CHAPTER 287: CHAPTER 287: EIGHT DESOLATIONS BODY-TEMPERING ART, SIX DING DIVINE FIRE

Johnnie frowned, stopped trying, and ignored Douglas. He wasn’t worried about the divine fire. Coco was working on a way to help him refine the Six Ding Divine Fire.

Neither of them noticed that the handsome young man nearby, eyes still shut, had a slight smirk on his lips and a look of disdain.

Douglas didn’t give up. He had broken through Stage Ten and had three ancient artifacts guarding him, but he still couldn’t last long.

He sat down cross-legged beside Johnnie, pretending to cultivate to resist the divine fire, and spoke into his mind: "Johnnie, this is our only chance to live. Once our power gets eaten away, it’ll be even harder to act."

Johnnie raised three fingers and mouthed, "Hand them over first."

Douglas was a bit angry and went on, "Even if I give them to you, you won’t be able to keep them. The Celestial Mirror and the Kantorin Seal belong to the top brass of the Dragon Kingdom. Do you want to go against the Dragon Kingdom?"

The Dragon Kingdom’s higher-ups?

Johnnie was doubtful. He first thought of the old leader, then shook his head.

He hadn’t met the old leader much, but he trusted his character. He wouldn’t secretly collude with The Doe Family.

Could there be other high-ups in the Dragon Kingdom? He thought of those Immortality Cultivators who had appeared out of nowhere.

Seeing no reaction, Douglas kept sending his voice: "I can give you the Demon-Refining Pot now. If we work together, we can definitely kill that handsome youth."

Johnnie frowned, a flash of killing intent in his eyes.

The person he wanted to deal with wasn’t the handsome youth—it was Douglas.

This Eight Trigrams Furnace clearly restrains the Celestial Mirror’s space-jumping ability.

Otherwise, that guy would have run already. As long as he killed Douglas, the Celestial Mirror, the Demon-Refining Pot, the Kantorin Seal, and that half piece of mysterious branch would all be his.

To be safe, he didn’t act at once. He would let the Six Ding Divine Fire wear down Douglas’s strength first.

As for himself, he wasn’t worried.

Coco was helping him find a body-tempering method that used the Six Ding Divine Fire.

Johnnie felt a spark of hope. Could he, like the Great Sage AsSky in the myths, forge Fiery Golden Eyes here?

Hum!

His mind buzzed, and a cultivation method poured into his memory.

"Lord, I found it. But this is a quest reward from Lord Skye. Now you not only have to find his head, you also have to find the Skye Shield. Otherwise he won’t let you off," Coco’s voice sounded in his head.

"Relax, I’ll help him find them. Stingy guy," Johnnie muttered, then ignored Coco and checked the method.

[Eight Desolations Body-Tempering Art: An ancient body-tempering art, quality unknown. Can absorb damage and temper the body. If trained to the limit, you can achieve a saintly body.]

A saintly body!?

Johnnie was shocked. This art was not simple at all. In the myths, almost no one reached a saintly body.

Here, "saintly body" doesn’t mean becoming a Saint in rank. It means the body is greatly enhanced—reborn, beyond the mortal, not bound by heaven and earth.

The method had already been etched into Johnnie’s memory. With one glance, he grasped its essence.

The Eight Desolations Body-Tempering Art was a bit like the Fundamental Physique Cultivation Cecilia taught him—they both refine the body—but the effect was on a whole different level.

If pushed to the limit, the Eight Desolations Body-Tempering Art can give you a saintly body.

At its peak, the Fundamental Physique Cultivation only breaks through the Body-Refining Realm and reaches the Spirit Body Realm.

The Eight Desolations Body-Tempering Art absorbs damage to temper the body. The Six Ding Divine Fire is perfect for it.

The Six Ding Divine Fire is a gentle flame. It’s not super strong, but it deals steady, ongoing damage—making it a perfect match for this art.

Cultivate!

Johnnie calmed his mind and set the Eight Desolations Body-Tempering Art in motion, drawing in the Six Ding Divine Fire to train.

He let out a slow breath.

Huff...

The art ran, working together with the flames around him to temper his body.

[Ding Your constitution increased. Body Strength +1; Fire Element Insight +1.]

More prompt messages popped up.

Johnnie was puzzled. Body Strength—what kind of stat is that?

He checked his stat changes. The Constitution in the Four basic attributes hadn’t moved at all.

So this constitution increase didn’t seem to mean the Constitution in the Four basic attributes.

And Fire Element Insight—he had already gone past 100% and grasped the Fire-Element law. How could Fire Element Insight still be going up?

Johnnie was confused, but he didn’t dwell on it. Getting stronger was always good.

[Ding Your constitution increased. Body Strength +1; Fire Element Insight +1.]

...

More prompt messages popped up as Johnnie ran the Eight Desolations Body-Tempering Art at full power, drawing in the Six Ding Divine Fire to temper his body.

"Hm?" A surprised voice sounded.

The handsome youth and Douglas both looked over.

"What a strong art. It can actually swallow flame power directly!" The handsome youth stared at Johnnie, a hint of greed in his eyes.

Douglas also understood now. No wonder Johnnie was so fearless.

The handsome youth glanced at him with a playful look and said lightly, "Seems you’re the only one who can’t withstand the Six Ding Divine Fire."

Then he sent his voice into Douglas’s mind: "Human, how about we work together? That kid is your enemy too, right? I’ll help you kill him. I don’t want all your treasures—just the Celestial Mirror and the World Tree branch."

Douglas was holding that half branch. It was a branch of the World Tree.

"Hm?" Douglas’s face changed. He grew wary. "You heard our mind-talk?"

The handsome youth sneered. "You call that divine sense? It’s just that your spirit and soul are a bit stronger. Still, I’m surprised your talent let you break through Stage Ten. So—my offer. Want to think it over?"

Douglas fell silent, frowning.

He did want to kill Johnnie, but this handsome youth felt even more dangerous.

He sent back, "It’s not that I doubt you. I just don’t think you can kill him."

"Trying to provoke me?" The handsome youth scoffed. "My strength is beyond what you two brats can imagine. If you don’t agree, once I kill him, you’re next."

"Hmph." Douglas snorted, ignored them, moved away from Johnnie and the handsome youth, sat cross‑legged, and closed his eyes to cultivate.

By now, the Six Ding Divine Fire in the furnace was shrinking as Johnnie devoured it, so its threat was dropping.

"So ignorant of his limits." A flash of killing intent crossed the handsome youth’s eyes, but he didn’t rush to act.

He wanted more than Johnnie’s life—he wanted his body‑tempering art.

Sadly, his possession ability couldn’t take the host’s memories. So he would wait for Johnnie to keep devouring the Six Ding Divine Fire and tempering his body. If Johnnie absorbed all the flames here, his body would reach a terrifying level. Then he would take over...

Johnnie was deep in cultivation and didn’t notice the exchange between the handsome youth and Douglas.

Time passed. His Body Strength and Fire Element Insight kept rising steadily.

[Ding You broke through the first layer of the Eight Desolations Body-Tempering Art. Four basic attributes +100,000.]

[Ding Lich bloodline fusion reached 10%. Four basic attributes +100,000.]

Two prompt messages popped up at once.

Johnnie was surprised. Could the Eight Desolations Body-Tempering Art help his Lich bloodline fuse?

Makes sense. He couldn’t bear the Lich bloodline’s power before because his body was too weak.

Now that the art had boosted his body, the Lich bloodline could merge smoothly.

Just these two—breaking through the first layer and reaching 10% Lich fusion—raised his Four basic attributes by 200,000 points!

This was even faster than killing a Domain.

"Wait, my Fire‑Element law insight also went up!"

Johnnie was shocked again.

Right now, his Fire‑Element law insight had reached 7%.

It was because absorbing the Six Ding Divine Fire during training boosted his Fire Element Insight.

So even after grasping the Fire‑Element law, raising Fire Element Insight still increases the law’s power.

Keep going!

Happy, Johnnie focused and continued to cultivate.

With the art at the first layer, his training sped up. He devoured the nearby Six Ding Divine Fire quickly. Prompt messages kept popping up, and his Body Strength and Fire Element Insight climbed fast.

Compared to before, his speed doubled.

The Six Ding Divine Fire around him was quickly devoured, refined, and absorbed by Johnnie.

The handsome youth and Douglas were both shocked by this.

"Interesting!"

The handsome youth stared at Johnnie with burning eyes, greed in his gaze. He wished he could seize Johnnie’s body right now.

But he held back in the end.

The stronger Johnnie’s body got, the more it would benefit him.

Also, refining the Six Ding Divine Fire only raised physical strength, not Soul Power, so he wasn’t worried.

Douglas looked grim. The Six Ding Divine Fire kept fading and no longer threatened him.

But he couldn’t use the Celestial Mirror to teleport away here, and Johnnie would never let him go.

Did he really have to work with that guy?

Douglas glanced at the handsome youth, but in the end he rejected the idea.

He could feel this man was even more dangerous than Johnnie. Even without the Celestial Mirror, he could still tangle with Johnnie a bit, but against the handsome youth, he had no chance at all.

He hoped those two would fight first and both get hurt. Then he could reap the benefits...

Thinking this, Douglas calmed himself and kept cultivating.

...

[Ding You broke through the second layer of the Eight Desolations Body-Tempering Art. Four basic attributes +100,000.]

[Ding Lich bloodline fusion reached 20%. Four basic attributes +100,000.]

The prompt messages flashed, and Johnnie’s strength rose again by a lot.

Not only that, his Fire‑Element law insight broke through to 9%.

Sadly, he had already devoured most of the Six Ding Divine Fire in the furnace, likely not enough to push the Eight Desolations Body-Tempering Art to the third layer.

Keep going!

Johnnie stopped overthinking and kept running the Eight Desolations Body-Tempering Art.

Time passed. In just one day, he devoured all the Six Ding Divine Fire in the furnace.

Although the art didn’t reach the third layer, he could feel a clear boost to his body strength, and his Lich bloodline fusion reached 25%.