The red lightning crackled across Su Ming's bare shoulders, the electrical charges wrapping around his torso like white-hot chains. Standing bare-chested on the basalt platform, he welcomed the heavy blows. The smell of burnt flesh filled the air as the intense elements bit into his skin, but Su Ming did not yield. He sat back down cross-legged, focusing his mind on the second and third stages of the physique tempering.
Though his bones had mended and his core had broken through to the Middle Golden Core stage, the refinement was far from finished. The raw, violent energy of the Nine-Yang Dragon-Blood Lotus still coursed through his meridians, demanding to be shaped.
