearing sound. They were no longer just purple-black. Streaks of brilliant crimson and stark, icy white now swirled across their surfaces, the fire and ice poisons of the two herbs merging with the lances' own inherent venom.
Her Martial Spirit itself began to evolve. Faint, ethereal flames seemed to lick at the edges of her dark, shadowy form, while a chilling, frosty aura pulsed from her core. The pure darkness of the Hell Civet was being reforged, infused with the elemental powers of fire and ice.
While this dramatic transformation was taking place, a quieter, more profound one was happening at the edge of the garden.
Ah Yin, in her simple vine form, had reached the Black Jade Divine Bamboo. She wrapped herself around one of the thick, jade-like stalks and began to devour its essence.
A torrent of pure, gentle, yet immensely powerful life force flowed into her. Her spirit origin, the very core of her hundred-thousand-year-old power, which had been weakened and dormant for so long, began to recover at a staggering rate.
The power of the Blood Silver Empress, already formidable, was being restored to its absolute peak.
She carefully used her own Blood Silver Domain to cloak her presence, a veil of silence that hid her miraculous recovery from the powerful but distracted Titled Douluo meditating just some distance away.
The sun began to set, casting long, bloody shadows across the valley. The night passed in a blur of pain, cultivation, and a strange, desperate intimacy.
As the agony in Zhu Zhuqing's body finally began to recede, as the fire and ice found a tentative, violent balance within her, her focus shifted.
She became aware of the man holding her, of his own ragged breathing, of the deep, trembling tension in his muscles. She could feel the immense pain he was enduring on her behalf.
A wave of profound, overwhelming love washed over her. She lifted her head from his chest, her face slick with sweat and the condensing mist of the well. She looked into his pain-filled blue eyes, and she kissed him.
It was not a kiss of passion, but of gratitude, of shared struggle, of a love forged in the heart of a volcano. She poured her own, newly balanced spirit power into him, a cool stream of ice energy and a warm current of fire, helping him to stabilize his own body, to weather the storm of the well.
They remained like that for the rest of the night, two naked bodies entwined in the heart of a paradox, their bodies being reborn in the crucible of ice and fire, completely oblivious to the world outside their misty sanctuary.
~~
A/N: Check out my other novels like "Harem Master: Seduction System" and the "Villain: Manipulating the Heroines into hating the Protagonist" and I hope you like this story and those stories as well.
Check out more chapters on my P.atreon. The P.atreon will have 20+ Chapters ahead for this story. I hope you like it.
The link of p.atreon is: bit.ly/evildragon