Chapter 18: Elemental Contract

After finishing his training, he was once again exhausted as usual. But this time, Rod felt no fatigue at all, filled instead with excitement.
Because he sensed it—a definite loosening of the seal! Yes, just now, while feeling the seal within his body, he detected another sign of it loosening! The sensation was very clear, as if coming from an organ inside his body—so distinct and familiar.
Realizing this, Rod, despite his fatigue, hurried toward the bathhouse, driven by excitement. He knew that with just the right opportunity, he could break free from this annoying seal.
He filled the water and without hesitation poured in all the medicinal powder! There was no need to worry—he knew too well that old man’s character. He certainly wouldn’t give him much of this powder at once.
Not to mention how precious this powder was, even Rod could tell the old man didn’t have much. Even if he did, he wouldn’t give it all at once—only enough for one use.
Taking a deep breath, he jumped into the water without hesitation. The water was scalding hot, almost making Rod scream, but he held back. Without stopping, he followed the instructions of the Sword Spirit of Xuanyuan, channeling his internal energy to its limit. A faint smile appeared as his internal energy surged through his veins! After just one cycle, alerted by the Sword Spirit, he stabilized his mind and quickly focused on tempering his body.
A scorching sensation spread instantly, as if his body were burning, causing him to grunt in pain.
Not daring to slack off, he endured the discomfort and pain, intensifying the effort. He couldn’t waste the medicinal power—he didn’t want to miss this chance! Every cell began to swell, feeling the compression and tempering of internal and external gases!
Snap, snap, snap… Clear sounds came one after another as his bones seemed to crack, each sound accompanied by intense pain. The agonizing pain spread through his nerves, leaving Rod no chance to breathe. His mental energy was also depleting rapidly under such conditions, making the strain even more severe.
His entire body turned red. If anyone had seen this moment, they would surely be shocked by what they witnessed.

At that moment, centered around Rod, the basin began to produce small bubbles, showing a boiling scene as it slowly churned. Rod was right in the midst of this churning bath. His skin turned as red as fire, and his expression was grotesque, resembling that of a demon. Steam began to rise from above his head—yes, steam, not water vapor, emanating from within Rod’s body. The intense pain nearly knocked Rod unconscious. This training session was clearly different from the usual ones; previously, he only felt his body being compressed and tempered, but now every cell, bone, nerve, and even meridian seemed to be suffering from the torment of tempering. “Ah…” Unable to hold back, Rod finally let out a pained cry. At that moment, his energy was on the verge of collapse, and he felt an urge to give up completely. If he gave up now, all his efforts would be in vain, and who knew how long it would take before he could try again. Knowing this well, he naturally wouldn’t allow such a thing to happen. Despite the excruciating pain tormenting him and his internal energy scouring every corner of his body, he didn’t slacken in the slightest. “Damn kid, acting like a pig being slaughtered—is it that serious?” Meanwhile, the old man resting in his room also heard Rod’s agonized screams coming from the bathroom, sounding like a pig being killed, which made him frown involuntarily. “Something must be wrong.” Suddenly, the old man’s expression changed drastically as he muttered to himself, quickly getting up and heading toward the bathroom where Rod was. He had given the kid a slightly larger dose today, and he worried secretly that the kid might really be in trouble. “Hmm? There seems to be no problem.” Peeking through the window crack, the old man murmured indifferently, seeing nothing amiss. It seemed the kid was using the potion to train. Perhaps ordinary people couldn’t withstand such potent effects, but he… should be fine. Nodding to himself, the old man comforted himself before sighing and turning to leave slowly. “Damn kid, what’s the point of struggling like this? If you can’t even endure a little pain, what can you expect in the future?” Unbeknownst to him, as the old man complained, Rod had reached the critical moment—like an arrow nocked on a bow, ready to be released at any second.

At this moment, Rod felt his bones throughout his body beginning to reorganize. Each bone seemed to be separated and then reassembled. The sound of cracking was incessant, sounding just like the sound of breaking dry branches. With his teeth bared and a trickle of blood at the corners of his mouth, he fell into a state of chaos. Half-conscious, he relied solely on his unyielding willpower to hold on. It was imaginable how much pain a person would endure when 206 bones in their body were broken and reassembled. From head to toe, such pain made Rod feel as if he were hovering on the edge of death! It started at the top of his head and spread downward until it reached the soles of his feet. After enduring such pain for who knew how long, Rod even felt numb. Yet it was then that the pain suddenly disappeared. Breathing heavily, he found it hard to adjust to this sudden change—it was too abrupt! With the pain gone, he felt a great sense of relief. But it wasn’t over yet. Next, his muscles began to ache, each one feeling as if it were being twisted by a knife, causing extreme discomfort. Separation and recombination repeated endlessly; every cell trembled. Floating in the bucket, he slowly rose to the surface, surrounded by steam that acted like a steamer, cooking him alive. His skin turned bright red and steamed, his complexion alternating between red and blue as veins became visible. The room was filled with smoke, torturing Rod like a steamer. On this quiet night, it devoured his energy and life like a death march. After a period of agony, the focus shifted to his skin. Compared to the previous pain, this time it was much better—perhaps due to the sudden cool breeze. His skin was burning like in a fire; like pieces of mud, it peeled off after being baked by high temperatures! There was no blood as expected, only skin that turned black instantly after falling off, revealing fresh skin underneath. Like a newborn baby, his newly exposed skin was incredibly delicate. Surrounded by steam, it could make anyone feel inferior to death, especially those who cared about their appearance. As the last piece of skin fell off, revealing the final patch of fresh skin, Rod, still groaning, slowly sank back into the bucket, and everything returned to normal.

It was at this moment that the boiling water stopped bubbling and suddenly became calm. The water vapor, as if pulled by some unseen force, slowly gathered around Rod before seeping into his skin and disappearing, leaving perhaps only a few droplets behind. Finally, everything returned to normal. Rod let out a deep sigh and took deep breaths of fresh air, greedily and gratefully, as if he had been reborn. “Boom…” Just then, less than a moment after everything had stopped, as Rod thought it was over, a sudden loud noise made him nearly jump in fright! But before he could jump, everything went dark before his eyes, his mind grew foggy, and he briefly lost consciousness.