Cursed Immortality

It's been three weeks since Jacob started heading south, and there were still no traces of ice plains ending. He had no idea that this place was so big, and teleporting closer to the Fiend Yeti was probably his luck. 

In these past three weeks, Jacob hadn't encountered any living being, but he did bump into a few dark beings, which he killed on the spot. There were also no more small fiend yetis, and he reckoned that they were all dead. 

Another thing worth mentioning was he had consumed the Fiend Yeti's heart and corpse six days ago. Although he didn't know how much his strength had increased, he was brimming with strength, and his height had increased by 13 inches! 

Immortika had told him that his size would continue to increase with strength because of the Giant Fighting Spirit aspect. Right now, he was probably at the peak of Epic-9-Tier Rank. 

Furthermore, he didn't know if he would get a unique glyph once he achieved the Unique Rank Physique. 

A peak epic rank physique of a sorcerer had the strength of 100 Kilotons and combatant 999 kilotons. While their mana capacity was the opposite. 

The people of Zodiac Plains measure mana capacity on the Cosmic Magic Scale (CMS). 

1 CMS was equivalent to a mana capacity of peak star rank magic core. When the species entered the epic rank, the true difference between the two classes started to show. 

A peak epic mana core of a sorcerer has a mana capacity of 100 on CMS, while a combat only has 50! 

When a sorcerer entered the Unique Rank, their physical strength would reach 1 Megaton and mana capacity 1000 CMS. On the other hand, a combatant strength would have a physical strength of 10 megatons and a mana capacity of 500 CMC. 

But these changes only occurred after the spirit or aura glyphs metalized. 

However, Jacob didn't follow this traditional class system, so he had no way of knowing, and Immortika refused to give him a clear answer, so all he could do was guess. 

As time passed and he still didn't see any end to the ice plains, Jacob started to be anxious because someone might figure out what the trial was and clear a condition. 

On this day, Jacob's footsteps finally came to a halt when he was at the peak of an ice mountain because he finally spotted someone other than white a few miles away, and he couldn't believe his eyes at first. 

"Are those flames?" He muttered in disbelief as he looked at the golden flames on the other side of the ice plains!

This phenomenon was too ludicrous because the ice and fire seemed not to affect each other, and they were separated by clear boundaries as if some magical power separated them! 

Nonetheless, Jacob increased his pace as he headed toward the golden flames. Whichever the case was, Jacob knew these flames should be where another beast of direction was residing. 

As Jacob approached closer, he still couldn't feel the head, and he also saw that golden flames were burning over a golden desert, and those flames were about a foot tall. 

Even when he was only a step away from stepping into the burning golden desert, he still didn't feel any heat. 

At this moment, Jacob finally crossed that line between ice and fire, and the moment he stepped into it, the temperature changed from intense cold to intense heat! 

First, he felt cozy since he was traveling in a cold environment for days, but soon, he started to sweat as he could feel the high temperature more clearly. 

Jacob then took a step back and entered the ice plains again, and the heat vanished, replaced by cold. 

"If these flames are like the snowfall, won't they have increased as I entered deeper into the desert? I might've handled low temperatures, but this intense heat might not have been so easy. Furthermore, these flames might increase in size as well…" 

Jacob frowned as he looked at the burning desert while standing at the edge of the ice plains. 

But suddenly, Jacob's eyes flashed, 'Wait, this might be an opportunity. I've been putting aside the second meditation of the Art of Nature because, first, I don't have time to spare, and second, the environment's demands and risk for it are simply too dangerous and excessive. 

'Furthermore, my water magic core can't be cultivated from 1-star epic rank to 2-star epic rank, but it can be molded according to scripture, and even abilities functions are the same. I've been wondering if it's related to the Art of Nature.

'Now that I've seen this burning desert, it's a perfect time to test my theory. Furthermore, if the second meditation is like the first meditation, then I'll get another magic core, and it will be extremely helpful. 

'Although I need to clear this trial fast, I can't ignore the fact that those monsters are all Unique Rank, and the final monster might be even stronger. I don't know how much time I need to be a unique rank, but Art of Nature might be able to provide assistance. 

'If the monster is related to fire, then I can't ignore it any longer, and this environment is hard to come by, unlike water. Who could've thought I would get the chance to try Art of Nature's second meditation exercise in this life, the Fire Meditation? I clearly remember how hard I laughed when I saw it. But now…' 

Jacob's eyes shone with nostalgia; the Art of Nature was the only thing that connected him to his old world, and he even managed to complete the first mediation exercise after going through many troubles. 

But he always hesitates about the second meditation exercise, the Fire Meditation. This meditation exercise required him to meditate inside a burning fire for 120 hours, 48 hours more than the water meditation. 

However, after he experienced how the water mediation needed a massive amount of water absorption, he didn't know how much fire would take for him to complete this. 

Furthermore, unlike the Water Meditation, the Fire Meditation needed to be completed in one go, and if he weren't able to succeed, he would turn into ashes. This warning was written in the ancient book itself. 

That's why he was so afraid of starting this meditation exercise because he didn't have a suitable environment, nor was he confident in his strength. 

However, now that he saw the burning desert, there was nothing but golden flames in sight. He couldn't help but think about taking this step. He was no longer the person he used to be, and now he was far more powerful than he first started. 

Besides, he was preparing many fire-type scriptures if he started this exercise one day, and the Aura of Fire Knight was perfect for a fire magic core. So, with the conviction of forming another magic core, Jacob entered the depths of the burning desert!

However, Jacob didn't realize that his fear of death was slowly disappearing because of the Fighting Giant Spirit!