Douluo Continent: Starting with a Heavenly Fire Judgment

Chapter 48 Breakthrough

It was truly a contrast of extremes! One moment he was shivering from the cold, the next he was enveloped in such intense heat that all the ice beads on his body evaporated. The blood and qi within his body began to surge like a tide. In the extreme cold, his entire body felt as if it were frozen, and in the next moment of extreme heat, his blood boiled, and fine beads of blood seeped from his skin.

From extreme cold to extreme heat, and then from extreme heat to extreme cold again, the drastic changes in body temperature seemed to be forging Ji Lin's body, even though his willpower was extremely strong, and his consciousness gradually began to hallucinate. Unlike the pure excruciating pain before, this feeling, like being thrown high into the air and then crashing down hard, was even more unbearable.

The Snow Empress's soul bone is of extremely high quality, nearly 700,000 years old. Even with the Snow Empress's help, it would be very difficult for Ji Lin, with his current level 40 cultivation, to fuse with it.

Time passed slowly, and whenever Ji Lin was about to give up, the spiritual power of the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm would appear to help him. Although the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm would no longer assist him, it did not mean that the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm would watch him suffer a mental breakdown.

Each time Tianmeng Ice Silkworm made its move, it was only to give Ji Lin a buffer period, allowing him to gradually adapt to the pain.

The Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm was intentionally training Ji Lin's willpower.

Even top-tier soul beasts might not dare to say they could endure such pain. But Ji Lin persevered, and with the limited help of the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm, he actually managed to hold on.

From day to night, and then from night to day again. The white light emanating from Ji Lin grew stronger and stronger, while the shifting between white and red on his skin became increasingly faint. However, the energy and blood within his body were far, far stronger than before.

Although the Snow Empress only fused a small portion of her energy with Ji Lin's blood essence, it was still an extremely nourishing substance for him. That was the primordial power of the Ice and Snow Maiden, the leader of the Three Heavenly Kings of the Far North, with a cultivation of nearly 700,000 years!

Ji Lin's muscles, bones, and internal organs all began to change under this nourishment. Even though the soul bone didn't include the limbs and head, it still comprehensively improved Ji Lin's physical attributes under this nourishment. As his physical attributes improved, the pain finally began to gradually decrease from its peak.

Now, the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm no longer needs to lift a finger; Ji Lin can withstand the pain of alternating hot and cold solely through his willpower. He can even feel his blood and qi growing stronger, and his body becoming increasingly resilient. Because he hasn't acquired his fourth soul ring yet, he can't determine how much his soul power has increased, but without a doubt, even if the Snow Empress sealed most of the energy, this small portion should at least increase his soul power by one or two levels.

"Ji Lin, be careful. The fusion of the soul bone is almost complete. Only the final process of complete integration with your own bones remains. I will seal the power of the soul bone within your bone marrow, allowing it to be gradually absorbed by you. This final fusion process may be even more painful than the previous ones. You must persevere. Even the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm probably can't offer much help during this process. It will probably take about an hour. If you can get through it, you will possess the soul bone I have given you."

Xue Di's voice was gentler than ever before, but it also revealed her exhaustion. After all, she was merging her own body with Ji Lin's!

It was as if she had taken her own bones out and merged them into Ji Lin's body. Although she was powerful, the pain she endured was no less than that of Ji Lin.

However, its willpower, cultivated over hundreds of thousands of years, far surpasses that of Ji Lin.

Ji Lin took a deep breath and gritted his teeth, saying, "Come on, Snow Empress, I won't let you down."

Was the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm truly unable to protect Ji Lin's spirit? The answer is no. The Snow Empress said this only as a final test for Ji Lin, and Ji Lin's answer satisfied her. Only someone like him was worthy of being her, the Snow Empress's, master. Even if a weak and incompetent person possessed outstanding talent, they could not gain her approval. And Ji Lin had already gained her approval.

Having received a satisfactory answer, Xue Di immediately began the final fusion process.

When the final wave of pain from the fusion of soul and bone arrived, Ji Lin's body jerked violently at the very first moment, and his sea of ​​consciousness surged violently, almost collapsing instantly.

He endured the pain, and he also endured the alternating chills and fever. But at this moment, what he was suffering from was an almost unbearable agony: itching.

The instant the Snow Emperor began to activate his power, Ji Lin felt an intense itch spreading throughout his body, as if hundreds of ants were crawling rapidly across his blood vessels and bones. The itch penetrated to the bone, omnipresent.

In that instant, his only thought was to tear his body apart completely and then rub it violently to stop the pain.

Ji Lin's body was convulsing and trembling violently, completely out of control, and the intense pain caused his bones to crack and pop continuously.

The Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm was on high alert, ready to strike at any moment. It would not hesitate to act if the Sea of ​​Spirit showed any signs of collapse.

Tianmeng Ice Silkworm knew very well that at this moment, the Snow Empress was enduring the same pain as Ji Lin. Even the Snow Empress, the leader of the Three Heavenly Kings of the Far North, was experiencing violent tremors and fluctuations in her mental power. One can imagine how intense this pain was.

Only when Xue Di's soul bone and Ji Lin are completely fused can it be considered that the foundation for its transformation within Ji Lin's body has been completed. Becoming Ji Lin's martial soul and soul ring is not difficult; the difficulty lies in preserving Xue Di's complete consciousness and wisdom.

Xue Di wasn't worried about Tianmeng Ice Silkworm; he was worried that Ji Lin wouldn't be able to hold on.

Ji Lin's spiritual sea fluctuated, sometimes trembling, sometimes surging and undulating violently like ocean waves.

In the end, Ji Lin persevered. Under the extreme torment of this pain, Ji Lin's Taixu Sword Qi, which he had cultivated for many years, finally broke through to the Mingjing Realm of Heart-Ice Clear Transparency.

His spiritual cultivation also broke through to the Mind-Boundless Spiritual Sea Realm along with the breakthrough of the Taixu Sword Qi. His spiritual cultivation had long since reached the Spiritual Connection Realm, but because he did not have a spiritual attribute martial soul, his spiritual power did not improve as quickly as his soul power cultivation.

Despite the extreme pain of merging with the Snow Emperor's soul bone, Ji Lin persisted in silently reciting the Sword Heart Mantra within the Void Sword Qi, which allowed him to persevere. Ultimately, his Void Sword Qi and spiritual power cultivation broke through to a higher realm together.

When Ji Lin broke through, Tianmeng Ice Silkworm, sensing the increase in Ji Lin's spiritual power, decisively provided Ji Lin with a massive amount of pure spiritual power source, which helped Ji Lin break through successfully. Otherwise, Ji Lin might not have been able to break through the bottleneck this time.

Ji Lin's spiritual sea, which was originally only the size of a lake, truly transformed into an ocean after breaking through to the Spirit Sea Realm.

(End of this chapter)