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Taking a deep breath, Xuan Ming clearly perceived that the ice fire divine crown was resonating with the surrounding Seagod's Light.
The originally violent golden energy became subtly docile, no longer wildly crushing him. Instead, it could be slightly guided, and he could even absorb a wisp of purifying power to cleanse the restless Blood Spear within his body.
But just as he attempted to guide this newfound power, his body suddenly became empty, and the improvements brought by the Dragon Soul and Dragon Bones rapidly diminished.
To help Xuan Ming complete his fusion with the Sea God's Heart, the Ice Dragon King and Fire Dragon King had expended too much of their Dragon Soul power. At this moment, they had also fallen into slumber, and the power of the Dragon Bones, after days of recovery and consumption, had once again bottomed out.
"Pfft—!"
Xuan Ming had no time to react. As if struck by an invisible giant hammer, blood and fragments of his internal organs spewed out. The faint energy around him instantly dispersed, his spirit power collapsed, and his consciousness went blank.
He was violently flung back like a kite with a broken string, plummeting downwards.
Just then, a noble red figure appeared as if by Teleportation, and a vast yet gentle aura enveloped him.
Bo Saixi reached out and caught him.
Her spirit power, vast as the sea, acted as the gentlest barrier, completely enveloping Xuan Ming. It not only isolated the lingering, suffocating residual power of the Seagod's Light but also transformed into a pure and gentle energy, carefully nourishing his almost completely shattered body and protecting his last sliver of life.
Bo Saixi looked down at the young man in her arms, who had once again become a bloody mess, his aura so faint it seemed ready to extinguish at any moment. In her deep eyes, which had witnessed countless vicissitudes and should have been as still as an ancient well, an almost imperceptible ripple, one she herself hadn't fully noticed, stirred uncontrollably.
Shock, incomprehension, worry, admiration… a myriad of complex emotions intertwined, ultimately transforming into an indescribable tremor.
This young man repeatedly rushed into desperate situations, creating miracles, carving a bloody path through the impossible. His resilience, madness, decisiveness, and hidden pride far exceeded her understanding and touched her long-dormant heart.
But in just an instant, a hint of dimness flashed in Bo Saixi's eyes, and that tremor subsided. She held Xuan Ming and slowly descended back to the ground.
Ning Rongrong, Hu Liena, and the others immediately gathered around. Seeing Xuan Ming in a state more tragic than any previous time, their faces turned pale, and tears welled up in their eyes, yet they dared not utter a sound, fearing they would disturb Bo Saixi's treatment.
Bo Saixi ignored everyone, her entire focus on Xuan Ming. Her vast spirit power continuously surged into him, carefully repairing his riddled body. With this energy replenishment, the blue silver emperor spirit bone also began to function again.
This time, Xuan Ming was unconscious for five days and five nights.
With Bo Saixi's help, the self-regulating nourishment of the ice fire divine crown, the heaven-defying vitality of the blue silver emperor spirit bone, and the slow recovery of the Dragon Bone energy, Xuan Ming's shattered body was once again miraculously pulled back from the brink of death.
His eyelashes trembled slightly, and he laboriously opened his eyes.
What met his gaze was Bo Saixi's face, close at hand, exquisitely beautiful yet with a hint of undeniable fatigue.
A subtle flicker of surprise crossed Xuan Ming's ice-blue eyes, but it quickly returned to calm.
He struggled, wanting to sit up, but Bo Saixi gently pressed him down.
"Don't move," her voice was ethereal, but with an added softness, "Your body still needs to stabilize."
Xuan Ming was silent for a moment, then complied and stopped moving.
He could clearly feel the terrible state of his body. Previously, every time he pushed his limits, at the last moment before his spirit power was completely exhausted and he was about to be flung away, the Ice Dragon King would always leave a thin layer of protective energy for him in advance, barely resisting the most ferocious backlash of the Blood Spear.
But this time, to help him forcibly fuse with the Sea God's Heart, the Dragon Soul powers of the Ice Dragon King and Fire Dragon King were over-expended and had fallen into slumber. The energy of the Dragon Bones was also nearly depleted.
He had, unprepared, directly endured the even more violent and ferocious backlash of the Blood Spear, accumulated over a long time, after his spirit power was instantly drained!
Although the final repulsion impact from the Seagod's Light was not the strongest due to the presence of the ice fire divine crown, the Blood Spear's insane backlash, stemming from its soul's instinct, had almost truly torn apart his core consciousness.
Bo Saixi's vast and gentle spirit power was now firmly protecting his heart and spiritual origin, resisting the impact of the Blood Spear's residual malevolence, and guiding the life force of the blue silver emperor spirit bone to slowly repair his injuries.
Xuan Ming looked up at Bo Saixi and spoke in a hoarse voice: "Thank you."
Bo Saixi shook her head slightly, her gaze falling on the greatly transformed ice fire divine crown on his forehead, her eyes complex: "Was it worth it?"
Just a little bit! It really was just a little bit!
If the fusion had completed even a tiny bit slower, Xuan Ming would have simultaneously faced the full impact of the Seagod's Light and the erupting backlash of the Blood Spear. The former would have shattered his body, while the latter could have truly killed him!
"It's always been this way, there's nothing to consider worth or not worth it," Xuan Ming said calmly.
Bo Saixi was slightly stunned by his words.
Looking at his calm eyes, listening to his understated yet heavy words, the subtle ripple in her heart, which had just subsided, once again uncontrollably spread, even more clearly than before.
It's always been this way… How much cruelty and hardship, unimaginable to ordinary people, lay hidden behind these words?
She was silent for a moment, then slowly withdrew her gaze, saying no more. Only the continuously supplied spirit power seemed to become a few shades gentler.
After a long while, with Bo Saixi's help, Xuan Ming's condition finally stabilized. He slowly closed his eyes again, beginning to actively guide the remaining power within his body, cooperating with the external aid for deeper healing and recovery.
Bo Saixi slowly walked out of the room, looking at the young women not far away who, stimulated by Xuan Ming, were frantically challenging the nine heavens profound steps, her eyes complex.
"Youth is truly wonderful…"
The sea breeze brushed past, bringing the soft murmur of distant waves, but it could not disperse the silent solemnity and… that subtly growing, complex and ineffable tremor in this place… After another day and night of deep recuperation, under Bo Saixi's continuous spirit power nourishment and the powerful life force restoration of the blue silver emperor spirit bone, Xuan Ming's almost shattered body miraculously recovered once again.
When he stood up again and walked towards the towering stairway, Ning Rongrong and the others' gazes were already too complex to describe.
Worry, admiration, and even a hint of numbness.
They couldn't say anything, couldn't do anything, they could only watch.
Xuan Ming once again rushed to his current limit. The familiar, terrifying pressure, enough to crush steel, instantly surged from all directions, squeezing his body and hindering the circulation of his spirit power.
The pressure had not diminished in the slightest.
However, when Xuan Ming tried to circulate his spirit power and guide the golden energy to cleanse the restless Blood Spear within his body, the situation changed dramatically.
Buzz—!
The ice fire divine crown on his forehead glowed faintly, with red, blue, and gold lights swirling. The originally violent, rampant, and untamable Seagod's Light, upon encountering the subtle aura emanating from the ice fire divine crown, which had fused with the origin of the Sea God's Heart, seemed to meet a power of the same origin, and its resistance greatly decreased.
More importantly, Xuan Ming could clearly perceive that an unprecedented, extremely faint "connection" seemed to have been established between himself and the Seagod's Light.
It was no longer simply being oppressed and repelled, but rather being able to perceive more clearly the vast purifying power contained within it, and even guide wisps of pure energy more precisely and efficiently towards the core of the Blood Spear.
Hiss—!
The moment that wisp of carefully guided, incredibly condensed golden purifying energy touched the Blood Spear, the spear body vibrated violently, emitting a sharp hum!
The chaotic, roaring pseudo-soul within it shrieked even more desperately and madly, as if burned by a red-hot iron. But in contrast, the ferocious aura, condensed from countless killings and resentments, melted and purified rapidly, like ice and snow meeting the sun!
The efficiency far exceeded anything before!
If previously using the Seagod's Light to externally compress and temper was like using coarse sandpaper to polish a stubborn piece of hard iron, laborious and slow in progress.
Now, it was like having a precise carving knife, capable of sending the purifying power directly into the weakest and most chaotic nodes within the stubborn iron, disintegrating it from within!
The progress was more than several times faster!
Xuan Ming no longer hesitated, fully circulating his spirit power, carefully maintaining the resonance with the ice fire divine crown, and precisely guiding wisps of Seagod's Light to continuously cleanse and purify the Blood Spear.
Time passed by minute by minute.
Xuan Ming was immersed in this highly efficient purification process. He could feel the Blood Spear's resistance weakening, and its chaotic will core being purified and weakened bit by bit.
However… a day later, when Xuan Ming was again exhausted and forced to withdraw from the Seagod's Light, he carefully sensed the state of the Blood Spear and frowned deeply.
At this rate, to completely purify and reshape the Blood Spear's chaotic will and achieve true "absolute control"… it would require at least nearly three years!
And he only had one month left.
Time was still far from enough.
A huge gap, like a chasm, lay before him.
One month versus three years.
This was a desperate ratio.
Xuan Ming sat silently on the beach, recovering his spirit power, his ice-blue eyes gazing at the stairway that soared into the clouds. In his deep gaze, there was no discouragement or surrender, only cold calculation and… an even more resolute madness.
Conventional methods had reached their limit.
He needed… faster! Harsher! More extreme methods!
Even if… it meant certain death… In the God Realm, within the magnificent divine palace.
Inside the mirror, Xuan Ming's tightly furrowed brows as he carefully sensed the Blood Spear's state after withdrawing from the Seagod's Light, and the fleeting, cold solemnity after his calculations, were clearly reflected.
The atmosphere within the divine palace became somewhat subtle.
"…"
The God of Evil put away his usual playful smile, his fingers gently tapping the armrest of his divine throne, breaking the silence, "I say… everyone, shouldn't we re-evaluate the difficulty of this first trial?"
His gaze swept over the other God Kings, finally resting on Asura God's cold profile.
"This kid, in his own way, has proven that he's a capable person, and a tougher one than imagined," the God of Evil said with a rare seriousness in his tone.
"He found a way to utilize the Seagod's Light, even forcibly borrowing some of the Sea God's Heart's power, increasing purification efficiency several times over. This has already far exceeded our initial expectations."
He paused, his voice lowering a few octaves: "But the problem is, the starting point of this task itself is impossible. Three months to purify a ferocious weapon that has devoured a thousand years of accumulated origin from Slaughter City? Even if the efficiency has increased several times, from completely impossible to a theoretically slim hope, that hope… is still almost nonexistent."
Time was the biggest chasm.
Xuan Ming was not powerless to solve it; it was just that the restrictions they imposed were too harsh.
This matter was never something Xuan Ming could solve from the beginning. What Asura wanted to test was not Xuan Ming, but Gu Yuena!