Within the Black and White Ghost Realm, the dense Yin Qi feels almost tangible, like seaweed, twisting and writhing while being drawn into a vortex by some force.

Li Yuan sits cross-legged at the center of this Yin Qi.

Lady Yan in Cyan Robe is behind him, gently combing his long hair.

As long as the Ghost Realm exists, she will remain undying, able to continuously accompany Li Yuan.

Li Yuan is surrounded by steaming heat, with fire burning inside him, yet Lady Yan can emit piercing cold Yin Qi with a wave of her hand...

Yin and Yang give rise to each other, intertwining in red and black, weaving a mysterious yet slightly warm scene.

...

Time passes day by day...

During this period, Xiaozhao returned a few times, but both Li Yuan and Yan Yu told her not to worry, saying Li Yuan was simply encountering a minor issue during his usual cultivation and there’s nothing major, advising her to enjoy herself while out, eating well, drinking well, and living well.

As parents, naturally, they don’t want their troubles to affect the next generation.

No matter how big the problem, they’ll always say it’s just the size of a sesame seed.

Even with bloody wounds and scars behind their backs, they’ll face their children with a positive smile.

This is the sentiment Li Yuan and Yan Yu hold towards Xiaozhao. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Every time Xiaozhao visited, she naturally couldn’t see any difference from her parents, who could rival the Emperor Yan and Actress, thus she returned reassured to continue being the "Little Saintess of Tang Sect."

This identity allowed her to begin experiencing the joys of life, especially during a few outings with Mrs. Tang, where she enjoyed endless glory and excitement.

She gained friends like Tang Pang and Tang Ling, and developed her own circle.

She even secretly drank alcohol, but it was too spicy for her liking.

However, when with friends, she would force herself to drink a little bit because they all drank, and she didn’t want to drift apart from them.

Seeing Xiaozhao being pacified, Li Yuan and Yan Yu finally breathed a sigh of relief.

...

One day.

Yan Yu quietly watched Li Yuan for a long time before expressing concern: "Husband, I feel the Yang Qi within you is condensing.

Originally, the fierce Yang Qi dispersed all over your body, like countless chaotic air currents running rampantly inside you.

If your body wasn’t strong enough, you might have been cooked by this Yang Qi...

But now, although this Yang Qi is no longer scattered, it has gathered together, and I’m worried... your body might get burned with a hole."

Li Yuan nodded.

Now that his ’high fever’ has subsided, he increasingly realizes his earlier condition.

Initially, it was the compression of "heat derived from fire" that ignited his internal organs.

And the fire he sensed was just an occasional spark formed by these colliding heat flows, appearing randomly, entirely unpredictable.

Now, however, these heat flows are being drawn towards his lungs due to the influence of Yin Qi.

It’s as if troops from the Yang nation are surrounded by soldiers from the Yin nation, slowly shrinking their battlefront, the circle getting smaller but also more cohesive.

At first, he thought the fire was dissipating, but it was instead condensing.

As it drew together, the initially sporadic, randomly appearing fire had become nearly regular.

He felt fire in his lungs.

This made every breath he exhaled carry high heat.

A single breathed-out breath indeed had a hint of the "Giant Dragon Breath" flavor.

Thanks to Lady Yan, who lay on his chest daily cooling him down, using Yin Qi to balance, otherwise his chest would truly burn with a hole.

It’s precisely because he had Lady Yan, such a Yin Qi powerhouse, that Li Yuan dared to attempt, knowing that no matter how strong the fire, his wife could extinguish it.

’Why hasn’t this fire become my power?’

’Even if it’s just a small part, I can use my talent to enhance it to perfection.’

Images of the great fire on the Eternal Night Permafrost drifted in Li Yuan’s mind.

He rested his chin in his hand, pondering deeply.

He wanted to seize the power of that fire, to become stronger.

And now, since the fire is within him, the fact that it hasn’t killed him instantly is already a kind of "fusion."

However, the "fusion" is relatively shallow.

’It’s already in my body, how can I take it further?’

Li Yuan had three ideas:

First, since ghosts exist by connecting to Yin Qi, could he attempt to connect himself to Yang Qi?

Second, treat this fire as Shadow Blood, operating it following the "Ancestral Talisman’s" method, making it similar to the Source Blood that surrounds the Ancestral Talisman.

Third, attempt to press this fire into the heart, as in this world’s power system the heart holds the central position—if the Fifth Grade heart remains intact, rebirth is possible, and with the Fourth Grade, every drop of blood is like a heart, so even a drop can lead to rebirth.

However, the problems with these three ideas are clear.

The first is hypothetical, yet implausible, after all... how can you connect with fire? By standing on it and roasting yourself?

The second one is very challenging; he can manipulate Shadow Blood because it inherently contains the Ancestral Talisman power. But fire differs from Shadow Blood; it condenses passively under Yin Qi "siege," so he can’t actively mobilize it or make it perform complex actions.

The third one is simplest in operation; just drive the fire towards the heart. But the risk is also apparent... one wrong move and he will perform a "charcoal-roasted live heart," essentially cooking himself.

Still, his cultivation truly has hit a stalemate.

Continuing like this, he won’t die, nor make breakthroughs, but he can’t leave the Ghost Realm for long either, as he needs continuous cooling from Yin Qi.

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