’With this in mind,’ Shen Haoran sat down cross-legged. ’Since refining the Fire Spirit will be so difficult, I must first restore myself to peak condition!’

After a while, Shen Haoran opened his eyes again. He was full of vigor, all traces of his previous travel fatigue gone.

"Elder Yan, let’s begin!" Shen Haoran said, his voice grave.

"Mm." At his words, Elder Yan formed a Seal Technique. The black Fire Spirit slowly floated over and stopped in front of Shen Haoran.

Being so close to the Fire Spirit Black Obsidian, Shen Haoran’s skin began to turn bright red, as if he were being steamed, and he felt like he was about to melt. Elder Yan had already sent Ji Lingxuan far away. After all, her Nine Yin Profound Spirit Body was an Extremely Yin Body. Encountering this object of ultimate yang would likely cause the Nine Nether Qi in her body to flare up and erupt prematurely.

"Even though Hei Yao has lost its Fire Spirit Pearl, its power is still not something you can control in your current state. Take out the Red Flame Jade Lotus; it will help you absorb a portion of the Fire Spirit’s energy. Also, consume the Ice Jade Marrow first. Otherwise, you won’t even be able to touch the Fire Spirit!" Elder Yan said quickly.

Hearing this, Shen Haoran took out the Red Flame Jade Lotus and plopped down on it. He immediately felt the Fire Spirit’s temperature drop significantly. Then, he took a Jade Bottle from his Storage Ring and carefully opened the Jade Plug. As soon as the plug was opened, a blast of cold air rushed out, making Shen Haoran shiver involuntarily.

"Worthy of something I spent two million on!" Shen Haoran exclaimed in admiration. Now, he couldn’t feel the heat radiating from the Fire Spirit at all.

"Drink it and begin!"

At these words, Shen Haoran nodded grimly and drained the Ice Jade Marrow from the bottle in one gulp. The moment the Ice Jade Marrow entered his stomach, he felt as if he had been thrown into the arctic. His entire body was frozen from the inside out. A layer of frost and ice instantly formed on his long black hair and skin. Even his Spiritual Thought was about to lose consciousness!

Feeling his body gradually stiffening, Shen Haoran grabbed the Fire Spirit Black Obsidian and shoved it into his mouth! He began circulating the Chaos Heaven-Dominating Technique, preparing to refine it.

BOOM! With a muffled explosion, the Fire Spirit seemed to sense the danger. Its energy erupted in an instant, and countless black flames raged within Shen Haoran’s body.

Fortunately, the Ice Jade Marrow had frozen all of Shen Haoran’s meridians and bones, so the Fire Spirit’s initial eruption didn’t cause much damage. However, under the terrifyingly high temperature, the thick layer of ice on his bones and meridians began to melt at a visible rate. Slowly, Shen Haoran started to feel a searing pain.

"How is he?" After Shen Haoran swallowed the Fire Spirit, Ji Lingxuan returned to Elder Yan’s side, watching Shen Haoran nervously.

Elder Yan watched the layer of ice slowly melting on Shen Haoran’s skin, his own heart growing tense. He said in a low voice, "The refinement has only just truly begun. The pain, too, is just beginning! Whether or not he can succeed will depend on Shen the kid’s own fortune!"

Sure enough, the moment Elder Yan’s voice fell, an even more terrifying surge of power erupted from within Shen Haoran. An unimaginably high temperature instantly incinerated his robes, leaving only a naked body sitting cross-legged on the Red Flame Jade Lotus.

"Ngh..."

The intense pain forced a low grunt from Shen Haoran. His brow furrowed tightly, and he bit his lips so hard that they bled. But under the extreme heat, the blood evaporated in an instant.

Not only that, but Shen Haoran’s skin, once as fair as a baby’s, also turned crimson. Blisters slowly began to rise on its surface, a horrifying sight to behold.

Inside Shen Haoran’s body, things were an even greater mess. Although he possessed the Chaos Divine Body, had been tempered by a Fire Attribute supreme treasure like the Red Flame Jade Marrow, reshaped by the Ancient Divine Relics, and had merged with the Divine Artifact, the Soul-devouring Sword, he still couldn’t withstand the Fire Spirit’s full-blown eruption.

Under the Fire Spirit’s rampant destruction, Shen Haoran’s meridians had become shriveled and withered, and his bones glowed bright red, like molten iron.

Shen Haoran had no good solution for this. He could only mobilize Spiritual Power from his Spirit Sea, using it to protect his vital organs from being melted while desperately trying to guide the Fire Spirit’s source to follow the cultivation path of the Chaos Heaven-Dominating Technique.

But faced with such a wild and untamable Fire Spirit, no matter how hard Shen Haoran pulled, it remained motionless, even growing more savage.

In this stalemate, Shen Haoran’s entire body grew redder and redder—a sign that his blood was about to evaporate and burst from his body! Moreover, an even more serious problem emerged: his Spiritual Power was nearly depleted from the struggle with the Fire Spirit. The Spirit Sea within his Dantian was now almost completely dry.

However, in this Underworld, there was no abundant Spiritual Power for Shen Haoran to absorb. If this continued, his heart and other organs, no longer protected by Spiritual Power, would likely be incinerated by the Fire Spirit in an instant.

"This is bad!" Sensing Shen Haoran’s weakening aura, Elder Yan seemed to realize the crux of the problem. He immediately took out the Spirit Medicines he had purchased from his Storage Ring, refined them into pure Energy, and channeled it into Shen Haoran’s body.

However, these were merely Low Level Spirit Medicines he had bought. The Energy they provided was just a drop in the bucket for Shen Haoran.

"Let me!" Seeing Shen Haoran’s condition worsening, Ji Lingxuan stopped Elder Yan from continuing to channel Energy. She then lightly tapped her forehead with a jade-like finger, and a red imprint appeared on her body.

Elder Yan was no stranger to this red imprint. It was the Seal Shen Haoran had placed on her—the Nine Nether Reincarnation Seal.

Seeing Ji Lingxuan’s actions, Elder Yan knew what she was about to do and hurriedly tried to stop her. "Little girl, do you know what you’re doing? Shen the kid is risking his life to refine this Fire Spirit not just for himself, but to save you! If you undo the Nine Nether Reincarnation Seal now, the backlash from the Nine Nether Qi will kill you! Even if Shen the kid succeeds in his refinement, if he opens his eyes to see your corpse, do you think he would ever forgive himself?"

"Elder Yan, I know," Ji Lingxuan said calmly. "But I won’t just stand by and watch something happen to Brother Haoran! Don’t worry, I know my limits. I’m just going to crack the Seal a little to let the Nine Nether Qi and the Fire Spirit balance each other out, relieving some of the pressure on Brother Haoran."

"You... Are you sure? The Nine Nether Qi is not so easily controlled!" Elder Yan said with a frown.

"No. But I won’t joke with my own life, because my life isn’t just mine—it’s Brother Haoran’s too!" After speaking, a bone-chilling aura erupted from within her. On her forehead, the previously complete Nine Nether Reincarnation Seal split open, and Nine Nether Qi spewed forth from the crack, causing the surrounding temperature to plummet instantly.

As the Nine Nether Qi leaked out, Ji Lingxuan gritted her teeth, enduring its backlash as she guided it into Shen Haoran’s body.

At that moment, Shen Haoran, who was locked in a final, desperate struggle with the Fire Spirit inside him, suddenly felt a cool sensation spread through his body. His blurry consciousness immediately sharpened. With the help of this cold energy, the Fire Spirit’s temperature dropped drastically. Although it was still excruciating, it was now within the range he could handle.

"Ling Xuan, you..." Shen Haoran opened his eyes. When he saw Ji Lingxuan’s pale face from the backlash of the Nine Nether Qi, his heart ached.

"Brother Haoran, I’m suppressing the Fire Spirit’s temperature for you! Hurry up and refine it!" Ji Lingxuan said through gritted teeth, her voice trembling.

After taking a deep look at Ji Lingxuan, Shen Haoran closed his eyes again. He focused his Heart Spirit on the Fire Spirit, now suppressed by the Nine Nether Qi within his meridians, his resolve becoming unshakable.

’Ji Lingxuan undid the Nine Nether Reincarnation Seal to help me. If I fail, she will certainly die! For her sake, I must succeed this time!’

At this thought, an unknown power erupted from within Shen Haoran. His previously depleted Spirit Sea began to churn, and a long dragon formed from Spiritual Power directly swallowed the Fire Spirit!

With the Nine Nether Qi suppressing it, the Fire Spirit had no time to deal with the threat from Shen Haoran. It could only allow the dragon of Spiritual Power to carry it through the withered and shriveled meridians.

Soon, the dragon of Spiritual Power had carried the Fire Spirit through one full cycle of the Chaos Heaven-Dominating Technique’s cultivation path. Now, under the baptism of the Chaos Heaven-Dominating Technique, the Fire Spirit began to grow docile.

"Again!" Shen Haoran roared, making the dragon of Spiritual Power continue its circuits.

Just like that, after ten cycles, the Fire Spirit was completely refined. It was now incredibly tame and obedient, showing none of its previous wild untamability.

"Shen the kid, now! Absorb it into the Spirit Pill in your Dantian!" Elder Yan prompted from the outside.

Hearing this, Shen Haoran guided the dragon of Spiritual Power back into his Dantian, bringing the Fire Spirit to the Spirit Pill above his Spirit Sea.

At this point, the Fire Spirit seemed to sense danger again and grew restless. The dragon of Spiritual Power was actually starting to lose its grip on it!

Shen Haoran was shocked to see this, but before he could react, the golden Spirit Pill burst with light. A terrifying suction force pulled the Fire Spirit directly into it, so fast that Shen Haoran didn’t even have time to react. He had thought another big fight was about to break out!

After the golden Spirit Pill devoured the Fire Spirit, its color began to change. The gold slowly dimmed until, finally, it turned pitch-black.

"This..." Shen Haoran stared at the pitch-black Spirit Pill, his face a mask of disbelief.