Fang Lin sat cross-legged in the absolute center of Peak 74, the concealing ward isolating him from the rest of the sect. Resting on his palms was the Abyssal Flame Core-Stone. The fist-sized, glowing red jewel pulsed like a living heart, radiating a heat that would have melted the bones of an ordinary cultivator.
*A Heavenly-grade resource,* Fang Lin thought, his eyes reflecting the deep crimson glow. *With this, my foundation will rise to another level.*
Before the thought even fully settled in his mind, a violent tremor shook his Spiritual Sea.
*"Mine."*
The girly, ancient voice of the Dark Flame Spirit didn't just echo; it surged with predatory instinct. A tendril of absolute black fire shot down from his glabella, racing through his meridians with terrifying speed. The Spirit had entirely bypassed Fang Lin's conscious control, lunging to devour the Heavenly fire essence in a single gulp.
But just as the black flame reached his chest, a profound, heavy pulse vibrated from the very center of his Spiritual Sea.
*OM.*
The Cosmic Grey Seed, usually dormant and passive, suddenly spun. A wave of ancient, supreme pressure cascaded downward. It hit the tendril of black fire like a physical wall, instantly suppressing the Dark Flame Spirit's chaotic hunger and forcing the black fire to retreat back into the Ancient Spatial Furnace.
*"Insolent pebble,"* the Dark Flame Spirit hissed, though it made no further attempt to strike. It knew better than to directly challenge the Grey Seed.
Fang Lin let out a long breath, wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead. "This was the first time after entering the Black Tortoise Mountain, the grey seed had ever acted proactively."
He looked down at his own hands. The sheer density and power of the Abyssal Flame Core-Stone reminded him of a critical limitation. His current body, despite the incredible tempering of the Asura Flesh, had reached a structural bottleneck. If he absorbed too much raw energy, his singular Dantian would buckle under the gravitational pressure of his existing Tri-Core system.
It was time.
He closed his eyes and summoned the ancient mnemonic of the *Chaos Phantom Extreme Physique*. To progress further, to safely house greater power, he had to initiate the Second Extreme Revolution: *The Myriad Core Expansion*.
"I need fuel," Fang Lin said aloud. "An absurd amount. The physical rewrite of Second Extreme Revolution will tear my body apart if I run dry halfway."
*"You sit on a volcano, boy,"* the Dark Flame Spirit sneered. *"Let me show you how to truly eat."*
Without waiting for Fang Lin's permission, the Dark Flame Spirit extended its influence outward. Within seconds, a complex, jagged formation of black fire etched itself into the stone floor of the courtyard. The formation immediately locked onto the massive earth-fire array that powered Peak 74.
The ground trembled. The ambient fire essence of the entire peak was forcefully siphoned into the courtyard, condensing into a swirling vortex of blinding orange fire. But instead of channeling this raw, volatile energy directly into Fang Lin's flesh, the Dark Flame Spirit funneled it straight into his glabella.
The raw fire essence crashed into the Cosmic Grey Seed.
The Seed spun wildly. Acting as a supreme cosmic filter, it instantly stripped away the chaotic heat and violent elemental impurities. What poured out from the bottom of the Seed was a thick, silver-grey liquid—pure, unadulterated cosmic energy.
This supreme cosmic energy, which acted as the fuel, flooded into Fang Lin's meridians.
"Now," Fang Lin roared.
He triggered the Second Extreme Revolution.
The pain was instantaneous and absolute. It felt as though an invisible giant had reached into his stomach and crushed his Dantian in a closed fist. Fang Lin's back arched violently, a primal scream tearing from his throat. His Asura Flesh bulged, veins turning entirely black as the cosmic fuel forcefully rewrote his biological existence.
His Dantian didn't just break; it folded. Space within his center warped, folding inward upon itself to create isolated, multi-layered spatial pockets designed to keep extreme energies from destroying one another.
At the same time, a layer of phantom insulation violently coated his meridians, separating them from the physical constraints of his flesh.
It was an agonizing, flawless evolution mapped out by the Chaos Phantom Extreme Physique.
But then, an anomaly occurred.
The Extreme Physique's spatial folding was designed for a standard, singular meridian network. It assumed the cultivator possessed a normal internal architecture.
Fang Lin did not.
Years ago, he had forcefully abandoned traditional cultivation to forge the *Tri-River Meridian* system—three distinct, parallel rivers of energy designed to support his Frost, Life, and Death cores.
As the cosmic fuel attempted to fold the space around his Dantian, it collided violently with the rigid, unnatural structure of the Tri-River system. The two conflicting architectures—the supreme physical evolution and Fang Lin's own forged path—clashed.
For a terrifying second, Fang Lin thought his body was going to explode. The pain multiplied tenfold.
*CRACK!*
Instead of exploding, the Tri-River system forced a mutation. Unable to safely bypass the three established rivers, the spatial folding ripped a new path entirely.
Inside his Dantian, a massive, echoing, empty fourth spatial pocket was violently torn open alongside the other three. Simultaneously, a brand new parallel meridian was violently carved through his flesh, connecting directly to this empty void.
Fang Lin collapsed onto the stone floor, gasping for air, his vision swimming in a sea of red and black.
The brutal evolution was very quick and extremely painful. His Asura Flesh radiated a heavy, primordial density, having survived the rewrite.
But as his internal vision stabilized, Fang Lin stared at the center of his Dantian in absolute bewilderment.
There were his three cores: Frost, Life, and Death, spinning in their isolated pockets. And right beside them, perfectly stable and structurally integrated into a new four-pillar meridian system, was a massive, echoing void.
An empty pocket. Waiting for a core.
Deep within his Spiritual Sea, the Dark Flame Spirit stared down at that empty spatial void. Its chaotic, mocking laughter had vanished, replaced by an intense, deeply calculating silence.
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