Chapter 1082: Chapter 1081: Rescued_1
Heartforce, even more mysterious and unpredictable than spiritual power, has many methods to temper within the Martial World, yet none exist to temper heartforce.
Now Shi Xiaole knew that as long as he broke through the limits of his willpower, he could also break through the limits of his heartforce. However, it was a breakthrough that even Shi Xiaole did not wish to attempt a second time.
"Injuries are not to be feared, but my life force has been eroded by nearly one third," he said.
With the lifespan of a Void Origin Realm Martial Emperor being three thousand five hundred years, such a loss amounted to over a thousand years of Shi Xiaole’s life. Yet Shi Xiaole was not so heartbroken about this.
The joy brought by the increased heartforce was enough to overshadow everything else.
One must understand, there is no such thing as a pinnacle of heartforce, which means that each person could reach a different realm of heartforce. Even the slightest improvement could significantly elevate a martial artist’s future achievements.
As for the lost vitality, Shi Xiaole was proficient in the martial dao of life and death, and he had every opportunity to recover it in the future.
After sitting and adjusting himself on the grass for a long time, Shi Xiaole fully recovered and stood up to look back, but the mountain of knives was nowhere to be seen, as if all that had happened before was an illusion. He guessed that this must be the influence of the Array System of the Colorless Realm.
Shi Xiaole walked forward, and before long, a vast sea of flames suddenly appeared.
The sea of flames was nine hundred meters long, divided into five colors: red, orange, yellow, green, and purple. The void hissed as it burned, like charring sheepskin.
Just like climbing the mountain of knives, Shi Xiaole’s cultivation and spiritual power were once again suppressed. Without giving him time to hesitate, the nine-hundred-meter-wide sea of flames came covering him unbidden.
In an instant, pain that seemed to tear his cells apart surged through his body, and both his clothes and his No Gang Spiritual Armor turned to ash instantly. Furthermore, the fire invaded Shi Xiaole’s spiritual power; even though there was no burning sensation, he felt the agony as if he were being burned.
Pop, pop, pop.
Amidst the sound of popping beans, several of Shi Xiaole’s tendons snapped, and his bones and flesh began to blacken and soften, like thin paper about to curl and disintegrate.
Shi Xiaole ran desperately.
Soon, his hair vanished into the air; his fingers and toes blackened, and when they bumped against the ground, they instantly turned to ash. Then came his hands and feet, chest and abdomen, neck, and head.
Before long, only a spiritual body remained of Shi Xiaole.
After he passed through the red sea of flames, the fire in the sky became even more intense. The orange sea of flames assaulted him madly, continuously loosening his spiritual body.
Then came the yellow sea of flames. Shi Xiaole keenly noticed that his spiritual body was evaporating, slowly becoming fainter, more fragile, which also caused him to evaporate faster. At Shi Xiaole’s rate of running, he would become significantly fainter every fifty meters.
In the green sea of flames, the temperature rose geometrically. After just running half the distance, his spiritual body was nearly transparent, and Shi Xiaole nearly collapsed on the spot.
This was no longer a matter of willpower, but the destruction of his very essence. Even someone as powerful as Shi Xiaole had reached the brink of complete exhaustion.
He dragged what remained of himself into the purple sea of flames that seemed to burn and boil the sky itself.
Whoosh!
A world of purple completely evaporated Shi Xiaole’s strength, and even his thoughts halted. Like a bit of ash in a flame, he dissipated in the purple fire.
Is this what death feels like?
"No, that’s not right! My true spiritual power far exceeds the level of the Void Origin Realm; how could it be so brittle? The only reason I am dying is because I believe I will die," he realized.
The darkness was pierced, and a crimson flame filled his view. Shi Xiaole stood unharmed in his green robe in the midst of the red sea of flames.
"So this is the legendary Burning Heart Fire, where any trace of cowardice in one’s heart is infinitely amplified. And when I believed in death, I truly would have died," he understood.
No one’s heart is truly invulnerable, with the only difference being the number of weaknesses. Undoubtedly, having passed the trial of the red Burning Heart Fire, Shi Xiaole’s mental fortitude had strengthened further.
His original tenacity was not inferior to that of the Forbidden Martial Emperor, and on that basis, any slightest progress was precious and would have a significant impact in the future.
Afterwards, Shi Xiaole stayed focused and continued step by step. Three days later, he crossed the orange sea of flames. Half a month later, he got through the yellow sea of flames. It took him another month to pass through the green sea of flames.
Many times, Shi Xiaole came close to the edge of his soul scattering; especially in the green sea of flames, he almost couldn’t make it through, struggling to recognize himself amidst the agonizing torment.
But the rewards were immense. In such a perilous environment, his already superhuman resilience became even more perfect, closer to being impeccable.
One month.
Two months.
In the most terrifying purple sea of fire, Shi Xiaole was delayed for a full two months, during which he at times couldn’t distinguish between life and death and was lost in endless chaos.
But with a spirit that surpassed even the Forbidden Martial Emperor, and an increasingly powerful resilience, Shi Xiaole finally managed to persevere through the sea of flames.
Everything turned black before his eyes, and Shi Xiaole passed out on the ground.
Though he had passed the test, the burning effects were brutally real. At this moment, Shi Xiaole was charred all over; through his destroyed skin, the muscles, bones, and even blood vessels inside were damaged without exception, and his bodily functions had declined to a freezing point. One wouldn’t sense his breathing unless they got very close.
Behind him, the five-colored sea of fire also eerily vanished.
The vast grassland stretched endlessly. Occasional winds blew across, adding a touch of vitality to its deadly silence. The charred figure on the ground remained motionless, resembling a corpse.
And so, three days passed.
In the fierce sun of midday, a figure suddenly approached from afar. Perhaps noticing the charred figure on the ground, he paused for a moment before landing nearby.
"What a miserable guy, completely burnt to a crisp!"
The man appeared to be in his thirties, sporting a thin, extended mustache, and his eyes occasionally flickered with sharpness. He had no interest in the corpse and was about to walk away when he caught a glimpse of a bright yellow.
"Eh?"
With a kick, Liu Quan flipped the charred figure over and saw a bright yellow longsword hanging at the latter’s waist. The sword scabbard was neither ostentatious nor overly plain. Out of curiosity, Liu Quan unhooked the longsword, drew it from its scabbard, and couldn’t help but light up.
With his discernment, he of course couldn’t recognize what treasure the Cleansing Evil Sword was. Liu Quan drew his own mid-grade Spirit Sword and carelessly tapped it against the Cleansing Evil Sword; his Spirit Sword immediately broke into two pieces.
Hiss!
"This, this is a top-grade Spirit Sword!"
There was no explanation other than a top-grade Spirit Sword for something that could so easily cut through a mid-grade one.
Liu Quan’s breathing became rapid, his face flushed with excitement. He looked at the charred figure on the ground and laughed, "Brother, you can’t enjoy it in death, but it has brought luck to me, hahaha, rest in peace."
Looking left and right and seeing no one, Liu Quan quickly left with the Cleansing Evil Sword.
About half a 2-hour period later, footsteps sounded again, this time a group of people.
They also discovered the charred Shi Xiaole. A woman frowned with pity, and despite others’ advice, she went to check on him. After a while, she suddenly exclaimed, "Come quickly, this person is still breathing!"
"Miss, are you thinking of saving him?"
The middle-aged man leading the group was uncertain. This was the Colorless Realm, where several great powers were fighting over coveted spots on the ’Color Crossing Ship’. Who knew the identity of this person?
And if by chance this person had just entered the Colorless Realm, their character unknown, recklessly saving them could be too risky.
"Uncle Ming, we can’t just stand by and watch someone die, can we? If it comes to it, we’ll just make him leave immediately once he wakes up," Zhen Zhen proposed with a negotiating tone.
Looking into the young lady’s pure eyes, Sima Ming swallowed his words, the reproof he’d been about to voice remaining unspoken.
Those who are purely kind are doomed to not last long in the Martial World, but compared to the murky Martial World, the young lady’s kindness is, after all, the most precious thing.
It’s settled then. With such severe injuries, even if he had harmful intentions, he wouldn’t have the strength to enact them; he just had to be more careful himself. Maybe the man couldn’t be saved at all; it would be better to honor the young lady’s good intentions.
