Soul Land 5: The Rebirth of Tang San

Chapter 460: The Conflict of Extreme Yin and Yang

The intense heat seemed to imprint itself into his body, significantly affecting the Blue Silver Emperor imprint. The surface of the Blue Silver Emperor imprint had a layer of fiery red light, and even the appearance of the vines had changed slightly. Their color deepened and they somewhat shrank in size, as if they had been roasted, but their toughness noticeably increased. In addition, they felt hot to the touch—obviously unusual for a plant.

Indeed, the refining effect was significant. Under the intense firepower of Sunborne Sacred Mountain, the Blue Silver Emperor was subtly evolving. The Sunborne Flower, the epitome of extreme yang, was remarkable! That yang aura even influenced Tang San's Lion-Tiger Golden Astral imprint somewhat.

The Lion-Tiger Golden Astral, already a manifestation of extreme yang and brute force, became even purer under the Sunfire's tempering.

After the competition, he could suggest to the Lion-Tiger Sword Saint to try out this tempering. Although the place naturally repelled demons, with Big Cat's cultivation level, he should be able to endure for a while, and even if he wasn’t there for a long time, the Sunfire would help refine his bloodline power.

Reflecting on his learnings, Tang San quickly entered a meditative state. Tomorrow, he planned to visit another place: the Sacred Mountain of Earthshade Nymph Emperor.

With yang comes yin; with extreme yang and rigidity, there is extreme yin and softness. The balance of yin and yang, the combination of firmness and gentleness, was the true path of cultivation.

Tang San intended to visit the domains of these two strongest Nymph Emperors to experience their mysteries personally. Although he only felt a bit of the essence at the foot of Sunborne Sacred Mountain, it had already given him many insights and a certain understanding of the Sun-Nurtured Sunborne Nymph Emperor.

As the Earthshade Nymph Emperor forcefully bought the Sunborne Flower petal at the auction, it was evident that these two Nymph Emperors had a very close relationship.

After today's tempering by extreme yang and rigidity, I'll experience extreme yin and softness tomorrow to see if the combination of the two can bring more benefits.

The next day at noon, Tang San arrived at Earthshade Sacred Mountain.

Compared to the red, yang-filled Sunborne Sacred Mountain, Earthshade Sacred Mountain was gloomy, entirely black, and filled with eerie yin energy, which gave off an unpleasant sensation.

Tang San paid the fee and stepped into the range of Earthshade Sacred Mountain. The climbers here were noticeably more numerous than those at Sunborne Sacred Mountain, but everyone wore black cloaks, completely covering themselves for reasons unknown.

Amid the eerie yin energy, Tang San stepped onto the first step.

Instantly, waves of chilling yin energy surged from all directions, attacking him.

Tang San unleashed his Blue Silver Emperor once more. The extreme yang energy he had absorbed the day before hadn't been fully digested yet. Tang San thought it should provide some resistance against this chilling yin energy.

However, the moment he released the Blue Silver Emperor, its vines began to stiffen. Almost tangible streams of yin energy pouring from above frantically surged into the Blue Silver Emperor.

Oh no!

Tang San almost instinctively stepped back, retreating from the stairs. He couldn't care less if the ten naturae coins were wasted.

But he was a second too late. With a series of cracking sounds, the Blue Silver Emperor vines began to shatter inch by inch.

Even the Blue Silver Emperor imprint within Tang San's body showed signs of cracking as if it was about to disintegrate. The pain was so intense that Tang San couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of blood. His body's yin and yang energies intersected, not merging but rapidly colliding with each other.

How can this be happening? Tang San was shocked, but he reacted immediately. He activated the Chrono Croc bloodline, slowing down all changes around his Blue Silver Emperor imprint within his body, then quickly turned and left the Earthshade Sacred Mountain's area.

Somewhere at the door of a dark palace, an old woman stood gazing into the distance. A black robe completely covered her, revealing only deep blue eyes.

Suddenly, she seemed to sense something; her eyes narrowed and a hint of disdain appeared at the corner of her mouth.

"Another fool dreaming of the impossible. If extreme yin and yang were so easily fused, the Solstice Empire would no longer be dominated by the two of us," she muttered to herself, a trace of pain flashing in her eyes. She sighed deeply and turned to walk back into the dark palace.

Tang San couldn't even care if he might alert others. He quickly instructed the carriage driver, then found a secluded corner and activated the Peacock imprint, using spatial teleportation to return to the White Tiger Grand Hotel as fast as possible.

He never expected the forces he faced to be so domineering. When extreme yin and yang interacted, a truly massive reaction occurred.

Moreover, the yin energy that had entered his body continued to produce a series of reactions, affecting his Blue Silver Emperor imprint and even his Mysterious Heaven Technique. The impact of the yin and yang energies resulted in a repelling force, making even his soul core unstable.

This was too overbearing! This was just a bit of the power from the two Nymph Emperors' Sacred Mountains, yet even his balanced and neutral Mysterious Heaven Technique couldn't harmonize it, causing such a drastic reaction.

With his previous experience, he never could’ve imagined a scenario like this. What should he do?

The best solution was to cut off the Blue Silver Emperor imprint and discard it, along with the contaminated part of his energy. That would instantly solve the problem. However, doing so would directly reduce Tang San's cultivation level, which was unacceptable with the Ancestral Court Elite Competition about to start!

But what could he do if he didn't cut off the Blue Silver Emperor? Forcefully absorb and dissolve them? These two opposed energies were too overbearing. They only clashed like a needlepoint against the tip of an awn[1], and showed no possibility of reconciliation.

Tang San had tried using the Chrono Croc imprint to slow their interaction, but it still couldn't solve the problem. Even splitting the space between them couldn't completely sever their connection.

He couldn't resolve this issue even with the powerful abilities of time and space. How could the Sun-Nurtured Sunborne Nymph Emperor and the Earthshade Nymph Emperor be friends? Their attributes counteracted each other to such an extent that they would constantly clash if they were friends.

Cutting off the Blue Silver Emperor it is! Tang San was never one to be indecisive. Between two evils, choose the lesser. Even if it meant losing some of cultivation, he couldn't care about that now.

Just as he was about to extirpate the Blue Silver Emperor imprint, however, he suddenly glanced at the foremost of his bloodline imprints.

The black-and-white vortex-shaped imprint rotated steadily. It was the only one unaffected by extreme yin-yang clashes. It seemed like a detached observer, calmly operating on its own.

Of course! Why didn’t I think of it? Maybe time and space can’t stop yin and yang from clashing, but what about a bit of luck?

With this thought, Tang San hesitated no longer. He immediately used his divine consciousness to activate the Polar Domain!

The black and white energies silently emanated from his body, flickering slightly. Centered on Tang San, the Polar Domain extended to a two-foot radius, enveloping him.

Immediately, the flow of fortune within Tang San began to change. The wildly volatile energies were still conflicting, but some subtle changes had clearly started.

Even as they clashed, the yin and yang energies seemed to slide past each other, intertwining and pulling each other into a spiral. Although they immediately clashed again, that spiral created a rotational force that decreased the intensity of the subsequent collisions.

There is hope!

1. . This is translated from the saying 针尖对麦芒. It symbolizes two equally powerful forces in direct conflict, a tense standoff where neither side is willing to yield. ☜