Chapter 1179: Hell and Heaven

Yun Che was inside the Space-Time Realm, but he felt nothing unusual.

"The Five-Universe Qiong Dan contains immense power, capable of significantly boosting the profound energy of lower-level cultivators, but it also carries high risks. The Wood Spirit Pearl is fused with it to temper its potency."

Mu Xuanyin waved her hands, and layers of thin ice mist appeared around Yun Che. "The Wood Spirit Pearl you acquired is extremely rare, having retained all its spiritual energy. However, the Ancient Dragon Heart came from a Divine Master Coiling Dragon, the Emperor Immortal Grass's aura is intact, and the Kirin Horn contains an unusually heavy cold energy. Therefore, even with a perfect Wood Spirit Pearl, the medicinal potency is still extremely fierce. You absolutely cannot refine it on your own."

"Even with my assistance, it could still go out of control, so you must be extremely careful, understand?"

"I understand, Master," Yun Che nodded. He picked up the Five-Universe Qiong Dan and carefully swallowed it under Mu Xuanyin's watchful gaze.

A cool sensation entered his body, then slowly vanished, leaving no further feeling. Yun Che closed his eyes, regulated his breath, and prepared to begin refining the medicinal power. However, before his profound energy even touched the Five-Universe Qiong Dan, his entire body suddenly convulsed.

In that instant, it felt as if countless volcanoes and glaciers erupted and burst simultaneously within him, unleashing a myriad of chaotic torrents. Half of these torrents were icy cold, and half scorching hot, and even the smallest among them contained a terrifying power far beyond Yun Che's wildest imagination.

To forcibly increase his profound energy, Yun Che had many times relied on his unique physique to consume highly potent pills, such as the Golden Scale Dragon Transformation Pill in the lower realm or the Jadefall Ice Soul Pill when he first arrived in the Snow Song Realm. But if their medicinal power was like a raging river...

...the power released by this Five-Universe Qiong Dan was like an boundless ocean threatening to engulf the heavens and earth.

Yun Che had no time to guide or control it; he was instantly engulfed as if swept into towering, raging waves. Endless pain completely overwhelmed his entire body; every bone and every cell trembled frantically, seemingly on the verge of exploding at any moment...

As boundless terror surged within Yun Che, an icy yet gentle aura suddenly emanated from his body's surface. Immediately, under this chilling energy, the previously violent torrents of medicinal power rapidly subsided. Eventually, they became remarkably docile, flowing slowly through his entire body and meridians.

The terrible pain quickly vanished. Yun Che regained perception of his body and profound veins. He instantly understood where this cold energy, which suppressed the medicinal power, came from. He quickly gathered his thoughts, fully released his profound energy, and simultaneously activated the Great Way of the Buddha.

The medicinal power, which had been infinitely more potent than expected, made Yun Che truly understand the terrifying nature of this "Five-Universe Qiong Dan." How could he dare to show even the slightest bit of complacency? He completely sealed his senses, slowly guided his profound energy and the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and meticulously refined the now docile medicinal power.

Inside the Space-Time Realm, from Mu Xuanyin's perspective, Yun Che's previously violently trembling body had calmed down, covered in beads of sweat. If he had opened his eyes and looked at himself at that moment, he would have been astonished... because the surface of his body was gleaming with five colors – red, blue, green, cyan, and white – swirling chaotically, the light sometimes strong, sometimes faint.

Mu Xuanyin sat before Yun Che, pointing a single finger; a cloud of ice mist constantly enveloped Yun Che. Though her cultivation was at the pinnacle of the God Realm, her gaze was profoundly serious.

Pills that forcibly increased profound energy, even if only by a small realm, were exceedingly rare and came with significant risks. As for the Five-Universe Qiong Dan... Mu Xuanyin herself had once said it could allow Yun Che, who was only at the Divine Origin Realm at the time, to directly enter the Divine Tribulation Realm. What an astonishing concept!

The corresponding medicinal potency and risks were, naturally, imaginable.

Furthermore, because the "Ancient Dragon Heart" came from a coiled dragon of the Divine Master Realm with hundreds of thousands of years of lifespan, the "Kirin Horn" from an ancient Kirin, the "Wood Spirit Pearl" was a nearly impossible-to-find perfect Wood Spirit Pearl, and the "Emperor Immortal Grass" lost not a single trace of spiritual energy due to the Heaven Poison Pearl's special power.

The result was obvious: the power of this "Five-Universe Qiong Dan" far surpassed all known records of the "Five-Universe Qiong Dan" that Mu Xuanyin possessed.

Its medicinal potency and risks... even Mu Xuanyin couldn't predict them.

She had to help Yun Che suppress the Five-Universe Qiong Dan's medicinal power, yet her strength was too immense for him. The slightest mistake, or if the medicinal power went out of control, could severely injure Yun Che, or he could be directly harmed by her own power. Compared to Yun Che, who was now safely refining the pill, she was under far greater strain.

If Mu Xuanyin hadn't been there to help, and Yun Che had consumed it on his own, he would have surely died, despite having the power of the Evil God and the Dragon God's body... there would have been no other outcome.

That's why when Yun Che fled the Flame God Realm and began trying to find the ingredients for the "Five-Universe Qiong Dan" on his own in the Black Soul Realm, it wasn't even a question of whether he could refine it. Even if he succeeded, forcibly consuming it... would have been absolute suicide.

Inside the Space-Time Realm, time flowed slowly.

One day... two days... five days... seven days...

The Five-Universe Qiong Dan continuously released its medicinal power, which was gradually refined. The surface of Yun Che's body consistently glowed with five colors.

Mu Xuanyin could only help him suppress the medicinal power, not aid in its refinement. For these past days, roughly every few hours, the medicinal power would surge violently. Yun Che would tremble uncontrollably and be in immense pain, but it would quickly be suppressed by Mu Xuanyin's power, thus avoiding any major incidents.

Although Yun Che had sealed off his external senses and focused all his perception on refining the medicinal power, he could clearly feel his profound energy rapidly growing stronger, and the refinement of the medicinal power became smoother as his profound energy increased.

His mind and soul had also completely settled, free from the initial shock and worry.

However, as the surface layer of the Five-Universe Qiong Dan's medicinal power was gradually refined, it finally... began to reach its core.

The ocean, which had been calm for so long with only occasional ripples, suddenly, without warning, unleashed towering waves that seemed to engulf the heavens.

"Ah!!!!"

Yun Che groaned in agony, as if a myriad of blades were piercing his soul. In that instant, it was as though millions of abyssal beasts roared within him; every drop of blood, every meridian, every cell in his body was inundated with power so violent it was beyond extreme. Yun Che desperately tried to use his profound energy to guide the suddenly surging medicinal power, but it was like an ant trying to shake a tree.

The sudden eruption of medicinal power within Yun Che caused a blue gleam to flash in Mu Xuanyin's eyes as she cast down an ice mist... But it barely suppressed the fierce medicinal power for only a few moments before it broke free layer by layer, raging wildly.

"This is..."

Mu Xuanyin had been prepared for the core medicinal power of this Five-Universe Qiong Dan to be extremely potent, but even she had never imagined it would be this overwhelmingly powerful.

Mu Xuanyin's brows furrowed. She turned her jade wrist, changing her finger into a palm, and an even deeper blue light enveloped Yun Che... Immediately, Yun Che's expression began to ease, but this relief lasted less than half an hour before it turned into increasingly profound pain again.

Soon, Yun Che's face was as pale as paper, and sweat poured from his entire body like rain.

"..." Her icy brows furrowed tighter and tighter. Mu Xuanyin turned her jade wrist again, her snow-white fingers glistening like ice jade under the increasingly dense blue light. However, the blue light concentrated between her fingers hovered in mid-air, never descending.

The ferocity of the Five-Universe Qiong Dan's core medicinal power completely exceeded her expectations. Had she known this, she would never have chosen to let Yun Che consume it at this time.

Yun Che could absolutely not withstand such medicinal power.

Although, even if it were a hundred times fiercer, her power could suppress it instantly... she knew very well that the force strong enough to suppress this medicinal power would also be unbearable for Yun Che, severely injuring him before the medicinal power could even be suppressed.

But if she didn't suppress it...

Like countless abyssal beasts freed from their cages rampaging within him, Yun Che's face grew increasingly tormented, his body convulsed continuously, and almost every skin texture on his entire body twisted violently.

Mu Xuanyin's palm hovered over Yun Che's chest... Time passed quickly, and gradually, her fingers began to tremble slightly, but the icy glow concentrated in her hand still could not descend.

"Ugh... ah... ahhhhh..."

Yun Che, whose senses were sealed, continued to emit groans of pain, a wail from his very soul. The five-colored arcane light that had been flowing across his body's surface was now so intense it was almost blinding. As these lights flickered erratically, Yun Che's body alternately swelled and rapidly contracted... and began to be accompanied by the "clack clack" sounds of bone joints colliding.

If not for his Dragon God's Marrow, at least half of the bones in his entire body would likely have been shattered.

Even though he felt as if he had fallen into an abyss of despair, Yun Che's tormented expression also proved his unyielding will against collapse.

Mu Xuanyin's breathing grew progressively ragged, her chest rising and falling more violently. Watching Yun Che's utterly tormented face and body on the verge of destruction, her gaze had long since become chaotic... then gradually transformed into a struggle.

"Ugh... ahhhhhh..."

A thin trickle of crimson blood flowed from the corner of Yun Che's lips.

This crimson bloodstain, like a red needle piercing Mu Xuanyin's soul, shattered all the struggle in her eyes.

The palm that had hovered over his chest for so long finally slowly fell.

At this moment, Yun Che was like a small boat caught in the raging waves of the ocean, his struggles growing increasingly futile. He desperately held on with all his will, waiting for the aura that would suppress the medicinal power, but it never came for a long time.

"Mas... ter..." His soul continuously screamed. He felt himself getting closer and closer to the abyss, but the power he craved never arrived.

Just as his strength, will, and body were on the verge of complete collapse, an icy aura suddenly surged...

This cold energy was completely different from the previous one that suppressed the medicinal power. It didn't come from external sources but suddenly emerged from within his body. He had sealed off his senses and couldn't pinpoint its exact origin within his body, but it undoubtedly came from within.

This cold energy was not intense, but it was incredibly pure, carrying an extremely high-level mysterious aura... and vaguely, it gave Yun Che a faint sense of familiarity.

This... was...

The pure aura quickly spread throughout Yun Che's body, instantly brightening his already tottering soul. The wild, beast-like energies, under the cold aura, calmed down in just a few breaths.

Not only that, this cold energy spontaneously merged with Yun Che's profound energy, beginning to refine the medicinal power together. It was as if, the moment the icy aura surged into Yun Che's body, it had already begun to transform into his own power.

As the icy aura continuously poured in, all the pain that had filled Yun Che's soul vanished, replaced by an indescribable sensation of ultimate comfort. He felt as if he were submerged in a cool, pure pool, his entire body caressed by the gently flowing water, making his very soul tremble with pleasant ease.

In the end, all the medicinal power became completely still, as if frozen, allowing Yun Che to refine it bit by bit.