Chapter 339

Chapter 339: Unleashing Fury

Lou Yun’s eyes snapped open. They were so filled with dense heaven and earth energy that the scene before him appeared somewhat blurred. Yet, he paid it no mind. Suddenly, his hands lifted before him, and his ten fingers began rapidly intertwining with astonishing agility, like butterflies flitting through flowers. Finally, they locked into a fixed, unchanging shape.

Immediately after, Lou Yun exhaled with a cry. Accompanied by a thunderous roar that split the air, he thrust his hands, maintaining that shape, fiercely upward towards the ceiling.

Boom!

The surplus heaven and earth energy within Lou Yun’s body finally found a massive outlet. In an instant, it converged into a single mass, wildly surging out through his palms.

Tremendous sonic booms erupted like a string of firecrackers within the nearly sealed volcanic interior. A colossal stream of heaven and earth energy, tinged with a faint red hue, shot vertically upward like a tornado, erupting directly towards the volcanic vent.

Strangely, this whirlwind seemed to possess immense suction. It even drew the seething magma within the volcano upward!

Dark-red magma coiled like a massive dragon under the attraction of the heaven and earth energy. It roared into the sky, emanating terrifying heat that seemed capable of scorching the heavens and boiling the oceans. It followed the path of the whirlwind, surging violently out through the volcanic vent!

Had anyone been near the volcano then, they would have witnessed, alongside the volcano’s furious roar, an enormous, dark-red whirlwind erupting from its mouth!

The whirlwind stretched nearly a hundred meters into the sky, thrusting toward the heavens as if determined to punch a hole in the very sky itself before soaring away!

However, after surging several hundred meters, the whirlwind finally seemed to lose its momentum. It exploded mid-air!

Instantly, scorching smoke and dark-red magma, flowing like a raging torrent, scattered downward from the sky like a rain shower.

Flying rocks, droplet-like molten magma, and brown clouds of ash instantly blanketed the entire mountaintop. The mountain looked like it was engulfed in flames!

Lou Yun remained like this, eyes wide, arms raised high, fingers locked in that strange shape, mouth issuing inaudible screams. He held this state for a full quarter of an hour, only resting when every last drop of the heaven and earth energy within him had been expelled. Utterly drained by the colossal expenditure of energy, he slumped limply to the ground.

Chang Xiang, dwelling within Lou Yun’s body, stared dumbstruck at this spectacle, which resembled a genuine volcanic eruption. Shock robbed him of reason, leaving him unable to comprehend or react. He found it truly unimaginable that Lou Yun could unleash such a powerful force!

Of course, such power could only be possible after gaining control over heaven and earth energy!

However, what was even harder for Chang Xiang to fathom was that the entire process of Lou Yun’s fingers rapidly shifting and combining until settling into that final shape was actually… the formation of a Seal!

An Art Seal capable of commanding heaven and earth energy!

Chang Xiang simply couldn’t quite accept that Lou Yun had actually created an Art Seal by himself!

Back when Lou Yun began learning forging weapon techniques, Chang Xiang had taught him a set of hand seals. Later, Lou Yun acquired the Azure Cloud Cauldron and learned the Azure Cloud Seal inscribed upon it. After that, he obtained the Chaos Golden Cauldron and memorized the Chaos Seal upon it, instinctively managing to perform the Chaos Seal a few times, despite not fully understanding the state required.

Both the seals Chang Xiang taught and the Azure Cloud Seal could only be used when forging weapon; they weren’t combat techniques. The Chaos Seal could function as a combat technique, but the concepts within it were far too profound. Lou Yun couldn’t perform it freely at will!

Yet now, Lou Yun had actually created his own Art Seal capable of commanding heaven and earth energy! Moreover, this seal was undeniably a weapon technique, one that could be used to attack an enemy!

This transformation was nothing less than an earth-shattering upheaval!

It took a long while for Chang Xiang to snap out of his stunned reverie. Just as he regained his senses, he saw Lou Yun’s body collapsing limply backward.

His heart jolted with alarm. Chang Xiang materialized immediately before Lou Yun, intending to whisk him away from this place. However, when he saw the expression of sheer satisfaction gracing Lou Yun’s face at this very moment, he froze once more. Naturally, he dared not try to move Lou Yun arbitrarily.

Because this Lou Yun was no longer the Lou Yun of old. He was now a true powerhouse capable of commandeering heaven and earth energy. Chang Xiang possessed zero understanding of just how cultivators who trained in this specific manner actually worked. All he could do now was stand quietly by and watch.

Though that one strike had expelled all the difficultly absorbed heaven and earth energy from Lou Yun’s body, taking him from completely full to utterly empty, he immediately sensed the energy of the surrounding heaven and earth beginning to stream back into him. The speed was not only undiminished; it was even faster than before!

So, wearing his satisfied smile, Lou Yun looked at the flabbergasted Chang Xiang and grinned, "No destruction, no creation. No destruction, no creation. Heaven and earth energy is truly miraculous!"

Chang Xiang glared. "Shut your mouth! Get into meditation posture, quickly!"

Lou Yun seemed to ignore him, still smiling. "Brother Chang! I can command heaven and earth energy now!"

"Stating the obvious!" Though inwardly overwhelmed with shock and delight, Chang Xiang’s greater concern was for Lou Yun’s physical state, so he purposefully barked gruffly, "I saw! Of course I saw! Get into your meditation posture! Now! And close that mouth!"

"Hehe, Brother Chang," Lou Yun chuckled, "Talking has nothing to do with cultivating. You wouldn’t know, but right now my body is absorbing heaven and earth energy automatically. I don’t need to guide it at all. Honestly, I just feel like lying here for a while longer!"

Chang Xiang was stunned again. He shook his head, a blend of frustration and helplessness crossing his features. "I’ve never met anyone who comprehended the way of nature as lazy as you. You actually absorb heaven and earth energy lying down?"

"Haha! Who said absorbing heaven and earth energy demands sitting or standing? The way of nature is about following one’s heart! Everything is natural. Cultivation is possible anytime. Why cling to forms?"

Chang Xiang blinked. He discovered that he now couldn’t understand Lou Yun’s words at all!

Luckily, Lou Yun didn’t continue. He closed his eyes. The sensation of heaven and earth energy flowing back into his body was incredibly comforting, and he wanted to simply savor it.

Through that earlier unleashing, just as Lou Yun had envisioned: once the heaven and earth energy filled his body to capacity, gaining control over it became a natural consequence. Moreover, now that his body – this vessel – was filled with heaven and earth energy, he could temporarily ‘close’ its opening. He could halt the influx of external energy, thus preventing his body from overflowing and tearing apart.

Naturally, this was merely the beginning of his cultivation. He clearly understood that as he became more skilled and practiced commandeering heaven and earth energy more frequently, this bodily vessel, much like his training in the Ten Refinements of the Body, would expand further, capable of containing even more heaven and earth energy.

From this moment on, both Lou Yun’s perspective and comprehension had risen to a new and formidable height. He stood on ground entirely different from those incapable of perceiving the energy of heaven and earth.

As he relished the comfortable sensation of heaven and earth energy merging with his body, Lou Yun’s ears were once again filled with a myriad of sounds.

He could hear the magma that had fallen from the sky outside, slowly trickling down the mountain slopes. He could hear tiny stones at the mountain’s base gently rolling, displaced by the intense tremors before. He could hear the breeze dispersing the clouds of smoke gathered in the sky.

Lou Yun realized with crystal clarity that within a radius of five hundred meters centered on himself, nothing could escape his awareness!

The images born from his Spirit Vision were also sharper than before, almost as vivid as what his physical eyes perceived!

Lou Yun lay like this, eyes closed, observing his surroundings. Suddenly, however, his "gaze" halted upon a specific spot. It locked there, unmoving.

Instantly, Lou Yun snapped his eyes open. He flipped himself upright. Swelled by overwhelming excitement, he inadvertently used too much force. This abrupt motion propelled his entire body backward several meters! And directly beneath him lay the pool of still-boiling magma!

While the whirlwind formed during his earlier energy expulsion had sucked away quite a bit of magma, the volcanic magma remained connected deep within to the earth’s mantle fire. As much was drained out, that much immediately flowed back in. Consequently, the magma pool before him seemed more voluminous than ever before!

Even as a powerhouse capable of manipulating heaven and earth energy, it remained doubtful whether Lou Yun’s body, having only undergone five levels of body refinement ("Five Refinements"), could withstand the fury of molten magma.

Chang Xiang, vigilant by his side, had never anticipated this sudden, almost crazed leap! Nor had he foreseen that Lou Yun’s body would be so unexpectedly light! Lou Yun couldn’t even control his own momentum. He flew backward, on a direct trajectory to plunge straight into the magma! Chang Xiang couldn’t possibly react fast enough to intervene, even had he lunged forward to grab him!

As Chang Xiang braced himself to witness Lou Yun being baptized in lava, the unexpected happened again. Lou Yun did not fall into the magma!

At that moment, Lou Yun’s body remained suspended mid-air in a prone position, frozen. The surface of the seething magma below him was less than half a meter from his nose. Even small tongues of flame licking upward brushed against his face. Yet, from his expression, it seemed this level of heat affected him not at all. It certainly posed no threat.

Witnessing this, Chang Xiang finally exhaled a sigh of relief. But the moment the immediate danger passed, ruthless anger took over. "Idiot boy! Are you trying to kill yourself!? Do you really think you’ve mastered the whole world? If you want to die that badly…"

Lou Yun suddenly turned his head towards Chang Xiang and gave a small smile. "Brother Chang, look down below!"