Water and fire harmonized, the dragon and tiger converged.

At this moment, Chen Xu felt an unprecedented transformation.

In an instant, he was drenched by an overwhelming cool mist.

A sizzling sound filled his ears, and all he could see was an endless expanse of water blue.

As he took a step forward, his entire being seemed to plunge directly to the depths of a deep pool.

It was akin to a red-hot iron suddenly being submerged in a cold pond.

Water and fire clashed, instantly bursting forth an infinite power.

Yet within Chen Xu's dantian, that ball of True Fire was not extinguished by the dense mist; on the contrary, to resist this sudden surge of immense mist, the True Fire in Chen Xu's dantian burned even fiercely.

Fire refining and water brewing, Chen Xu at this moment seemed less like he was cultivating, but rather as though he was simmering his True Qi into Spiritual Food, creating a grand elixir!

The Stove Fire Body Protection Technique operated rapidly.

The fundamental quality of Chen Xu's physical body was rapidly strengthening.

Among the Tri-Attributes, his Qi Blood rose rapidly as if growing wings.

Essence, however, surprisingly showed a temporary shrinkage, while Divine Soul remained unchanged.

Chen Xu's emotions surged, yet he was unprecedentedly calm.

In an instant, he understood that this was the first major hurdle in his breakthrough.

Refining True Qi into a pill, the greatest fear is not the insufficiency of True Qi, but the damage to oneself during the refining process.

This does not mean that the Condensing Pill would fail, but it easily leads to the pill being ordinary in quality, reducing the cap of life—

In other words, even if Chen Xu succeeded in Condensing Pill under these circumstances, while his life's essence achieved a superficial leap, essentially his lifespan wouldn't increase by much.

Moreover, due to damage to Essence, it would be extremely difficult for him to progress further in the future.

This is also the difficulty many cultivators face in failing to form a Golden Core, managing only to form a regular inner core.

The intricacies of this, Feng Yuanbai had once explained to Chen Xu.

Of course, Feng Yuanbai had not formed a core himself, so his explanation was merely a summary and retelling based on the records of predecessors, containing many ambiguities.

Now with firsthand experience, Chen Xu truly understood the cause of Essence damage.

Chen Xu focused his mind to a high degree, with countless Spiritual Lights flashing like bolts of electricity in his mind.

He was somewhat nervous, but not anxious.

The Food Cauldron Celestial Book by his side opened, clearly displaying his current Tri-Attributes:

[Qi Blood: 598]

[Divine Soul: 581]

[Essence: 569]

Indeed, the balanced state of Chen Xu's Tri-Attributes had been disrupted.

Divine Soul remained unchanged, Qi Blood rose to [598], and continued to rise rapidly.

Essence fell to [569], and was also continuously decreasing.

The troublesome part was that Chen Xu's remaining Free Attribute Points had now dwindled to [101] points.

Originally, only [81] points were left, but then it increased by [20] points, thanks to Chen Xu's recent creation of pork buns and receiving praise, which increased his Free Attribute Points again.

But overall, Chen Xu was somewhat careless.

These Attribute Points likely wouldn't be enough for his breakthrough!

Chen Xu didn't rush to add points to himself, only continued to circulate Innate Qi, converting more and more True Qi into True Fire.

The various insights he'd gained since beginning his cultivation erupted like a volcano in his heart, with the True Fire gaining strength from his spiritual insight, growing more intense.

Meanwhile, Chen Xu also attempted to control the immense mist that was rushing towards his body.

The harmony of water and fire shouldn't be an absolute opposition, but a relative balance, a dynamic operation.

It's like Chen Xu cooking a dish.

A slight excess in heat risks scorching, a slight deficiency makes it hard to infuse flavor.

A hot pan with cold oil requires just the right timing, stir-frying needs the impact of Martial Fire, while reducing sauce requires a gentle simmer.

Seasonings are the same.

Too much makes it greasy, too little makes it bland.

Too much sugar is too sweet, too much salt too salty.

Only when the proportions are just right can the most fitting flavor be concocted.

But taste varies from person to person, from time to time.

Like during sweltering heat, it's best to use cool, refreshing items, while in the depths of winter, hot soup and hot dishes, steaming with heat, are preferred.

Those with a mild palate require stronger flavors.

Those with a keen taste require the best ingredients and cooking methods that can best bring out the food's true essence.

But all this pales in comparison to hunger!

What is the craving of the palate?

Is it truly just to satisfy taste buds?

No, survival is the ultimate premise for all activities.

Chen Xu inner-sighted his own being, only to feel that his Divine Thought at this moment transcended the mysterious distance between spirit and flesh, truly participating in every change of his body.

As his mood stabilized, his thinking's brilliance traversed into substance, surprisingly halting the decline of his Essence attribute.

His body began to slowly release the mysterious power that had been accumulated for a long time.

Life and death, in essence, are two extremes.

Yet yin and yang, in the utmost state, can clearly transform into one another.

Gradually, the raging fire burning within Chen Xu's body, without him knowing, began to show a gentle hibernation.

He used Divine Thought to organize these flames rampaging through his meridians, his Heart and Spirit became increasingly stable.

Martial Fire had transformed into a gentle, calming fire.

The immense mist from all directions continued to permeate into Chen Xu's body.

But just as the blazing flame within Chen Xu transformed into mellow gentle fire, the immense mist rushing toward him strangely became gentle as well.

At the same time, the continuously descending Essence attribute finally stabilized.

[Essence: 558]

[Divine Soul: 581]

Yet simultaneously, Chen Xu's Qi Blood finally broke through the [600] barrier, reaching the height of [603].

At the moment of Qi Blood breakthrough, Chen Xu's emotions were slightly agitated under the influence of his physical body.

An extraordinarily high-spirited emotion caused a slight fluctuation in his Heart and Spirit for a moment.

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