Chapter 22  : Baptism

Xia Ping’an, whose eyes were closed, was unaware of what was happening in the outside world. After the ancient tribe became a mass of light and mist and disappeared, Xia Ping’an felt that his entire body was warm. A surge of power was cleansing his entire body, causing his body to feel numb. It was as though a gentle current of electricity was flowing through his body. It was inexplicably comfortable.

Under the cleansing power, Xia Ping’an felt the flesh, bones, and muscles in his body being pried open layer by layer. Impurities in his body were being extracted by this energy from his body.

When the comfortable sensation completely disappeared, Xia Ping’an immediately noticed that there was another mysterious space in his consciousness. The space was filled with black mist. Within the black mist, there seemed to be a cave that was being lit up.

A mass of golden flame was burning on the ground in the cave. The golden flames dispelled the surrounding darkness in the space of his consciousness, establishing small domains of light.

Behind the golden flames, there was a floating statue of Suiren, carved from white jade that had an ancient aura on it. The color of the figure and background of the floating statue of white jade was the same. They were both flesh in color. However, behind the figure of Suiren on the floating statue, there was a brightly colored flame totem. It seemed lifelike.

Above the flame totem and the stone wall, there were 16 golden balls of light floating. They were larger than fireflies, almost the size of pigeon eggs. The balls of light were surrounded by endless black mist.

Xia Ping’an reached out to one of the balls of light with his mind. The ball of light floated away and then returned to its position when he retracted.

Interesting!

The mass of golden divine fire did not respond when he reached out to it with his mind.

The statue of Suiren on the stone wall also did not react to his consciousness. However, when Xia Ping’an reached out towards the brightly colored flame totem behind Suiren with his mind, he felt that the totem was empty inside. Xia Ping’an felt as though it could be filled with something.

It seemed that he had reaped a lot of benefits this time around.

Xia Ping’an’s consciousness shifted. He pondered for a moment and did not do anything rashly. Instead, he retracted his mind from the mysterious domain in his consciousness and then opened his eyes.

He was still in Room 999. Nothing in the room had changed.

Didn’t they say that there was the mystery of the boundaries after merging with the boundary beads?

However, when Xia Ping’an opened his eyes, he discovered that he could actually recall everything that occurred in the boundary bead.

His experience of becoming Suiren and teaching the tribesmen to create fire from drilling wood together in the boundary bead was still fresh in his mind.

Did the mystery of the boundaries actually have no effect on him?

The so-called merging with of the divine fire boundary bead was just becoming Suiren and going through the process of generating fire from drilling wood together. This process was also deeply ingrained in Chinese history.

Xia Ping’an was moved. He seemed to realize something, but his face remained expressionless.

His body felt somewhat uncomfortable. Xia Ping’an looked down at his hands and saw a layer of grayish-black stuff on the skin on the back of his hand. It appeared as though he had not showered in half a year. He felt extremely uncomfortable.

Right now, Xia Ping’an was not certain what time it was.

It was because within the boundary bead, he felt as though many days had passed.

“Xia Ping’an, congratulations on successfully merging with the divine fire boundary bead!” Mo Yanshao’s voice could be heard in the room. His face also appeared on the display.

From Mo Yanshao’s face, Xia Ping’an could see a look of sincere happiness.

“Oh, thank you. What time is it now?” Xia Ping’an inquired.

“You have only been in Room 999 for less than two hours!”

It had only been less than two hours? He had spent a long time in the boundary bead. It appeared that the flow of time in the boundary bead was completely different from that of reality outside. Everything that occurred in the boundary bead truly felt just like a dream.

“Xia Ping’an, how are you feeling now? Do you feel any discomfort?” Dr. Huang asked out of concern as her face appeared on the screen.

“I’m quite alright. It is just that there is a layer of grayish filth on my skin.”

“Those are the impurities excreted from your body during the baptism of divine power. You will be fine after a shower. There is nothing to worry about,” Dr. Huang explained with a smile. “For those who become summoners, as they undergo the process, due to the baptism of divine power, they will gradually experience their bodies expelling impurities thrice. After these three experiences, even if they successfully merge with additional boundary beads and obtain baptisms of divine power, their bodies will no longer have impurities to excrete.”

“Alright. Thank you, Dr. Huang,” Xia Ping’an replied as he nodded his head.

“Kid, did you obtain 16 points of divine power when you merged with the divine fire boundary bead?” Li Yunzhou’s face suddenly squeezed his way into the frame of the screen. It filled the entire display, and his nostrils were the size of fists. Li Yunzhou winked at Xia Ping’an and praised him, “Kid, your performance wasn’t bad. What I taught you before did not go to waste!”

What Li Yunzhou taught him? Had he taught him anything?

Xia Ping’an’s expression was calm as he said, “I sense that my consciousness is connected to a mysterious place. There is a mass of burning flames in that place. Around it, there are 16 balls of light. Is the divine power you are referring to these 16 balls of light?”

“Yes, yes. The mass of flames is the divine fire that you ignited when you successfully merged with the divine fire boundary bead. The 16 balls of light mean that you have 16 points of divine power. The brightly colored flame totem is the spell summoning slot that you obtained this time. Once you successfully form your Mind Altar and fill your spell summoning slot with divine power, you may unleash fire manipulation techniques!”

“Senior, may I know what’s a perfect merge?”

“You have achieved the so-called perfect merge under my proper guidance. Your condition was perfect while you were merging with the boundary bead, and you have exploited all that it had to offer. Besides...,” Li Yunzhou babbled on about the benefits of a perfect merge to Xia Ping’an.

Li Yunzhou still wanted to elaborate further, but a burly figure pushed him aside. Tu Polu’s face appeared on the screen as he curiously asked, “Kid, congratulations. Oh, yeah, have you experienced anything special that was related to fire prior to this? For example, have you experienced a fire disaster or a volcano erupting before? Do you have any unique insights when you look at those things?”

Tu Polu was very eager to find out how Xia Ping’an could achieve a perfect merge with the divine fire boundary bead. He wanted to snoop out any relevant information.

Cold sweat quietly trickled down Xia Ping’an’s back. How was Suiren’s contributions related to any of those things that Tu Polu mentioned? However, Xia Ping’an also knew that Tu Polu was merely curious about it. Hence, he shook his head and replied, “I don’t think so...”

“It’s still luck after all!” Tu Polu rubbed his head and revealed a knowing look.

Luck?

Xia Ping’an kept his lips sealed and did not say a word.

Next, Big Zhou from the armory appeared on the screen. He grinned at Xia Ping’an and said, “Kid, congratulations. You have just successfully merged with the divine fire boundary bead and have experienced a perfect baptism. Your physical abilities will improve by leaps and bounds. Before this, didn’t you complain that the recoil of the gun was too huge and it was a little hectic for you to swing the Black Cobra steel whip? Now, you should be able to use them at ease.”

“Alright. Thank you, Uncle Zhou!”

“You’re welcome. Those things are meant for you to use after you have ignited the divine fire. It’s just that I didn’t expect you to perform so exceptionally well.”

Big Zhou was very pleased to hear Xia Ping’an addressing him as Uncle Zhou. Xia Ping’an was much more polite than the b*stard Li Yunzhou. At the very least, Xia Ping’an knew how to respect his elders and he did not act all arrogantly just because he had a perfect merge.

“Alright, everyone, keep your conversation for later after he comes out.” Mo Yanshao’s face appeared on the screen again. He instructed Xia Ping’an, “Return to your own room and have a good shower first. After you have changed, come down to the multipurpose training ground. If you’ve any questions, we’ll discuss it there.”

After Mo Yanshao said this, the screen turned black, and it slowly ascended back into the ceiling.

Only then did Xia Ping’an stand up.

When Xia Ping’an stood up, he realized that his entire body seemed different. Just now, he was sitting cross-legged. Without moving his arms and waist, he could stand up straight by having his legs exert a little force. Even though this action appeared simple, it required very strong thigh muscles and the coordination of all the muscles in his entire body. Prior to this, he couldn’t have done it.

Just when Xia Ping’an was still amazed by his movement, he suddenly felt all the bones in his body itching. He couldn’t help but slightly twist his body. To his surprise, a stretch caused all the joints in his body to let out a series of popping sounds. The sounds rang in Xia Ping’an’s ears, making him feel like a string of firecrackers had exploded in his body.

After the pops, Xia Ping’an felt that his body was light, nimble, and full of energy from top to bottom. It was as though he had switched into a new body.

Right now, his body was in too disgusting of a state. He needed to have a shower first.

Xia Ping’an stood up and immediately opened the door of Training Room 999. He walked out and returned to his own room, Room 963. The two rooms weren’t far from one another.

After half an hour of having a nice, soothing shower in his room and changing his clothes, Xia Ping’an immediately went to the multipurpose training ground underneath the building.

He was surprised to see that Dr. Huang, Mo Yanshao, Tu Polu, Cao Xinghua, An Qing, Li Yunzhou, Fang Lingshan as well as Big Zhou had all gathered and were waiting at the multipurpose training ground.

Almost everyone in the Special Forces Unit had gathered.

When they saw Xia Ping’an coming, all their gazes landed on him.