chapter 40 Lotus growing in fire

Theo Lu was utterly shocked at this moment! On the day when Andrew Qi used the "Divine Thunder Fist" to kill Charson Lian, Theo Lu did not witness it himself. Moreover, Charson Lian was just a martial artist who had reached the pinnacle of the hidden extremities stage, not worthy of Theo Lu's attention. Thus, although Alisa Lin described it as formidable, he somewhat felt it was exaggerated. But now, seeing Andrew Qi actually using his internal strength to summon innate divine fire, he realized that what Alisa Lin said was not an exaggeration at all. As a martial artist in the stiffening stage, Theo Lu's knowledge surpassed that of Alisa Lin. He had seen many extraordinary people and practitioners, some of whom were adept at manipulating fire. But Andrew Qi was not just adept at playing with fire, his fire inherently contained "essence." The temperature of this flame was astonishing, yet it brought no harm to Andrew Qi himself and was completely under his control. However, what exactly did Andrew Qi intend to do with this sudden burst of fire? A moment later, Theo Lu understood! Andrew Qi intended to use this innate divine fire to refine the extremely domineering innate true qi left by Logan Yan! Now that Theo Lu understood Andrew Qi's intention, he naturally cooperated fully, trapping this strand of innate true qi on his left hand. He did not believe Andrew Qi would succeed, after all, the qi left by Logan Yan was innate true qi. How could Andrew Qi, no matter how powerful, dispel Logan Yan's innate true qi given their disparity in realms? If it were so easy, why hadn't Theo Lu been able to do anything for over a decade? Andrew Qi could probably guess Theo Lu's thoughts, but he didn’t need to explain further. Sensing the exact location of that innate true qi, Andrew Qi thought for a moment and then struck Theo Lu's left shoulder with his palm. Instantly, the essence of the fire talisman transformed into a spark, directly penetrating Theo Lu's shoulder. Hiss! – The smell of scorched flesh spread. The temperature of this fire essence was so high that even a master of the stiffening stage like Theo Lu could not fully withstand it. However, the fire essence penetrating Theo Lu's flesh was not meant to injure him but to target the strand of innate true qi left by Logan Yan. Unlike the slight innate true qi in Colton Chu's dantian, in which he was probably just affected by it, the innate true qi in Theo Lu was genuine and still retained its sentience. Unless Logan Yan died, this strand of innate true qi would always ‘block’ Theo Lu. However, Andrew Qi's fire was not any ordinary innate true fire but the essence of the "divine fire" from the Endless wood. Even though Andrew Qi couldn't yet unleash even one percent of its power, its quality was extraordinarily high. Such divine wood like the Endless wood often emerged at the dawn of the Earth. Many powerful beings, even gods and demons, were merely insignificant in its eyes. A mere innate cultivator like Logan Yan would likely not be worth a glance from it in its prime. Therefore, when Logan Yan's innate true qi encountered the fire essence of the Endless wood, there was only one outcome, refinement! Even as the fire essence approached the innate true qi, it began to instinctively retreat, like ice and snow facing the blazing sun. Theo Lu's previous understanding wasn’t wrong, the disparity in quality due to levels is hard to compensate with quantity. A silver of innate true qi could prevent Colton Chu from advancing to the stiffening stage, a strand of innate true qi had left Theo Lu helpless for over a decade. This was the difference in their quality! Hence, if Andrew Qi's "path of fire" was still of the qi cultivation stage quality, even if it were dazzling, it would not harm that strand of innate true qi. What Theo Lu didn’t know was that Andrew Qi's fire talisman was a spirit talisman, and its origin was the fire essence of the Endless wood, an ancient divine fire! Thus, a single spark was enough to refine this strand of innate true qi! But Andrew Qi didn't intend to completely "burn away" this strand of innate true qi. Instead, he aimed to truly refine it for Theo Lu's use! So, when that spark of fire essence surrounded the innate true qi, Andrew Qi suddenly recited a segment of a mystical incantation, “The jade rabbit hides under the moon, the crow hides under the sun. The tortoise and snake intertwine. When intertwined, life is firm, capable of planting golden lotuses in fire! – Seed of innate path, congeal!” Hearing this incantation from Andrew Qi, Theo Lu felt an epiphany, the innate true qi in his body was indeed a shackle, but a "golden shackle." Once unlocked, it would offer a tremendous fortune. Theo Lu felt as if he had "melted" into the world, truly becoming a part of the heavens and the earth. Reborn from fire, a lotus born from flames! The shackle that Logan Yan had left in Theo Lu for over a decade was finally broken! With the essence of the Endless wood's divine fire, Andrew Qi thoroughly refined that strand of innate true qi into an "innate path seed," like a lotus seed formed in fire, imbuing it with innate vitality! Then, this innate path seed sank into Theo Lu's dantian, like a phoenix reborn from ashes, instantly bursting forth with infinite innate vitality. With it being the centre, a transformation began, turning all the true qi entering the dantian. It was like dead wood in spring, or a miraculous rejuvenation. The myriad mysteries finally condensed into one word in Theo Lu's mind: Innate! Although there were no phenomena of the sudden change in the spiritual qi of heaven and earth, and characteristic of breaking into the innate stage, Theo Lu, who had hovered on the brink of the innate stage for nearly twenty years, naturally understood that this was the process of stepping into the innate stage. Only by advancing into the path of heaven and man could one experience such wondrous insights! But how did Andrew Qi achieve this? Not only did he completely suppressed the innate true qi left by Logan Yan but also refined it into an innate path seed, rooting it in Theo Lu's dantian, allowing him to comfortably and confidently complete the transition from the peak of the stiffening stage to the innate. This was akin to being half a step into the innate stage! Even if Theo Lu had fully recovered and relied solely on his cultivation, it was not certain he could firmly step into the innate. But Andrew Qi's action could escort him into the innate stage! Having achieved his goal, Andrew Qi immediately withdrew the fire spirit talisman and swallowed a drop of spiritual liquid to replenish the substantial amount of true qi he had just expended. Activating a spirit talisman was a process that consumed a lot of true qi! At this moment, Alisa Lin was completely shocked by everything she had witnessed. Theo Lu's originally white hair was gradually turning black! He seemed to have grown younger by more than a decade in an instant! "Andrew Qi, how many more mysterious methods do you possess?" Alisa Lin marvelled inwardly. Although she didn’t know Theo Lu's exact condition, it was undeniable that Andrew Qi had resolved all of Theo Lu's physical issues and was helping him advance to a higher realm! Theo Lu was already at the peak of the stiffening stage. A higher realm, wasn't that the legendary innate martial artist? My goodness, Andrew Qi had "created" a legendary innate martial artist! Meanwhile, on a towering snow mountain across the ocean, a person was "frozen" in eternal ice, seemingly lifeless. But at this moment, he suddenly opened his eyes, radiating a gaze of contempt for the world, and said, "Finally, someone has broken my innate shackle! I hope you won't disappoint me!" The ice shattered! A sudden avalanche occurred on a snow mountain in California, USA, killing over thirty people.