Within the Chaos Space, Lin Chen drew in a slow breath, forcefully suppressing the surging vital essence in his body as well as the lingering mental shock from his clash with Xia Qingyue.
He understood clearly that the victory just now had only earned him a slim chance.
The real trial was only beginning now.
His eyes sharpened as he looked toward the medicinal ingredients and the cauldron before him. Without hesitation, he followed the method for reforging the spiritual seed recorded in the Chaos Devouring Heaven Art and began.
The spiritual flame ignited beneath the cauldron.
Lin Chen first tossed in the Blood Coagulation Mushroom. The crimson fungus melted the instant it touched the cauldron, rapidly refined by the spiritual flame into a thick red liquid that emitted a dense aura of blood vitality.
Afterward, Jade Vine and Seven Illusion Grass were added one by one. Each ingredient entered in perfect order, without the slightest confusion.
Under the tempering of the spiritual flame, every herb transformed into its purest medicinal essence. Some glowed with vibrant green brilliance, others shimmered with shifting, illusion-like colors. Within the cauldron, they intertwined and reflected off one another, forming a mesmerizing scene.
Throughout the entire process, Lin Chen remained fully focused. He did not dare show even the slightest carelessness or slackness.
Time passed bit by bit. Sweat slowly formed across his forehead.
Fortunately, fate did not mock him this time.
Under the wondrous refinement of the spiritual flame, all the medicinal properties fused perfectly. In the end, they condensed into a deep, dark medicinal liquid that radiated an overwhelming aura of life.
A faint glow flowed across its surface, clearly indicating its exceptional quality.
The moment Lin Chen sensed the terrifying energy contained within the liquid, the tension in his heart finally loosened. An uncontrollable surge of excitement and wild joy flooded through him.
“It’s done! Heaven has not abandoned me, Lin Chen! Hahaha!”
A month ago, his heavenly-grade spiritual root had been forcibly stripped away by Zhao Wanling and Li Qingyun.
He had endured too much for too long.
Now, with the hope of reforging his spiritual root within reach, his laughter echoed through the Chaos Space, filled with the joy of surviving from the brink of despair.
A cold, ethereal voice suddenly rang out, carrying unmistakable indifference and faint mockery, “Just a single cauldron of medicinal liquid, and you’re already losing yourself in pride?”
Lin Chen’s laughter stopped abruptly. He lifted his gaze.
The stunning figure of the woman in a red dress appeared before him, like an immortal stepping out of a painting, untouched by the mortal world. Her domineering eyes seemed to declare at every moment that she was the sovereign of the Heavenly Realm.
Lin Chen frowned, unconcerned with her status, and asked, “Do you have something to say?”
Xia Qingyue’s crystal-like eyes swept over the cauldron as she replied coldly, “Do you think refining the medicinal liquid means success? The real test is only beginning now.”
Lin Chen’s brows tightened, “What do you mean?”
Xia Qingyue looked at him with a teasing expression and let out a faint sneer, “To reforge the spiritual seed, you must circulate the Chaos Devouring Heaven Art and soak in this medicinal liquid for eighty-one days, absorbing its power into your body and condensing the foundation of the spiritual seed deep within your dantian. Every single day will be like suffering in purgatory.”
Meanwhile, Xia Qingyue continued, “During this process, the medicinal power will pierce your meridians like countless steel needles and burn your marrow like the flames of the netherworld. You will clearly feel every inch of your flesh being torn apart, then barely reassembled. This will repeat for all eighty-one days.”
Her voice seemed to come from the depths of the underworld, making the entire Chaos Space feel cold and suffocating.
Lin Chen glanced at her and said calmly, “Is that all you wanted to say?”
Floating in midair, Xia Qingyue looked down at him and said, “I am curious. With your body, which has only just recovered half its life, how many days can you endure?”
She had seen countless geniuses collapse under such torment, their wills shattered, their Dao hearts broken beyond repair.
Lin Chen smiled faintly and said, “Are you worried about me?”
Xia Qingyue’s expression turned cold as she replied, “I am only concerned that if you cannot even pass this stage and fail to reforge your spiritual seed, how will you reach the Master Realm within three months?”
“You worry too much.”
Lin Chen waved his hand. There was not a trace of fear in his eyes. Instead, an even fiercer flame burned within them.
Xia Qingyue was momentarily stunned.
Then Lin Chen decisively removed his clothing, revealing his well-defined upper body. He glanced at her and said firmly, “It’s nothing more than a bit of physical pain. What do I have to fear?”
The moment his words fell, he stepped directly into the dark medicinal liquid meant to condense the spiritual seed.
The instant his body submerged, unimaginable pain erupted.
It felt as though countless red-hot steel needles pierced through his skin and muscles, reaching straight into his marrow.
At the same time, it was as if he had been thrown into a molten hell, every inch of his flesh burning and tearing apart.
Lin Chen’s face twisted violently. His teeth ground together, producing harsh cracking sounds, while his muscles convulsed uncontrollably under the extreme agony.
An ordinary person would have given up in an instant.
But he was Lin Chen.
The Lin Chen who refused to submit, who refused to accept fate.
If he could not even endure this level of pain, how could he speak of revenge? How could he personally kill Zhao Wanling and Li Qingyun? How could he suppress Xia Qingyue?
Bone-devouring agony? A molten inferno?
This level of pain meant nothing.
Lin Chen unleashed astonishing willpower, clinging tightly to the last trace of clarity in his mind as he crazily circulated the Chaos Devouring Heaven Art.
The medicinal power surged through his body like a raging dragon, crashing violently through his meridians and scouring his bones.
His skin turned crimson, as if it might bleed at any moment. His body trembled uncontrollably.
Xia Qingyue stood silently to the side, watching everything with cold indifference.
One day passed. Three days. Five days. Ten days…
Time slipped by in silence.
Gradually, the indifference in Xia Qingyue’s eyes was replaced by a trace of surprise.
She looked at Lin Chen within the cauldron. He remained as still as a rock, fists clenched tightly, lips bitten open, veins bulging across his forehead like coiling dragons.
Twenty days. Thirty days. Fifty days. Eighty days.
Endless pain ravaged him.
Yet Lin Chen did not utter even a single cry of agony.
On the eighty-first day, the vast medicinal power within the cauldron had been completely absorbed, leaving the liquid clear.
Lin Chen sat cross-legged within it. Though his body appeared thinner, it radiated a restrained, refined strength.
Xia Qingyue could not help but frown.
For the first time, she truly began to reassess this young man. A faint trace of confusion and doubt flickered within her crystal-like eyes.
“Chaos Pearl, what kind of existence have you chosen for me?”
“Courage far beyond ordinary people, insight bordering on monstrous… and now, this unyielding will that does not fear life or death…”
“If such a person is allowed to grow…”
Buzz!!!
A sudden surge of energy abruptly interrupted her thoughts.
Her eyes narrowed.
From within Lin Chen’s dantian, a faint glimmer of light burst forth.
Within that light floated a simple, unremarkable gray seed.
A spiritual seed.
He had truly succeeded.
Lin Chen’s aura trembled violently as he opened his eyes. His gaze was sharp as a blade, shooting straight toward Xia Qingyue as he declared, “Xia Qingyue, I did it. Eighty-one days, not a moment less.”
Xia Qingyue’s body trembled slightly, the hem of her red dress swaying.
She even forgot to rebuke him for calling her by name. The frozen lake of her heart, sealed for countless years, seemed to ripple faintly, as though a stone had just been dropped into it.
This young man… was not the insignificant ant she had thought him to be.
He was… a monster!!!