At Lava Pool no. 19, Shi Mu lodged every single one of the Mid-rank Fire Attribute Spirit Stones into the troughs. With that, he had completed the setup of a circular formation—indeed, he was setting up the Incendiary Formation—on the charred, sandy area around the lava pool. The only significant difference was that Shi Mu had swapped the default Infernal Polaris Stones with Fire Ores.

　　Once every trough had a Fire Ore inserted, the whole formation complex began to emit a soft, red glow as a faint buzzing sound could be heard.

　　Then, in the middle of the formation, the boiling lava in the pool suddenly spun frenetically on its own until it formed a whirlpool. Very soon, the temperature of the entire area rose exponentially as Fire Attribute energy imbued in the atmosphere multiplied.

　　Shi Mu sighed, relieved that the old man was right—not only did the Incendiary Formation start its operation successfully, but its effects were also even better than before.

　　He strutted to a corner of the stone room where a marble table was placed. On top of the surface, a mini formation about two feet long was arranged.

　　Lying in the middle of the formation was Cai, its eyes squeezed shut.

　　Cai had been seized by a sort of languor ever since a few days ago; but now, it seemed to have slumped into a deep slumber.

　　Of course, a similar situation like this occurred before, so Shi Mu was much less concerned about it this time.

　　“Sweet dreams!” Shi Mu said, gently caressing Cai’s feathery head before walking back to the lava pool. Positioning himself in the middle of the Incendiary Formation, Shi Mu sat down cross-legged and took a deep breath.

　　He closed his eyes and began to train with the first layer of the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art.

　　As time passed, the temperature within the area had risen to a ridiculous degree. Deluge upon deluge of searing heatwaves flooded the air from all sides, while a surge of unprecedented extreme heat began to ravage his senses.

　　Shi Mu could feel his blood stirring as if it was about to reach their boiling point. His outer garment had long shrunken and faded. Veins bulged on his forehead as beads of sweat rolled down like raindrops—it was as if he was caught within a blazing inferno.

　　He forced himself to endure the agony and persisted in his cultivation.

　　…

　　Time inched forward, minute by minute. At the corner of the lava tube [1], white stones devoid of vibrance slowly piled up in droves.

　　[1. Lava tubes are caves formed by flowing lava through the earth. Sometimes it is still active, meaning when a volcano erupts nearby, lava from the eruption may still flow through this channel; Other times, it may be extinct, so all we have is just a long cave formed by cooled rocks.]

　　An innumerable amount of Fire Attribute energy gathered in the middle of the Incendiary Formation and took the form of dancing sparks in midair before they fell in a steady stream akin to a waterfall.

　　Shi Mu looked as though he was being forged by a shower of flames as every inch of his skin burned bright red, the radiance shifting from dim to bright and vice versa.

　　As his cultivation continued, Shi Mu’s charred, desiccated left hand was surprisingly returning to its original, normal length.

　　Shi Mu’s heart throbbed a little before blood within his body suddenly roared as an efflux of Real Qi gushed into his dantian before spreading out to every part of his body.

　　He gritted his teeth as he meditated on the technique, willing every mote of the surging Real Qi into his left palm.

　　His left hand, originally as black as charcoal, was gradually shifting its color until it was a ruddy hue, and lines of bright crimson patterns etched onto the skin. Golden embers danced briefly on parts of his left hand while steam escaped from the dermal layer of the skin on his hand.

　　That was not the only change—his left hand, previously weighing about a hundred tons, started to lighten.

　　Immediately after that, a painful swelling sensation expanded all over his left palm, as if every vessel and vein was about to rupture.

　　Shi Mu endured the pain for a few seconds until suddenly his left hand a blinding red as wave after wave of scorching heat flowed out of his hand, inadvertently creating ripples of heatwaves in the atmosphere.

　　As these ripples rocked and collided into the igneous rocks that formed the walls of the cave, they too gradually simmered until they glowed a bright crimson light. Time passed and magma began trickling out of the walls as if the rock itself was going to melt!

　　…

　　Time went by quickly. Seasons came and went. Just like that, three years had passed.

　　At this moment, a bright red glow escaped from the opening of the lava tube where Lava Pool no. 19 was situated.

　　Shi Mu was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the Incendiary Formation, his body enveloped in a crimson aura. It was like looking at a gigantic red cocoon, within which one could sometimes catch a glimpse of darting golden light.

　　Psst-shah!

　　The red cocoon exploded, its violent energy shockwave sweeping across the entire cave as it blasted layers off the sturdy igneous walls.

　　Boom!

　　Shi Mu’s face was shaded with red and green, his every vessel swelling and expanding while a gush of Real Qi soared up within his dantian in a dizzying, spinning motion. As it rose faster and faster, the Real Qi was somehow becoming more tangible, a little dense and sticky.

　　The vacuous Real Qi cyclone slowly shrank as the spinning motion continued, until it coagulated into a transparent liquid that was spinning gently.

　　Shi Mu’s ruddy skin had returned to its original tanned hue, although it was coated in black dirt. A few faint glows of red remained shining around his body.

　　Suddenly these red light orbs swarmed in the air before letting out a blinding shine. They gathered and formed a vague shape before condensing into a lifelike Energy Construct of a red ape about several yards tall. With a “whoosh!” it spread open its wings of flames, two or three yards long.

　　“Roar!”

　　The Energy Construct of the ape slowly became more and more corporeal as it exhaled flames out of its mouth.

　　When the last red orb had finally flung itself from Shi Mu’s body and joined the Energy Construct, the crimson ape beat its chest and screeched furiously, its racket shaking the cave so hard that the walls cracked open while debris and rocks tumbled downward.

　　Shi Mu’s eyes bolted open and flashes of euphoria crossed his pupils.

　　The progress he made over these three years had been tremendous. He had finally achieved some form of consummation on the first layer of the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art. Then with the aid from the demon ape’s blood essence that he obtained from the last auction, he managed to achieve the seventh rank of the Art of the Almighty Ape Rebirth, which allowed his flesh and physical strength to be further augmented.

　　Now on this day, he managed to make a breakthrough in the Art of Breeding a Strong Evil Ape!

　　The Qi coursing within his dantian had completely liquified, which allowed him to execute a Martial Art Phasing Form. In other words, Shi Mu had successfully broken into a new stage and became an actual Earth-rank fighter!

　　Shi Mu could feel raw power coursing through every inch of his body. He may have previously entered the state of Earth-rank power through his tattoo transformation, but it was never as exuberant as this! Besides, assuming the powers of Earth-rank through the tattoo posed the threat of corrupting his soul. Needless to say, the previous simulation of Earth-rank powers paled in comparison to the genuine article.

　　Shi Mu gave a command through a handsign, and the Crimson Ape Energy Construct hovering above him opened its mouth and exhaled a long breath of pure flames which gathered like a cloud of fire. Gushes of suffocating heatwaves radiated from the flames as air molecules contorted under the intense heat.

　　“It’s the Primordial Inferno!” Seeing the effect, Shi Mu was elated.

　　This was the culmination of completing the Art of Breeding a Strong Evil Ape to the tenth level—the practitioner would learn one of the Martial Arts Phasing Techniques known as the Primordial Inferno which, according to canon, draws fire from the chaotic ether of the universe. Using Primordial Inferno against demons and the undead would be very effective.

　　A thought arose in Shi Mu’s mind, and the Crimson Ape Energy Construct above him—responding to his thoughts—dematerialized into a swarm of red lights before surging into his body. Shi Mu then produced a Mid-rank Spirit Stone and placed it in his hand to replenish his energy.

　　The Crimson Ape Energy Construct and its Primordial Inferno were impressive, but the toll they took on his body was proportionately great. The amount of True Qi within his body that had just advanced into Early Earth-rank was only enough to summon the Crimson Ape Energy Construct as well as executing Primordial Inferno exactly once.

　　His expended Real Qi was only completely replenished after absorbing a few Mid-rank Spirit Stones.

　　He took a deep breath and performed a handsign once more. Red lights escaped from his body and extended into two large wings of flames behind him.

　　He flapped the wings and was instantly lifted into the air, flying quickly in circles within the lava tube. It was an incredibly fluid flight.

　　After a while, Shi Mu made another handsign and the wings behind him dissipated into red sparks. He turned an aerial somersault and landed steadily on his two feet.

　　This particular technique—Flaming Wing Energy Construct—was a lot more conservative in terms of Real Qi consumption compared to creating the Crimson Ape Energy Construct. More importantly, with the aid of his flaming wings, Shi Mu could now unleash agile aerial attacks on his enemies during a fight like an adroit falcon, while being perfect for evasive maneuvers as well. It would be much more dynamic than using the Green-Winged Flying Carriage in a battle.

　　Shi Mu stood up and raised his hand to stop the operation of the Incendiary Formation.

　　He brought his scorched black hand before himself and clenched it into a fist before flexing it again with a look of satisfaction.

　　After attaining small success in the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art, his left hand had become much lighter and more dextrous than when it first started its transformatio. The progress in his left hand was probably also a result of both his advancement into the Earth-rank and his attainment of the Seventh level of Rebirth. He no longer felt unfamiliar with his own left hand and its strange properties… even if it was still miles away from returning to its original, normal form.

　　Shi Mu shifted his eyes away from his left hand and clenched it into a fist before mustering Real Qi within his body. The air around his fist started to boil as heat energy gathered around his left fist.

　　Shi Mu could feel the temperature within his left hand rising steeply as if he had just dunked his hand into boiling lava.

　　The blood coursing within his body was boiling, too, as if a tremendous power was about to break away from the cocoon of his body.

　　With a pang, he directed all of the energy into his left hand before swinging it upward into the air—

　　Boooom!

　　A roaring tide of unbridled power shot out from his hand and punctured the void in full force, ripping a large cavity right out of the fabric of reality. Tiny cracks, revealing only pitch-black darkness, appeared without any sign of fading.

　　At the same time, ripples of heat started ebbing from the fist to the igneous walls. Surprisingly, the walls seemed to melt as lava started gliding down the surface slowly as if the wall was now covered by a glowing blanket.

　　Even Shi Mu was stupefied by what he witnessed!

　　He once heard a Heaven-rank expert mentioning an incredible power that was so potent, it could break through the Void. Yet Shi Mu had already achieved this feat simply by achieving a small success in the first level of the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art, coupled with his Earth-rank abilities. What sort of terrifying powers await him if he continued his cultivation!?

　　This one punch had completely depleted all the Qi in his dantian, but the payoff from his left hand was too astounding to ignore. He felt that he could probably use this punch to face off a Heaven-rank powerhouse in the future!

　　“Shi Tou, is this part of your epic comeback? And when I say epic, I mean ‘epic racket’…” Suddenly, a string of Cai’s usual nagging started ringing in Shi Mu’s ears.

　　He turned and saw Cai—its face covered in dirt and ashes—flying towards him. It seemed that the epic tumble had caused him quite some troubles.

　　“Oh, you’re awake already?” Shi Mu asked.

　　Cai had entered a deep sleep the same time Shi Mu closed himself off from the world to focus on his cultivation—which meant the bird had slept for about three years.

　　“Do you think I can still sleep with the ruckus you’re making? I was just about to come see what you’ve been up to, and then suddenly there were boulders falling from above. I was almost flattened, lemme tell you!” Cai complained as it flapped its wings to approach Shi Mu.

　　On the crown of Cai’s head were three feathers. Beside its white feather, a new pale-gold one had sprouted and glimmered noticeably.

　　“When did you get that golden strand, Cai?” Shi Mu reached out his right hand and patted the bird’s head as he asked.

　　“–Ow, ow! Would it hurt you to pat a little more softly, Shi Tou? So, whaddya think? Pretty neat, huh?” Cai replied, beaming.

　　Shi Mu was just about to say something when Cai suddenly cocked its head to the side, eyes transfixed on the closed exit of the cave. A subtle golden glimmer seemed to be dazzling within the white glow of the bird’s eyes.