Li Lin started the refinement process after adding the Bian Lingshao herb into the Fire Dragon Cauldron. This herb was completely white and emitted a strong aura. Upon entering the cauldron, the herb, though withered in its branches and leaves, did not wither quickly at its central stem. Instead, it shone with a dazzling white light, seemingly resisting the flames' refinement.
Li Lin was not surprised. The Bian Lingshao herb was often used in crafting third-grade elixirs, and many fourth-grade elixirs also utilized it.
After half an hour, the herb's stem slowly exuded pristine lotus leaves, and a rich medicinal fragrance wafted from the cauldron.
Feeling the conditions inside the Fire Dragon Cauldron, Li Lin continued the refinement. The extracted spiritual liquid was not yet the final product; it still needed purification from impurities.
Time passed, and by the next evening, Li Lin, lying on the Lingyu bed, was pale-faced from the prolonged exertion.
Finally, the last Ju Xue Lingzhi herb was refined into a rich spiritual liquid. Inside the cauldron, a considerable amount of spiritual liquid was condensing.
Li Lin, with a sigh, quickly consumed an elixir, completing the first step. The next step involved using spiritual fire within his body to extract the purest essence blood from his bone marrow, which worried Li Lin the most. He feared whether he could withstand it.
As noted by his master, the Holy Hand Spirit Sovereign in the Heavenly Spirit Record, if one couldn't withstand the spiritual fire, they would at best be half-paralyzed and severely injured, unable to practice the Blood Soul Imprint again. At worst, they could be burned to ashes.
After regulating his breathing, Li Lin's brows furrowed, and his eyes held an unprecedented solemnity.
"Begin," Li Lin muttered through gritted teeth, familiar with the method of extracting essence blood. He formed a strange hand sign and sat cross-legged on the Lingyu bed, his mind focusing on the sea of spiritual energy in his brain, which spread throughout his body.
At that moment, Li Lin shuddered involuntarily, his hands forming a strange sign.
Suddenly, intense spiritual fire engulfed him from head to toe. The flames, confined within his body, wrapped around his bones and muscles.
The instant the flames arose, Li Lin's body violently trembled, and he let out a painful cry. His pale face instantly turned ashen.
As he screamed, the spiritual fire within him spiraled out of control, burning fiercely. The intense heat enveloped his internal organs, a pain unbearable for ordinary people.
Unlike the controlled burning of blood toxins by the golden flames in Little Dragon's body, Li Lin's uncontrolled spiritual fire raged within him, causing a sizzling sound in his flesh.
Enduring the excruciating pain, Li Lin quickly closed his eyes, his mind delving into his body, struggling to control the spiritual fire in his muscles and bones.
Inside, Li Lin could sense everything in his body through his soul's perception. The spiritual fire filled his body, burning his meridians and muscles painfully. The intense flames traveled through his meridians, causing severe pain.
At that moment, Li Lin felt a true qi forming a thin membrane in his flesh, blocking the burning of the spiritual fire. His robust body, previously tempered by Little Dragon's golden flames, played a crucial role. A normal body would have been incinerated instantly by the spiritual fire.
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Despite his strong physique, the intense heat within him was terrifying. The heat could turn steel red-hot, let alone Li Lin's flesh and blood.
Under this extreme heat, Li Lin's face was covered in sweat, and his meridians began to shrink in the high temperature. The once broad and resilient channels twisted horrifically under the intense heat.
"Gather," Li Lin gritted his teeth, retracting the spiritual fire into his bones and muscles. The spiritual fire needed to extract the essence blood from his bone marrow.
The spiritual fire within Li Lin's body rapidly contracted from his muscles and, in an extremely profound manner, enveloped his bones and sinews, as if separating them from the flesh. Subsequently, the spiritual fire, wrapping around his entire skeletal structure, began to burn fiercely.
At this moment, the pain from the burning of his bones and muscles caused Li Lin's whole body to tremble incessantly. Clenching his teeth, blood trickled from between them. The excruciating pain, originating from the bone marrow, was unbearable, almost making life feel worse than death. Li Lin endured, refusing to give in to the desire for death.
Meanwhile, as the spiritual fire burned through his bones and muscles, their surfaces became dry and scorching hot. This process caused Li Lin to sweat blood from every pore, and blood started flowing from all seven orifices, making him look as terrifying as a fierce ghost.
The pain was intense, unbearable. One can only imagine the agony of flames engulfing and burning the bones. Such torment was beyond human endurance, even more excruciating than Li Lin had previously imagined.
"Ahh..." Unable to bear it any longer, Li Lin let out another scream of agony, a hot breath escaping his throat, which brought some relief, yet it did little to ease the internal torment.
"Ahh..." The increasingly intense pain made Li Lin wail miserably, like the howling of ghosts and wolves, eerily piercing. Fortunately, none could hear it outside the secret chamber.
Enduring this inhuman pain, Li Lin's flesh began to wither, and he felt like he could not hold on much longer. His face turned extremely pale, and the intense pain impacted his mind, leaving him dazed and weakened.
At that moment, a rich light burst forth from the Lingyu bed, as if a massive energy was about to erupt.
"I must hold on. Once the Blood Soul Imprint is cultivated, my strength will increase significantly. The difference between the strong and the weak lies in perseverance. If I endure, I will become strong."
Li Lin, struggling fiercely, anchored his mind, controlling the spiritual fire burning within him. Despite his body being in agony, his mind still clung to a sliver of clarity, emitting a mystical aura, reminiscent of an old monk in meditation.
"Shh..." The energy that was about to burst forth from the Lingyu bed began to quietly contract under the aura emitted by Li Lin, then disappeared into the bed.
As time slowly passed in this endless torment, a faint layer of blood began to seep out around Li Lin's bones and muscles, wrapping them like a thin film of blood.
At this point, Li Lin's hand signs changed again. The blood film covering his bones and muscles began to flow slowly, moving along the meridians and gradually converging.
When these blood films came together, they formed a stream of bright red essence blood.
Instantly, Li Lin came back to his senses from the state of emptiness, feeling elated. This essence blood was the purest from within his bone marrow. He quickly controlled this essence blood to move within his body.
As the essence blood moved, Li Lin's spiritual power converged, and the spiritual fire within him extinguished. Wherever the essence blood passed, a red mist formed over his bones and muscles. As it touched the meridians and flesh, a faint red energy was emitted. The body parts damaged by the spiritual fire instantly recovered, making Li Lin's body even more solid from the inside out. His pale face also regained a hint of rosiness.
"Pfft..." A mouthful of essence blood spurted out from within Li Lin, falling directly into the Fire Dragon Cauldron.
Simultaneously, Li Lin's hand signs rapidly changed, and the flames within the cauldron surged, erupting into an extremely terrifying temperature. Under this fierce heat, the essence blood and the spiritual liquid from the herbs in the cauldron began to slowly converge.
"Gather," Li Lin commanded in a deep voice, continuously changing his hand signs to channel all his spiritual power into the Fire Dragon Cauldron. His soul, nearly substantial, invisibly infused into the cauldron.
As the spiritual power surged, the flames roared more wildly. The flames within the cauldron clashed against its walls, creating a hissing sound. Despite the intense heat within, the outside of the cauldron remained cool, proving the cauldron's extraordinary nature.
The cauldron filled with a rich aura. Under Li Lin's soul's observation, the spiritual liquid and essence blood were gradually drawn together by the spiritual fire, overcoming the resistance between them under the control of the fierce flames and Li Lin's soul power, intricately and mysteriously fusing them together.