Chapter 24

In the dark space, misty fog rolled everywhere, and a black and white bead floated, with intricate and mysterious patterns, imprints, and runes occasionally appearing around it.

"Life and Death Bead? Wasn't this bead supposed to be fused with my soul?"

Luo Xiu was slightly taken aback, then suddenly realized, "Could it be that my current consciousness is in the soul space?"

At this moment, the runes, imprints, and patterns on the Life and Death Bead began to spin rapidly, forming a black hole vortex that emitted a powerful suction force, engulfing Luo Xiu's consciousness.

Luo Xiu felt as if he was in a vast starry sky, with the Milky Way ahead, waves surging, and countless light points like stars floating in the galaxy, rising and falling.

Slowly reaching out, Luo Xiu touched one of the star-like, brilliant light points.

Boom!

He saw a strange world, where the land was barren, and countless lives began to emerge. After countless years, they would die, and the cycle of life and death continued endlessly.

Fire, the source of life, is also the source of destruction. Rebirth through fire is life, and burning the heavens and earth is death!

After an unknown amount of time, when Luo Xiu's consciousness regained clarity, he suddenly opened his eyes.

He felt as if he had comprehended the true essence of the Law of Life and Death!

The experience in the Life and Death Bead seemed to have lasted for countless years, but in reality, it was just a moment.

A wave of scorching heat continuously entered his body, and Luo Xiu slowly raised his head, meeting Lu Mengyao's gaze.

Boom!

Suddenly, a flame rose from Luo Xiu's body, burning his clothes, but it did not harm him at all.

Moreover, the flame spread to Lu Mengyao's body, instantly burning her clothes as well.

"Ahh...!" Lu Mengyao screamed, seemingly frightened, and kicked Luo Xiu in the chest.

"Damn!"

Luo Xiu felt as if he had been struck by lightning, flying backward, with blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.

Then, Luo Xiu was stunned.

Her skin was as white as jade, and her body's curves were like rolling waves. This scene made Luo Xiu feel short of breath and his mouth dry.

"No looking!" Lu Mengyao's face turned red, feeling both embarrassed and angry. Her pure and spotless body had been seen by her student, which left her feeling helpless.

Naked and exposed, not only their clothes but also the bed was burned to ashes by the flames.

"Turn around!" Lu Mengyao bit her lip, her voice slightly cold.

Luo Xiu didn't dare to say anything more and quickly turned around to avoid angering Teacher Lu.

This was Lu Mengyao's room, so she naturally had spare clothes. Luo Xiu could hear her changing, and the scene he had just witnessed involuntarily came to his mind, making his heart race.

After changing, Lu Mengyao saw Luo Xiu's bare back and couldn't help but twitch her lips.

"Don't you have spare clothes in your storage bracelet?"

All of Luo Xiu's clothes were burned, but the storage device on his left wrist was undamaged, so she asked.

"Well... I don't have any." Luo Xiu was quite helpless and embarrassed. The storage bracelet was obtained by killing Chen Hu and did not contain any spare clothes.

"Put this on first."

Luo Xiu heard a rustling sound, and a sheet fell onto his body.

A moment later, Luo Xiu, wrapped in the sheet, turned around. Lu Mengyao was now wearing a red outfit, her black hair flowing down, her face delicate and beautiful, slightly blushing, and stunningly beautiful.

Lu Mengyao also looked at Luo Xiu, feeling puzzled and amazed. While changing, she clearly felt much better in her heart meridian. Could it be that Luo Xiu really cured her Fire Yang Meridian?

"Just now... I'm sorry." Lu Mengyao suddenly spoke, breaking the silence between them.

Luo Xiu naturally knew she was referring to kicking him. Lu Mengyao was a Qi Sea Realm martial artist, and fortunately, that kick did not contain true qi, or Luo Xiu might not have been able to get up.

"It's fine." Luo Xiu shook his head.

At this moment, he focused on the heart meridian area of Lu Mengyao's left chest, where the life meridians were clearly visible.

Noticing Luo Xiu's gaze, Lu Mengyao's body trembled slightly, and she asked, "What was that flame just now? My body..."

She wanted to know if her Fire Yang Meridian could really be cured. She had already given up hope, but now she felt hopeful again.

However, Luo Xiu suddenly shook his head, "I absorbed some of the flame power from your heart meridian just now, but probably because my cultivation is too low, I only absorbed a part of it and did not completely cure your condition."

Hearing this, Lu Mengyao's expression darkened, but then Luo Xiu continued, "However, if I absorb it a few more times, I can probably completely cure your condition."

"Really?" Lu Mengyao was instantly excited again.

Luo Xiu nodded, "It's unlikely today. My cultivation is too low, and absorbing part of the flame has already reached my limit, so it escaped."

Hearing this, Lu Mengyao couldn't help but think of the scene where the flames burned their clothes, leaving them naked and exposed.

But what surprised her more was how Luo Xiu managed to do it. He could actually absorb the flame power from her Fire Yang Meridian?

She was not ordinary and had seen many things. She reached the Qi Sea Realm at fifteen, and if not for the Fire Yang Meridian, she would have already reached the Xiantian Realm.

However, the Fire Yang Meridian, which even the Divine Soul Martial Ancestor could not solve, was cured by Luo Xiu, a Body Tempering Martial Disciple. If not for her own experience, she would not have believed it.

"Teacher Lu, I'll always be like this..." Luo Xiu said awkwardly.

Looking at the young man sitting on the ground, wrapped in a sheet, looking embarrassed, Lu Mengyao couldn't help but laugh.

But thinking of the embarrassing scene and the title of teacher, it felt somewhat grating to her.

"Wait here, I'll go buy you new clothes."

As she spoke, Lu Mengyao got up and left the room, leaving Luo Xiu alone, wondering why Teacher Lu suddenly laughed.

"Teacher Lu is beautiful, with a great figure, and her smile is even more beautiful." Luo Xiu thought to himself.

Wrapped in the sheet, he sat cross-legged on the ground, suppressing his thoughts and regaining his calm.

He closed his eyes and sensed his internal condition. When he did, he was stunned.

His internal qi was unprecedentedly thick and pure, his blood and qi condensed to the extreme, directly surpassing the eighth stage of Blood Tempering and reaching the ninth stage of Marrow Tempering!

"I've reached the ninth stage of Body Tempering?"

Luo Xiu was shocked, clearly because of the absorption of the flame power.

He opened his palm, and internal qi condensed, forming a red flame in his palm, the scorching heat causing ripples in the air.

"Fire-attribute internal qi?" Luo Xiu was pleasantly surprised again.

As far as he knew, the internal qi of Body Tempering Martial Disciples and the true qi of Qi Sea Martial Artists did not have any attributes.

Only when one reached the Xiantian Martial Master stage would they awaken attribute powers, such as water, fire, wood, earth, wind, and lightning.

But he, still at the Body Tempering stage, had already developed attribute power.

He recalled his insights in the Life and Death Bead, and the red flame in his palm suddenly changed, sometimes transforming into a white flame filled with life energy, and sometimes into a black flame filled with death energy.

The Fire of Life, the Fire of Death...

These were the two extremes of fire attributes.

At the same time, Luo Xiu felt a wave of heat spreading from his lower abdomen's dantian. This was because his internal qi was too thick, and the excess internal qi, including the flame power absorbed from Lu Mengyao, was naturally converging in the dantian.

"My body is approaching saturation, but as long as I refine all the flame power in my dantian, I can continue to absorb, and my cultivation will surely advance rapidly!"

Luo Xiu's eyes lit up, and he couldn't help but feel excited. Treating Teacher Lu's condition was more effective than taking elixirs for cultivation!

Not long after, Lu Mengyao returned with new clothes. The black tight-fitting martial suit fit him well, and with the Shadow Sword on his back, despite his still somewhat youthful face, he exuded a sharp and fierce aura.

"Teacher Lu, I'll come back to treat you in seven days." After dressing, Luo Xiu planned to take his leave.

Lu Mengyao frowned, her eyelashes fluttering, and she gazed at Luo Xiu, "My name is Lu Mengyao, and I'm twenty-one years old, not much older than you."

Luo Xiu was slightly taken aback, wondering why she was telling him her name and age.

Blinking, Luo Xiu cautiously said, "Then I'll call you... Lu Sister? Mengyao Sister?"

"Whatever, just don't call me teacher anymore." For some reason, Lu Mengyao found the title of teacher grating.

...

Wearing a black tight-fitting martial suit and a hood to cover his face, Luo Xiu returned to the Eight-Headed Mountain outpost.

With the Shadow Sword and the Thunderbolt Sword Technique, Luo Xiu came to the Eight-Headed Mountain to improve his strength.

The transformation in his mindset and state of mind made Luo Xiu clearly understand that to become a martial arts expert, he must not slack off in cultivation, as martial cultivation is like rowing upstream.

Most of the Eight-Headed Mountain was inhabited by first-level beasts, with very few second-level beasts, mostly ordinary and medium-level. With Luo Xiu's strength, there should be no significant danger.

For other Body Tempering Martial Disciples, encountering a second-level beast in the Eight-Headed Mountain would be a nightmare, but Luo Xiu was not afraid. The battle with Chen Hu confirmed that he had the strength to face ordinary Qi Sea Martial Artists head-on.

Of course, this training was mainly to hone his sword technique. If the Thunderbolt Sword Technique could reach the Great Success stage, its power would be enough to sweep through most third-grade martial arts!

Time passed without notice, and Luo Xiu had been honing his sword technique in the Eight-Headed Mountain for a month.

Buzz!

The air trembled, and ripples spread. A black sword, like a streak of light, pierced the head of a Fire Cloud Leopard, killing it with one strike.

Clang! The Shadow Sword returned to its sheath, and Luo Xiu smiled. The hard training in sword technique had been effective, and he had reached the Great Success stage of the Thunderbolt Sword Technique, where his strikes were as swift as lightning.

Not only that, but his Dragon Tiger Fist and Inch Step, after the trials of life and death, had surpassed the Great Success stage and reached the realm of divine mastery!

However, even at the divine mastery stage, the Dragon Tiger Fist was not as powerful as the Great Success stage of the Thunderbolt Sword Technique, as sword weapons themselves have extremely strong offensive power.

Now, he could kill first-level beasts with one strike, and even ordinary second-level beasts could be defeated without using his ability to damage life meridians. However, if the second-level beast was more powerful, he would not be a match and could only rely on his advanced Inch Step to escape.

The Qi Sea Realm also has nine stages, and Luo Xiu estimated that his current strength was equivalent to the first to third stages of the Qi Sea Realm.

In addition to his progress in sword technique, every seven days, Luo Xiu would return to Qingyun City to absorb the flame power from Lu Mengyao's heart meridian. His internal qi cultivation had reached the peak of the ninth stage of Body Tempering, and he was not far from breaking through to the Qi Sea Realm.