Chapter 108 Section 2

  “……”

  "He's actually been accepted as a disciple by the Five Elders and Tianxin Master, why don't I have such good luck?"

  "It's strange, didn't he cultivate wood spiritual power? How can he become a spiritual medicine master? Doesn't refining spiritual medicine require fire spiritual power?"

  "Hmm, maybe he's the illegitimate son of Wu Changlao or Tianxin Dashi... You guys don't believe me, but I have a basis for this. Look, Nie Kong was taken back to the Nie family by his father after birth, and his mother has never appeared in the Nie family, maybe it's because..."

  "Shh, keep your voice down, don't let him hear you. He's now the apprentice of two fifth-grade spiritual medicine masters. If you provoke him, even without telling the Fifth Elder and Master Tianxian, just a word in the alchemy hall might make you only receive low-quality spiritual medicines from then on."

  "It seems like I've lost control of this mouth again."

  “……”

  Nie Kong re-entered the Ice Flame Cave, and those Nie family members who were resting looked at him with a changed gaze, transforming from sympathy, pity, schadenfreude, disdain to admiration, jealousy, astonishment, doubt... and even a hint of reverence.

  This is normal, as the majority of the elixirs used by the Nie family are refined in the Alchemy Hall. As the fifth elder and Tian Xing's disciple, Nie Kong must have extremely high authority. If he were to offend Nie Kong, it would be difficult to obtain the elixirs needed for cultivation.

  Although it is certain that the spiritual medicine can be obtained, the degree of fusion of its efficacy cannot be guaranteed.

  Nie Kong didn't mind, but when he heard someone guessing that he was the illegitimate child of Nie Xingyun or Lian Tianxin, he couldn't help but feel a little amused. They didn't know about his spiritual power variation, and seeing two fifth-grade spiritual medicine masters taking him as their apprentice would naturally lead to such thoughts.

  The voice behind grew fainter and fainter, Nie Kong entered the cultivation area.

  The eighty-eighth stone chamber of the first section of Bingyandong had already hung up a red plaque, while there were still several rooms with black plaques in the front half. The stone chambers near the exit had abundant spiritual energy, and it was not a problem to cultivate normally, but they clearly did not meet Nie Kong's requirements.

  At present, Nie Kong's body has merged the wood spiritual power with fire spiritual power elements. Only by cultivating in places where the fire spiritual power element is more vigorous can he achieve the best results.

  As he walked to the obvious red line between the first and second sections of the Ice Flame Cave, Nie Kong hesitated slightly. The second section, no matter how scorching it was, shouldn't be more intense than what he had endured in the Hall of Life and Death back then, right? With a thought, Nie Kong made up his mind and stepped across the red line.

  As soon as he entered it, Nie Kong felt a distinct difference.

  In this second section, the cold and heat are still mixed together, but the trend of water and fire not tolerating each other is becoming more distinct. Nie Kong only occupied a spot in the middle of the passageway for a moment before he felt his left side start to feel cold and his right side feel hot. The warmth that was mixed into the left side and the chill that flowed into the right side had almost no mitigating effect.

  Nie Kong knew that this was because his cultivation was too low, so he felt the cold and heat here very deeply. If Nie Kong's cultivation reached the Fusion Spirit Realm, perhaps it would be like the first section, like a spring breeze. So, Nie Kong quickly moved to the right side of the Ice Flame Cave.

  The chill vanished in an instant, and Nie Kong's body felt much more comfortable. As he continued to move forward, the pores on his skin began to sweat, and his skin started to redden. The burning sensation grew stronger, and after walking only a dozen or so meters, Nie Kong felt like his entire body was ablaze.

  Nie Kong hastily circulated his spiritual energy, only then did he manage to dissipate part of that intense heat. He walked a short distance forward again and saw the black sign hanging on the door of chamber twelve. Nie Kong quickly pushed open the door and slipped inside. After replacing the black sign with a red one, Nie Kong swiftly sat down cross-legged and began running the Wood Yang True Spirit Technique.

  "Boom!"

  The flame spirit element in the second section of Bingyandong was abnormally fierce, and Nie Kong only needed to think about it for a moment before they accompanied the wood spirit element in a frantic rush into his body. In that instant, Nie Kong's body shook violently, almost as if all the meridians inside him had burst forth with a strong burning sensation.

  It's okay, Nie Kong had long been mentally prepared for such an emergency and was not flustered by the massive influx of fire elemental spiritual energy into his body. He gently spat out a mouthful of fiery breath, enduring the pain in his meridians, calming his mind and focusing his spirit to continue circulating the spiritual incantation.

  Gradually, the pain subsided, but the vitality of the spirit did not weaken.

  Time slowly passed, Nie Kong didn't stop refining the spiritual power elements, the wood spiritual power within his body grew stronger and stronger, and the number of fire spiritual power elements that had merged also increased. It was unknown how much time had passed, but the wood spiritual power seemed to have reached a state of saturation, and the speed at which it absorbed and merged with the fire spiritual power elements began to slow down.

  In a short while, Nie Kong's spiritual orifices had accumulated a large amount of fire element energy. A strong burning sensation emerged from within and quickly merged with the scorching heat outside. Nie Kong felt as if his body was placed inside a burning furnace, and he immediately stopped cultivating.

  "The second section of the Ice Flame Cave is already this intense, if it were the fourth section that's suitable for cultivators above the Spiritual Master level to train in, I'm afraid that the moment I enter, I'll be reduced to ashes."

  Looking at his sweat-drenched clothes, Nie Kong couldn't help but feel a sense of relief as he left the stone room. He quickened his pace and returned to the first section, feeling the warm and cool air enveloping him, Nie Kong's body temperature slowly dropped, and his footsteps became steady...

  ……

  "Hey, isn't that Nie Kong?"

  Room eighty-eight, Nie Qing'an had just opened the door when he caught sight of the figure in front of him and couldn't help but feel a little smug. "Little rascal, I told you last time to take my room, now you've got nowhere to cultivate... huh? No, that's not right, looking at his sweat-drenched appearance, it seems like he just finished cultivating?"

  Nie Qing'an was taken aback and glanced around at the nearby rooms, all of which had red plaques hanging on them. There were no empty stone chambers here, so where had he been cultivating?

  Section 2?

  Nie Qing'an's face suddenly turned stiff, and it took a while for him to laugh out loud. How is this possible? How could a first-rate genius like Tong Ling enter the second round? It seems I was wrong! I must have been wrong! Seeing Nie Kong's back disappear from the entrance, Nie Qing'an's heart suddenly stirred with unease.

  I've already passed the 9th level of spiritual cultivation, entering the second stage shouldn't be a problem, right? Thinking this, Nie Qing'an unexpectedly walked out of the stone room and crossed over the bright red line several meters away. Immediately after, a scream like a pig being slaughtered echoed through the Ice Flame Cave passageway...

  "Ah, it's so hot, I'm going to be cooked alive!"

  ……

  Nie Kong was somewhat perplexed, how did this voice sound so familiar, like Nie Qing An? Nie Kong didn't have the heart to go see what had happened inside, and soon heard the sounds of his clansmen eating in the rest area outside, suddenly realizing that it was probably already noon.

  Nie Kong hastened his pace, he had to rush to the Alchemy Hall immediately. After becoming a disciple yesterday, Nie Xingyun and the five Elders had arranged a schedule for him, where every morning he would cultivate on his own, and in the afternoons he had to follow them to learn alchemy knowledge, with each person taking turns every day.

  ……