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Chapter 5 - Chapter 5: Alchemy? No—Body Refining!

Chapter 5: Alchemy? No—Body Refining!

The blood essence wrapped in black flame gave off no energy fluctuations. It even felt like jelly to the touch, and the black flame enveloping it carried no heat. Yao Yan swallowed it easily—without any pain or discomfort.

But before he could even question it, an indescribable wave of agony surged from his abdomen through his entire body. The Dou Qi vortex he had spent nearly ten years cultivating was instantly torn apart. Every inch of his bones felt like they had been smashed by a hammer. The pain caused his vision to go black, and a cry escaped his lips. His once-blood-colored face turned pale as paper, soaked in cold sweat.

At this moment, he could only barely remain conscious, feeling the Dou Qi inside him completely vanish. The blood essence he had swallowed acted like a gluttonous beast, beginning to devour the bloodline power within him.

That pain—it felt like his bones and marrow were being sucked out—was beyond description.

"Very good. You've seized this opportunity. Life and death, strength and weakness—all are determined through choices. If you survive this, you will become strong."

Hun Xuzi clearly appreciated Yao Yan's decisiveness. Despite knowing the immense risk, the boy hesitated only briefly before swallowing the essence. That kind of instinct to seize opportunity was something he liked. He had seen too many people who feared death yet craved power.

In this world, to gain something, you must pay something.

To become strong, you must be more ruthless, more daring, and better at grabbing that one-in-a-million chance!

Yao Yan had already lost the ability to speak. He curled up on the ground like a boiled shrimp, writhing from wave after wave of pain. His unique soul strength kept him conscious, allowing him to clearly feel every change in his body—and Hun Xuzi's murmuring voice.

Damn it all!!

Yao Yan's face twisted in agony as he cursed Hun Xuzi's entire bloodline in his heart, venting his terror and helplessness that way.

He had always known how cruel the world of xuanhuan was, but he hadn't expected it to hit him this fast.

He wasn't even given a chance to grow.

Floating in midair, Hun Xuzi's smile had vanished. With his powerful soul sense, he could track every tiny change in Yao Yan's body. This was only the first step of the fusion. If Yao Yan couldn't make it past this, there was no need to continue.

The Soul Devouring Clan's bloodline was extremely domineering. Ordinary people couldn't withstand it. If not for Yao Yan's Dou Emperor bloodline and tenacious life force, he would've already died.

The Soul Devouring Clan's bloodline was interesting.

Normal people couldn't bear it, while those with stronger bloodlines couldn't fully merge with it. The only way to find the balance was constant experimentation.

As the black flame surrounding the blood essence faded, the power sealed within Yao Yan's body was unleashed. It began devouring everything inside him—life force, bloodline, Dou Qi... like a ravenous beast consuming everything in reach.

In that, it resembled the Void Devouring Flame—except one was a naturally-born heavenly flame, the other a living being.

Soon…

Yao Yan didn't even have the energy to mentally curse Hun Xuzi. As a mere Six-Star Dou Practitioner, his body offered little to consume. Within just a few seconds, his form shriveled like a deflated balloon, and his consciousness began to fade.

"The Yao Clan's bloodline really does hold stronger vitality. Compared to the Soul Clan's Dou Emperor bloodline, it contains more life energy and is more resistant to torment…"

Hun Xuzi's gaze flickered as he watched Yao Yan being drained into a dried husk. He muttered quietly to himself.

He had known this long ago.

He had conducted many such experiments—even on members of his own clan.

Soon, Yao Yan's youthful body turned into a dried-up corpse, his hair lifeless and brittle.

"The first step is done. Seems this little guy has decent willpower."

Hun Xuzi spoke softly as he observed the now-settled blood essence. A moment later, a terrifying soul force wrapped in the Void Devouring Flame's subfire swept over Yao Yan's corpse-like form.

The black flame burned quietly—without heat or energy leakage—silent and formless.

Hun Xuzi flipped his palm, and the flame surged. Space distorted, and a jade bottle engulfed in black flame appeared in his hand. As he opened it, a powerful bloodline aura erupted, causing the surrounding energy to tremble and instinctively gather.

If not for the Void Devouring Flame isolating the space, the entire Yao Clan might have been alarmed.

Because the bottle contained the Dou Emperor bloodline of the Yao Clan—extracted from a Yao Clan Dou Saint's corpse. The violent energy had already been refined and devoured by the Void Devouring Flame, leaving only the purest bloodline power.

In the present world, only one who possessed the Void Devouring Flame and had absorbed the Soul Devouring Clan's power could achieve this.

This was how the Soul Clan maintained its bloodline strength—they harvested bloodline power from their dead and infused it into the younger generation.

They even extracted bloodline power from other races…

Yao Yan's Dou Emperor bloodline was ultimately too thin. It couldn't withstand the essence from the last Soul Devouring King. It had to be balanced with bloodline of equivalent level—only then could fusion occur.

Hun Xuzi didn't hesitate. He poured the entire bottle of precious bloodline over Yao Yan's body.

Even if it failed, he was confident he could extract it back. As a Tier 9 Profound Pill Grandmaster, this much self-assurance was natural. To him, such experiments posed no real loss. As for Yao Yan's life… in this world, the most worthless thing was the life of the weak.

One by one, blood-like droplets the color of jade fell. Under the refinement of the Void Devouring Flame, they turned into wisps of glowing vapor and seeped into Yao Yan's body.

As they entered, Yao Yan's body—just stabilized—began convulsing again. His near-faded consciousness reignited under the power of the Dou Emperor bloodline. Even his soul became stronger, allowing him to clearly sense everything around him.

Which meant he now felt the pain even more deeply—pain that reached his very soul, driving him mad.

His already shriveled body cracked apart. If not for the protection of the Void Devouring Flame, it wouldn't even remain human-shaped.

Neither the Dou Emperor bloodline nor the Soul Devouring King's blood essence were forces his current body could endure.

Hun Xuzi didn't care. His focus was on the clash between the two bloodlines. He needed to find the balance and refine both into Yao Yan's body. The process resembled alchemy—it was like reforging Yao Yan's very body.

In his previous failed cases, many had chosen to give up from the pain. And the result of giving up? The Void Devouring Flame refined them into new blood essence. As a Grandmaster, he had patience—and zero fear of failure.

Time slowly passed. Yao Yan was in such pain he wanted to die—but couldn't. He couldn't even scream. All he could do was endure.

Every breath felt like an eternity.

No one knew how long had passed. Yao Yan eventually went numb from the pain. His consciousness blurred, yet the two dominating bloodlines continued to clash in his body like two armies fighting for every inch of land.

Strangely, his body began to adapt—especially to the Dou Emperor bloodline, which started actively merging with the Soul Devouring essence. There was no rejection—only unexpected harmony.

"Hm?"

Hun Xuzi noticed this keenly. He muttered to himself, "As expected, only those of our blood truly match."

For the past millennium, the Soul Clan had used the Void Devouring Flame and Soul Devouring offspring to consume many other ancient clans. But none of those bloodlines ever fused as well as this—not without tricks or even interventions in the womb.

As the vast bloodline energy poured into Yao Yan, his body was quickly repaired, and his soul nourished. His consciousness gradually returned, and the piercing pain struck again—but this time, he endured it!

Because he didn't want to die—at least not like this, without answers!

"The second step is complete. Now comes the final one. Whether it works or not… depends on your luck."

Hun Xuzi's voice was calm—because even he couldn't guarantee the final step. It was a gamble.

As his words fell, an immense soul force guided the subfire of the Void Devouring Flame to shatter the Soul Devouring King's essence into countless wisps. Each thread was wrapped in flame and forcibly injected into Yao Yan's body. At this moment, Yao Yan was still fusing with the Dou Emperor bloodline—using the Void Devouring Flame's unique trait, Hun Xuzi could slip in the Soul Devouring essence.

This clearly wasn't his first time doing this.

Almost instantly, Yao Yan's will shattered. His body mutated, and a savage, bloodthirsty aura burst forth. His eyes turned blood-red, brimming with madness. He lost all reason, howling like a beast as he thrashed uncontrollably.

Hun Xuzi's eyes gleamed. Instead of stopping, he intensified the fusion—because Yao Yan's body was holding together. It hadn't exploded from the Soul Devouring King's essence.

This was the first time in a century!

As the essence fully fused, the savage aura around Yao Yan intensified. Until—a dark red vertical eye cracked open on his forehead.

Cold, emotionless, and filled with an indescribable aura, the blood-colored vertical pupil radiated a devouring presence.

Even Hun Xuzi's soul force wavered slightly, as if something ancient and high-ranked had glanced his way. But it lasted only an instant—Yao Yan was still too weak to pose any threat.

"It worked?!"

Hun Xuzi looked at the boy who now resembled a member of the Soul Devouring Clan, his voice tinged with surprise.

But then he noticed something wrong—Yao Yan had no sanity left. Only madness. His soul had been polluted by the Soul Devouring King's essence. This wasn't success—not yet. He needed more than a rabid beast.

After a brief silence, Hun Xuzi twisted space with the Void Devouring Flame and retrieved an eighth-tier pill—Soul Purifying Pill.

He had originally prepared it for the Soul Hall's Heavenly Sovereigns who liked to devour others' souls. It could purify and cleanse lingering soul contamination.

This was one of the Soul Hall's secret methods of nurturing its elite.

Without hesitation, Hun Xuzi sent the pill into Yao Yan's mouth and used the subfire to refine it—just in case any more accidents occurred.

Yao Yan now… was a priceless treasure. Worth far more than a ninth-tier medicinal pill.

He couldn't allow anything to go wrong at the final step.

Meanwhile…

Yao Yan felt himself drowning in chaotic memories. Bloodlust and murderous impulses surged through him, dragging his consciousness into darkness—until a cool sensation swept over his soul and pulled him back.

(END CHAPTER)

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