Chapter 1177: Contradiction of Two Opposing Forces
A deep tremor ran through his body. His calm expression twisted in pain as violent streams of energy erupted from his core. His meridians shook, and his blood boiled and froze at the same time. The devouring flames burned brighter than ever, while the new frost energy that was beginning to form tried desperately to suppress it.
The contradiction was brutal.
Flames and frost collided inside him like two worlds trying to destroy each other. The devouring fire hissed, roaring with its endless hunger, while the still ice retaliated with its unyielding calm. Every clash between them sent waves of destructive energy through his body. His skin began to crack under the pressure, faint streams of steam rising as frost and fire warred within him.
Max gritted his teeth, his expression twisting. His mind felt as if it was being split apart. The devouring flames tried to consume the ice from within, but the frost refused to melt—it froze the flames instead, sealing their wild nature. It was chaos incarnate.
The battlefield was not outside—it was inside his body.
His energy spiraled out of control. His bloodline power flared, his veins glowed faintly with alternating shades of black and blue, and his body was wracked by unbearable tension. The sheer contradiction between motion and stillness, creation and preservation, devouring and restraint was tearing him apart.
A guttural sound escaped his throat as he coughed up blood, the hot crimson instantly freezing into crystals midair.
"Not... good..." he hissed, forcing his energy to stabilize. But no matter how much willpower he poured into it, the two forces refused to coexist. The devouring flames wanted to burn, to consume, to expand. The frost wanted to calm, to contain, to preserve. Neither could yield.
The storm inside him raged wilder. The air around him distorted as black fire erupted from one side of his body while blue frost covered the other. The ground beneath him split apart—half of it melting into lava, the other half freezing into solid ice.
Max's heart pounded violently. His vision blurred as the two elemental forces fought for dominance. He knew he couldn't last much longer. The contradiction between these two extremes was something no ordinary body could endure. His meridians were beginning to tear. His life force was fluctuating rapidly, and even his soul trembled under the pressure.
But just when the chaos reached its peak—when it felt like his body was about to collapse into nothingness—something deeper awakened.
It came from his very existence. From the foundation of his being.
A surge of dark silver light erupted from deep within his core, spreading through his entire body like a web of glowing veins. The destructive chaos of flame and frost was immediately caught in its grasp and crushed into submission.
The Unholy Trinity Body had awakened.
It was the supreme physique that resided within Max's being—a physique that transcended balance itself. The moment it activated, the chaos was silenced.
The devouring flames still burned, but their hunger was restrained. The frost still spread, but its stillness no longer froze his soul. The two opposite forces were forced into harmony by an existence that stood above both creation and destruction.
Inside Max's body, a strange calm took hold. The flames curled quietly, their black glow dimmed, while the frost flowed gently around them, their essence no longer clashing. The Unholy Trinity Body didn't try to merge them. It simply imposed its will, creating order where there was only chaos.
Max's breathing steadied. His trembling stopped. The frost that had covered half his face melted into faint mist. His energy, which had been raging uncontrollably moments ago, now flowed smoothly through his body.
"So... that's how it is," he muttered under his breath, his voice barely audible. He could feel it now—the meaning of ice. It wasn't about destruction or conflict. It was about peace. It was about letting things be, about embracing the stillness that allowed existence to remain whole.
Guided by that realization, Max closed his eyes once more. The frost surrounding him shimmered faintly, responding to his calm. The black flames within him no longer resisted. They flickered softly beside the frost, their presence stable, restrained by his physique's overwhelming control.
The two extremes—fire and ice—finally coexisted.
In that moment of perfect stillness, something inside Max shifted. His consciousness expanded. His mind touched the essence of the cold around him, and the first level concept of ice settled completely within his soul.
A faint ring of frost spread out from where he sat, expanding silently across the frozen plain. The world around him seemed to recognize his comprehension. The temperature dropped slightly, but it was no longer suffocating—it was calm, serene, and balanced.
Max exhaled slowly, the faintest smile appearing on his lips. "The first step... is done."
The Unholy Trinity Body's glow faded quietly, returning to dormancy, but its presence lingered within him like an unspoken warning—ready to suppress chaos whenever it rose again.
Having finally grasped the first level concept of ice, Max felt a shift within his soul. The chaos that had once raged inside him was gone, replaced by a strange clarity. He could now feel the presence of frost in every motion of energy—its calm, its order, its stillness.
But comprehension of the first level was only the beginning. There were still three more layers before he could reach mastery.
Opening his eyes, Max exhaled lightly, his breath freezing in midair before vanishing. "It's time," he murmured.
He waved his hand, and the world around him rippled. The next instant, his consciousness disappeared—vanishing into his Dimension of Time.
Inside this isolated world, time no longer followed natural flow. It expanded endlessly, stretching moments into years, years into centuries. Here, Max could train for what would feel like millennia, yet only a few hours would pass outside.
He sat at the center of his dimension, surrounded by a faint field of crystalline frost. His black flames flickered gently beneath his skin, but they no longer resisted the cold. His Unholy Trinity Body maintained perfect harmony between the two extremes, suppressing any conflict before it could arise.
Max focused completely, allowing his consciousness to sink into the rhythm of stillness. The frost surrounding him reflected endless variations of the same essence—tranquil, patient, eternal.
He began with the second level of the concept. The first had been about understanding stillness, but the second was about continuity—the ability of ice to persist, to endure through the flow of time.
Within the Dimension of Time, that truth resonated perfectly. He could see how the frost never truly vanished, even when it melted. It simply transformed, waiting for the right moment to return. The ice wasn't fragile—it was eternal in its patience.
Time flowed endlessly around him as he meditated. Years passed like seconds, and in those years, he lived through countless cycles of freezing and thawing, birth and dissolution. Slowly, he began to perceive the underlying rhythm of the concept—the pulse of existence itself through the lens of frost.
After what felt like several centuries in his Dimension of Time, the frost field around him glowed brighter. A second ring of cold energy spread outward, merging with the first. The second level concept of ice—Enduring Stillness—had taken root within his soul.
He opened his eyes briefly, a faint glint of blue in his pupils. "Two levels," he whispered. "Let's keep going."
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