C2 Open the Furnace

"Baby, you're almost ready to emerge!"

Faang Hee stood vigil outside the Creation Cauldron, his gaunt palm tenderly stroking the vessel as though it were his beloved.

Each time Zhao Xiaoqi caught sight of Faang Hee's tender expression, he couldn't help but shudder with goosebumps.

Another ten days had slipped by, and Faang Hee's body had aged considerably. His already wrinkled face now bore the mottled marks of mortality, and his white hair was shedding, revealing the brown scalp beneath.

From Faang Hee's recent soliloquies, Zhao Xiaoqi had gleaned that these were the signs of the body's impending limit.

It was a body already on the brink of collapse.

Yet, to perfect Zhao Xiaoqi, Faang Hee had pushed this failing form through celestial battles against formidable adversaries: the prodigious Crown Prince of the Golden Wing Roc Clan, the mightiest Ninth Prince of the Dragon Clan, and the Great Sun Golden Crow, the sentinel of the Clouded Tree.

Each a paragon of cosmic strength.

Though victorious, each conflict nudged Faang Hee closer to his end.

But the old man showed no signs of a man facing his demise; his gaze fixed on the cauldron, eyes gleaming with anticipation.

A century of accumulation, the trials of forty-eight supreme corporeal forms—all would culminate in this lifetime's reward!

"The Great Development at fifty, the Heavenly Dao at forty-nine, you are fated to be the vessel of my enlightenment!"

"Just three days remain!"

"In three days, the whole world will quake at my feet!"

"And in three days, your hundred thousand years will reach their twilight..."

Seated amidst the Nine-colored Emperor Flame, Zhao Xiaoqi lifted his eyelids to peer at Faang Hee. The Emperor Flame, feared even by the Great Sun Golden Crow, was of no concern to him.

Unbeknownst to the old dreamer outside, Zhao Xiaoqi had already claimed his sanctuary.

"Let it be a success, let it be..."

As dawn broke, Faang Hee approached the cauldron, clutching a voluminous tome.

He had devoted three millennia to crafting this impeccable vessel, and his meticulous plans were unfolding flawlessly. Despite Faang Hee's ability to recall any text with a mere glance, he painstakingly cross-referenced each detail in the book, determined to avoid any last-minute missteps.

"Per the ritual, in these final three days, all elements will coalesce. Everything within the cauldron will fuse perfectly, culminating in a resonant tremor!"

Faang Hee glanced at the book before lifting his gaze to the cauldron. "Let it shake, come on, shake for me!"

"Damn, even in the last stretch, you've got to give me a hard time?"

Zhao Xiaoqi wore a look of resignation. He had hoped for some peace in the concluding days, but little did he expect this old freak to keep him busy.

Taking a deep breath, Zhao Xiaoqi began to channel his Qi.

In a flash, his perfect body radiated a brilliant golden light. A Golden Wing Roc soared before him, while a massive dragon shadow coiled around his lower abdomen.

Behind him, the silhouette of a Clouded Tree slowly emerged.

The Clouded Tree stood towering, its canopy sprawling endlessly.

It seemed capable of prying apart the heavens and crushing the cosmos.

Emblazoned on the Clouded Tree's main trunk was a dazzling "imperial" character, the manifestation of a flawless blend between Human Emperor blood essence and the Clouded Tree's core.

Beneath the imperial mark, a host of Divine Beasts lay prostrate.

Black Tortoise, Vermilion Bird, Phoenix, Qilin—nearly every exalted Divine Beast lineage was present.

For a brief moment, the cacophony of dragon roars, tiger growls, avian calls, and Qilin cries threatened to rupture the very walls of the cauldron.

Even Faang Hee, standing outside the cauldron, could feel its violent shaking and the tumultuous scene within.

"The ancients have not misled me!"

Faang Hee, unable to contain his elation, danced around the cauldron, his impending demise nowhere evident in his demeanor.

"I can't say whether the ancients have deceived you, but I've certainly been had..."

Watching Faang Hee's joyful gyrations, Zhao Xiaoqi inhaled deeply, the extraordinary visions around him fading away.

The following day, Faang Hee approached the cauldron once more.

Anticipating his reaction, Zhao Xiaoqi didn't wait for Faang Hee to utter a word; he promptly summoned the energy within his own flesh.

This time, the phenomenon that erupted was even more horrifying.

Outside the cauldron, Faang Hee could hear the roars of dragons and tigers echoing through the air.

In front of the furnace, he even witnessed a phantom seated high upon a throne, looking down upon all creatures.

It was the Great Dao of the original Human Emperor.

Imprinted in his own blood essence, Faang Hee had pilfered it and infused it into Zhao Xiaoqi's flesh. With Zhao Xiaoqi's activation, it manifested itself.

The cauldron trembled for a full two hours, teetering on the brink of collapse.

"We've done it, we've done it!"

"In the past, when I successfully refined a precious body, there were signs, but nothing as tumultuous and shocking as this!"

"This body is complete!"

Faang Hee was ecstatic, his face smoothing out as wrinkles vanished. He circled the cauldron, looking as though he was itching to dive in and see the final outcome.

Late into the night, something startled Faang Hee, and the old deviant shot up into the sky with a look of utmost caution.

It wasn't until the following evening that Faang Hee returned to the valley.

"My life, not even the heavens can claim it, much less a few little whippersnappers who've lived for over ten thousand years... Heh!"

Blood was smeared across Faang Hee's mouth, and his body bore several translucent holes. Each time his flesh tried to mend, a flash of light would flicker across the wounds, hindering their healing.

Zhao Xiaoqi understood that these were wounds inflicted by a supremely powerful being.

Otherwise, Faang Hee wouldn't be in such a pitiful state. Remember, after slaying the mightiest Ninth Prince of the Dragon Clan, Faang Hee had barely been out of breath.

"This body looks like it's not going to hold up much longer!" Faang Hee mumbled, eyeing the wounds that still hadn't healed. Yet, there wasn't a trace of worry on his face.

Because today was the day the cauldron would be opened.

"The heavens are on my side. You old coot, I'll burn offerings for you this time next year!"

Watching Faang Hee stagger toward the cauldron, Zhao Xiaoqi quietly contained his presence, determined not to show any weakness, aiming for a fatal strike.

Despite the old coot looking like he could keel over at any moment, a starving camel is still larger than a horse. Having spent so many days in close quarters with Faang Hee, separated only by the cauldron, Zhao Xiaoqi was acutely aware of the old deviant's horrifying nature.

"No anomalies, the radiance withdrawn, a return to the primal essence..."

Faang Hee's face lit up with even greater delight as he walked. "A body without equal, the epitome of perfection—this is the very definition of a perfect body!"

Whether it was the overwhelming phenomena from two days prior or today's complete absence of vitality, everything aligned perfectly with his hundred millennia of experimental knowledge. It also matched the descriptions in the ancient texts to the letter, leaving no room for doubt in his mind about any trickery within the cauldron.

He had been practicing for a hundred thousand years. Surely, if there were any issues, they would have been uncovered by now.

"Hehe, just wait, soon you'll see firsthand what a perfect body truly is!"

To claim Zhao Xiaoqi wasn't anxious would be an outright falsehood. Yet, in his past life, he was an extreme sports enthusiast, thriving on the thrill of it all. In this moment, he felt a rush unlike anything he had experienced before.

As Faang Hee drew nearer, Zhao Xiaoqi laid himself flat, taking a deep breath and slowly closing his eyes.

​