The two demon generals departed, while Blue Maple also departed after completing his a.s.sault.

Old Man Fang had been observing since the beginning. He was very clear about whether Blue Maple's a.s.sault would be successful, so he activated the teleportation portal beforehand.

Old Man Fang's residence, somewhere like paradise.

Blue Maple had already depleted his immense attribute bonus state. There was some fire left within the fire pearl, but that was unnecessary.

Old Man Fang stared at Blue Maple with an unpleasant look on his face. He wasn't happy that Blue Maple took shortcuts and used gimmicks.

“My, you little rascal. You do know how to play.” Old Man Fang spoke with an unfriendly voice.

“Yes, I think so too.”

Blue Maple continued Old Man Fang's words as he responded very naturally and emotionlessly.

“You! Forget it… I'm not going to bother bickering with you. Give me the fire pearl, and follow me.”

There was nothing that the old man could do with Blue Maple when he was like that, and he could only let this go. There was nothing he could do anyway, because this result was due to the fact that he hadn't developed the limits properly.

Both of them would be suffering if he chose to pursue the matter.

“Are we going to absorb more Heavenly Fire?”

Blue Maple tilted his head and spoke to Old Man Fang as he took out the fire pearl and handed it over.

“Yes. Even though I've already helped you find an item to merge ice and fire, your body still temporarily can't handle its effects. Therefore, you have to find more, or you can continue like this for now. There's another way: I can help you temporarily suppress the two divine forces, and subsequently boost their power at the same time.”

Old Man Fang turned towards Blue Maple as he spoke with a serious tone.

“In that case, your Nine Heavens Mysterious Ice's strength will be relatively weaker, but it won't be forced out. In this case, you'll find it easier to maintain balance compared to having both forces at the same strength. After all, you temporarily do not have an item that helps you merge ice and fire to help you maintain balance. This is the best way.”

Old Man Fang's explanation immediately helped Blue Maple understand.

“Is that so? Then, let's go.”

Blue Maple's response was still so plain and emotionless.

“Eh?”

Old Man Fang suddenly glanced at Blue Maple confusedly, and then his expression became one of amus.e.m.e.nt, like his interest had been aroused.

“What?”

Blue Maple also became a little confused.

“Heh heh heh, nothing. Let's go.” Old Man Fang chuckled. He ignored Blue Maple as he released blue fire and prepared to teleport Blue Maple.

Blue Maple became even more confused. However, he didn't ask anything more. Old Man Fang was a strange old man in Blue Maple's eyes to begin with.

Meanwhile, inside Old Man Fang's mind…

This dirty fellow seems to have changed a little. He used to answer me with responses like 'oh' or 'yes'…

Furthermore… it's definitely not because he's become more familiar with me. What's the real reason? This little rascal… hehe…

Old Man Fang's turned his back towards Blue Maple as he released blue fire, and Blue Maple didn't see the faint smile that he had on his face.

Flames engulfed them both as they disappeared into thin air…

It didn't take long before a black shadow appeared where they had just vanished.

“Are they gone?”

Feather no longer looked like he was thirteen or fourteen. Instead, he looked like he was about Blue Maple's age, and he was a youth who possessed similar qualities and demeanor as Blue Maple did.

Blue Maple signed an equal contract with him, and he naturally viewed Blue Maple as his the person that was closest to. He sensed that Blue Maple had appeared in the vicinity, so he naturally hurried over as quickly as he could.

However, Feather glanced around at his surroundings coldly before he leaved quietly.

The Underworld was still full of magma everywhere like it had always been.

The two of them hurried with familiar footsteps towards the magma lake. The magma lake was still separated like tai chi, with fire of two different colors on different sides.

“Alright, we're here. You can go over by yourself. Just absorb it directly, and eat fruits while you do that.”

Old Man Fang sounded very casual, and he wasn't worried at all about any problems that could arise.

No. Rather, Old Man Fang couldn't be more eager for problems to happen. He wanted to teach Blue Maple a lesson, but he couldn't do it openly.

However, Blue Maple still had a long way to go if he were to go by himself… back then, Old Man Fang had kicked him over…

Even then, Blue Maple had no problem going over by himself.

Heavenly Fire teleportation!

Heavenly Fire covered Blue Maple's body before teleporting him right next to the Heavenly Fire over the lake, as a small platform made from glyphs appeared beneath his feet, allowing him to hover.

Why do I feel like I can't really trust the old man's words?

Blue Maple was worried as he thought to himself. Old Man Fang's behavior was a little too normal as he was typically giggling and whatnot, and he wasn't serious at all.

What happened afterwards… proved that Blue Maple's thoughts were justified!

Heh heh heh. Have fun, you dirty little boy. I've never tried this before, but I'm guessing it will feel absolutely fantastic…

Old Man Fang speculated treacherously by the sh.o.r.eside, and he was behaving extremely unscrupulously.

Eh… should I have a cup of tea ready?

Blue Maple started probing by absorbing a single stream of Heavenly Fire. If Blue Maple released Heavenly Fire like a battery releasing electricity, the pure Heavenly Fire will be like an electrical source which can store electricity with a megawatt capacity.

The larger this number is, the more it can store, and the more it can release.

I don't know what my limit is this time. I should try to absorb less if I can afford it. It's not that important anyway…

Blue Maple seemed like he didn't care much as he thought to himself. From Blue Maple's perspective, power and strength in this game world really didn't seem important at all.

But could he really get what he wanted?

Heh heh heh, you dirty fellow. Are you thinking of not wanting power and strength again? This time… it's not up to you. In that moment after you eat the Frosty Snow Crystal Fruit, heh heh heh…

Old Man Fang's continued laughing to himself unscrupulously inside. He still maintained the same expression on his face, so that Blue Maple couldn't see from affair if anything was wrong.

Blue Maple absorbed Heavenly Fire like he had always done, except every stream of Heavenly Fire coursing through his body would cause him pain, even though the pain was easier to take than it was last time.

It's still so painful, like there are needles p.r.i.c.kling me all over my body… umph…

Blue Maple's head was completely clear, but even in this state, he found it a little hard to take the pain of fire burning every corner of his body.

Blue Maple's expression also started twisting and contorting due to the pain, as his clothes covering the surface of his body were all burned away. Only the blue windbreaker that Old Man Fang had given to him before and the matching s.h.i.+rt, trousers, shoes were not incinerated.

Old Man Fang had specially modified those items before. The system had bestowed automatic cleaning and repairing to these items, while the burning from pure Heavenly Fire was also prevented.

Ding! Announcement: “Heavenly Fire absorption warmup complete. You can now consume your Frosty Snow Crystal Fruit.”

Blue Maple frowned when he heard the system's announcement.

The announcement is so short… there is something amiss. But there's nothing I can do anymore, I can only continue absorbing.

There was nothing Blue Maple could do about such an unforeseen circ.u.mstance. After all, he didn't know what outcome could happen. Furthermore…

Just some pain – big deal.

This was also Blue Maple's true thoughts on the situation.

It would just be pain!

Blue Maple took out the Frosty Snow Crystal Fruit from his backpack. He didn't hesitate or dally as he took a bite directly!

“Zi!”

Blue Maple felt a sharp coldness in his mouth in that moment, like everything could be frozen over!

The fruit did taste sweet and fragrant like a normal fruit would, which was a very strange sensation.

It's not very special except it's a little icier than usual. Blue Maple felt a little strange as he thought to himself. He kept thinking that all this wasn't as simple as it seemed. This wasn't Old Man Fang's way of doing things, so there was definitely something coming that Blue Maple didn't know about.

Indeed, just as Blue Maple was thinking that the fruit tasted good, the Heavenly Fire that Blue Maple had newly absorbed started riling up, and the violence spread over his entire body in that instant!

s.h.i.+t!

Blue Maple's pupils contracted as his expression changed drastically!

Blue Maple was still chewing part of the Frosty Snow Crystal Fruit, and it just directly melted into pure icy air that followed Blue Maple's throat and gathered towards the location where the Nine Heavens Mysterious Ice was located!

It took merely an instant before Blue Maple's original Heavenly Fire started rebelling, not to mention his newly absorbed Heavenly Fire. Something else was also starting to rebel… his strengthened Nine Heavens Mysterious Ice!

d.a.m.n it!

In that moment, burning and searing flames along with iciness that chilled him to the bone coursed over his entire body!

Blue Maple's stomach, also known as his dantian, felt the most action! Blue Maple's Heavenly Fire increased its speed of absorbing the outer world's Heavenly Fire to resist the Nine Heavens Mysterious Ice, just like before!

This was…

A fusion of ice and fire!!!

Pure Heavenly Fire wantonly unleashed searing heatwaves within Blue Maple's body, while his Nine Heavens Mysterious Ice was unwilling to show any weakness as it released icy waves that chilled Blue Maple to the bone. The two ent.i.ties started fighting against each other within his body vigorously.

Blue Maple was absorbing Heavenly Fire continuously and at an increasing rate. His rate of absorption didn't seem like it would stop until it had reached its limit, while the absorption speed was so quick that normal people would never be able to take this.

However, the most painful part of everything was deep within his body, from the fusion of ice and fire!

“Umph…”

Blue Maple gritted his teeth painfully and grunted. His expression was a little hideous, while taking such pain when he was completely awake was absolutely inhumane!

Blue Maple started sweating from the tremendous pain, but the beads of sweat quickly evaporated, while the small threads of steam and heatwaves blurred his surroundings.

Blue Maple was in a lot of pain, and he appeared even more hideous.

b.a.s.t.a.r.d! Again!

Blue Maple thought to himself furiously. Even though he had already guessed that such a thing would happen, his guess was that both ent.i.ties would each absorb on their won. He didn't think that both ent.i.ties would start fighting with each other like idiots once they had absorbed some power.

Nine Heavens Mysterious Ice probably felt that Heavenly Fire was becoming stronger, and it was already frustrated before. It started absorbing furiously once it felt that its strength was being nourished, and it took the initiative to launch its own attack to make the first move.

Are you r.e.t.a.r.ded? Shut up, just like last time! Heavenly Fire has an unlimited source. If you don't want to be annihilated, then you better remain dormant again. You have no other choice!

Blue Maple furiously conveyed his thoughts to the Nine Heavens Mysterious Ice within his body, just like last time.

Your memory is terrible. This is what happened last time. You still dare to make a move?

Blue Maple continued pa.s.sing his consciousness to the Nine Heavenly Mysterious Ice, as it was the only thing that he could do.

This way, once Blue Maple's pure Heavenly Fire had absorbed enough such that it would be saturated and stopped absorbing, his Nine Heavens Mysterious Ice could then return to dormancy if it conserved its strength. Otherwise, it could only be forced out of his body or annihilated altogether!

Blue Maple's Nine Heavens Mysterious Ice appeared like it had understood Blue Maple's words, and it started behaving defensively and withdrew like a turtle into dormancy.

Therefore, something like that what had happened before happened again.

This was happening because the Nine Heavens Mysterious Ice had terrible memory…

Perhaps…

It just wasn't intelligent enough…