Yuan Ming did not reply to Qi Ye but instead took the time to minutely sense the changes in his body.

Once he clenched his fists, all the muscles on his body tightened at once, and lines resembling etchings from a knife emerged on his skin, revealing an aesthetic that seemed to contain an explosive power.

Especially within the black demon patterns on his body, a scorching sensation immediately arose, as if there was a force prompting the swift circulation of his blood, urging him to go forth to conquer and battle.

Yuan Ming suppressed this impulse as he felt that the strength of his physical body seemed to have enhanced further, bringing him one step closer to the Body of Wanxiang.

More noticeable, however, was an odd sensation of hunger.

This hunger did not stem from the spleen and stomach, nor did it come from the Dantian or Sea of Consciousness, but rather from his blood vessels.

It was as if his flesh and blood had suddenly developed their own consciousness, incessantly telling Yuan Ming that they were hungry, not satiated, and needing to consume and replenish.

Yuan Ming, feeling slightly surprised, relayed this to Qi Ye.

"This is a good sign, no need for worry. Your physical body is already strong. Having been refined through the Demon Refining Array into a Half-Demon Body is similar to doubling the capacity of a bottle previously filled with water. Now that it can contain twice as much, it's natural to feel emptiness," Qi Ye said, laughing heartily after hearing this.

"Are you saying that all I need to do is replenish the power of Qi-Blood?" Yuan Ming asked after pondering for a moment.

"Exactly," Qi Ye affirmed.

Upon hearing this, Yuan Ming no longer hesitated; he immediately waved his hand, took out a black magic robe to wear, and then spread out the Shura Blood Devouring Map.

After this period of refinement, the Essence Blood remaining in the corpse of the Shura Master had been completely refined.

Yuan Ming summoned with a gesture, and an immense Qi-Blood Power surged out, converging towards him.

Without the slightest hesitation, he straightaway absorbed these Qi-Blood powers, beginning to circulate the Demon Image Prison Suppression Skill.

Seven days later.

A thunderous explosion echoed outside the Shura Palace, blasting a column of dust into the sky from the earth.

A black silhouette shot up from the dust, leaping into the sky.

Hua Zhi and Vajra were both taken aback, fixing their gaze only to see that it was their master Yuan Ming, which allowed them to relax.

"Master's aura has gotten much stronger..." Hua Zhi exclaimed in awe.

"He's reached the pinnacle of the Tongqiao Body, and it's likely that the master is about to make a breakthrough to the Body of Wanxiang," said Vajra, who also cultivates the path of Body Cultivation and thus could see a bit more clearly.

High above, Yuan Ming briefly stabilized his breath, glanced down at Hua Zhi and Vajra, and then once again shot straight up into the heavens, seemingly aiming for the great sun above.

"Whoosh whoosh"

The only sound in his ears was the roaring wind as Yuan Ming's body rapidly ascended, soon plunging into the sea of clouds.

Above the cloud layer, the sky was even more azurine, but it was not Yuan Ming's destination.

He continued to ascend further, with the wind growing increasingly ferocious by his side, until he reached the deep sky where fierce winds reigned.

Here, without a cloud in sight and the temperature exceedingly cold, a wild wind howled constantly in his ears.

Only the great sun seemed larger, and beyond the glaring white central sun, a rainbow halo with a seven-color sheen enveloped it.

Yuan Ming distinctly felt that the Power of the Sun here was over ten times denser than that on the earth's surface.

Yet, where he intended to go was not here.

To break through to the Body of Wanxiang, he must ascend above the Nine Heavens Gang Wind to absorb the Power of the Sun without any interference.

Raising his head to look above, Yuan Ming saw a sky where Spiritual Energy was scarce and utterly chaotic, with numerous whirlwinds of Gang Wind tossing the space into disarray. Apart from demon beasts like Kunpeng, hardly any creature could traverse it.

His gaze was fierce, with not a trace of fear in his eyes. With a twist of his wrist, he firmly grasped the Wind Stabilizing Pearl and with a leap, he plunged straight into the midst of the Nine Heavens Gang Wind.

The moment he entered the Gang Wind, the thunderous noise churned by the massive wind deafened him, and even with the protection of the Wind Stabilizing Pearl, he could still feel those colossal forces surrounding him, intent on annihilating heaven and earth.

One moment it was a tearing force that seemed to rip his body apart, and the next, an unbearable compressive force, but thankfully Yuan Ming's physical body was strong enough to pass through this trial.

After what seemed an unknown duration of flight, Yuan Ming finally burst through the layers of swirling winds and emerged above the range of the Nine Heavens Gang Wind, arriving in the outer void even higher above.

The dome of the sky had turned into a deep blue tinged with black, and the temperature around the emptiness of space had risen considerably; there was no hint of wind in the air, only a blistering heat.

Looking upward, Yuan Ming saw the great sun was dozens of times larger than what he had seen from the ground. Its surface was no longer just a dazzling white but showed vivid flares, glaringly a massive orb of fire.

He could distinctly feel that the concentration of the Sun's Power here far exceeded that of the ground by hundreds, if not thousands of times.

Yuan Ming spread his arms wide, allowing the scalding air to hit his face head-on, bathing in the exceedingly fervent sunlight as if undergoing some baptism.

His eyes reflected the shadow of the blazing sun, and inside his body, the Demon Image Prison Suppression Skill started to operate frenetically.

The next instant, the sun-like fireball hanging above Yuan Ming surged with fierce flames. Pure and solar Power of the Sun gushed out, transforming into a scorching beam of light that enveloped Yuan Ming. Publicationcourtesyof*.

Yuan Ming's eyes opened wide in rage as he endured the indescribable scorching power and began to frantically absorb the Power of the Sun.

The clothes on his body were incinerated by the flames, turning to ashes and revealing the nearly perfect lines of his physique, exposed to the Power of the Sun, his skin quickly turning red.

But in just a short moment, Yuan Ming's skin began to crack and split, revealing terrifying trails of blood.

However, the blood within the wounds had no time to flow out before it was dried up and formed scabs due to the scorching temperature, only to be torn open again, in a continuous cycle.

Yuan Ming endured unspeakable waves of burning pain, but he did not have the slightest intention of giving up.

Far from retreating, he instead flew closer to the sun, against the light. Inside his body, the Demon Image Prison Suppression Skill ran wildly, constantly absorbing and refining the seemingly inexhaustible Power of the Sun.

However, before he could adapt to the pain, a sudden disturbance emerged from within his body.

The Power of the Sun he had absorbed was not completely refined, resulting in backlash. For a time, with the inner fire overflowing and the external fire scorching him, Yuan Ming fell into a state of desperate straits.

His Physical Body burned and blackened at a visible speed until it became charred.

Under unimaginable agony, Yuan Ming's Divine Sense eventually was unable to withstand and eventually, he lost consciousness, his body falling from the Nine Heavens, through the Gang Wind, and crashing straight down.

Vajra and Hua Zhi had both been watching worriedly from below since Yuan Ming began his attempt to Breakthrough.

Seeing a charred figure falling from the sky, a look of panic appeared in both of their eyes.

Vajra ran wildly toward the direction where Yuan Ming was falling, but Hua Zhi was a step faster.

Vines interlaced and rose, weaving together in mid-air to form a gigantic vine palm that steadied Yuan Ming's body. It rapidly shrank and retracted, placing him gently on the ground.

"Master..." Hua Zhi's eyes turned red the moment she saw what Yuan Ming looked like.

She quickly took out a bottle of elixirs, trying to open Yuan Ming's mouth to pour them inside.

But when she touched Yuan Ming's face, which had also been burned, a piece of charred flesh fell off at her touch, causing Hua Zhi's hand to stiffen mid-air, trembling uncontrollably.

Vajra arrived, quickly transforming into human form, and opened his mouth wide in shock as well. He knew that advancing to the Body of Wanxiang was not easy, but had not anticipated it to be so perilous.

"Don't rush to cry, the master isn't dead yet. We need to find a way to wake him up," Vajra spoke.

He could still feel a faint sign of life from Yuan Ming's body.

Hearing this, Hua Zhi hastily wiped her tears and pressed her hand onto Yuan Ming's head, trying to use her Divine Soul Power to wake him.

However, no matter how much she tried, Yuan Ming lay motionless on the ground, showing no reaction.

Vajra also extended his hand to press on Yuan Ming's head, trying to wake him as well.

The result, naturally, was of no use.

That faint spark of life seemed like it could go out at any moment.

However, just then, a green light suddenly appeared at the position of Yuan Ming's Dantian in his lower abdomen.

The light spread from his abdomen, covering other regions of his body, and within moments, it enveloped him completely.

Within the green light, the flickering flame of life that had been on the brink suddenly surged wildly, emitting a rich and powerful life force.

Hua Zhi watched in amazement as the charred skin on Yuan Ming's body, which was no different from charcoal, began to peel away, as if something was pushing it from beneath.

She came closer to observe and saw tender green sprouts growing from under the peeling skin, which rapidly turned into dark green tendrils, quickly wrapping around Yuan Ming's entire physique.

Seeing this, both Hua Zhi and Vajra let out a sigh of relief and felt reassured.

They stayed by Yuan Ming's side without moving, waiting from daybreak until nightfall, and then from nightfall to the next day's dawn.

By midday, the vines that had wrapped around Yuan Ming's whole body began to wither gradually, turning to ash and flaking away, revealing a naked, pristine body.

Yuan Ming held his head with both hands and slowly sat up.

"Master, how are you?" Vajra asked with concern.

"Master, are you alright?" Hua Zhi also hurriedly asked.

Though she took on the form of a woman, she did not possess the human sense of modesty and thus did not shy away.

Yuan Ming put on a Magic Robe, rubbed his brow, and after a while, said, "I'm fine, thankfully the Origin Power of the Undying Tree was there, otherwise I wouldn't have recovered so quickly."

Having said that, he took out several elixirs to swallow and then sat cross-legged to meditate, beginning to practice Breathing Control by himself.

Seeing this, Hua Zhi and Vajra tactfully moved back a bit, surrounding Yuan Ming in the middle.