A furious wave of energy exploded forth from the cauldron, filling the entire cave almost instantly. As the heat wave spread across the area, the hot winds blew at Bai Yunfei’s clothes so that they rippled back and forth while the temperature in the cave swelled up abruptly!

Up until now, the vermiculite ore that had been reduced to essence within the flames had been docile as it was being compressed. But then out of the blue, it began to churn and billow outwards as if trying to contest with the flames that were constricting it!

Stern as he regarded the situation, Bai Yunfei’s right hand continued to expel soulforce while his left hand threw in some supplementary materials into the cauldron.

Each time a supplementary material was added to the mixture with the main ones, the explosive energy slowly started to ease up.

“Whew….” Bai Yunfei let out a sigh in relief before suddenly realizing the situation with a start.

“d.a.m.n! This won’t do!”

The essence had only been calm for two seconds before it exploded outwards again!

With a wave of his left hand again, a large amount of supplementary materials were thrown into the cauldron again. Like last time, the energy was only abated for just a moment.

Once more, the energy began to splash outwards of the cave and bring it to a scorching boil. But only Bai Yunfei’s back was thoroughly drenched with sweat.

It was all too clear to him that the amount of vermiculite ore he had been compressing for the past few hours contained a tremendous amount of power. Should that power be let loose, then the resulting explosion would without a doubt be far stronger than what a normal cauldron explosion would be!!

“I can’t let it explode! I gotta force it back down!”

A mental howl echoed in Bai Yunfei’s head as the Ardent Sun Glove on his right hand and the Flameblade Bracer on his right arm both lit up with an eye-piercing light. The fire in the cauldron swelled up again, but when Bai Yunfei’s left hand tossed in even more supplementary materials, the mixture was forced back down to a near manageable degree.

A few scant minutes later when Bai Yunfei’s hand down to pick up some supplementary materials again, Bai Yunfei realized that there was none left in his s.p.a.ce ring! But this realization only came about after he picked up and threw in some vermiculite ore and primal stones instead of the supplementary materials!

But when nothing happened when the vermiculite and primal stones were thrown into the fire, Bai Yunfei’s eyes lit up, “They did something!”

Somehow, the addition of the two had decreased the hysterical energy in the cauldron!

Without needing to be told, Bai Yunfei began to throw in several clumps of golden ore into the cauldron.

The furious energy gave pause here, giving Bai Yunfei a chance to push his soulforce into it. Bending to his control, the elemental fire began to condense and spin rapidly in the cauldron so as to force the energy that was threatening to leak out to be condensed once more.

But….

“Pow!”

Just like the first time, the materials that were being condensed exploded out once more. If the elemental fire covering the materials were like a balloon of air, then something had popped the balloon open for the energy inside to come bursting out.

Not even hesitating in the slightest, Bai Yunfei tossed in even more vermiculite and primal stones. It didn’t even matter how big their rarity was, all that mattered was regaining the control over the situation….

But with this rapid usage of his remaining materials, it didn’t take long for his supply to go completely bare….

So when the energy within the cauldron began to leak out again, it leaked out in an energy far stronger than before!!

In a way, this situation was similar to a pot of boiling water. In order to prevent the water from boiling for too long, cool water must be added to stabilize the temperature and stop the water from boiling. But sooner or later, the cool water that was added will be set to boil again, leaving no other choice but to add even more water. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Sooner or later, however, there would be no stopping the boiling or even a point in adding water. Not only was the water in the pot completely boiled, the pot itself would be melted!

“Dammit! Stop, please! I can’t control this!” Bai Yunfei grew panicked and his face contorted in anxiety. In his moment of desperation, his left hand flew to toss in a few staff-shaped soul armaments he made the days before into the cauldron.

“Wha–It worked!!”Bai Yunfei’s face lit up with excitement upon realizing that the addition of these soul armaments weakened the flow of energy somewhat. Struggling to grasp at what was essentially the life-saving rope thrown to him, Bai Yunfei tossed in a few more equipment.

Normal equipment, upgraded equipment, incomplete soul armament, and soul armaments, they would all be tossed into the cauldron without discrimination.

The heart of the congregation of energy felt like a bottomless black hole. So many pieces of equipment were being tossed into it, but it had only led to the energy growing slightly bigger while also weakening in its wild and chaotic flow.

But there would be a discovery that Bai Yunfei would soon find out about following this strange change in development….

If things were to go on like this, when Bai Yunfei ran out of equipment, then his cave, and quite possibly the entire cliff would not be able to handle the explosion….

“Stop! Stop! Stop!!!!!” Bai Yunfei roared out loud to his cauldron while tossing in even more equipment. At the same time, he let out a m.u.f.fled whimper in his head, “My equipment!!”

The situation in front of him was no longer a situation he could control. Even if he wanted to turn face and run, he couldn’! If the energy in the cauldron didn’t come to a stop, he wouldn’t be able to either!

One by one, the equipment in his s.p.a.ce ring grew smaller and smaller before the ring itself became empty of non-upgraded equipment….

When his left hand tossed in an upgraded piece of equipment, Bai Yunfei’s eyes widened as soon as the article left his hand and into the cauldron!

Rusty-red in color and chipped in a mult.i.tude of places, this item sheened red in color–it was the +13 brick!

“No!!” Bai Yunfei yelped. His right hand stretched out towards the cauldron; he had to take back that brick!

It had been an unconscious stream of actions that led to the brick being thrown into the cauldron. But to Bai Yunfei, this brick was extremely important, no matter if it was in its effects or overall sentiments!

By the time his hand caught up to the brick, it was already about to touch the still rippling red liquid inside the cauldron!

According to reason, this red liquid would be about the same type of consistency and temperature as molten iron or lava.

But when Bai Yunfei’s hand touched the insides, he felt the polar opposite–it was cold!

There wasn’t any time for Bai Yunfei to pull out the brick, but when his hand made contact with it, a notification immediately popped up inside Bai Yunfei’s head, rendering him speechless…

–This was the stats for the +13 brick, but what really made him speechless was the following notification.

His mind went blank and his body went rigid from his shock. Not a single peep came out from Bai Yunfei’s mouth before yet another notification arose in his mind.

In the time it took for two short breaths of air, the number of notifications that popped up in his head had been mind boggling!

In the next moment….

In the next moment, an unbelievably impetuous amount of energy rippled through the air, jolting Bai Yunfei awake!

Without a constant flow of soul armaments to restrain the energy, the elemental fire had gotten out of control when Bai Yunfei had been distracted. Like a feral horse let loose, the ‘things’ inside the flame began to knock and thrash about in the cauldron. From how it flickered and pulsated, the cauldron looked as if there was a mini universe about to explode inside!

This dazzling red light had already overshadowed the elemental fire that Bai Yunfei had condensed in the cauldron along with his entire being. Even the cave itself was flooded with light.

There was nothing else Bai Yunfei could do now. He was a cornered dog with no way to move and only one action left for him to make….

A spark of light clicked in Bai Yunfei’s head. With all the haste he could manage, he shouted out loud,

“UPGRADE!!”