Chapter 1294 - Tempering Body

Rumble!

Chen Fan clashed head-on with a Greater Legendary realm flaming monster, unleashing a palm strike. A terrifying force swept over. Chen Fan trembled slightly, while the flaming monster was sent flying.

His face darkened as he snuffed out the invading flames.

Too many.

Flaming monsters filled the mountain range. During this time, he had seen many newcomers turn into monsters themselves.

Fighting as he retreated, he tried to escape the mountain range. But it seemed endless; the deeper he went, the more monsters surged at him.

He also saw others looking for a way out.

However, everyone was like a headless roach, circling the flaming mountain range. Even Void Immortals were no exception.

Chen Fan once soared into the sky, hoping for a clearer view. But the war puppets hidden above were deadlier than the monsters below; they overwhelmed him quickly, slamming him down and leaving him coughing blood.

Swish, swish.

He continued forward with a cold expression. He refused to believe that the flaming mountain range was truly boundless. Sooner or later, he would reach the end.

“

Hmm

?”

Chen Fan’s footsteps suddenly paused when he saw someone sitting cross-legged on the ground not far away. Blazing fire surged around him, crackling and hissing. Blood mist rose; low groans of pain echoed.

“This...”

He was taken aback.

“He’s using the terrifying flames here to temper his physique by burning himself!”

He understood instantly and couldn’t help but think the man was insane.

After all, the flames here were extraordinary. If one couldn't extinguish them in time, they'd be refined into human artifacts—flaming monsters no different from the walking dead.

He had also considered borrowing the flames here to temper his Hegemonic Golden Body, but the thought alone made him hesitate. The risk felt too great.

That person also sensed Chen Fan’s presence, but he didn’t care. He was already teetering on the brink of insanity from the pain, pounding the ground with clenched fists.

Being burned by these flames was far worse than ordinary fire. It felt like being smelted into a weapon.

Boom, tch!

Suddenly, a terrifying streak of blazing ax light slashed at Chen Fan, radiating oppressive heat waves. The flaming monster pursuing Chen Fan had pounced at him again.

After being refined into powerful treasures, the flaming monsters could take any form. The monster pursuing him had turned its hands into axes and slashed at Chen Fan.

What surprised Chen Fan was that the other flaming monsters completely ignored the man in the distance, despite his loud struggle.

His eyes twinkled at the discovery. An idea flashed in his mind.

“Ah, whatever! He dares to risk his life, so why can’t I? Is my will weaker than his? Or is my physique inferior? Come on! Come on! Blazing flames, temper my flesh!”

His eyes flared with madness. He seized the attacking monster with both hands. Instantly, blazing heat surged through him, flooding him with fire.

This time, Chen Fan did not put out the flames. He let them burn him.

Tsss.

A jolt of pain shot through him, reaching his mind in an instant.

Chen Fan threw that flaming monster away. Screaming, he sat down cross-legged like that person, gritting his teeth as the flames tempered his flesh.

These weren’t ordinary flames. They were used by the Mystical Gates Immortal Manor to forge treasures and immortal artifacts. Primeval flames: spiritual, ancient, terrifying.

The flame engulfed him. His blood and flesh produced sizzling noises. Blood mist rose from all his pores.

Soon, Chen Fan turned dry and thin, seemingly turning into a withered corpse. Most of his bodily fluids had evaporated.

The excruciating pain made him let out low, hoarse roars, like a wounded beast.

Strangely, the flaming monsters now ignored him entirely, as if blind. Without a target, they wandered off to hunt others.

Boom, boom, boom!

Chen Fan also kept striking the ground. Baked by intense heat, the earth beneath him, hardened like a fusion of metal and stone, began to crack. Spiderweb-like fractures spread out from each strike.

Time passed by the minutes and seconds.

Each moment inside the flames was torture. His awareness dulled.

Thankfully, whenever he slipped into a daze, the Bodhi Ancient Tree bathed him in clear light, pulling him back to consciousness.

In this brutal state, Chen Fan circulated the Hegemonic Golden Body Mantra. Simultaneously, he used primeval and immortal stones, absorbing their essence to keep himself from being reduced to ashes.

Gradually, he felt his Hegemonic Golden Body loosen.

Level 40!

Level 41!

Level 42!

As he felt himself becoming stronger, he forgot all about the pain. He shouted in joy from the bottom of his heart.

Progress in the Hegemonic Golden Body was painfully slow.

𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

The higher the level, the harder the breakthrough. Without rare opportunities, one could remain stuck for years.

Now, Chen Fan could only rely on the heavenly tribulations during his breakthroughs to push his Hegemonic Golden Body forward.

Time went by in a blur. Five days had passed.

Yet the gains Chen Fan made in those five days surpassed years of effort. His Hegemonic Golden Body reached level 43, now nearly as tough as a quasi-immortal artifact.

Now, he was already numb to the pain.

“Excellent. These flames not only temper my flesh, but they also hide me from the monsters. They will treat me as one of them. I can move freely without being attacked.”

He shook slightly. Crusty scabs cracked open across his skin, crumbling into ash.

He stood up and glanced ahead. Unfortunately, the man from before was gone. Whether he had left or been burned into nothingness was unclear.

Using the flames for tempering was tough. One moment of weakness, and you'd be refined into a flaming monster.

Fortunately, Chen Fan’s will was unyielding. With the Bodhi Ancient Tree shielding his mind, he endured the agony, stayed lucid, and avoided being consumed.

He had truly used the blazing flames to raise the strength of his physique!

Chen Fan lifted his feet and walked forward.

He noticed that the flaming monsters were now even more abundant than they were five days ago, at least doubling their numbers.

He understood that at least half of them were the people who had charged in earlier.

These people had failed to resist the attacks of the flaming monsters and the invasion of the blazing flames, ending up like this.

Suddenly, a fierce attack blasted toward Chen Fan.

Rumble!

Chen Fan raised his hand and shattered the attack with a punch. He looked over and saw that the attacker was a woman. It was likely that she thought of Chen Fan as one of those flaming monsters after seeing the flames on him.

“Sorry, but I’m not one of those monsters. I was only using the flames to raise the toughness of my flesh,” Chen Fan explained.

The woman’s hands paused, a look of disbelief in her eyes.