The Desolation mantra was something the gravekeeper elder had taught Xiang Shaoyun. Xiang Shaoyun had subsequently improved the mantra in the goldmen territory. However, he only had the first half of the mantra. The second half was still missing.

Even so, the mantra still lived up to its status as a mysterious technique from ancient times. It contained the concepts of the great dao. Each time one meditated on it, one would obtain great gains. That was especially true when one was trying to comprehend the profundities of powers, where the mantra would greatly aid the comprehension process.

With the mantra, Xiang Shaoyun was able to slowly comprehend the dao of countering.

The dao of countering dictated that when two powers of equal strength coexisted, one would eliminate the other. The power that would be created during the process of elimination was what he should seek. The seed of the elimination would be the representative of the dao of countering that had arisen from the two powers.

How should one comprehend the elimination process, and how should one locate the seed of elimination? That would rely on one's comprehension capability. Using both the Light of Wisdom and the Desolation mantra, Xiang Shaoyun's comprehension of the dao of countering increased at an unimaginable speed.

After an indeterminate period of time, he was able to understand the subtle relationship between the powers of gold and flame, comprehending the changes that would occur between two powers that countered each other.

The flame countered the gold, while the gold would transform into liquid. The liquid that would result from this process would contain the profundities of both powers. If one could grasp the power of the liquid, one would be able to fully grasp the powers of gold and flame.

Xiang Shaoyun manipulated the two powers and had them endlessly collide with each other. He tried to stimulate the appearance of the power of elimination. Gradually, he started seeing results.

He formed a fist using the Unrivaled Sky Crushing Punch. The fist was powered not only by gold energy but also by flame energy. Both energies were fused together, with the flame energy taking the dominant position as it melted the gold energy. The instant the gold energy melted, Xiang Shaoyun tried controlling the elimination power. However, the resulting effect was greatly disappointing since it was far weaker than using only a single power. His mood fell.

After many failures, he thought of a different method. Perhaps he shouldn't create the elimination power externally. Instead, he should finish the fusion process within his body. Perhaps that would help him bring out the true might of the two powers. However, doing so would be extremely dangerous. Any carelessness would result in an explosion within his body that could kill him.

As Xiang Shaoyun had always been a stubborn person, he decided to try it anyway. Two clumps of energy were drawn out of his stars, and the two started fusing.

The same thing repeated itself as he failed many times. His body suffered some backlash from the failures, but he had only drawn a tiny amount of energy for this experiment. Therefore, he could withstand the backlashes even though they were still causing him endless discomfort.

After failing for an unknown number of times, Xiang Shaoyun finally successfully created a mutated energy that resulted from the flame countering the gold. The energy existed in a liquid form and was reddish-gold in color. The liquid shared the attributes of both flame and gold and was much scarier than the two, capable of much greater destruction.

After Xiang Shaoyun increased his proficiency in manipulating the new energy, he started increasing the volume in which he was fusing flame and gold. Slowly, he grew more and more proficient.

Xiang Shaoyun named the new energy golden fury. This energy was akin to a golden liquid that would appear after melting gold in flame. Its temperature was incredibly high and could not be underestimated.

Once again, Xiang Shaoyun used the Unrivaled Sky Crushing Punch. The golden fury energy surged out like a raging tide and inferno that instantly destroyed everything in its path.

This was merely something he had created out of regular gold and flame energies. If he used Yun Flame and flux goldthorn energy instead, the fusion would be even more destructive.

With the golden fury energy in the bag, he started researching the interactions of the other powers. He eventually tried fusing the powers of water and flame. The fusion resulted in something that worked similarly with the powers of yin and yang, and he named it flamewater discordance.

Water as yin, and flame as yang. Xiang Shaoyun had long comprehended the dao of yin and yang, but the powers of water and flame were different from yin and yang. He was unable to replicate what he did with the Yin Yang Diagram. When the pinnacle of the coldness of water fused with the pinnacle of the hotness of flame, it became the flamewater discordance energy that was comparable in might with the golden fury energy.

From the start of the cultivation session until now, only half a month had passed. One could say that Xiang Shaoyun possessed a freakish comprehension capability for him to go from comprehending the powers of yin and yang to comprehending the interactions of five elements in such a short period of time.

Anyone would find this hard to believe. But if they knew that Xiang Shaoyun actually had the Light of Wisdom, they wouldn't be as surprised.

When Xiang Shaoyun left seclusion, his temperament had changed. This change did not originate from his physical looks. Rather, it came from the domineering sensation he gave to all around him.

When the Skeleton Gang members saw him, they couldn't help but exclaim inwardly about how domineering he was. That was understandable. After emerging as the champion of the four academies' competition, Xiang Shaoyun had become the number one cultivator under the Sovereign Realm. Now that he had comprehended two new powers, his strength had reached an unfathomable level. Even a fifth-stage Sovereign would be easily defeated.

During this time, a majority of the Skeleton Gang members that were training in the Devil Domain had returned. The two leaders had also returned, bringing with them a large number of Emperors. Apart from that, Du Xuanhao and Han Pojun had also returned. The two were in peak condition, and they were now peak second-stage Sovereigns. One ought to admit that they had not been wasting their time. During the past few years, they had cultivated hard and advanced repeatedly.

"Greetings, young master," the two greeted Xiang Shaoyun deferentially when they saw him.

Their respect for him came from the depths of their hearts, and they weren't merely acting subservient to him just because he had helped them in the past.

"Big Brother Du, Big Brother Han, seems like both of you have been advancing rapidly," praised Xiang Shaoyun.

"Our speed can't even be compared to yours," said the two in a uniform manner.

They had indeed grown considerably, but when they saw Xiang Shaoyun, they realized just how slow they were compared to him. Back then, he was only a seventh-stage King when he joined the Dragon Phoenix Academy. But now, he was already a peak Emperor. That was a terrifying speed of advancement.