After all the absurd events in the Colored Glass Palace, Fang Xing had been distracted by other things and hadn’t noticed the changes that occurred within his body, nor the numerous opportunities had fallen onto him. When the Yin and Yang fused, an extreme Yin power brought a mysterious change that was so great, it had even affected his very foundation; if he were to go back to the Qing-Yun Sect, his innate talent certainly wouldn’t be considered D-Rank anymore.

　　After using his spirit sense to study his internal organs, Fang Xing noticed that aside from the eight main meridians within his body, there also seemed to be another faint but definite meridian extending from the top of his head all the way down to his feet. Furthermore, not only did it seem a ninth meridian had appeared for some reason, it also seemed to have a transparent red crystal within.

　　Fang Xing had seen something similar before and wasn’t unfamiliar with this kind of crystal—it was similar to Spirit Essence. Cultivators would purify the purest supreme-quality Spirit Stones until they transcended their original shape, creating what was called “Spirit Essence”. Spirit Essence served as the main form of currency and resource used by Golden Core cultivators, and something similar had formed within his body.

　　Fang Xing vaguely understood where this Spirit Essence had come from. The Nine-Turn Lucidity Pellet in his body had vanished after that night, and it could now be seen that an extraordinary amount of Qi must have been absorbed. When he thought back closely on it, he could also faintly remember how his cultivation had been activated when he was inside the pool and how an indescribable amount of powerful Qi had entered his body. Such a large amount of Qi should have scattered outwards, but due to the fusing of Yin and Yang, Fang Xing’s physique changed and a ninth meridian had appeared alongside the standard eight everyone had. Since this huge amount of Qi hadn’t dispersed during the fusion of Yin and Yang, it had all flooded into the ninth meridian and become similar to crystal.

　　To put it simply, Fang Xing had actually transferred an entire spirit vein into his own body. This wasn’t entirely correct, however, as it was less that he’d transferred it himself and more that the dragon girl had gifted it to him. The true value of the full Yin dragon body was shown through this; when Yin and Yang fused, it created wonders beyond what any words could describe!

　　‘No wonder that dragon girl came chasing after me without even having time to put on her shoes. The spirit veins of the Thousand Stream Sea… I didn’t suck them all clean, right?’ Fang Xing carefully pondered this before taking out a storage sack with all the good stuff he’d pulled from the Colored Glass Palace’s treasure vault. Not only had he taken the Shanbao Mountain and Fusang Wood, it could be said he’d stolen every single valuable item the Colored Glass Palace had. Fang Xing was a little embarrassed by this, as even his fourth uncle would leave a few gold leaves behind whenever he picked another’s flower, yet he himself had cleaned out their treasure vault instead!

　　After a few moments, he decided to stop thinking about it too much. Dragons were all good at saving, so who knew; perhaps she’d only need a few days to be rich again!

　　With this spirit vein inside his body, there was almost no need for Fang Xing to worry about how he’d replenish his Qi, and gathering Qi for his cultivation was also something he no longer needed to stress over. What was most important now was to follow what the lotus girl taught him to complete the True Samadhi Fire.

　　After taking out the lantern with the shiny flame—the Flame of Desire from all the cultivators at the Red Convention—he sat in a lotus position and calmed his breathing. After a long time had passed, his thoughts stilled and became as peaceful as an old well, triggering a very small amount of understanding towards the Flame of Desire.

　　Fang Xing had taken so many Flames of Desire not to keep them for himself, but to try and understand it. The True Samadhi Fire consisted of three different sources of emotion in the form of flames. When a cultivator was faced with the nine tribulations, they could borrow the power of the lightning to refine all emotions, but these three emotions were unable to be refined and would instead form into true flames—the Flames of Wrath, Desire, and Hope!

　　Tens of thousands of years ago in the realm of cultivators, countless numbers of great saints and powerful masters all had their own understandings of these three flames. Some believed these three true flames were the genesis of sin, and as a consequence they would create three poisons—rage, greed, and ignorance—that were difficult to eliminate and would cause one to commit all manner of atrocious acts. Some of the most well-known sects to hold such beliefs were the Buddhist sects of the past. The reason Buddhist monks were known for their seclusion and inner peace was because they viewed these three poisons as the most vile roots of sin and the source of calamity, so they’d created various techniques and methods in order to eliminate such disastrous evil.

　　There were also those who believed these three flames were the reason for the human race’s prosperity. Wrath allows one to be unafraid and determined even in the face of uneven odds, for example, which was precisely how human cultivators were able to rise even when under harsh dominion by so many beasts and demons. Humans had then gone on to suppress the other races and rule over the world in a single go, allowing them to create Dao that was known today and become the master of all races.

　　One side wanted to suppress and eliminate the three flames, the other wanted to put them to good use. Their beliefs were fundamentally different and they were as incompatible as water and fire, but the Buddhist sects lost in the end. Buddhism disappeared from the land of Tianyuan after numerous battles and only the Spirit Mountain Temple was left behind, but they weren’t the true Buddhism as left behind in the ancient records and were merely wearing the guise of Buddhism when conducting their actions.

　　In any case, the three flames of the True Samadhi Fire was one of the most mysterious and profound powers of the world.

　　Fang Xing had coincidentally managed to obtain the Flame of Wrath from the Decapitation’s Portrayal, and then he’d managed to obtain the Flame of Hope from the Foundation Cleansing Pellet within the Mysterious Domain. Two of the three flames had been obtained and once he understood the Flame of Desire, he’d light up the third flame and complete the True Samadhi Fire.

　　A flicker of flame coiled around his fingertip and his spirit sense extended to entangle with the Flame of Desire, causing a strange emotion to immediately well up within him. In mere moments, he suddenly recalled the many kinds of women he’d known, each one different as they flashed past. Xiao Mahn, the dragon girl, Xu Linyun, Ying Qiaoqiao, Chu Ci, even the three fairies of the northern mountains were included. There were even some he’d already forgotten about, such as Qin Xin’er from the Qing-Yun Sect, and he wondered how she was doing now.

　　He’d tasted the matters between man and woman by now, so he naturally knew what it felt like to experience a certain temptation. It was a power that could empty an entire person’s mind and overwhelm the spiritual power of man. It was also one of humanity’s natural instincts, the most primitive tremor and impulse.

　　In that moment, Fang Xing suddenly felt far more sentimental. He missed all these women he’d met before, and the feeling was so strong he wanted to rush out of his cave estate and leave the Guixu Ruins immediately just to look upon them from afar. And yet, despite such an urgent impulse, he continued to sit still in the same lotus position while a thin layer of sweat covered his small face, as though he was being roasted by a vicious fire.

　　He didn’t try to suppress his thoughts, nor did he try to eliminate them; instead, he studied the changes that occurred within his body and mind as this most primitive power rose within him. He even sensed what was going on within his meridians and the balance of the five elements within him in an effort to thoroughly study his own shell..

　　It was without a doubt a very torturous process and Fang Xing knew this very clearly, but he still had to endure through it all to continue on ahead.

　　It was said that cultivation was defying the heavens, but why must anyone defy the heavens if the heavens have not offended? In truth, “the heavens” was referring to one’s innate tendency.

　　Everything within the heavens and earth had their own innate tendency based upon a certain set of patterns, and most living beings were all under the control of this as well. They’d eat when hungry, they’d sleep after eating, and they’d go find a mate when they had the interest. They would flee when meeting a more powerful opponent, and if they couldn’t flee, they would accept their fate.

　　Only a few races managed to form intelligence and begin doubting these tendencies, and once doubt was created, they would instead behave in a manner based on their own decisions. Cultivators were as such; they would suppress their own impatience to seek balance in peace and calm, and then seek out the understanding of all. They would endure the pain of having their bodies torn apart, all for the sake of having their physique improved to a higher level….

　　It was only through refusing to submit to one’s innate tendencies would there be improvements, and this was known as becoming an immortal through defying the heavens. Of course, if one were to think of it more deeply, such rebellious acts had in fact been caused by deeper impulses that were also a part of human nature, although such a topic was on a completely different level. Past scholars had already explained all of this, referring to it as “the fusion of heaven and man”.

　　Fang Xing hadn’t yet reached this higher level of understanding—his understanding was much more shallow, only going so far as “rebellion”. To rebel against the heavens by cultivating was to rebel against one’s innate tendency, but if someone wished to rebel in such a manner, they still had to understand their own innate tendency first.

　　Such torturous time slowly passed, yet Fang Xing remained in the same spot and meditated without a single movement, as though he were a corpse.

　　The area outside the basic cave estate had long ago been covered in fallen leaves, and that crazed dragon with the nose ring had been lying in front of the cave all day long waiting for him with extreme boredom. Fang Xing’s aura would occasionally become so calm the dragon stopped being suppressed and would become agitated, causing it to seek out some nearby peril beasts to stretch and have a full meal. No matter how far it went, however, the dragon would still return to this place that could no longer be recognized as a cave. It waited outside for Fang Xing’s reappearance, and given how loyal and docile it looked, it seemed closer to a giant dog that had grown scales than the red dragon it actually was.

　　The seclusion extended well beyond Fang Xing’s estimations, and well over a year had passed. The lotus girl had given him the method, but she hadn’t warned him that such high-level meditation and insights were extremely complex and could easily require a person’s entire lifetime. The fire seemed like such a simple matter and Fang Xing had believed the final process would be very easy once he had everything prepared, yet it was so deep and profound it was impossible to stop once he started….

　　An unknown amount of time continued to pass, and the entrance to the cave was covered up by dried leaves and branches so thoroughly that its traces were nearly completely hidden. Fang Xing’s aura also began to gradually disappear, and the crazed dragon at the entrance slowly became alarmed. It could feel that Fang Xing’s aura had become different in comparison to the peacefulness from earlier until now—the aura was truly beginning to disappear, as though it was dying out. The dragon became increasingly agitated until it finally let out a roar….

　　ROAR ….

　　The dragon’s roar was like the quake of thunder filled with the might of dragons, causing weaker peril beasts to lay shivering on the ground in terror. The roar even sank into the earth, causing some of the earth-element insects and worms that had hidden themselves deep inside to abruptly awaken and flee into the distance….

　　Just as the dragon roar resounded, in the depths of the cave, Fang Xing suddenly opened his eyes and drew in a sharp breath.