Chapter 103: Tenfold Rage Breath

Xu Xuan came to this gorge for the second time. The first time, he had been knocked off the cliff by Xu Dahu, finding life in the face of death, growing stronger through every adversity.

This time, he deliberately glided down from the cliff, yet he felt a different state of mind and a deeper understanding.

Arriving before the cold pool from last time, Xu Xuan sat down where he stood, slowly regulating his entire condition. At first, the essence, qi, and blood within his body flowed like a gentle stream—tranquil and natural. But gradually, the aura emanating from him abruptly shifted. The surging power of flesh and blood within him darted about like spiritual serpents, sometimes swift, sometimes slow, sometimes ethereal as drifting clouds, sometimes cunning and venomous.

At a certain moment, each breath Xu Xuan took could last half a day, while the qi and blood within him surged like a great river, fierce and mighty as rolling thunder.

Xu Xuan remained seated cross-legged, not moving a single inch, as the profound truths of the *Dragon-Snake Nine Transformations* shifted from the initial qualities of suppleness, agility, and grace to the utmost hardness and fierceness that followed—all vividly expressed through the transformations of his inner qi and blood.

He fused every ounce of the essence of each transformation into his flesh, blood, and soul. Any single principle could be switched to at his mere thought, as naturally as an instinctive gesture of raising a hand or lifting a foot.

When these myriad changes reached their final juncture, a series of thunderous roars erupted from Xu Xuan's physical body. The trembling howls began like fierce winds and crashing thunder, then gradually deepened, causing the very air to vibrate in resonance. A faint yet distinct dragon's roar spread through the surroundings, striking dread into all who heard it.

In that instant, within tens of zhang around where Xu Xuan stood, all fell utterly silent. The mountain wind ceased its trembling, the pool's water stopped its ripples, and the very air seemed to congeal... This terrible aura of intimidation, capable of cowing all living beings, proclaimed the release of the power of the ninth transformation of the Dragon-Snake.

Soon, this primitive spiritual aura, born from the human self, suddenly began to gather and continuously draw inward.

In just a few breaths, that primordial spiritual presence was reverse-suppressed and pressed against his entire body.

Xu Xuan's body immediately trembled. His qi, blood, and spirit were compressed and driven to a peak. The power contained within every corner of his body—every inch of flesh and blood, every bone, every drop of vital essence—seemed to boil like bubbling water, erupting with strength that surpassed ordinary human limits.

A fierce, blinding light burst from Xu Xuan's eyes, like a torch in the darkness, striking terror into the heart.

This was the critical first step toward impacting the tenth transformation of the Dragon-Snake!

Through the peak spiritual power of the "Suppression" mantra, he reverse-affected his own body, igniting strength that surpassed the ninth transformation. Xu Xuan felt as if the power within his entire physical frame was like water coming to a boil, ceaselessly climbing, striking, and rising higher...

As time passed, the power within Xu Xuan's flesh grew ever stronger, and in a flash, it climbed to a towering limit—surpassing even the ninth transformation of the Dragon-Snake, far beyond the ninth level of Body Refinement. At last, this power left Xu Xuan only half a step away from the tenth level of Body Refinement.

Half a step further, and it would be Half-Step Tenth Level!

Xu Xuan drew a deep breath and abruptly activated the profound method he had personally created. From that peak, limit-level spiritual power, a roaring fury suddenly surged forth and rapidly spread through his entire body. The spiritual power, compressed to its extreme limit, produced a terrifying spiritual fire that in an instant burned throughout his body, unleashing explosive force like a breached flood.

*Whoosh—boom!*

Xu Xuan felt as if his entire body were violently burning and shaking. The power of his flesh and blood was unleashed and utilized to the utmost, sublimated amid the burning flames.

Finally, when this sublimation reached a certain limit, a faint red aura was conceived and born within his physical body, quickly spreading to envelop his entire form.

In that instant, Xu Xuan seemed to be cloaked in a layer of illusory flames, like a phoenix reborn from the fire, delivering an overwhelming visual impact.

Under such conditions, all the essence, qi, and blood of his life were transformed into this primitive, plain power—one that transcended the mortal realm and stood above ordinary living beings.

*Stomp!*

Xu Xuan's tall, well-proportioned figure rose abruptly from where he sat. The faint red phantom light around him surged faintly upward, radiating immense spiritual pressure.

At the same time, a scorching, soul-seizing aura spread from him as the center, affecting several zhang around. The insects and ants beneath his feet were instantly scorched black, their lives extinguished by the searing heat.

"Half-Step Tenth Level... so this is the power."

Xu Xuan's voice trembled softly, his eyes filled with incomparable excitement and agitation.

This time, he had not relied on any external force. Entirely through his own power, he had stepped into Half-Step Tenth Level.

Now, as he truly and precisely grasped every shred of power belonging to Half-Step Tenth Level, he felt keenly how terrifying it was.

Under such circumstances, even against a Fourth Level Qi Refinement immortal cultivator, Xu Xuan could strike boldly—and even had a chance to emerge victorious.

But this was far from enough...

To step into the complete Tenth Level of Body Refinement and become a primal ancient body cultivator—a being nearly extinct in this world—he had to advance half a step further.

*Hmm!*

He drew a deep breath, and a bright red, serpent-shaped fruit appeared in his hand—the Red Serpent Fruit, a third-grade spirit material of considerable value!

"This final juncture—success or failure, it all rests on this one move..."

A voice echoed from the remnant soul of his past life within his mind. Clearly, it had been watching all along, and the Red Serpent Fruit had been retrieved from the Memory Star Sea.

Without a moment's hesitation, Xu Xuan shoved the Red Serpent Fruit into his mouth.

At first, a sweet, fragrant nectar flowed down from his tongue and throat into his belly.

But in the very next instant, a violent, scorching aura erupted from Xu Xuan's abdomen. In a flash, it dispersed through his five organs, six viscera, and all four limbs and hundred bones, causing his entire body to tremble.

What terrifying potency!

Xu Xuan's brows knit tightly in agony. A sudden sense of crisis seized him. The blazing toxic energy was several times more powerful than he had imagined—it was as if he had been cast into a blazing furnace.

This fierce, fiery venom further fed the faint red phantom light around his body, making him seem to become a great ball of fire.

"Ah—!"

He clutched his head and rolled on the ground, frantically circulating the power of Half-Step Tenth Level in an attempt to guide and digest the energy of the Red Serpent Fruit. But as a third-grade spirit material, the medicinal power it contained was simply horrifying. Even though he had now stepped into Half-Step Tenth Level, it was nearly impossible to bear.

*Splash!*

Xu Xuan leaped into the cold pool. The reason he had chosen this place to consume the Red Serpent Fruit and to assault the Tenth Level of Body Refinement was naturally deliberate and fully anticipated.

The cold pool contained a yin-cold energy that, upon touching his whole body, quickly eased the burning venom within him.

*Hiss—*

Around the area where Xu Xuan was submerged, a thin veil of steam rose. Even the icy pool water rapidly grew hot, like boiling water.

*Gurgle, gurgle...*

Xu Xuan was entirely enveloped in a layer of crimson phantom light. Inside and out, his body was ceaselessly burning, and from a distance, he looked like a figure of firelight.

Throughout this process, Xu Xuan experienced a wondrous sensation—as if every inch of his flesh, blood, skin, and bone were being sublimated and transformed within the flames.

To put it simply, the feeling was akin to the numbing electric tingle produced after practicing one of the transformations in the Nine-Word Change Arts, but a hundred times more intense!

Xu Xuan grunted in agony, enduring the terrible searing blaze at every moment. He sank deeper into the cold pool, silently following the principles he had comprehended on his own to drive his entire strength.

As the principles advanced, that fierce flame began to merge into his body, further burning and accelerating the sublimation and transformation of every inch of his flesh, blood, skin, and bone. The burning pain multiplied without cease, surpassing the limits of both his physical body and his spirit.

If this continued, not only would he fail to break through to the Tenth Level, his physical form would likely explode and be destroyed, and his soul would be burned to cinders as well.

"There's only one last method left..."

Xu Xuan endured the scorching agony at the absolute limit of body and spirit alike. Relying on memory, he swam toward a certain place deep within the cold pool.

Soon, a strange herb that seemed entirely coated in silver frost appeared in his vision. Its surface shimmered with a faint, lustrous glow and exuded a biting cold.

*Whoosh!*

Xu Xuan reached out and grabbed hold of the silver-frosted herb. Had he touched this thing back when he was at the Third Level of Body Refinement, his blood and veins would have been frozen solid in an instant.

But today, wrapped as he was in this terrifying burning, scorching aura, Xu Xuan felt an unusual chill of relief.

As for the grade of this silver-frosted herb, even if it was slightly inferior to the Red Serpent Fruit, it was at least a rare third-grade cold-attributed spirit material.

With the aid of this cold strange herb, Xu Xuan's body and spirit were both shrouded in a layer of coolness. His mind remained clear and lucid, and in a state of tortoise-breath stillness, he pushed the final transformations of the Tenth Change to their completion.

Deep within the cold pool, the fiery-red aura outside Xu Xuan's body could be seen slowly receding, steadily merging completely into his flesh, blood, and bones.

After a long while, the burning and agony within him were compressed to an extreme. His entire body alternately swelled and contracted, like a volcano on the verge of eruption—enough to make anyone's heart leap with terror.

*Bang—splash!*

A fiery-red figure shot out from the cold pool, sending water spraying in all directions as it soared instantly to a height of twenty or thirty zhang in the sky.

"Roar—!"

At the very peak of the arc, the crimson phantom figure suddenly transformed into a blur of shadows—now fists, now palms—striking at the void. Wave after wave of powerful air currents blasted in all directions, yet his body did not fall.

When all the movements reached their finale, a dazzling crimson light burned across his entire body. The human silhouette instantly shifted into a spiritual serpent, and in the next moment, transformed into a dragon's shadow.

The fiery-red dragon shadow hovered briefly in midair, then from above, it drew in a long breath. All the crimson aura covering its body was instantly drained, condensed into its mouth.

At that instant, the surrounding void seemed to freeze, compressed to the very limit.

*Roar!*

A heaven-shaking dragon's cry, carrying boundless rage, resounded between heaven and earth. Within ten li, countless living creatures trembled and bowed their heads, as if the whole land itself were enduring the fury of a single roar.

And at the same moment the dragon's howl shook the soul—

*Whoosh!*

A quivering, crystalline torrent of crimson flame burst forth from the dragon-shaped figure's maw, like the furious breath of an ancient fire dragon, slanting toward the cliff wall across the way.

*Boom!*

The entire cliff face shook violently. A raging, fiery storm of fury swept across twenty zhang in an instant. Nearby vegetation and living things were instantly reduced to ash.

On that cliff of iron-hard stone, a pit several zhang in diameter was left behind—charred black, as if struck by a boulder, still radiating terrifying high temperatures.

"You're absolutely reckless... You've only just stepped into the Tenth Level of Body Refinement and you try to unleash such a Dragon's Rage Breath—a technique that surpasses your own cultivation!"

From within his mind came the urgent, panicked voice of the remnant soul from his past life.

After unleashing that strike, Xu Xuan, still in his dragon-form in midair, had only a faint, dim red aura left, slowly receding into his body.

His face was pale, his entire body limp—as if all his essence, qi, and spirit had been drained in an instant, his vitality gravely wounded.

"Ah, who knew the Red Serpent Fruit's power would be so terrifying? Combined with the Rage mantra, it was like dry wood meeting fire—the exploding force was simply beyond control. I figured I might as well use the Dragon's Rage Breath I hadn't fully comprehended, draining over ninety percent of my power in a single moment. Hahaha... much more comfortable now!"

Xu Xuan first sighed bitterly, then broke into a relieved and proud smile.

At this very moment, though his body was utterly spent, he had successfully stepped into the Tenth Level of Body Refinement—and had even attempted a forbidden, half-finished secret art!