As the team ventured higher into the celestial layers, Wu Tao's resounding command rang out, "Don't hold back! Push your limits, everyone!""These deities aren't real anyway, they're gonna be my dummy to test my new powers!" Fa Ya held his fists tight. With determination in their hearts, they charged forward, mercilessly slaying every otherworldly creature that crossed their path. Li Wei, leading the charge, wielded his divine axe with zero trouble, despite its weight. It's all imaginary, anyway, he thought. With every swing, stone spikes emerged and crushed their celestial foes.Ming Cong couldn't contain his excitement, "Damn! These powers are sick! I can just create stone and crush enemies with it!""They really are cool, but Lei Wei's are far better... I mean, just look at that majestic divine axe!". Ji Mei's brow slightly twitched, and she gently reminded him, "Don't forget, Li Wei earned it himself with his hard work." Although her tone sounded neutral, he could tell that she was slightly annoyed at him.At the forefront of the formation, Li Wei continued to slay the deities, each swing of his divine axe effortlessly reducing them to naught but scattered fragments. His weapon, the "Divine Axe of Pangu," hewed through their opponents like a knife through soft tofu, as others struggled slightly.At dawn, they discovered a traditional pavilion. The sun began its descent, casting a warm glow across the heavens. Ji Mei suggested, "Guys, the sun is setting. Let's settle here for the night."The team gathered in the pavilion and made it their temporary campsite. Li Wei eagerly wanted to contribute to the team. He said," We're gonna need protection in this unknown place right? Mind if I make walls around this place as a means for defence?" "Go ahead." Wu Tao nodded. Demonstrating his new power, he walked to the edge of the pavilion, raising his hand, he imagined an impenetrable stone wall, the vision coming into mind, he sensed a new function he could perform in his brain, and he tested it, he gestured his hand, and a tall stone wall appeared in thin air. Almost the same as his perceived vision.After a while, he encircled the entire pavilion with walls of solid earth. As his work concluded, the stars began to twinkle in the night sky. As he returned to the structure, Ming Cong, Ji Mei and Fa Ya and the rest had already laid on their temporary beds, gazing at the majestic night sky. The constellations, the galaxies, the stars... they were majestic, a unique sight rarely seen by a city folk like Li Wei. He knew Chao Zhong, as a fortune teller, should know at least one or two about the stars, but he kept silent, gazing at the stars at the end of the bed rows. With such a sight, Li Wei's mind calmed, and along with everyone else, he laid on the temporary bed, embracing whatever adversity coming ahead......................................Bang! Li Wei's eyes suddenly opened; the sun hadn't risen yet, and the stars remained idly hung above. Assuming he was awoken by a loud sound, something must have happened, he turned around- a broad sea of clouds, some beasts roaming, stronger than the deities during the day, nothing major.Bang! Another sound came, followed by another, the sound grew violent by the second. It came behind Li Wei.Stealthily, he progressed towards the sound, the axe on his back in case it there was a fight. He opened his torch, the sight was finally visible. Five elemental beasts were attacking the wall, and a tall figure was defending... "Wan Shu Heng? What are you doing here? Were you... were you guarding the entire time?" Li Wei whispered, considering that everyone else was still sleeping, waking them up was the last thing he wanted. Unsurprisingly, he was completely ignored. "Oh yea, I forgot." he was fighting five enemies at once, of course he wouldn't have the time to respond!Li Wei bent down, pulling his new axe out. "Leave them to me.""Gaar!" the fire elemental beast roared, its mouth breathing fire, following it's attack, the earth elemental beast thumped, and spikes erupted from the clouds. Wan Shu Heng swung his arm, a stone wall formed, but it did nothing against the attack, the continuous spikes ended after shattering the wall entirely, the fire breath came in, he was defenceless, his egotism never expected the wall to falter. "God damn it." He swore. "Not on my watch!" Li Wei yelled, he dashed in front of him, in front of that infernal breath, eagerly devouring him whole. He raised a stone wall, the earth elemental beast thumped again, and the wall shattered exactly like the former. Although to Shu Heng, that would have meant the end, but not for Li Wei. He raised the "Pangu's Divine Axe", the blade effortlessly blocking the fire. Immediately, it created a wave of stone wall that went diagonal. The stone mercilessly pierced through the two beasts' bodies, one ended as a weak ember that got blown out immediately, and the other formed a stone platform on the ethereal clouds."Three more left." Shu Heng said, it was the first thing Li Wei had heard from him ever since his self-introduction that day, "No worries." Li Wei nodded.The next three beasts were a water elemental beast, a wood elemental beast, and a metal elemental beast. Li Wei gestured his hand," Bring it on!"The beasts looked at each other, apparently intimidated, the water elemental beast seemed to murmur something to the others, the wood beast nodded, and they fled."Don't you dare escape!" Shu Heng declared, he summoned a wall of earth, their feet got pierced through by the wall, and he slowly walked toward them, cracking his knuckles. The beast yelped, and with one punch, he knocked them all down.As the fight concluded, Shu Heng turned to Li Wei," Thank you. I was close to the verge of death. You have saved me, I owe you a favour." he said, with an all serious face. "Don't mention it." Li Wei replied. By the time they finished, the sun had already risen, the others calmly awaking."Let's return" Li Wei smiled.
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Li Wei and the team pressed on, their path forward shrouded in mystery. The entrance to the second layer eluded them, leaving them in a state of uncertainty. Then, a resonant voice echoed in their ears once more, offering guidance, "Patience is key. Trust your inner instinct. Feel the blood pump and the qi within you."Under the tranquil sky, the team pressed on, even under the cool air, sweat dripped off Li Wei's forehead, and from there, encroaching on every part of his body. "Walking on an endless road is quite gruelling isn't it?" Ji Mei broke the silence, everyone were too concentrated on finding whatever clue of where or how to ascend, it had just been 3 days since they came, and their minds are already complaining about leaving. Over the endless sea of clouds, there was nothing; not a single matter, even the monsters had vanished. The clouds seemed to stretch endlessly, and they were running out of patience. Out of the blue, a resonant voice echoed in their ears once more, offering guidance, "Patience is key. Trust your inner instinct. Feel the blood pump and the qi within you." exactly the same voice as the one they heard on the first day here.Ming Cong, still perplexed by the unfamiliar terms, voiced his confusion, "Qi? Inner instinct? What is he talking about?" "Ming Cong, did you skip your mythology lessons? The Qi mentioned is a mystical power that flows within each of us. We can only harness its power when we are calm and in tune with ourselves. Everyone, pause for a moment, locate your qi, and listen to your inner instinct to find the entrance to the second layer." Wu Tao instructed,Li Wei, initially struggling to grasp this new concept, stood still and tried to find his inner calm. He made an effort to locate his qi, but his impatience hindered him, once again, he found himself shrouded with that thought of inferiority. "Why do I fail at everything?", "I'm nothing compared to them, look! two of them had already got it!" that thought of insignificance had him staring on the ground, perplexed, disappointed in himself.Wu Tao noticed him after teaching Ming Cong, he calmly got next to him, stroking his back. "Li Wei, breathe slowly, be patient. This is not a race.""Thank you..." Grateful for the encouragement, Li Wei took a deep breath and focused. In the stillness of the moment, he heard the gentle, rhythmic beat of his own heart, a sound that brought him tranquillity. As the beating grew quieter, he noticed a subtle flow, like a quiet stream of energy, within himself, he listened to it carefully"I found it! I found it! Qi!" Li Wei triumphantly declared. Having located his qi, he listened to it carefully, and a sense of direction emerged. "That way!" he exclaimed. "I feel it too!" Ji Mei confirmed.They moved forward in unison, guided by their qi, they soon came upon a visible gap in mid-air, which they tore away to reveal another space beyond. Ji Mei recognized it instantly, proclaiming, "That must be the entrance to the second layer!"