'When I first read the descriptions of the Four Great Forbidden Lands and saw the mention of Nine Nether Evil Qi in the Nine Nether Earth Rift, I thought it was just an exaggeration. I never imagined this stuff actually existed.'
'For something like this to appear in such a mundane, mortal placeā¦ is heaven truly trying to block my path?'
Yang Xiao calmed himself and observed carefully.
But in the end, he was still helpless.
Because this was, indeed, Nine Nether Evil Qi.
Although it looked very thin.
It was probably the lowest quality of Nine Nether Evil Qi.
But even the lowest quality Nine Nether Evil Qi was still Nine Nether Evil Qi.
It wasn't something Yang Xiao could handle in his current state.
'Forget it. It's a desperate situation, so I'll try a desperate remedy. Let's see if the True Greater Yang Fire can disperse this stuff.'
Yang Xiao waved his hand.
Glazed, colorful True Greater Yang Fire surged forth.
But his eyes held little hope.
It was said that Supreme Yin was countered by Supreme Yang.
And Supreme Yang Qi could resist Nine Nether Evil Qi.
However, in his previous life, Yang Xiao had never seen any power that could truly stand against Nine Nether Evil Qi.
Not even the Nine Yang True Flame could do it.
'Perhaps my True Greater Yang Fire can.'
But Yang Xiao had no absolute certainty.
But now, certain or not, Yang Xiao had to save himself.
A large amount of the glazed, colorful True Greater Yang Fire poured out. Under Yang Xiao's control, a small cluster of it carefully touched a wisp of the Nine Nether Evil Qi.
SSSZZZ!
Instantly, a burst of mist billowed out.
Yang Xiao's True Greater Yang Fireā¦
The unquenchable True Greater Yang Fire was actually extinguished.
Butā¦
'The Nine Nether Evil Qiā¦ some of it is gone! It worked! It actually worked!'
Yang Xiao was overjoyed.
A massive amount of True Greater Yang Fire surged out from within him.
It enveloped his entire body, protecting him.
The flames burned brighter and more fiercely.
It directly incinerated all the encroaching Nine Nether Evil Qi into puffs of vapor.
After eliminating all the Nine Nether Evil Qi, Yang Xiao finally breathed a sigh of relief.
'The True Greater Yang Fire truly is a True Flame of Supreme Yang and Firmness. It's stronger than the Origin True Flame from my first life, and stronger than the Nine Yang True Flame passed down by my master. No wonder even Master was always trying to find a way to refine the True Greater Yang Fire!'
Yang Xiao was incredibly glad.
He was glad that he had actually succeeded in refining the True Greater Yang Fire.
At the same time, a trace of gratitude for Lu Fangliang arose in his heart.
If he hadn't obtained the Greater Yang Treasure Pattern from him, he would have most certainly been doomed this time.
Because neither the Origin Flameā¦
ā¦nor the Nine Yang True Flameā¦
ā¦could truly stand against the Nine Nether Evil Qi.
Even though the Nine Nether Evil Qi here was of low qualityāat best Lower Ninth Grade if classified by the Ninth Grade system, and possibly not even Entry Grade.
But even so,
it was completely beyond what Yang Xiao could contend with at his current level of strength.
'Now, should I advance or retreat?'
Yang Xiao hesitated slightly.
Advancingā¦
ā¦meant he would inevitably encounter more Nine Nether Evil Qi.
He might even run into high-quality Nine Nether Evil Qi that he couldn't neutralize.
The danger would be immense.
If he retreated,
it would be much safer.
However, he might not be able to find a way out.
He might even end up back at Medicine King Valley.
Two paths.
Both had their pros and cons.
'First, I'll cultivate the eighth chapter of the Nine Yang Celestial Skill and temper my acupoints. After I succeed and complete the Basic Chapter, I'll explore forward. Having come to the most mysterious and dangerous land in the Celestial Cloud Region, how could I not explore it?'
Yang Xiao quickly made his decision.
He first sat down cross-legged.
He began to circulate the Nine Yang Celestial Skill Cultivation Technique, tempering all the acupoints in his body.
A person's body has countless acupoints.
The Nine Yang Celestial Skill recorded that,
broadly speaking, living beings could have a maximum of one thousand two hundred and ninety-six acupoints.
The Human Race was favored by heaven and earth.
They possessed one thousand two hundred and ninety-six.
On par with the Innate Divine Demons.
However, before the acupoints were opened, they were very hidden.
And most of them were very fragile.
For Yang Xiao to temper them one by one was far more difficult than the previous seventh chapter, which involved tempering his marrow, blood, and bodily fluids.
However, he had previously cultivated the Starburst Skill.
This had directly opened one hundred and eight major acupoints.
Although this was only one-twelfth of the total,
it gave Yang Xiao a good start.
'Refining the True Greater Yang Fire before was quite domineering. Without my acupoints being tempered, the fire couldn't take up residence and transform within them, so I couldn't unleash the power of the Starburst Skill. But if I can successfully temper my acupoints, the Starburst Skill will be powerful once again.'
Previously, Yang Xiao's acupoints hadn't been tempered and couldn't withstand the True Greater Yang Fire taking up residence. Therefore, during combat, he had never used the Starburst Skill to augment his power and increase his might.
Otherwise, with enhancements of ten or even dozens of times,
his strength would have increased very quickly.
However, if he could finish cultivating the eighth chapter of the Nine Yang Celestial Skill and have the True Greater Yang Fire reside in all his acupoints, he could form not only the Heavenly Gang and Earthly Evil Array or the Array of the Celestial Stars and Constellations, but even the One-Element Array, which he had previously been unable to form successfully.
Of course, whether he could actually gather and unleash all that power was another matter. But one thing was certain.
Yang Xiao's strength would increase dramatically.
So, in the following days, Yang Xiao focused solely on tempering his acupoints.
But the acupoints were numerous and complex.
It was not so easy.
It was extremely time-consuming.
Meanwhile, the Nine Nether Evil Qi would invade at regular intervals.
This left Yang Xiao with no peace.
But as he dealt with the Nine Nether Evil Qi,
Yang Xiao became more and more proficient.
Later on,
with a simple flick of his sleeve, he could release the True Greater Yang Fire.
This would keep the Evil Qi at bay.
If the quality of the Evil Qi ahead didn't increase, Yang Xiao could already press forward and explore.
Ten days passed.
Twenty days passed.
A month passed.
An unknown amount of time went by.
Yang Xiao estimated that it had been about forty to fifty days.
He finally stood up.
The acupoints inside his body thrummed.
All one thousand two hundred and ninety-six acupointsā¦
ā¦had finally been successfully tempered.
The amount of True Greater Yang Fire he could store in his body instantly increased by about a thousandfold.
At the same time, they resonated with each other,
forming the One-Element Array.
'Not bad. Now, the Starburst Skill and the Nine Yang Celestial Skill are perfectly integrated. The only thing is, it's a bit difficult to mobilize all this power.'
'With my current ability, I can only unleash about thirty times the power at most.'
After assessing his condition, Yang Xiao was quite satisfied.
As for thirty times the power, that was already pretty good.
Most importantly, with so much True Greater Yang Fire in his body, he no longer had to fear exhausting it in battle.
And its power wasn't bad either.
At the very least, if Yang Xiao were to face Yanm Changqing now, he could kill him with a single punch.
Effortlessly.
However, in the Martial Saint Tier, the power gaps between higher levels were enormous.
Yang Xiao wasn't certain he could defeat a Tier Five or Tier Six Martial Saint.
But as for a Tier Four Martial Saint,
he was fairly sure he would be more than enough.
Moreover, this was with his Spiritual Power still being insufficient.
If he could increase it further, the combat power he could unleash would be even greater.
'Time to go check things out up ahead. This Nine Nether Earth Rift is one of the Four Great Forbidden Lands of the Celestial Cloud Region. Who knows, there might be some great opportunity waiting for me inside.'
Yang Xiao smiled.
He stepped forward.
A Golden Light flashed around his bodyāthe protective treasured light of the Vajra Indestructible Body refined by the Nine Yang Celestial Skill.
However, he quickly retracted it.
Immediately after, the glazed, colorful True Greater Yang Fire surged out.
Instantly, the Nine Nether Evil Qi that had terrified him in his past life scattered and retreated.
This made him feel quite proud.
In this life, there was finally one thing he had that surpassed his previous life.
It hadn't been a waste to risk his life to observe Lu Fangliang's Greater Yang Treasure Pattern and refine the True Greater Yang Fire.
Just its ability to resist the corrosion of the Nine Nether Evil Qi made it all worth it.
In the depths of the Void, the most terrifying thing was this very Nine Nether Evil Qi. To fully perceive the Void and comprehend the True Intent of ascending to godhood, one had to deal with it.
One careless mistake, and one's body and Dao would perish.
But now, with the means to counter it, Yang Xiao had the opportunity to gain insight into more of the Void Laws.
The danger was also minimized.
In the future, when he ascended to godhood, his understanding of the Void and the Divine Platform he condensed might be stronger than anyone else's!
This was a true foundation.
The foundation for godhood.
(PS: Chapter 3 is here. Thank you to reader 1142113988 for the tip, and thank you for your support. The collection count grew very slowly today, not enough to justify a fourth chapter bonus release. However, I will release one more chapter later. Thank you all for your support. Thanks.)