Multiple rays of sunshine infiltrated the gaps of the thick tree-cover overhead, sending volumetric beams of light poking through the gaps in the leaves, forming scattered golden splotches of dull sunlight on the forest floor below.
Hartley sat cross legged on the dried leaves scattered across the ground, his eyes closed.
Shadows danced across his body as he sat statue-still, he was under the broad canopy of a gigantic oak-like tree, its thick protruding roots stretched out around the area like an octopus drilling its tentacles into the earth.
The oval-shaped leaves above swayed gently from side to side in the mild wind sweeping through forest.
This was his first time back cultivating since getting married and he felt refreshed by the open scent and wild unfiltered sounds of the mountains, he focused his mind with renewed thoughts, vigor, and a renewed purpose.
He engaged his advanced state of focus and delved back into the world of cultivation.
A few hours went by in the blink of an eye, the gentle breeze sauntered through the forested area bringing a few dead leaves swirling just above the ground.
The un-moving Hartley was glowing bright blue, shafts of light poured out of his body like he had swallowed a lantern.
Waves of energy started to pulse out from his body, rattling the ground underneath him, creating a network of spiderweb cracks that slowly crawled out in every direction.
He sat calmly at the center of the ruckus, not even seeming to notice.
The wings of panicked birds could be heard fluttering loudly, loose feathers fell slowly onto the canopy of the forest, the frantic birds immediately migrated from the area in mass.
Squawking loudly in unison as they made their escape.
Simultaneously a mottled collection of fierce beats scavenging in the area turned in fright, noisily tearing through the thick undergrowth, in a desperate rush to vacate the area.
Moving speedily away from Hartley's position, the mini stampede drummed up a storm of dirt and dried leaves, scattering chaotically behind in their wake as they headed deeper into the mountain howling in panic.
The soldiers training in the mountain immediately felt the unnatural vibrations underfoot and were spooked by the unexpected quaking of the ground, some of the men began to stumble and fall while others were trying to balance themselves with arms spread wide, taking shaky steps as if they were walking on a tight rope suspended in the air.
People as faraway as in the main manor could feel the tremors of the earth.
The thick bodied Captain Houlang assisted by Fu Qian immediately ended their training session and shouted orders of retreat, they then started to quickly lead the men on a path out of the mountain as a precautionary measure.
They feared something unknown and sinister was brewing deep in the hidden innermost belly of the mountains, something so powerful that they wouldn't be able to handle it if confronted by it.
As the soldiers were briskly leaving the area, skillfully navigating over the rough rocky terrain at the outer edges, there was a sudden boom, the world around them shook violently and everything in their sights seemed to be dyed in blue.....
At the manor everyone going about their duties were shocked and stared slack-jawed at the distant mountain, they had already been on edge feeling the trembling of the earth underneath them for the last fifteen minutes.
Then they saw a column of blue light suddenly erupt from that direction of the deep mountain shaking the ground like a tambourine as it rose into the sky bursting through the delicate formations of fluffy white clouds.
This created an almighty ruckus around the manor as the commoners were scared silly by the unbelievable almost alien sight, chaos ensued as some dropped to their knees in worship while others ran for the safety of their stone houses. All pleading for assistance from the Holy Matriarch....
Qin Li's eyes suddenly flicked open, he was cultivating in his private room in the manor. He walked to the window and looked out at the column of light quizzically. He could feel the tingling of raw power in the air that sent chills through his body, "Is that you Hartley?" he asked himself quietly with a pensive look on his scruffy features. .
On the top floor of the manor in a large room doused with sunlight from the high windows, Zhi Ruo's elegant white gown swirled around her as she glided to the window at the south side of the room and looked out nervously, hoping and praying in her heart that nothing bad had happened to Hartley.
The three students behind her had pale frightened faces as they flocked to the window behind her to look at the column of blue that seemed to have split the heavens above.
Zhi Ruo reassured the children with a smile that nothing bad was happening even though she was nervous herself but she couldn't show it in front of them.
The blue light column beaming up into the heavens was a beacon of attention for everyone in the capital but no one could say for sure what this phenomenon was. Some of the top experts even started to make their way over to the deep mountains in the western hills to investigate.
Eyes closed, Hartley was sitting as still as a dead deer in the middle of this column of blue light, he had a peaceful and serene look on his face as if he was getting his portrait painted without a care in the world as countless blue particles danced around him.
Then a translucent sphere looking like a giant bubble wrapped around Hartley's body flickering with a blue pulse of color that seemed to sync with his heartbeat.
With a flash of blue, dirt and leaves gently swirled around in a cyclonic pattern around him, Hartley then made a dramatic and regal ascent into the sky whipping up the dead leaves and blowing away the clusters of tree branches adorned with green leaves that were sticking out from the tree and into his path.
Hartley hovered about twenty meters off the ground next to the scattered limbs of the ancient tree with the peeling dry flakes of its massive brown bark falling to the ground in thick pieces.
Hartley was still in a lotus position as he floated silently in the perpetual storm of blue.
After another thirty minutes Hartley opened his piercing blue eyes and the column of blue stretching up towards the sky slowly faded away, with the bubble-like sphere still surrounding his body, Hartley floated in the air for another ten minutes before gently descending back down to the floor.
As he stood among the scattered dried brown leaves juxtaposing the airborne green swirling leaves from the dismembered limbs of the tree, he smiled and the translucent sphere around him retracted into his body and calmness returned to the western hills. He stood in silence with the remnants of the half-destroyed tree surrounding his feet.
Hartley had easily broken through to the 9th layer of the xiantian realm.
"Can one person be so lucky?" he had to ask himself, these past days Lady Luck seemed to have cradled him tightly within her bosom.
Better to be lucky than good he thought to himself as he pondered but couldn't figure out the reason for his smooth transition after so many days of complete idleness.
He shrugged and sat back down in the lotus position and entered his inner world.
Under the blue star fragment that sat in the sky, this wild untamed world was a paradise of trees, mountains and rivers that stretched out as far as his eyes could see. The star tattoo imprinted over his heart was shining so bright that he could see the blue glow tunneling through his black robe.
Its been a while since he had seen this star tattoo shine so brightly, Hartley concentrated on his heart and to his surprise, The blue star gravity sutra book that he had last read back in the waltham province appeared floating in front of him with a bright blue glow.
Hartley had only unlocked forty pages of this book and now that it had appeared again means that there were additional pages unlocked. Hartley opened the book and started to read, just as he had thought there was another twenty pages.
Stepping into the 9th layer represented a qualitative evolution in his powers.
The bubble-like sphere was a gravitational force field, the culmination of gravity manipulation. Once this was activated he could be free of the earth's gravitational pull which basically enabled him to float freely, it was sort of like flying but the speed of this was undesirable.
This sphere could also act as a shield, sort of like a turtle shell.
It could be used to simply divert incoming projectiles away or it could produce a pulse wave to forcefully shatter any threat within a certain diameter.
Hartley stretched out his hand releasing a strong gravitational down-force, a single tree in the distance was forced down to the ground so fast that it exploded into splinters with a flash of black energy that rumbled like thunder, leaving wooden chips strewn all over the ground in a messy pattern.
Harltey's eyes shone, his strength had increased almost five folds and his control had dramatically improved as well.
Feeling a sudden tingle of danger the hairs stood erect on his neck, Hartley opened his eyes suddenly and was back standing under the giant tree, the mountain was calm and tranquil, The abundant trees swayed to the rhythm of the wind and the scattered dried leaves rustled over the ground. Nothing looked out of place.
Hartley looked to the south, with a frown he punched out. With a booming sound the mountain shook as if it was struck by a huge hammer, the fabric of space became unstable and rippled in a circular pattern as rocks began to rumble and roll down the side of the mountain.
"Your skills are admirable, but you are a mere ant in my eyes."
Came a conceited voice as a man with long white hair tied back in a pony-tail stepped from the void and appeared among the backdrop of greenery, he stood a hundred meters from Hartley's position wearing a simple styled white robe.
Hartley blinked in surprise, after his senses had alerted him of imminent danger he still couldn't perceive the threat, but with just his instincts he attacked in the general vicinity of where he felt the danger.
Even though he couldn't sense any fluctuations from the man, Hartley's resolve never wavered and his confidence never shook.
"What are you doing in the Western Hills, are you here spying for someone?" Hartley asked calmly
The man laughed "So what if I am or what if I came to investigate the weird happenings in these hills, what can an ant like you do about it?"
As the man talked and began to move forward with slow steady steps, his body shimmered with a yellow hazy color and the space around him seemed to undulate like the surface of a pond that had been disturbed by a pebble.
The fire elements in the air writhed and came alive, the surrounding hundred meters around Hartley and the man was painted in a yellow mist that obscured everything. Trees in this area evaporated into smoke in an instant leaving a circular patch of swirling grey ash that danced around the two men as if they were trapped in a snow-globe.
Movement in this area felt severely hindered and laborious. It was like wading through waist high mud for everyone except the white hair man.....
A translucent sphere flew out of Harltey's body in response and surrounded his figure, intermittently flickering with a resplendent blue in the sea of amber.
With the wave of a hand a blue pulse-wave shot out from the sphere pushing back the yellow mist in a fifty meter diameter around Hartley like a tsunami washing away sand, returning the natural color of the world around him as he stood ankle deep in ash.
"How?" the white hair man didn't believe his eyes.
When someone stepped into the Saint realm they reacted differently with the elements, they gained control over the natural element in the air that they had an affinity to on a molecular level, no longer did they have to depend solely on the element stored in their dantian (body).
This sea of amber that was dispersed by Hartley like smoke in the wind was the man's saint domain.