### Chapter 67: The Pond's Opportunity (Part 4)
Two zhang from the cave, Lin Yi's body had grown stiff, barely able to hold itself up. Forcing himself forward might mean freezing to death.
Even with the *Five Spirits Body Tempering Technique*—having reached the Third Transformation, Meridian Refinement—he was blocked by this mere two zhang. Unwillingness roared in his chest; anger flashed in his eyes.
Stopping short, he slowly calmed. His body, already battered from the fight with the python, now teetered on collapse.
Suddenly, Lin Yi sat cross-legged, forming seals to cycle the *Five Spirits Technique*. He ran through the first three transformations: Skin Tempering, Flesh Tempering, Meridian Refinement. After one full cycle, his body eased—still cold, but no longer rigid. Joy surged, his mind clearing into an unexpected state of emptiness.
"What's this?" he wondered, startled. A strange thread of power had appeared in his body—neither spiritual energy, nor inner strength, nor the power from the *Five Spirits Technique*. It was tiny, thinner than a hair, but unmistakably real.
He focused a wisp of divine sense on it, determined to understand. *It can't have appeared out of nowhere. Must be from cultivation.*
"Could it be…?" A bold thought struck him. *A fusion of the *Five Spirits* power and spiritual energy?*
Excitement made his heart race. If two forces could merge into a new one, what might its power be? Curious and hopeful, he stirred the faint remaining spiritual energy in his body while cycling the *Five Spirits Technique*.
All his attention fixed on the two forces, waiting to confirm his guess.
Gradually, as they flowed through the same meridian, they merged without resistance. By the time they fully passed through, a wisp of that strange power lingered in the meridian.
"Just as I thought!" Lin Yi rejoiced inwardly.
He forgot the cave's treasure entirely, throwing himself into nurturing this new power.
He cycled the *Five Spirits Technique* and his slowly recovering spiritual energy. The strange power grew, imperceptibly—only after half an hour could he see it had thickened slightly.
Half a day slipped by.
The python, now鳞片-less and covered in wounds, hovered on the edge of death. Its massive body, if not submerged, would have been drenched in blood.
Of the twenty-five cultivators, three disciples had died in the python's last stand—their bodies sank to the bottom, bones shattered, chests caved in. The remaining twenty-two, except the six Foundation Establishment elders, looked exhausted. Their bodies, weaker than妖兽, had nearly drained their spiritual energy after half a day of battle.
The pond bottom, churned by the fight, grew murkier.
"This python's at its last gasp. Finish it!" Elder Zhao's voice boomed. As a Mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator with a Grade 3 spirit artifact, he led the charge.
The others, glimpsing the python's dire state, perked up, forcing their artifacts to strike.
Lucky to have brought ample pills—originally for demonic investigations—they now popped them, hastily refining the energy to replenish themselves.
Beneath relentless attacks, the python neared collapse.
Suddenly, it let out a mournful hiss, a sense of desolation settling over it. Its eyes blazed with fury—and resolve.
Its treasure, guarded for centuries, should ripen now. To claim it, it must deal with these cultivators. With a final roar, it opened its maw and spat out its demon core—irregular, bloodied, pulsing with energy.
The core hovered between the python and the cultivators.
"Not good! It's going to self-destruct its core!" Elder Zhao's face paled, horrified.
Panic swept the group. They'd feared nothing in the chase, but a self-destructing Fifth-order demon core—equivalent to a Late Foundation Establishment cultivator's self-destruction—terrified them.
Even Core Formation experts would struggle without strong defenses, let alone two Mid-Foundation, four Early-Foundation, and sixteen Qi Refinement disciples.
If the core exploded, the disciples would die instantly.