Chapter 196: Chapter 196: Nine Transitions of Heart Fire, Melting Furnace Minor Achievement

This was no ordinary wood carving. Grandmaster Yue Lianshan had used his supreme Spiritual Cultivation to fuse a portion of his own understanding of the *Hundred Refinements Melting Furnace*—or rather, the True Intention of the "Melting Furnace"—into this small piece of wood!

It possessed no Energy of its own, but it was a key, a catalyst, an incredibly intuitive "instructional model"!

Xu Wuyi suppressed the shock and excitement in his heart. Without hesitation, he immediately placed the wood carving on the ground before him, closed his eyes once more, and began to circulate the Heart Method of the *Hundred Refinements Melting Furnace*.

His Qi and Blood slowly flowed along a specific path as his consciousness sank into his body, attempting to capture and guide the faint wisp of "Heart Fire."

This time was completely different.

As he entered a state of cultivation and his Spirit became highly focused, the imagery of the "volcano" naturally resonated with his own practice.

Through what felt like Introspection, he could see his own body transforming into a small Melting Furnace. His Dantian was the mouth of the volcano, and his surging Qi and Blood were the churning, accumulating lava within.

In his previous cultivation, he could only vaguely sense the scorching heat of his Heart Fire. He was always shrouded in a fog when it came to the finer points of "Refinement" and "Purification" of his Qi and Blood, knowing the "what" but not the "how" or "why."

But now, with the "template" provided by the Volcanic Wood Carving, that fog had been dispelled.

He "saw" that the lava inside the volcano wasn’t churning randomly. Instead, it was moving in an extremely complex and orderly fashion, governed by some immense pressure and invisible laws.

Impurities were expelled, the essence was condensed, and Energy was compressed...

Inspiration struck, and he tried to imitate this "Intention."

He no longer used brute force to drive his Qi and Blood. Instead, he highly concentrated his Spiritual Will, making it like the invisible pressure field inside the volcano, meticulously permeating his surging Qi and Blood.

A slight shift in his thoughts, like an invisible carving knife, guided a thin stream of Qi and Blood. Imitating the way Energy swirled into vortexes within the lava, it began to slowly rotate and compress.

It was extremely difficult at first. The toll on his Heart and Spirit was immense; the slightest lapse in concentration and the faint, newly formed "vortex" would instantly dissipate.

But Xu Wuyi was not discouraged. His Spiritual Power, tempered by the long-term, stringent demands of the *Martial Arts Diligence Record*, was already far tougher than that of an ordinary person.

He failed again and again, and he started over again and again.

Meanwhile, he continuously referred to the mental image of the flowing volcanic lava, adjusting how he used his Spiritual Power, searching for that subtle feeling of "pressure without force, guidance without release."

Time flew by as he remained focused.

Sweat beaded on his forehead and slid down his cheeks, but he was completely oblivious.

After an unknown amount of time, during yet another attempt, the thin stream of Qi and Blood, enveloped and compressed by his Spiritual Power, reached a critical point. Instead of dissipating as it had before, it suddenly contracted inward!

HUMMM!

An extremely faint hum emanated from within his body.

The wisp of Qi and Blood seemed to have shrunk slightly, but its color had grown deeper, and the Energy it contained felt even more condensed and pure!

A "current of heat" was born—far hotter than before, yet more docile and controllable—and it slowly merged into his Heart Fire.

’Success!’

An indescribable joy surged through Xu Wuyi.

He had finally found the feeling of performing microscopic Refinement through the "Mental Control of Qi and Blood"!

This wasn’t a one-step process. His recent success had only refined an insignificant wisp of Qi and Blood—a mere drop in the ocean compared to the vast total in his body.

Moreover, this kind of control was extremely taxing on his Heart and Spirit and couldn’t be sustained for long.

But it was undoubtedly a breakthrough, a first step. It meant he had truly set foot on the correct path of "Purification" and "Compression" that followed the Seventh Transition.

He opened his eyes and looked at the silent Volcanic Wood Carving, his gaze filled with gratitude.

With this Grandmaster’s True Intention to guide him, he no longer needed to fumble about blindly and could avoid countless dead ends.

To him, this gift was more precious than any Divine Weapon or Miracle Elixir!

He once again calmed his mind, referencing the volcanic imagery as he threw himself back into the incredibly tedious, yet deeply fulfilling, "Mental Refinement."

Each successful microscopic Compression deepened his understanding of his Qi and Blood and strengthened his control over his Heart Fire.

The progress on his Seventh Transition of Heart Fire, which had long been stagnant, finally began to advance once more at a slow but steady pace.

In the Cultivation Room, Xu Wuyi’s aura grew deeper and more condensed. The circulation of his Qi and Blood faintly took on a rhythm like the movement of earth fire—suppressed, yet majestic.

...

「In mid-April, in the underground Cultivation Room of Hidden Dragon Garden No. 7, the temperature was unusually high.」

Xu Wuyi sat cross-legged and bare-chested at the center of the Earth Fire Marrow Lamp’s halo. His skin glowed an unnatural crimson, and wisps of white steam rose from his pores, gathering into a small, churning cloud above his head.

The air was thick with a scorching aura, as if an invisible Melting Furnace were operating at full capacity.

Within his body, the sound of his surging Qi and Blood was like the roar of subterranean magma.

His circulation of the *Hundred Refinements Melting Furnace* had reached its most critical moment.

Aided by the Volcanic Wood Carving from Grandmaster Yue Lianshan, Xu Wuyi’s understanding of the Mental Refinement of Qi and Blood had progressed by leaps and bounds.

The imagery of "Melting All Things" was deeply seared into his consciousness, pushing his Heart Fire to charge toward its final Perfection.

The Eighth Transition... the peak of the Eighth Transition...

Every transition of the Heart Fire was accompanied by an indescribable mix of agony and ecstasy.

His Qi and Blood were compressed and purified to the extreme. Impurities were mercilessly incinerated by the Heart Fire, and the remaining essence grew ever more condensed, like flowing crimson gold.

At this moment, he was guiding this majestic and pure power, launching a final assault on the Ninth Transition.

"VMMMM—"

Within his Dantian, the crimson-gold Heart Fire, which had already grown to the size of a candle flame, suddenly erupted with an unprecedented radiance!

The Ninth Transition!

The foundation he had accumulated for so long erupted completely at this moment. The Heart Fire completed its final qualitative transformation, its color shifting from crimson-gold to a deeper, more reserved dark gold.

BOOM!

Xu Wuyi felt a tremendous crash in his mind, as if some kind of shackle had been violently shattered.

The surging Qi and Blood throughout his body instantly found a new home. No longer needing his deliberate guidance, it began to circulate on its own with a roar, following the complex pathways of the *Hundred Refinements Melting Furnace* at the Minor Success Realm.

A self-sustaining cycle, repeating endlessly, ever-flowing!

An aura several times more powerful than before spread uncontrollably from his body, sending the fine dust on the floor rolling outward.

He snapped his eyes open, and deep within his pupils, two clusters of dark gold flames seemed to flash before vanishing.

[Martial Art: Hundred Refinements Melting Furnace]

[Current Realm: Minor Achievement (0.9%)]

[Martial Arts Trait: Heart Fire (Ninth Transition)]

[Evaluation: Melting Furnace initially formed. Foundation reshaped.]

The data on the *Martial Arts Diligence Record* appeared clearly: the *Hundred Refinements Melting Furnace* had indeed entered the Minor Success Realm!