Without further ado, Illusory Zither continued her assault on the cage. The extreme power of her ice slammed into it again and again as she tried to freeze the Fire Dragon Stone bars solid, break them, and escape.

However, her ice was clearly not powerful enough. No matter how she battered the stone pillars, the cold was quickly suppressed by the surrounding Fire Dragon Stone, forcing the frigid energy back. By now, Illusory Zither’s face was deathly pale from overexertion, but she clenched her jaw, determined to destroy the cage with all her might. It was her only hope.

’Is her power not enough...?’

Yi Tianyun stood up and walked into the space. A searing heatwave immediately washed over him, seeping in through his pores. He instantly felt a scorching power churning within him, but it didn’t affect him in the slightest.

Yi Tianyun frowned. ’The stele has been lifted, so why is this power still so terrifying?’ As he stepped further in, he felt the flames were even more frightening. No wonder Illusory Zither couldn’t break the cage. The ambient suppression alone was more than enough to overwhelm her; it was a miracle she had lasted this long.

At that moment, Illusory Zither could no longer hold on. Her hands fell away from the bars, and she collapsed to the ground, her face frighteningly pale.

"You still can’t break the cage?" Yi Tianyun asked with concern.

"It’s no use. I’ve tried so many times. Even though the seal is gone, my power is suppressed too severely. I can’t break this cage... Just give up. Thank you for your help."

Illusory Zither lifted her small, pale face. The look of utter helplessness and despair in her eyes as she gazed at Yi Tianyun tugged at his heartstrings.

"This cage can be destroyed by an external force, right?" Yi Tianyun asked.

"It can, but it’s not easy to destroy from the outside. The cage’s external defenses are even stronger. Don’t tell me you’re going to..."

"That’s right. I’m going to help you break this cage!" Yi Tianyun’s eyes glinted. He cracked his knuckles and grinned. "I wasn’t planning on making a move, but it’d be a shame to let all this energy go to waste."

"What?" Illusory Zither asked, confused by his words.

"Don’t worry about it. Just watch."

"Dragon God Technique!"

Yi Tianyun let out a low roar, and a dragon’s cry echoed through the chamber. Thick Dragon Scales materialized across his body, and his power surged dramatically! Now, the surrounding Flame Power had an even weaker effect on him.

Illusory Zither was stunned. She never expected Yi Tianyun could transform! ’Who knows how much Divine Beast Essence Blood he must have absorbed to gain a power like this.’

"Star Absorption Technique!"

Yi Tianyun grabbed the cage and began to absorb its energy frantically. This Fire Dragon Stone was essentially a type of Energy Stone, so he could naturally absorb from it. As a continuous stream of energy flowed into him, his Experience Value skyrocketed.

"4,000 Experience, 16,000 Experience, 17,000 Experience, 15,000 Experience..."

With Mad Experience Mode kicking in, the experience he gained exploded. Absorbing the energy was effortless. His Star Absorption Technique, combined with the North Nether Divine Technique, were a dual set of energy-absorbing divine techniques, so draining the Fire Dragon Stone posed no challenge at all.

As he continued his frantic absorption, the two Fire Dragon Stone bars he was holding began to dim. Once their energy was siphoned away, they naturally started to look depleted.

But they didn’t stay dim for long. The surrounding Fire Dragon Stones began to flicker as energy poured from them, replenishing the two bars he held. However, Yi Tianyun simply absorbed whatever came his way, refusing none of it.

"Y-You’re not planning to absorb all the energy from these Fire Dragon Stones, are you?" Illusory Zither asked in astonishment.

"That’s right, you guessed it," Yi Tianyun said with a faint smile. This was exactly what he wanted.

’I came here for the experience. Killing all those Demon Beasts still wasn’t enough to get me to the level I want. But these Fire Dragon Stones are a different story. If I absorb all of them dry, how much will my cultivation increase?’

"B-But can you even absorb it all? You’ll explode..." Illusory Zither said, extremely worried. All Cultivators had a limit to how much they could absorb; she had never seen anyone who could do so without end.

"Don’t worry. Just watch from the side and leave everything to me!" Yi Tianyun said with a smile, then resumed his absorption.

Seeing Yi Tianyun’s confident expression, Illusory Zither felt a flicker of belief and fell silent. ’I’ll just watch for now,’ she thought. ’Maybe he can actually do it.’

"Activate Tenfold Experience Card!"

"Activate Fivefold Experience Card!"

’Adding the four times multiplier from Madness Mode, that’s a total of nineteen times the experience! I’m not willing to use a Twentyfold Experience Card right now; they cost a whopping 300,000 Madness Value each in the shop.’

After activating the two Experience Cards, his Experience Value gains instantly exploded. From a base of 4,000 experience, it shot up nineteenfold! Over 76,000 experience per tick!

"Gained 76,000 Experience, 78,000 Experience, 75,000 Experience..."

The amount he gained fluctuated, but it always stayed above 75,000! His experience was absolutely skyrocketing. The absorption speed hadn’t increased, but the massive boost to experience gain was more than enough.

’Awesome! This is incredible. It’s even increasing the Skill Level for both techniques. If I could upgrade them to high-grade Earth Level Martial Arts, the effect would be on another level.’

’Yi Tianyun really wanted to level up his Martial Arts, but accumulating 300,000 Skill Level points was no easy task. He only had about a hundred thousand so far, so he still had a long way to go. He could, of course, dump all his Madness Value into buying Earth Level Martial Arts just to grind their Skill Level, but that would be a huge waste and not at all cost-effective.’

’Still, this is great. The experience I’m getting is almost as much as I’d get from killing monsters outside.’

After maintaining this state and absorbing furiously for nearly an hour, he was finally greeted by a delightful sound!

"Ding! Congratulations, Player ’Yi Tianyun,’ for successfully breaking through to the Fourth Level of the Spirit Pill Stage!"

’Excellent. Keep absorbing!’

Yi Tianyun continued to absorb, and the Fire Dragon Stones gradually grew dim. The process was quite fast. ’If I keep this up,’ he thought, ’leveling up again shouldn’t be a problem!’

Illusory Zither stared with wide eyes as Yi Tianyun continued to absorb the energy. This place was already incredibly hot, yet he had been absorbing for so long—a testament to his considerable power. But more than that, she was touched. She hadn’t promised him any reward, yet this stranger was going all out for her. It was impossible for her not to be moved.

Little did she know, Yi Tianyun was also doing this for himself—not just for the quest, but to level up! It was a win-win situation. Even without this benefit, though, as long as Illusory Zither wasn’t some villain, he would have saved her anyway.