It's somewhat similar to the power of the flames in the Ice and Fire Palm, but it's also a bit different. At the very least, this power can't produce flames." Huang Wen mused, feeling the power within Pyro and recalling how his abilities manifested.
"However, saying it can't produce flames might not be entirely accurate. It should be said that it can't produce the initial spark, but it can control the flame from a lighter, making it continuously generate and grow stronger…"
"Teacher?" Pyro hadn't sensed any movement from Huang Wen for a while, which was quite different from Logan's experience earlier. Pyro opened his eyes, a little puzzled.
"Hmm, John, can you control the power within you?" Huang Wen quickly regained his composure and asked Pyro.
"Control the power within me? But there's no fire source around, so I can't control it…" Pyro looked around, then hesitantly said to Huang Wen.
"No, even if there's no external flame, the power within you should always be there. It's inside you. You need to learn to control it even when there's no fire!" Huang Wen shook his head, encouraging Pyro.
"I… I'll try…" Pyro nodded, a little unsure of himself, then began to sense the power within him. After a long moment, Pyro looked up at Huang Wen, crestfallen, "Sorry, I've disappointed you, Teacher. I still can't generate fire on my own…"
"No! John, I'm not asking you to generate fire with it. Its ability is to control and strengthen flames. It needs a spark to be triggered, but that doesn't mean it goes dormant when there's no fire around!" Huang Wen shook his head again, looking earnestly into Pyro's eyes, "I want you to control this power, to circulate it within your body!"
"This… this doesn't seem difficult at all…" Pyro was taken aback. He hadn't expected Huang Wen to ask him to do something so simple. But what good would just controlling this power do? At most, it would just make him feel a little warmer.
"Then show me you can control it." Huang Wen's eyes lit up. He smiled at Pyro and said, "If you can truly control this power, then perhaps you'll progress even faster than Wolverine and the others!"
"Really?" Pyro's eyes also brightened, and he instantly became joyful. He quickly controlled the power within him. Soon, Pyro felt a warmth spreading through his body, and his complexion even turned rosy.
"Good, it's possible after all! Perhaps this is your internal energy, you mutant types!" Huang Wen's perception felt the power skillfully controlled within Pyro, and the corners of his mouth curved upwards slightly. "Control your power so it doesn't resist, and remember the path my power flows along!"
Huang Wen circulated the power of the Ice and Fire Palm, transforming it into a stream of Ice and Fire internal energy, which entered Pyro's body. Pyro's body trembled, and he quickly controlled the mutant power within him to settle down, preventing any major impact.
Otherwise, if the two powers collided within Pyro's body, even if Pyro was a mutant with slightly stronger physical qualities than ordinary people, the outcome would likely be disastrous!
After a while, Huang Wen guided that internal energy into Pyro's dantian. The last trace of that internal energy was directly assimilated by the mutant energy within Pyro.
However, after assimilating the Ice and Fire Palm, the mutant energy, which subconsciously circulated according to the newly acquired cultivation technique, underwent a significant transformation. If Huang Wen had taught the Kunlun Fire Palm, Pyro might only have experienced an enhancement of his abilities without much change.
But what Huang Wen taught was the Ice and Fire Palm, a miraculous cultivation technique that brought together the vastly different elements of ice and fire. Although its rank wasn't particularly high, its potential was immense.
As a result,
Pyro felt a bit uncomfortable. His mutant ability was like undergoing a second awakening, and this time, it was a forced awakening.
"Ah!" Pyro felt one side of his body cold and the other hot, shivering from the cold on his left and sweating profusely from the heat on his right. Pyro cried out in discomfort.
"Hold on!" Huang Wen's encouraging voice rang in Pyro's ears. "As long as you can hold on, you'll be able to freely create and control flames in the future. Moreover, you'll also possess the ability to create and control ice, similar to Iceman Bobby! And your physical qualities will further strengthen!"
"Bobby?" Pyro didn't quite hear Huang Wen's last words, but the prospect of having Iceman Bobby's abilities was deeply etched in his mind.
Pyro's relationship with Iceman Bobby, from initial competition to friendship, and then to animosity, during which Pyro had never once beaten Iceman Bobby, in any aspect. Not once. But this time, if he could just persevere, he would have a chance to beat Iceman Bobby!
Thinking this, Pyro gritted his teeth, not letting out even a whimper, afraid that making a sound would ruin this opportunity to become stronger.
"So strong!" After a long time, Pyro's left side was covered in frost, and his right side was drenched in sweat, but he excitedly opened his eyes. In fact, Pyro's eyes had now become heterochromatic, his left eye icy blue and his right eye fiery red. Perhaps the title "Pyro" no longer suited him.
"How is it? How do you feel?" Huang Wen asked John, whose unusual bodily features slowly disappeared, leaving only his heterochromatic eyes unable to change back.
"Teacher, I feel better than ever before! My power has at least doubled!" John looked at Huang Wen excitedly. "I think I'm definitely no worse than Bobby now! Teacher, look…"
John extended both hands. A chill emanated from his left hand, and a ball of flame burned on his right. Moreover, judging by his control over the cold and the flame, the Ice and Fire Palm had perfectly integrated with his own abilities.
"Not bad, you've certainly made the greatest progress." Huang Wen nodded in satisfaction. From John's experience, he gained a deeper understanding of internal energy and mutant energy.
Although various superpowers and internal energies have different origins—some due to genes, some due to external forces, and some through self-cultivation—ultimately, the power displayed by these abilities is not fundamentally different; in fact, they even share similarities!
Otherwise, Magneto wouldn't have been able to undo Huang Wen's Sunflower Acupoint Tapping Hand with his mutant ability before, forcing Huang Wen to later, when leaving a hidden hand, directly and completely destroy two of Magneto's acupoints to teach him a lesson.