Lin Feng and Xia Qingwu returned to the Rogue Alchemist district in Shifting Sands City, the air of the bustling city a jarring change from the silent, folding dimensions of the Labyrinth. They found Elder Ling's cavernous shop even smokier and more chaotic than before.
Elder Ling was stirring a viscous, bubbling cauldron, her concentration absolute. She didn't look up as they entered, but a grunt indicated she knew they were there.
"Well? Did the little Void rodent survive my little playground?" she rasped, still stirring.
Lin Feng placed the vial containing the refined Crystallized Tears of the Sky Turtle on her worktable. The essence pulsed with a freezing, dark blue light, radiating an intense purity.
Elder Ling finally stopped stirring, her eyes widening slightly as she examined the essence. "Impossible purity. You didn't just survive the Labyrinth; you purified the essence with your chaotic power. You two are a strangely effective combination." She looked from Lin Feng's controlled calm to Xia Qingwu's fiery intensity.
"The payment is due, Elder Ling," Lin Feng stated firmly. "The Pill of Instantaneous Perception."
Elder Ling laughed, a dry, rattling sound. "Greedy little Void Sovereign. Fine. I honor my deals."
She began the final stage of the alchemy. She was breathtakingly fast and precise, throwing rare herbs, refined minerals, and finally, the purified Sky Turtle Tears into a specialized crucible. Her movements were not based on written formulas, but on an instinctive, profound knowledge of elemental balance—the true mark of a Master Alchemist.
As the ingredients boiled, Elder Ling's voice became serious. "The Pill of Instantaneous Perception is not a typical pill. It temporarily merges the user's consciousness with the fundamental Law of Motion in the surrounding space. For a Fire Element cultivator like your little rogue friend, it enhances combat prediction. For you, the Void cultivator, it will force your mind to fully grasp the Phantom Flash Footwork and the spatial reality of the Void Cutter Finger."
She looked pointedly at Lin Feng. "But I refined it with an extra bit of my own chaotic Fire Qi. Your Void power will clash violently with the Fire Qi. If your Void Furnace cannot instantly suppress and integrate that fire, your meridians will burn and freeze simultaneously. You will die."
"I am aware of the risk," Lin Feng said, unmoving. He had no choice but to take it.
After an agonizing hour, Elder Ling extracted a single, marble-sized pill. It was shimmering, half deep violet (Void) and half intense crimson (Fire).
"One pill. One chance," Elder Ling stated, handing it to Lin Feng. "Now, off you go. Find a secluded place. I don't want your exploding body to ruin my inventory."
Lin Feng and Xia Qingwu retreated to a small, hidden cave on the outskirts of the Sunderwind Wastes.
"We share it," Xia Qingwu suddenly declared, placing her hand on his.
Lin Feng looked at her, surprised. "Qingwu, Elder Ling said it was designed for one. It's too dangerous to split. I need the Perception boost for the Void Cutter Finger."
"And I need the Perception boost to fully activate the Blazing Phoenix Array," she countered, her amber eyes blazing with conviction. "More importantly, Elder Ling mixed Fire and Void. When you take it, your Void energy will flare. My Phoenix Fire Qi is the only thing that can contain that reaction and help you stabilize the fire essence. We go through this together, or you die alone."
Her logic was irrefutable. It was a symbiotic risk.
They sat cross-legged, facing each other. Lin Feng split the pill precisely in half, giving Xia Qingwu the marginally larger piece. They exchanged a look of profound trust, then simultaneously placed the shimmering halves on their tongues.
BOOM!
The power was immediate and overwhelming. For Lin Feng, it was as if a billion lines of spatial data crashed into his mind. He saw the world not as matter, but as interconnected, vibrating strings of energy. He understood the Void Cutter Finger not as a technique, but as a mathematical inevitability—the shortest distance between two points, achieved by ignoring the space between them.
But the danger was equally immediate. The crimson Fire Qi in the pill's essence erupted, clashing violently with his black, cold Void energy. His body began to convulse, steam and frost battling on his skin.
"Focus, Feng!" Xia Qingwu gritted out, her own body straining as she absorbed the Perception boost.
She reached out, grabbing his hands. Her powerful, warm Phoenix Fire Qi surged from her palms, mixing with his energy. She wasn't fighting his Void power; she was stabilizing the Fire essence, gently leading it to his now-capable Void Furnace for digestion.
The sensation was agonizing, yet incredible. The shared focus, the intense energy exchange, the absolute vulnerability and trust—it was a bond forged in mutual life-and-death stakes. Their spiritual seas were momentarily merged, and for a fleeting instant, Lin Feng understood the fundamental Law of Fire that governed her being, and she the Law of Void that defined his.
The Pill's power, coupled with the forced purification by Xia Qingwu's Qi, finally shattered the next bottleneck.
Lin Feng Breakthrough: Qi Sea Realm – Peak!
Simultaneously, the tremendous force of the shared breakthrough and the perfection of her Phoenix Fire Array technique caused Xia Qingwu's own cultivation to surge.
Xia Qingwu Breakthrough: Qi Sea Realm – Peak!
They collapsed backward, exhausted but exhilarated, their robes damp and clinging to their bodies. They were now twin powers at the apex of their current realm, their bond sealed not by a simple promise, but by the mingling of their most fundamental life forces.
Lin Feng sat up, feeling the incredible control over his spatial power. He tested the Void Cutter Finger—now it was executed with a mere thought, requiring only a tenth of the Qi it demanded before.
"We did it, Feng," Xia Qingwu whispered, her face radiant with the aftermath of the power surge. "But we are still two full realms below the Origin King stage. We are ready for the next level."
They had the power, but they needed an entrance to the true higher-level cultivation world.
"Elder Ling gave me one other thing," Lin Feng said, retrieving a simple, brass teleportation token from his satchel. "She said this token is a single-use key to the Ancient Spirit Mountain Range. It's the most resource-rich, lawless region near the Violet Flame Dynasty's borders. We can fight, gain experience, and find a final breakthrough resource before the deadline."
Xia Qingwu's eyes hardened with determination. "The Ancient Spirit Mountain Range. That means we are now directly on the Dynasty's radar. Good. I need to practice my Phoenix Array on some real targets."
With four months left until the Blood Oath Ceremony, they knew their training montage was over. It was time to enter the true, brutal landscape of the Mortal Star.