Chapter 20: Torment of Fire and Ice – Why Have You Come?

There are always some secrets one doesn’t know—even if it’s not that one truly doesn’t know them, but rather dares not uncover them. (Gu Long)
……
As the two were pacing anxiously, a familiar voice rang out: “Xin Youyou, when will you cease? At this point, there seems no way out. When thoughts cease, countless worries remain in the heart.”
Shi Jieyi and Da Dao Wang looked in the direction of the voice. It was the wolf king dressed as a scholar. Da Dao Wang exclaimed excitedly, “Young Master Liu is saved! Let’s go find him!”
Hearing this, Shi Jieyi realized the wolf king was a master. He immediately set down Liu Yi and rushed to the wolf king’s side, saying, “Elder Wolf King, please go check on my boss. I don’t know what’s wrong—his body keeps alternating between cold and hot. I really don’t know what to do.”
The wolf king waved his folding fan, glancing sideways at Liu Yi, who was trembling under the withered tree. “What’s wrong with this kid? I saw him quite healthy just a while ago. How did he turn into a sick cat now?”
Shi Jieyi shook his head. “I don’t know either. When we arrived here, my boss’s body kept alternating between cold and hot. Elder Wolf King, please go help him quickly. Otherwise, he’ll suffer terribly.”
The wolf king nodded, stepped forward, and crouched down beside Liu Yi. Liu Yi’s face was half blue and pale, half red and purple—looking extremely terrifying—while his expression showed extreme pain…
The wolf king waved his hand, put away his folding fan, and gently curled his middle two fingers. He then pointed them at the two acupoints on Liu Yi’s chest. Instantly, the true energy he had cultivated flowed into Liu Yi’s body…
As soon as the true energy entered, it encountered white and red true energies resisting it. After accelerating its flow to counteract the resistance, it continued to scan Liu Yi’s entire body. After about the time it took to drink a cup of tea, the wolf king retracted his fingers, waved his fan, and sat down beside Liu Yi, casually fanning him…
Enduring immense pain, Liu Yi asked, “Elder Wolf King, can you tell what strange disease I have?” The pain made it difficult for him to speak, and sweatdrops the size of beans kept rolling down his forehead.
Shi Jieyi also asked anxiously, “Elder Wolf King, do you know what disease my boss has? Why is he in such pain? I’ve never seen him like this before.”
The wolf king finally smiled and said, “This fool isn’t sick—he’s blessed.”
The others couldn’t understand his words at all. Da Dao Wang brandished his sword, ready to fight, and demanded, “What blessing? Look at Young Master Liu in this state, and you still talk nonsense? Don’t blame me if I become ruthless!” Though he said this in an impulsive moment, Da Dao Wang didn’t realize that with his own strength, even a puff of air from the wolf king could kill him…
The wolf king calmly asked, “Have there been any strange things happening these past two days? For example, eating something unusual—something that glows or something like that?”
Shi Jieyi thought for a moment and said, “Yes. My boss ate some kind of inner pill given by a fox spirit. It was white, round, and glowed… and…”

The Wolf King nodded and said, “That’s enough. There’s no need to say more. His problem lies with that inner core. But I’m puzzled—how could a demon recklessly give away its own inner core?”
Shi Jieyi didn’t understand what the Wolf King meant and snapped, “That demon is truly despicable! Even after dying, it still tries to harm our leader.”
The Wolf King shook his head. “It’s not harming him; it’s helping him. Do you know what an inner core is?”
Shi Jieyi and the Great Sword King shook their heads. The Great Sword King said, “How could we humans know about those things of demons?”
The Wolf King turned to look at Liu Yi and said, “It seems he’s in great distress. I’d better teach him a piece of mental cultivation first. Let him stabilize the two streams of vital energy in his body before discussing the inner core.”
Shi Jieyi and the Great Sword King both nodded.
The Wolf King helped Liu Yi up and asked, “Are you familiar with acupoints?”
Liu Yi nodded. “I know a bit.”
The Wolf King smiled. “Scholars really are scholars—they know quite a lot. Listen carefully and do as I say: Place your hands on your knees, palms facing down, and focus on your dantian. Open your qi sea and life gate, then draw in yin energy and gather it in your dantian. Let the energy flow upward along the Conception Vessel and Governor Vessel to reach the Dazhui point, enter your palm through the Right Shoulder Well point, fill your palms, and raise them to level with your chest…”
Liu Yi was originally very intelligent, and the Wolf King explained in great detail, guiding him whenever he was confused. Soon, Liu Yi entered the right state. His complexion gradually returned to normal, he became much calmer, and the pain on his face noticeably diminished.
Seeing that Liu Yi was still practicing the mental cultivation, the Wolf King turned to Shi Jieyi and the Great Sword King and said, “This kid has received a blessing, not some illness. Look, he’s doing much better now.”
Shi Jieyi and the Great Sword King took a look. Indeed, Liu Yi had his eyes closed, his complexion rosy, with no trace of pain. He continued practicing the mental cultivation without opening his eyes.
The Great Sword King was well-informed because of his curiosity—he was always there whenever something new happened. Now even more excited, he hurriedly asked, “Elder Wolf, please tell me and Shi Jieyi what kind of blessing Lord Liu has received. Why have we never heard of it before?”
The Wolf King replied, “This fool isn’t suffering from any illness. It’s because of the inner core in his body. In an ordinary person’s body, even if they practice advanced mental cultivation, it’s impossible to form an inner core. There are two conditions required for its formation.”
“First, a considerable amount of time is needed to maintain the formation of the inner core. Second, the condition for forming an inner core is to continuously absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. Of course, if one can absorb the energy of the nine heavens in the Kunlun Immortal Land, it will greatly facilitate the formation of the inner core.”
“And if a demon wants to transform into human form and achieve immortality, it must rely on its inner core to continuously absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. It takes a thousand years to form an inner core, and during these thousand years, even the slightest mistake can cause the inner core to disappear, meaning the demon will die. So, the inner core is the life of a demon.”
Shi Jieyi nodded. “No wonder the fox spirit died after giving the leader her inner core. I thought something else had happened. So that’s what it was.”

The Wolf King continued, “Of course. Not to mention ordinary people, even a master, if they obtain an inner core but don’t know how to use it, will be tortured to death by the yin and yang energies within it. On the contrary, if used properly, it can be used to cultivate advanced mental techniques, doubling the results and accelerating cultivation while enhancing those techniques.”

The Great Sword King nodded and said, “It seems this thing is indeed a treasure. If Young Master Liu were to obtain this inner core, would he die?”

The Wolf King replied, “At least not right now. The inner core hasn’t been fully refined by him, nor has it merged with his body. If one day it is fully refined and becomes part of his body… then perhaps he will die. I’m not entirely sure either. Over thousands of years, I’ve never seen any demon give away their inner core—it’s the result of a thousand years of cultivation, something more important than life itself.”

One of the Ten Heroes also asked, “How much time is needed to fully refine it?”

The Wolf King thought for a moment and said, “At the least, several decades; at the most, several hundred years. If it were you… you might never be able to refine it.”

The Ten Heroes nodded, but something seemed off. Suddenly realizing what it was, he said, “Damn it, old man! Are you trying to imply I’m stupid?”

The Wolf King, who seemed to always have a good temper, smiled and said, “If you have flaws, you must accept them humbly. Besides, with your current internal strength, what inner core do you even need…”