“Ah…” Shi Hao roared in grief and indignation, like a wounded lone wolf under the moonlight, left to taste his pain alone, sinking into the abyss of solitude.
This outcome was too tragic. Though he had long known that entering the foreign realm would bring no good end, the sheer wretchedness of it still filled him with sorrow.
He was a cultivator, a powerhouse who sought transcendence with single-minded devotion. The path he had walked—through storms and trials, from weakness to strength—had been arduous beyond measure.
Yet, in a single moment, all his achievements were reduced to nothing.
How could he accept this?
Even someone as resilient as Shi Hao felt his life had turned bleak, devoid of hope. At this moment, death seemed preferable.
But he was not one to surrender. When he entered the foreign realm, he had never considered the cowardice of suicide. He had resisted, fought against fate.
Yet, in the end, he could change nothing. Misfortune had descended upon him far too swiftly.
“Fellow Daoist, your actions are too excessive. How will you explain this to the Immortal King?” Even those seated on the meditation mats could no longer remain composed.
Especially the three powerhouses from the foreign realm—their expressions darkened, and they abruptly stood. This punishment was far too severe, unlike what they had anticipated.
“He is not completely crippled, only half so. His soul force has not fully collapsed,” the elder of the Gu Clan said calmly, utterly indifferent.
“You—” The Imperial Clan’s supreme expert glared at him with icy eyes.
“Fellow Daoist, spare him for now,” even the golden-furred old lion whispered in secret counsel, urging him not to act rashly.
“Heh…” The Gu Clan elder chuckled, unperturbed. “Rest assured, as long as his soul is not destroyed, there will be no issue. We can answer to the Ancient Ancestor.”
Everyone felt this old man was far too ruthless.
Though he smiled, his gleaming white teeth sent chills down their spines. Had he truly just crippled Huang?
No one took his words seriously. At this point, what did it matter if it was only “half” crippling? In their eyes, Huang had no hope left.
Shi Hao’s soul grew dimmer. He could clearly sense strands of his secret power being drained, unraveled—his strength fading.
“Be careful! The restrictions in his soul are about to be triggered!” the Fallen Ancient Monk warned gravely.
If that happened, Huang wouldn’t just be crippled—he would explode on the spot, body and soul annihilated.
Shi Hao felt himself weakening, like a candle flame in the wind, flickering on the verge of extinguishing. His life force was nearly drained.
He didn’t know whether to grieve or rejoice. The moment his cultivation was severed, despair had consumed him. Yet now, as his life source wavered, he sighed softly—perhaps an early end would be liberation.
“Heh… Don’t worry, I know my limits. He won’t die,” the Gu Clan elder said with a faint smile.
Through the translucent furnace walls, Shi Hao watched them, his gaze lingering on the Gu Clan elder. Why was this man targeting him so fiercely—more so than the old lion or the foreign realm’s forces?
“Young man, do you despair? Are you thinking of ending yourself?” the Gu Clan elder asked.
Shi Hao had been consumed by hatred, drowning in darkness. But now, he suddenly awakened, his mind clearing. He stared coldly, refusing to answer.
Though his soul-light was dim, Shi Hao no longer wallowed in sorrow or rage. Instead, he fell into an eerie calm, silent and unmoving.
He would not take his own life. Even if crippled, he would treat this as his final experience, his last lesson. He refused to succumb to weakness.
“Come then. Let me taste this pain, this suffering, this wound… I already knew the road ahead was dark. What is there to regret?” Shi Hao murmured.
In the distance, the students gasped, sensing his emotions through the furnace walls. They were stunned—was Huang truly so thick-skinned, or was his willpower just that unbreakable?
This ordeal was terrifying just to witness. Had it been them, they would have long despaired.
Yet Huang was still savoring it? Deliberately enduring? What a monster!
The younger generation’s gazes toward the furnace shifted. They glimpsed something of Huang’s nature—his indomitable will, the very reason he had crushed all opponents in his path.
A cultivator like this possessed an unshakable Dao heart.
Inside the furnace, crimson flowers bloomed one after another—the final stages of refining the human elixir. Shi Hao’s bones, blood, flesh, and organs were being distilled, nearing completion.
A strange fragrance wafted out, stirring mixed reactions. Some greedily inhaled, while others frowned, unnerved by the ominous aura of the furnace’s brew.
Suddenly, Shi Hao’s soul erupted with light, shaking the entire furnace!
“Stop it, now!”
The old lion of the Fearless Lion lineage roared—the first time it had ever lost composure—urging the furnace’s power to be halted.
Huang was critically wounded, his soul unstable. If the restrictions in his mind were triggered, he would explode.
And if Huang perished, how would they answer to the Immortal King? None of them could bear that wrath!
“Reverse the Yin-Yang forces, now! Or it’ll be too late!” the Imperial Clan supreme bellowed, equally frantic.
This was a replica of the Yin-Yang Furnace, capable of inverting the forces of creation and destruction.
Boom!
The furnace blazed as the Gu Clan elder formed seals, intensifying the flames.
Inside, Shi Hao’s soul did not explode. The power that had brushed against his mind’s restrictions was severed, preserving his life—his soul remained intact.
But the Yin-Yang forces still wounded his soul, leaving it so dim it nearly flickered out entirely.
“What are you doing? Do you truly seek to destroy him?!” the Imperial Clan supreme roared.
“He still lives. His soul remains. Be cautious, and there will be no issue,” the Gu Clan elder replied.
Now, the soul within the furnace was so faint it seemed a mere breeze could scatter it. Few believed it could survive.
Everyone agreed—the Gu Clan elder was too cruel.
Huang, a peerless genius, had his Dao severed just like that? Such a wretched end!
“No! Huang’s condition is too unstable. We must intervene and save him!” the foreign being exuding traces of immortality barked.
The old lion was speechless. Even it felt the Gu Clan elder had gone too far. The situation had spiraled out of control.
“Restoring him will be difficult. His body and soul were tempered on the other side of Imperial Pass, where the laws were incomplete. After being refined in our realm, his Dao fruit is utterly ruined. To restore him, we’d need heavenly treasures to retemper him in our complete laws—but the cost is too great. There’s no need to waste such effort on him,” the Gu Clan elder said.
At the hall’s entrance, the academy students dared not even breathe. They could feel the fury radiating from the supremes.
“You—what have you done? If Huang’s soul dissipates, how will you answer to the Immortal King?!” a foreign supreme hissed.
“Was it not the higher-ups who decreed his refinement? The decision came from above,” the Gu Clan elder retorted. Then he added, “We can take his soul to my clan and use the true Yin-Yang Furnace. Only then can we break the restrictions in his mind.”
More refinement? The Imperial Clan supreme nearly cursed him outright.
At the very least, in Huang’s current state, no further reckless actions could be taken.
Days later, high-ranking figures from various clans arrived at War God Academy—all supreme experts.
Upon assessing Shi Hao’s condition, some were visibly furious, on the verge of erupting.
“Absolutely not! We cannot send Huang to the Gu Clan’s Yin-Yang Furnace. He could die at any moment!”
Yet the Gu Clan insisted they had done no wrong. They had long stated that only the true Yin-Yang Furnace could refine Shi Hao and break the seal in his mind. But initial opposition had forced them to use a replica in War God Academy.
“That true furnace is sinister! How can we trust it?!” another faction argued.
“Enough! Regardless, we must stabilize Huang. His condition is dire—he must be restored!” someone snapped.
They feared the Immortal King’s wrath upon his return. Perhaps Huang’s mind wasn’t the true prize—maybe the Ancient Ancestor had other plans for him.
Considering this, many grew uneasy.
Some understood that this era would be anything but peaceful. Perhaps the most dazzling collision in history was imminent. The Ancient Ancestor’s will could not be interfered with.
“Retemper his Dao fruit in our realm. Restore him!” someone commanded coldly.
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