Chapter 161: Refining Internal Elixirs with Thunder and Fire
This novel is translated and hosted on Bcatranslation
In the spacious guest hall, the untouched white tea cups sat on the green sandalwood table. Mu Huai Jin furrowed his brows, feeling uneasy about the disciples.
“They’re getting along quite well. If you don’t believe me, go see for yourself,” remarked an elder of the Six Rulers Ancestor Court.
Unperturbed by the elder’s stiff expression, Mu Huai Jin stood up and left to investigate. When he returned moments later, his face was tense, and his expression wooden.
To his astonishment, several disciples were engaged in earnest discussions with Qi Zi Zai, showing expressions of admiration and even humility as they lowered themselves to ask for guidance.
Qin Ming placed his tea cup down and spoke with a composed tone. “Fire represents the earth, while thunder symbolizes the heavens. Fire rises upward and can connect with lightning—this is the principle of earth fire summoning heavenly thunder. Your fire force is already mastered. There’s no need to chase after thunder from the void. Simply intensify your fire force until it burns through the night within you. At that moment, the thunder force will naturally manifest.”
“Is this really possible?” The silver-armored girl, her emotions shifting from resentment to doubt and finally to awe, looked at him with a complex expression that included admiration.
Qin Ming smiled confidently. “Of course, it is. Have you forgotten? During our duel, when I used the essence of Wood Force to fuel your fire, the thunder force appeared naturally as your fire force surged.”
“I think I’ve grasped it!” she exclaimed, nodding solemnly.
Ordinarily, fire force and thunder force should progress in harmony. However, as they had become imbalanced within her, the only solution was to forge a new path: intensifying the fire force until it naturally gave rise to thunder.
Even the principle of extreme yin generating yang applied here. Thunder and fire were inherently one, and intense fire could naturally give birth to thunder force.
Qin Ming had further insights into this concept, but he refrained from sharing them, as the methods he envisioned could potentially lead her to fatal missteps.
“Thunder and fire in harmony can refine great elixirs,” Qin Ming pondered aloud, sensing the profound meaning behind this phrase.
Most people believed that when the Purple Core Thunderfire reached a certain level, it functioned as a rare spiritual fire to assist alchemists in refining medicines. But Qin Ming interpreted this differently—not as external alchemy but as internal refinement.
Having delved deeply into the Fate-Altering Sutra, Qin Ming had a good grasp of the ancients’ methods. Such seemingly simple phrases often concealed profound truths.
He speculated that adding just a few more words could reveal the essence: “Thunder and fire in harmony, dragon and tiger in union, can refine great elixirs.” He felt confident this was the underlying principle.
Setting aside his musings, Qin Ming turned his focus back to his “friendly exchanges” with the disciples around him. Besides the silver-armored girl, other disciples were present as well.
Although he desired the Wrestling Immortal Sutra, it seemed out of reach due to Li Dao Cheng’s unwavering will. Instead, he shifted his attention to the yellow-clothed youth who had once manifested eight golden arms during a fight.
“Brother, there’s a flaw in your technique,” Qin Ming began, his familiar opening line from his earlier lively discussion with the silver-armored girl.
The other disciples from the Exotic Immortal Lands had noticed how much she had benefited from their conversation. They couldn’t fathom why this Six Rulers Ancestor Court “madman” was so eager to help them analyze their techniques.
“No way. His comprehension is terrifying—almost on par with my elder sister,” Luo Yao muttered to herself as she observed Qin Ming intently.
Her sharp instincts picked up on his unique ability: he could take a snippet of a scripture and extrapolate an expansive and detailed understanding, often surpassing the original in clarity.
The yellow-clothed youth initially ignored Qin Ming, assuming his technique was too esoteric for an outsider to understand. However, Qin Ming pressed on, his tone calm yet commanding.
“The concept of manifesting a thousand arms is modeled after the pseudo-divine creatures deep within the Night Fog World. These beings sit atop holy mountains, their forms radiant like the sun, holding divine artifacts and scriptures in their many arms. Mortals cannot gaze directly upon them.”
His voice carried confidence as he continued, “Your Thousand Arms scripture, also known as the Battle Body Sutra, was created by a predecessor from the New Awakening Path. After venturing deep into the Night Fog World and observing these pseudo-divine creatures, he bled profusely from his eyes and was blinded. It was then that he developed this scripture.”
The yellow-clothed youth froze, stunned by how closely this matched what his elders had taught. Qin Ming’s knowledge was uncanny.
Their discussion deepened, and Qin Ming adeptly cited references and analyzed the technique further. The area grew quiet as disciples from the Exotic Immortal Lands watched in awe. Was this really one of the so-called “failures” they used to look down upon?
Their sense of superiority wavered and began to crumble.
“Could he be a future grandmaster of the New Awakening Path?” someone murmured, their gaze filled with a mix of awe and fear.
“Could you get me some tea?” Qin Ming’s voice interrupted their reverie as he held out his empty cup.
Still lost in thought, Luo Yao instinctively took the cup from him. A moment later, realization dawned, and she almost exploded with anger. How had she, of all people, ended up serving him tea?
Qin Ming, oblivious to her reaction, remained engrossed in his discussion with the yellow-clothed youth, fixated on the Battle Body Sutra. If he could fully comprehend it, the power he would wield would be utterly transformative.
Luo Yao’s body stiffened in frustration. She couldn’t believe she had been reduced to this. Yet, if she threw the cup or acted out, it might lead to a misunderstanding and escalate tensions.
Nearby, disciples of the Six Rulers Ancestor Court marveled at how their Brother Qi casually commanded respect from even the Exotic Immortal Lands disciples.
Only Zhuo Ya harbored doubts about his identity, though she lacked concrete evidence.
She searched for answers, noting that Qin Ming and Cao Wu Ji had been absent, reportedly in seclusion for special training.
In the end, Qin Ming didn’t get his tea. But he had gained something far more valuable—the Battle Body Sutra. Content with his acquisitions, he prepared to delve into his studies.
Meanwhile, a golden aberrant bird took flight from the rear mountains of the Six Rulers Ancestor Court. Though palm-sized, its speed defied imagination as it crossed the vast, pitch-black world.
Eventually, it arrived at a mist-shrouded mountain gate. After delivering its report, it flew inside, dropping a letter into the slender, pristine hands of a woman.
“Lu Zi Zai has returned to life, and his talent surpasses even that of Lu Yu,” she murmured under the moonlight before opening the letter.
As the amicable exchange concluded, Qin Ming reflected on his encounters. Though he had only acquired two secret techniques, he felt satisfied. That very day, he began his study and comprehension of them.
The Thousand Arms Sutra, a powerful technique renowned for crafting a battle-ready body, was ultimately set aside by Qin Ming after just one night of practice.
At his current level in the New Awakening Realm, his Celestial Light Force could only project externally to a limited extent. Trying to manifest multiple arms resulted in short, faint, and fragile limbs—he appeared more like a clumsy centipede than a warrior.
The core challenge lay in shaping his Celestial Light Force into stable forms, a task that proved exceedingly difficult and led to the constructs breaking apart almost immediately.
After a brief rest, Qin Ming turned his focus to the Purple Core Thunderfire Sutra. Having already mastered techniques like Separation Flame Force, Wind-Thunder Force, and Wind-Fire Force—all of which included elements of fire and thunder—he found his understanding of the sutra progressing rapidly.
Before long, he succeeded in cultivating Thunderfire Force, even reaching a moderate level of proficiency by leveraging his existing mastery of Wind-Fire and Wind-Thunder Forces.
For a brief moment, a layer of crackling thunder and roaring fire enveloped Qin Ming’s body.
“Now’s the perfect time to test its alchemical potential,” Qin Ming mused. “With the Thunderfire Force still incomplete, even if I make mistakes, I won’t cause significant harm to myself.”
However, his goal wasn’t to refine external elixirs; he aimed for internal refinement.
Following his interpretation of the sutra, he activated “earth fire” from his feet, guiding it upward, while carefully channeling “heavenly thunder” from his head downwards.
With a resounding boom, sparks danced in his vision as the unruly Thunderfire Force surged chaotically through his body. The sensation was intensely uncomfortable.
Thankfully, the newly cultivated Thunderfire Force was not yet powerful enough to be lethal, allowing Qin Ming to experiment with bold adjustments to validate his theories.
Over the next trial runs, the Thunderfire Force detonated within him over thirty times. Even with his formidable physique, the ordeal left him in agony, his face marred by bruises, his hair standing on end, and his entire appearance disheveled.
Anyone witnessing this would have thought him mad—a masochist inventing unnecessary pain for himself.
By the thirty-sixth attempt, the thunder force successfully passed through his head without exploding, while the fire force extended to his legs.
On the forty-ninth attempt, the earth fire reached his abdomen, while the heavenly thunder descended to his chest. Though the process was intense, he wasn’t severely injured. Instead, he felt a faint sensation, as though his flesh and blood were undergoing a subtle purification.
“There’s something here,” Qin Ming realized. “Even before thunder and fire fully merge, their interplay is already tempering my body. This isn’t just an offensive technique—it’s also a profound internal refinement method!”
With renewed confidence, he pushed forward.
After nearly a hundred attempts, he neared success. The earth fire and heavenly thunder converged in his chest and abdomen, entwining and spinning together. Slowly, they began to compress, as if forming a pill.
“Thunder and fire in harmony, dragon and tiger in union—this truly can refine a great elixir!” Qin Ming confirmed his earlier hypothesis.
As the thunder and fire swirled, he faintly perceived a delicate, medicinal fragrance. This wasn’t a scent his nose detected but rather something sensed by his spiritual consciousness—a trace of the “inner elixir” forming within him.
“This technique is extraordinary. Even if I don’t refine the Dragon-Tiger Elixir, the daily tempering of my flesh, organs, and marrow through thunder and fire makes it both a deadly weapon and an unparalleled method of self-cultivation.”
Qin Ming felt certain that, in time, he would succeed in refining an internal elixir.
Two days later, Lu Zi Zai arrived with startling news. “We need to leave.”
Immersed in his training, Qin Ming had been oblivious to everything happening around him. Lu Zi Zai’s words snapped him back to reality.
“Senior Brother Lu, I’m coming with you!” Qin Ming declared, understanding that his extraordinary displays had surely drawn the attention of the elders within the Six Rulers Ancestor Court. Leaving alone would be risky.
“Fine,” Lu Zi Zai agreed with a nod.
“Senior Brother, who exactly are you?” Qin Ming asked curiously.
“My grandfather is Lu Yu,” Lu Zi Zai replied calmly.
“Lu Yu?!” Qin Ming’s eyes widened. Could it be that Lu Yu—one of the Six Rulers?
“It’s exactly as you think,” Lu Zi Zai confirmed, his tone measured.
Qin Ming’s mind churned with thoughts. After a long silence, he said, “I thought you might be one of the Young Ancestors.”
Lu Zi Zai sighed softly. “That generation is all but gone. There are only a few of them left.”
As they departed, the journey out of the mountain gate was surprisingly smooth. No one stopped them, and they exited unimpeded.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Qin Ming’s attention was drawn to the golden bird perched on Lu Zi Zai’s shoulder. Just as he was about to praise its beauty, he froze.
The bird turned its gaze on him, and in that moment, Qin Ming felt as though a primordial beast were watching him.
Through his keen instinctive perception, he glimpsed a vision behind the bird—a vast, mist-shrouded world where an enormous golden predator loomed like a mountain.
Quickly averting his eyes, he muttered inwardly, Even the bird is this ridiculous?
Outside the gate, a voice called out, “Xiao Qin!” Qin Ming turned to see Li Qing Yun waving at him. He had evidently been waiting here for days.
“Uncle Li!” Qin Ming exclaimed, overcome with emotion. Without hesitation, he ran to greet him.