Just three breaths.
The massive vortex deep in the starry sky quietly disappeared.
Only the cascading stream of light, like a waterfall of galaxies, remained. As it descended from the firmament, it became hazy and elusive, as fine as a drizzling mist.
Even ordinary people could clearly see it, let alone someone like Ning Xi.
Who could it be?
Ning Xi furrowed her delicate eyebrows.
A whirlpool of starry rivers, a rain of light!
Such a phenomenon could only be described as terrifying, far beyond comparison with ordinary phenomena.
Su Yi?
Ning Xi remembered the young man in the green robe she had seen today.
But then she shook her head and dismissed the thought.
Undoubtedly, Su Yi had great secrets and profound mysteries, but how could a guy in the mid-stage of Qi Gathering realm trigger such a phenomenon?
It should be noted that this phenomenon stretched across the celestial realm, turning myriad stars into a whirlpool. Even martial practitioners at the Fourth Stage of Martial Dao would find it almost impossible to bring about such a transcendent phenomenon of "heavenly response."
"It seems that there are far more secrets hidden in this mundane world than I imagined..."
Ning Xi was lost in thought.
...
In the northern territory of Da Zhou, deep within the Hūn Míng Sea.
On a black island perpetually shrouded in wind and snow.
"If possible, I never want to stay in this godforsaken freezing place for the rest of my life."
Ge Qian, who was sitting cross-legged on the ground, cursed to himself, shaking off the ice and snow covering his apricot-yellow Daoist robe. He stood up amidst the biting cold wind.
"To cultivate the 'Xuanwu True Qi Scripture,' one must endure the deepest loneliness in the world, endure hardships that ordinary people cannot bear. It was your own choice, not something I forced upon you."
In his divine soul, an old man took pleasure in his misfortune.
Ge Qian remained silent.
Embarrassingly enough, when the old man imparted the cultivation method to him, he had listed four incredibly mysterious and powerful scriptures. Each one was hyped up as the pinnacle of the world, capable of directly pointing to the path of the Xuan Dao Emperor...
But in the end, Ge Qian rejected them all.
He only asked, "Among countless spells and great paths, is there one that can allow me to survive till the end on the Great Dao?"
Back then, the old man was so furious, he wanted to slap Ge Qian, this timid and cautious coward, to death.
But in the end...
He couldn't overcome Ge Qian's persistence. Grumbling and cursing, he taught him the "Xuanwu True Qi Scripture," which epitomized the essence of survival.
Perhaps it suited his temperament, as cultivating this scripture turned out to be surprisingly smooth, and he made rapid progress.
Although the old man often mocked him for being a turtle in his previous life, he occasionally praised him for his successful cultivation...
However, the only downside to practicing the Xuanwu True Qi Scripture was enduring the pain akin to being hacked by knives and axes.
For this reason, Ge Qian had tasted the bitterness.
Just like this, on the Hūn Míng Sea that could freeze ordinary warriors into ice blocks, in order to break through the Martial Grandmaster realm, Ge Qian had to endure for eighty-one days, enduring hunger, cold, and being tempered by ice and snow.
Only then could he forge the "Xuanwu Soul Shell," using it as the foundation to step into the threshold of a Martial Grandmaster.
"Only seventy-two days left, endure a little longer... Once I become a Martial Grandmaster, with my strength, as long as I don't provoke trouble, act impulsively, or act recklessly, and be cautious in everything, I can live a few more years safely..."
Ge Qian was encouraging himself in his heart.
Suddenly...
A faint and illusory light rain emerged in the gloomy sky.
"Hmm?"
In his divine soul, he heard the astonished voice of the old man.
In the next moment, Ge Qian felt a piercing pain in his eyes. In a trance, it seemed as if he saw a colossal creature appearing in the sky, raising its head and gazing into the depths of the heavens.
"Starry vortex, splashing rain of light. Who is causing this phenomenon?"
A thunderous and profound voice reverberated through the wind and snow, filled with astonishment.
Upon hearing this familiar voice, Ge Qian was stunned. The immense phantom filling the void was the manifestation of that old man in his divine soul!
"Such a phenomenon is truly rare in thousands of years. It seems that I have greatly underestimated this mundane world..."
The old man's voice carried a hint of surprise and suspicion.
At this moment, Ge Qian suddenly felt that the colossal creature in front of him seemed somewhat familiar—scales, turtle head, snake tail...
Wasn't this the rumored image of Xuanwu!?
Could it be...
Just as Ge Qian was thinking about this, the colossal creature in front of him suddenly turned into an illusory bubble and disappeared. At the same time, the old man's solemn voice resounded in his mind:
"Kid, I have to remind you that there is something strange going on in the Da Zhou territory. It seems that an extremely terrifying conflict is walking in this mundane world!"
"This also proves that the barren and depleted spiritual energy of the Cāng Qīng Continent is far from what I previously thought. It is destined not to be the lowest-level mundane realm."
"This is truly strange. I used to think that I was the only one of my kind, a special and sacred existence. Who would have thought..."
"Ah, it seems that from now on, I have to keep a low profile to avoid exposing my supreme and transcendent true identity..."
Listening to the old man's astonished mutterings, Ge Qian's lips couldn't help but twitch. Unexpectedly, he coldly said:
"Oh, old man, so you also cultivated the 'Xuanwu True Qi Scripture.'"
In his divine soul, the voice abruptly stopped, plunging into a silence akin to death.
"How many scriptures do you think I possess?"
After a long time, the old man coldly snorted.
"But just now, you turned into a giant old turtle bigger than a mountain."
Ge Qian mocked, "You called me a coward, but it turns out that you're the real giant old turtle."
"Shut up!"
The old man seemed furious and embarrassed.
Ge Qian became even more delighted and said, "From now on, neither of us should make fun of each other. Look at you, if you weren't an old turtle, why would you exist in my divine soul?"
Speaking of this, he furrowed his brow and said, "But on another note, what did you actually see just now? Why were you so scared?"
In his divine soul, the old man roared like thunder, "Who the fuck got scared? Huh? How could I, as a phenomenon, be scared by some anomaly?"
After the roar, the old man paused for a moment, then said, "I'm just warning you, there's something big going on in this mundane world!"
"Don't worry, I'm more cautious than you. I won't provoke anyone I shouldn't provoke," Ge Qian calmly said. "Just like when you encouraged me to meet Su Yi, I thought that if even you sensed something wrong with that guy, I shouldn't easily provoke him."
In his divine soul, the old man disdainfully spat, "Coward!"
But Ge Qian didn't care at all and said, "Anyway, in the future, I might meet Su Yi, but I'll be careful. It's best if we don't become enemies."
"What if you do become enemies?" the old man asked.
Ge Qian rubbed his numb and frostbitten delicate cheeks, sighed lightly, and murmured, "Then we'll see who survives."
...
While the unprecedented phenomenon occurred in the celestial realm, the vast majority of warriors on the Cāng Qīng Continent, where billions of creatures resided, remained oblivious.
Only a handful of mysterious existences sensed some clues, causing them to tremble with astonishment. Examples included Ning Nihe and the "old man" in Ge Qian's divine soul.
However, with their abilities, they could only vaguely deduce a few things and had no idea who had caused this unprecedented phenomenon.
"It seems like my eyes were playing tricks on me."
In the deep twilight, Tea Jin shook her head and withdrew her gaze.
She was still unaware that the reason she had vaguely seen the fine light rain descending from the sky earlier was due to being close to the water's edge.
Because the person who caused that unprecedented phenomenon was on the second floor of the building behind her.
Exhaling a long breath, Su Yi woke up from his meditation.
A faint sweat quietly evaporated and disappeared from his forehead, while a lingering trace of fear remained deep in his profound eyes.
Previously, he had fully utilized the Songhe Body Refining Technique and the power of his divine soul from the Huayizaijing, finally unleashing a force of the Jiuyu Sword, thereby prying open the "hidden meridian" that connected his physical body and divine soul.
However, this experience made him deeply realize the "terrifying nature of life and death," reaching an extreme level of danger!
"I didn't expect the power of the Jiuyu Sword to be so cryptic and elusive. It was just a trace, yet it almost shattered my divine soul..."
Su Yi furrowed his brow, involuntarily recalling the scenes from earlier.
At that time, when he condensed the "hidden meridian," he felt as if his physical body and divine soul were submerged in a terrifying torrent of power, with the impact of seawater flooding his 108 spirit orifices and twelve spiritual meridians.
If he hadn't made a decisive decision and held onto his clear consciousness at the Lingtai, he would have almost fainted and lost consciousness.
At that time, he clearly felt an invisible sword intent soaring beyond the Nine Heavens.
With a gentle slash, it could sever a vast expanse of starry rivers!
The starry river churned and transformed into a vortex, pouring down an endless shower of starlight.
This incredible phenomenon made Su Yi couldn't help but be moved. Only after calming down at this moment, he vaguely speculated on a possibility -
This phenomenon was related to the "hidden meridian" he had condensed. Under the stimulation of the power of the Jiuyu Sword, it allowed him to form a unique hidden meridian!
When his state of mind completely became calm and clear, Su Yi focused his consciousness on that hidden meridian within his body.
It traversed above the twelve spiritual meridians, merging with his divine soul and physical body, resonating with the 108 spirit orifices, and connecting the essence, energy, and spirit of his entire being in an extremely profound manner.
"Having the hidden meridian is truly different. Compared to when I only opened the twelve spiritual meridians, my strength has increased by at least forty percent."
"However, in comparison, the foundation of forging the Great Dao is the most important. In this state, I have far surpassed the same period in my past life."
Su Yi thought to himself.
In his past life, due to the lack of cultivation foundation in condensing spiritual orifices, he missed out on such a special power as the hidden meridian.
But now, it was a different story.
Moreover, with the hidden meridian formed, it was equivalent to directly breaking through the bottleneck of the mid-stage of Gathering Qi Realm, and he could step into the late stage of the Gathering Qi Realm at any time!
After a long time, Su Yi stood up, and by the time he walked out of the room, it was already dark outside.
On the first floor of the building, Tea Jin had prepared dinner and warmed up the wine.
In the dim light, she was as beautiful as jade, captivating in her elegance.
While enjoying the delicious food, Su Yi asked, "Has Zheng Muyao not arrived yet?"
Tea Jin was taken aback for a moment, remembering the fiery and charming young girl who resembled a little vixen. She felt a slight annoyance in her heart and said, "Does Young Master need her for something?"
"I asked her to gather some information," Su Yi casually replied.
Tea Jin breathed a sigh of relief, then felt a bit embarrassed. It seemed like she had overthought things just now...
But not long after, the sound of knocking on the door came from afar.
"Uncle Su, I'm here~"