Volume 3: Global Vanguard & The Advanced Pinnacle
Chapter 273
Tempering the Dragon God Physique, Absorbing Kunlun Ice Marrow
A hazy veil of mist, soft as a ribbon of silk, drifted lazily across the surface of the Kunlun Divine Spring.
The water’s surface was flat as a mirror, so crystal clear that every cluster of emerald moss anchored to the submerged rock formations below could be distinctly seen. The air here was so pure that every breath felt like swallowing mouthfuls of cool, refreshing nectar, causing the pores across the body to automatically dilate and welcome the essence of heaven and earth. Lin Feng’s seven hundred and twenty magic acupoints, after being purified by the spiritual spring, were completely unobstructed, with magical energy surging like great rivers flowing into the vast sea.
Yet, just as he was sinking deep into the state of meditation, a violent vibration suddenly transmitted from deep within his left chest.
The ancient dragon-shaped jade pendant—the Primordial Dragon Talisman—which always rested quietly against his skin, abruptly grew piping hot like glowing embers. Waves of warm thermal energy radiated outward, accompanied by a muffled dragon roar echoing from the primordial, chaotic realm, striking directly into Lin Feng’s consciousness.
Lin Feng snapped his eyes open.
His deep, pitch-black pupils flashed with absolute alertness. He lowered his gaze to his chest, where the dragon pattern on the jade pendant was emitting intermittent golden light rays, acting like a mysterious golden compass pointing straight down into the abyssal depths of the water.
“Is something down at the bottom of the pool calling out?”
Lin Feng muttered thoughtfully. His sharp intuition, honed through hundreds of life-or-death battles, told him that the bottom of this Divine Spring lake was definitely not just a subterranean stream containing spiritual Qi. Any holy land existing since the creation of heaven and earth harbored heaven-defying secrets that mortals could never imagine.
Without a moment of hesitation, Lin Feng took a deep breath, tilted his body slightly, and cleaved the water, diving straight down into the heart of the lake.
“Plop!”
The sound of parting water echoed very softly; the lake’s surface merely rippled in a small circle before quickly turning calm again.
The deeper he dove, the more fantastical the surrounding scenery became. The warm water at the surface was gradually replaced by the chilling solitude of the darkness. Ten zhang, twenty zhang, then fifty zhang... The water pressure began to weigh heavily upon his eardrums and chest, heavy as thousands of catties of boulders. If it were an ordinary mage relying solely on a mortal physique, at this depth their chest would have already been crushed to smithereens by the pressure.
However, for Lin Feng, that pressure was no different from a passing breeze. He did not need to open a magical defense shield; relying purely on his muscle tension and the dragon blood quietly flowing within his veins was enough to tear apart each layer of hydraulic pressure and plunge swiftly into the abyss.
When the depth exceeded one hundred zhang, sunlight vanished entirely. Yet, the bottom of the lake did not fall into eternal pitch-blackness.
On the contrary, a stream of icy, crystal-clear blue light suddenly burst forth from the very depths of the abyss, illuminating the entire lake bottom into a magnificent and grandiose ice palace.
“This is...”
Lin Feng’s diving speed gradually slowed. Before his eyes unfolded a sight that would cause anyone witnessing it to hold their breath.
The bottom of the Divine Spring lake did not possess any mire, mud, or gravel. The entire base was an endless expanse of permafrost plain; the ice surface was smooth as a mirror, so transparent that it clearly reflected every contour of his face. This layer of ice seemed to have endured tens of thousands of years of wind and frost, tougher than top-grade diamond, sealing the entire lake bottom in an absolute law of freezing cold.
And right at the epicenter of that ice plain, a blue crystal lotus bud-shaped spar about half a person’s height was suspended amidst the water.
The spar was flawless and transparent, inside which glowing blue liquid currents flowed slowly, winding like a miniature galaxy. Whenever those liquid currents moved, wave after wave of tangible, white-and-blue cold Qi radiated outward, instantly causing the lake water at close range to condense into floating, microscopic snowflakes.
“Ten-thousand-year Kunlun Ice Marrow!”
Lin Feng recognized this supreme treasure thanks to the records in the ancient texts that Dean Xiao had once given him. This was the purest ice essence accumulated from the Kunlun dragon veins over tens of thousands of years, absorbing the sun and moon’s celestial essence to condense into form.
The cold Qi radiating from this Ice Marrow was not merely a drop in temperature, but a type of absolute freezing law. An ordinary Advanced mage, even clad in top-tier defensive magic artifacts, would find their meridians and blood instantly freezing into icy debris if they stepped within a ten-zhang radius of the Ice Marrow for more than half a moment, their souls forever buried in the bitter cold along with it.
“Clang! Clang! Clang!”
The Primordial Dragon Talisman on Lin Feng’s chest now vibrated with unprecedented violence. Streams of golden light erupted, forming a delicate barrier wrapping around his body, blocking the bone-chilling cold Qi that was itching to devour his life. The will of the Dragon Talisman transmitted straight into his mind—not out of fear, but an intense, burning craving!
It wanted to swallow this Ice Marrow! More accurately, it wanted to borrow the heaven-defying might of this ten-thousand-year treasure to forge the most thorough metamorphosis for its master!
Standing before the Ice Marrow radiating cold blue aurora, Lin Feng clenched his fists.
If it were any other Super-level powerhouse encountering such fortuitous fortune, the wisest choice would be to use a spatial magic array to seal the Ice Marrow, carry it back for decades of closed-door seclusion, and carefully absorb a wisp of energy each day to temper their Ice-element magic.
But Lin Feng could not afford to wait.
The war against the Black Vatican, the overwhelming threat of the Eastern Coastal Sea Demon calamity, was approaching like a blade pressed against his throat. Most importantly, he was someone who bore the Six Great Star Seas!
Awakening six magic elements simultaneously was a magnificent grace of creation, but simultaneously a fatal shackle. A mortal’s body was originally born to contain only one or two magic elements. When all six elements simultaneously advanced to the Advanced level, the immense magical energy roaring like a stormy sea within his meridians would generate terrifying tearing pressure. If his physique was not sturdy enough, failing to surpass mortal limits to match primeval fierce beasts, then the day he broke through to the Six-Element Advanced level would also be the day his flesh exploded into ashes!
“To wear the crown, one must bear its heavy weight.”
Lin Feng curved his lips slightly, his gaze bursting with resolute fire.
“Since I want to forge it, then I will forge it to the most insane degree!”
He decided to execute a method no one had ever dared to experiment with in the history of magic: “Simultaneous Ice and Fire Forging”!
Using the absolute cold Qi of the Kunlun Ice Marrow from the outside to grind and crush, while simultaneously activating the Primordial Dragon Flame from deep within to burn. Using his body as the furnace and his flesh and blood as metal, he would forge a true Dragon God Physique!
Lin Feng sat cross-legged right atop the permafrost layer, the distance between him and the Ice Marrow mere three feet.
“Activate Dragon Blood!”
Within his chest, his heart throbbed heavily like thunderclap under a clear sky. The dragon blood awakened from his spinal marrow began to boil, surging turbulently through every blood vessel. Lin Feng’s body temperature skyrocketed to thousands of degrees in the blink of an eye, causing the surrounding lake water to instantly boil violently, churning up countless bubbles.
“Primordial Dragon Flame, third layer—Heaven-Searing True Fire, open!”
“Boom!”
A brilliant golden-yellow flame suddenly erupted from deep within Lin Feng’s soul. Unlike previous times when he unleashed attacks against enemies, this time the flame did not release outward; instead, it reversed its flow, surging to burn every inch of his viscera, every meridian, every muscle fiber, and every bone of his own!
The extreme burning sensation turned Lin Feng’s entire body into a red-hot iron bar inside a blacksmith’s forge. His skin glowed crimson like magma, veins bulging out in winding patterns like fiery currents flowing beneath his thin epidermis.
And at the exact moment the Dragon Flame reached its peak, Lin Feng abruptly widened all his pores, five fingers grasping straight toward the Kunlun Ice Marrow!
“Draw it in!”
“Crack! Crack! Crack!”
The surrounding space seemed to freeze solid in a split second.
Provoked by the terrifying thermal heat of the Dragon Flame, the ten-thousand-year Kunlun Ice Marrow erupted with violent resistance. A stream of pure blue cold Qi, condensed almost to the consistency of a thick liquid, poured madly into his body along Lin Feng’s arm!
“Ugh... Ah!”
A choked roar burst from Lin Feng’s throat.
Pain! An agony of tearing flesh and rending skin far beyond the endurance limits of human nerves!
Inside was the blazing sea of Dragon Flame burning fiercely, wishing to melt everything into ashes; outside was the piercing cold Qi of the Ice Marrow like ten thousand ice blades, wishing to freeze every drop of blood and every cell into dust. These two extreme energies of heaven and earth, upon colliding within his body, instantly treated Lin Feng’s flesh as a life-or-death battlefield!
“Sizzling sizzling sizzle!”
Lin Feng’s skin, just scorched to cracking by fire, had fresh blood gushing out only to be instantly frozen into dark crimson pearls by the cold Qi. Yet not even a tenth of a millisecond later, the heat of the Dragon Flame surged again, burning that blood-ice into hazy mist.
His entire body’s bones emitted a terrifying, crisp cracking sound, like white porcelain jars fired in a thousand-degree kiln suddenly doused with freezing ice water. Tiny cracks spread across his entire skeletal framework, his spinal marrow trembling as the pain felt like millions of poisonous needles piercing straight into his soul.
If it were someone with mediocre willpower, experiencing this agony for even half a second would cause their soul to collapse instantly, turning into a pile of frozen minced meat.
Yet, Lin Feng’s teeth bit down tightly until they bled, the muscles on his face twitching violently, but his eyes remained steadfastly fixed ahead. Within those pupils, one side burned with unyielding golden-yellow fire, while the other condensed a bone-chillingly cold blue light.
“This tiny bit of pain... You want to shake my will? In your dreams!”
The roar in Lin Feng’s mind rang out as resolute as a bronze bell. He frantically circulated his magic, not shrinking back into defense but actively guiding the swirling Ice Marrow cold Qi deep into every nook and cranny of his body.
At that exact perilous life-or-death moment, the Primordial Dragon Talisman blazed brightly on his chest.
A gigantic ancient golden giant dragon shadow suddenly materialized behind Lin Feng’s back. Its dragon wings spread wide, an aura of supreme dominance over heaven and earth enveloping the entire bottom of the Divine Spring lake. The Dragon Talisman did not extinguish the fire nor dispel the cold Qi; instead, it transformed into the divine hammer of the greatest blacksmith in existence!
Every time the Dragon Talisman vibrated, an ancient golden rune descended, striking heavily against Lin Feng’s body.
“Clang!”
Ice and Fire, under the supreme suppression of the Dragon Talisman, were forced to intertwine. The Ice Marrow’s cold Qi cooled the ferocity of the Dragon Flame, preventing the fire from destroying his meridians; while the Dragon Flame’s thermal heat melted the absolute freezing of the Ice Marrow, turning it into essence that seeped deeply into every damaged cell.
Destruction, followed by rebirth!
Every muscle fiber was torn apart and then instantly regenerated with vastly denser, more resilient structure. The cracks on his skeletal framework were filled by the Ice-Fire current, gradually shifting from ivory-white to shimmering golden light interspersed with jade-blue hues.
Every single drop of Lin Feng’s blood was now heavy as mercury, containing destructive power and boundless life force. His outer skin began to crack and peel off in patches of gray ash floating in the lake water, revealing fresh skin beneath—smooth as top-grade jade, yet hidden deep beneath the surface were faint, creeping dragon-scale patterns shimmering with indestructible metallic luster!
The half-person-high ten-thousand-year Kunlun Ice Marrow gradually shrank. Streams of the purest blue essence continuously drained away, swallowed dry by Lin Feng’s body like a whale gulping down a hundred rivers.
Time slowly slipped by for three hours.
“Crack!”
A crisp sound echoed. The ten-thousand-year Ice Marrow, after having all its essence drained dry, finally transformed into a cloud of sparkling crystal dust, dissolving completely into the Divine Spring water.
The violent energy waves all around gradually subsided.
The bottom of the Divine Spring lake returned to its pristine tranquility, but at the center of the ice plain, a youthful figure sat cross-legged, his entire body radiating an oppressive, ancient aura breathtaking to behold.
“Hah...”
Lin Feng exhaled a mouthful of stale air. The breath, the moment it left his lips, transformed into a three-foot-long ice arrow, tearing through the lake water to shoot straight into the distant submerged rock face, embedding half a zhang deep!
He opened his eyes.
Two sharp rays of light shot out from his pupils, illuminating the deep lake bottom.
Lin Feng slowly stood straight up. Every movement of his now carried the muffled sound of bones colliding, like ancient weapons scraping against each other.
He lowered his gaze to look at his hands. The fair skin of a mage had completely transformed. Under the pale blue glow of the lake bottom, his flesh gleamed with a faint metallic luster, pliable like beast god hide and tough as millennium dark iron.
“Divine Weapon Body Protection!”
The corners of Lin Feng’s lips curled into a satisfied smile.
He clenched his right fist. Without mobilizing a single strand of magic energy, relying purely on the muscular strength of his new physique, he unleashed a punch straight into the empty space ahead!
“BOOM!”
A heaven-shaking, earth-shattering explosion erupted deep beneath hundreds of zhang of water!
The immense water pressure was shattered into a conical vacuum zone stretching over thirty meters! The aftershock of the punch swept across the permafrost plain below, carving out a deep ditch dozens of zhang long, causing the entire lake bottom to shake violently!
This sheer physical strength... had completely transcended the boundaries of humanity!
The sturdiness of his body, the explosive strength, and the resilience of every muscle fiber now matched a Peak Commander-grade Magical Beast! Even judging by cell density and regenerative capability, thanks to the fusion of Dragon Blood and Ice Marrow, he could completely use his bare hands to snap the horns of an Armored Commander-grade!
Most importantly: Natural magic resistance!
Lin Feng closed his eyes to sense it. His new physique was now like an everlasting magic shield. Elementary- or Intermediate-level magic attacks striking his skin would be completely neutralized by this Dragon God Physique layer, no different from an itchy scratch. Even astonishingly powerful Advanced magic, unless it was a decapitation strike aiming directly at a fatal point, would find it hard to pierce through this physical defense of his!
The physical foundation had solidified to flawless perfection.
The vessel had been reforged, wider and sturdier tenfold than before, completely capable of containing the eruption of all the Six Great Star Seas!
Yet, the metamorphosis had not stopped there.
Lin Feng’s body, after breaking out of its cocoon and being reborn, suddenly resembled a bottomless cosmic black hole, beginning to frantically devour the pure spiritual Qi of the entire Kunlun Divine Spring around him. Massive whirlpools formed around his body, spiritual Qi condensing into glowing ribbons pouring into his meridians through the seven hundred and twenty acupoints.
Deep within Lin Feng’s sea of consciousness, where the four Lightning, Fire, Shadow, and Summoning Star Seas shone brilliantly, the remaining two star seas, which had always remained dormant, suddenly shook violently!
The pure silver Spatial Star Sea and the mysterious ash-gray Chaos Star Sea seemed activated by an invisible force, beginning to spin madly. Hundreds of stars within the two star seas constantly collided, the magical energy accumulated over time surging madly like magma encountering a volcano crater!
The boundary wall separating the Peak Intermediate and Advanced levels of the Spatial Element and Chaos Element began to exhibit massive cracks emitting dazzling light!
The signs of an unprecedented miracle in human history... were preparing to erupt!