"The true essence of power?" Yang Kai frowned.
"The mystery of pushing power to its absolute limit — only by fathoming the true essence of power can one unleash it completely!" Bi Ya explained with a smile.
"That does make sense." Yang Kai felt somewhat deflated. Though the Ghost Ancestor's words earlier had roused his spirits immensely, giving him the sense that a whole new world had opened before his eyes, it was quite possible the old man had simply been rambling.
He couldn't point out a clear path, let alone offer Yang Kai any real advice.
"I've never met such a person myself," Bi Ya added, "but I have seen two people who cultivate entirely different types of power fighting side by side. Powers that should have been in opposition actually amplified each other's might. There are plenty of people like that — I'm sure you must have encountered some too, Master."
Yang Kai's eyes blazed bright as he stared at Bi Ya with an intensity that seemed ready to devour her whole.
Bi Ya forced a smile, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment. "Why are you looking at me like that, Master?"
Yang Kai didn't answer. Inside, a storm was raging.
Her offhand remark had struck him like a bolt from the blue.
It was true — fusing two diametrically opposed powers was incredibly difficult, perhaps even impossible. But two people who cultivated entirely different powers could fight together, complementing each other's strengths and covering each other's weaknesses. That happened all the time.
He and Su Yan were exactly like that!
Su Yan's ice-cold energy and his own blazing heat should never have been able to coexist, yet the moment they fought side by side, both their powers surged dramatically!
That was because of the Yin-Yang Harmony Art!
During their dual cultivation it was even more apparent. The two powers coexisted within each other's bodies, flowing from one person into the other and back again. Through that endless cycle, Su Yan's ice-cold power and his own True Yang power were both baptized and refined, becoming denser and more pure.
The Yin-Yang Harmony Art?
Yang Kai's expression shifted as he sank into even deeper contemplation.
He recalled the scenes of his dual cultivation with Su Yan, savoring that bone-aching, soul-drifting sensation, as though Su Yan were right in front of him. Their minds were one, their hearts in perfect resonance, cultivating together, unable to pull themselves free.
Boom...
Somewhere in the depths of his consciousness, Yang Kai felt as if he had torn through a barrier that had been obscuring his vision, revealing a far more spectacular world and a far more profound realm.
His body shook violently, and brilliant light poured from his eyes.
In that instant, he had conceived a possibility.
Ice and fire could fuse because they sustained a cycle — an endless, unceasing loop in which they complemented and enhanced each other, neither suppressed by the other's nature, but instead amplifying each other's power.
If ice and fire could achieve that, then there was no reason his True Yang Sacred Yuan and the sinister power could not.
Strictly speaking, the sinister power within the Proud Bone Golden Body was also a type of yin-cold energy, though different from Su Yan's frost. It was the kind of cold that could plunge a person into the deepest hell, making both body and soul shudder with terror.
An invisible wave of force suddenly erupted from within Yang Kai. In an instant, the sensation of alternating scorching heat and biting cold washed over Bi Ya — one moment she felt unbearable heat, and the next she was shivering, as though plunged into an ice cellar.
"What's wrong with you?" she cried out, only to realize something was very wrong with Yang Kai's condition. She was thrown into a panic.
All this time she had been racking her brain to ingratiate herself with Yang Kai, hoping to earn his sympathy and gain his protection so she could stay safe. If anything happened to him now, all her efforts would have been for nothing.
Bi Ya was naturally alarmed.
"Get out!" A harsh shout rang through the void, and Bi Ya was seized by an invisible force and hurled out of the stone chamber with a startled cry.
A gentle breeze brushed past her. She turned her head and saw, with horror, that the Ghost Ancestor was already standing beside her, his sinister eyes gleaming with an unusual light as he watched Yang Kai seated cross-legged inside the chamber.
"Senior, what's wrong with him?" Bi Ya summoned her courage and asked.
"I'm not entirely sure myself, but it seems he's gained something." The Ghost Ancestor furrowed his brows. "What were you two talking about just now?"
Bi Ya quickly recounted everything that had happened.
The Ghost Ancestor listened, his expression shifting. He let out a few strange laughs. "This kid — he actually managed to ponder his way to this level of understanding just because of an offhand remark from me? I honestly can't tell if this is a blessing or a curse!"
"Senior... is he in danger?" Bi Ya covered her mouth.
"He wants to fuse two powers together. What do you think — is that dangerous?" The Ghost Ancestor chuckled darkly. "One wrong move and he dies on the spot. The boy's got nerve, I'll give him that."
"Can't you stop him?" Bi Ya blurted in alarm. "You still need his help to find a way out! If he dies..."
"All the better. From the looks of it, this kid doesn't seem particularly keen on helping me sincerely. Even if he finds a way out, he'd probably find some excuse to abandon me! Hmph — if he dies, I can simply gather his soul and use the Soul Search technique to probe his memories."
The Ghost Ancestor adopted a posture of complete indifference, content to watch from the sidelines. Bi Ya immediately understood that pleading with him was useless.
"You woman — you're not exactly worried about his safety either, so why the panic?" The Ghost Ancestor cast her a disdainful glance.