The stars within a person's body were in a sense some sort of energy storage device. The capacity of these stars would grow along with the growth of a person's cultivation level. Xiang Shaoyun was only a third-stage Transformation Realm cultivator. The capacity of his star was far below the energy Yun Flame had, which was the reason for his pain.
The power of Yun Flame was too much for the star, to the point the star was now on the brink of destruction. If the star really did end up exploding, Xiang Shaoyun might end up crippled, or he might even die immediately.
Xiang Shaoyun started twitching in pain, feeling like his entire body had been lit on fire. The pain was so extreme he nearly fainted. Fortunately, he had experienced similar situations in the past when he drew lightning power into his first star and white tiger's ire into his second star. His fortitude had been tempered by the two situations, allowing him to barely stay awake.
Utilizing what he learned during the two situations, he quickly circulated his Heaven Conquering Overlord Manual to redirect some of the flame energy into his astral cosmos sea, using the energy to further expand it. Part of the flame energy was also redirected to his 365 acupoints, expanding their sizes as well.
But that was far from enough. Yun Flame had taken 1,000 years to form. It was dreadfully powerful, and even a tiny bit of its power was enough to make Xiang Shaoyun suffer. During this moment of crisis, he channeled some of the flame energy into the white tiger bone resting at the corner of his astral cosmos sea.
He was going to use the excess flame energy to refine the white tiger bone and use it to fix the nicks on his saber. The white tiger bone was worthy of being the bone of a supreme beast. It was terrifyingly tough, and even under the assault of Yun Flame's power, it still remained unaffected.
When Xiang Shaoyun noticed, he channeled even more flame energy to it. Apart from refining the white tiger bone, he was going to also refine the top-quality goldsteel stones. He was going to fuse them all with his Overlord Skyslaying Saber.
After splitting the flame energy, Xiang Shaoyun felt much better. But it was not over yet. He had to first expand the size of his star, creating sufficient space to store Yun Flame. The Heaven Conquering Overlord Manual was worthy of being a top-tier ancient technique. After being circulated over and over, a large amount of the flame energy was refined and used to expand the size of the third star, slowly allowing the star to be able to handle the sheer amount of power Yun Flame had.
It was a long process, but it was also a process of rapid growth. Gradually, Xiang Shaoyun forgot about time and focused only on his fusion with the millennium earthcore fire. At this point, it had already been a year since he had fallen into the lava.
In other words, Xiang Shaoyun had spent about half a year fusing with Yun Flame. During this half year, his cultivation level had increased straight to fifth-stage Transformation Realm. Even so, the fusion process was not over. After the completion of the fusion, his cultivation level would be even higher.
Through his hard work throughout this period, he was able to prevent the destruction of his third star, and it became a suitable habitat for Yun Flame, enabling him to fully fuse with Yun Flame.
"Let's fuse!" Xiang Shaoyun roared and increased the speed of his Heaven Conquering Overlord Manual to the maximum. His other eight stars also activated; all of them started swirling around the third star, forming a vast and majestic galaxy as he completed the final step of the fusion.
At this time, Yun Flame had gotten used to the environment within the third star. It no longer resisted, and it started fusing with Xiang Shaoyun in accordance with his will. Instantly, the power of the third star surged.
Once again, Xiang Shaoyun's strength soared. Instantly, he reached peak fifth-stage before breaking through into the sixth stage. Even after reaching the sixth stage, his growth did not stop. Early sixth-stage, mid sixth-stage, late sixth-stage...his cultivation kept growing until peak seventh-stage Transformation Realm. He then forcefully suppressed the growth. If he did not stop the growth, his cultivation would most likely continue to madly grow.
Although Xiang Shaoyun himself wished for rapid growth, he remained rational. He knew that if he continued growing like this, it would ruin his foundations. That was why he had forcefully stopped it.
The stars that were still of a neutral element benefited from the suppression. His meridians, organs, bones, all of them also received the nourishment from the excess energy, causing his physical body to become stronger.
After all, Yun Flame was not an ordinary existence. Using its power to nourish one's body would naturally cleanse one's body of many impurities and grant numerous benefits.
However, Xiang Shaoyun's focus was not on any of his bodily improvement. He was fully immersed in the thrill this new strength had granted him. He could feel a boundless power in every inch of his body, giving him a feeling that he could destroy mountains and part rivers with a wave of his hand and a stomp of his foot.
It was an incredibly wondrous sensation, giving him the confidence to even face a King Realm cultivator in battle. He waved his limbs around, sending ripples all over the pool of lava.
"I can't freely test my strength here. Looks like I have to have a good spar after leaving this place." Xiang Shaoyun smiled. He then shouted, "Flame, come out!"
He opened his palm, and a scarlet flame lit up within it. Like a fairy, the flame pulsed repeatedly, looking incredibly mystical. That clump of flame was none other than Yun Flame who had fused with Xiang Shaoyun.
"Are you still not used to this yet? Don't worry. Soon, you will come to love staying with me," said Xiang Shaoyun with a smile.
One should never overlook Yun Flame just because it looked like an ordinary clump of flame. Xiang Shaoyun was well aware of how terrifying it was. It was absolutely not something ordinary flames could compare with.
A layer of outer energy formed on Xiang Shaoyun's body. It was an energy barrier powered by Yun Flame. After forming the barrier, Xiang Shaoyun put the human skin away. The only reason he did that was to test if Yun Flame could actually protect him from the lava.
And Yun Flame did not disappoint him as the ruler of this place. Its energy barrier completely protected Xiang Shaoyun from the lava in his surroundings. He was elated. "Hah, I can now move freely here by relying only on myself!"
He continued trying out Yun Flame's power, and after gaining a certain level of proficiency with it, his gaze landed on a spot not far away. There, a stalk of king medicine could be seen. It was precisely the existence of this king medicine that had helped Yun Flame take form.
This was the first knowledge Xiang Shaoyun obtained after he fused with Yun Flame. He stared at the herb with a burning gaze as he muttered, "This is a rare king medicine! Well, you're mine now!"