Ma Lang's hand instinctively touched his forehead, the tactile sensation from his fingertips reassuring him that it was not truly damaged, and the unease in his heart slowly subsided. He turned his head, still with a cold expression, and looked at the burly inspector, Kemaier.
"Inspector Kemaier, what do you think?" Ma Lang's tone carried a hint of coldness.
Kemaier seemed familiar with Ma Lang's personality and responded with a hearty, simple smile, revealing a look of contented vengeance: "Of course, Respected Young Master Ma, may the ancestors bless you! That was truly satisfying; that Lucien was utterly arrogant, and now we've finally vented our pent-up anger."
His words were filled with loathing for Lucien, as if the recent confrontational dialogue had truly released the emotions he had been suppressing for so long.
As the patrol officers withdrew, the cordon was also lifted. Ma Lang turned away coldly amidst the sounds of gratitude from a group of "Lost Ones" and the refreshing sensation of a massive influx of spiritual energy into his consciousness, walking away with a composed gait, waving his sleeves without taking away a single cloud.
The flying car zipped through the city sky and soon stopped in front of Ma Lang's home. It was nearly noon, and sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, casting mottled shadows on the ground. Grandma Yi Lan and little Yimi were busying themselves, and upon seeing Ma Lang's return, Grandma Yi Lan immediately stopped her work and chided with concern: "You child, you don't pay attention to safety when you go out, why didn't you bring Yimi with you?"
Ma Lang responded with a smile and retreated to his bedroom amidst Grandma Yi Lan's warm nagging and Yimi's coquetry. He sat cross-legged on the cloud bed and began to practice the family's inherited meditation and breathing technique.
Perhaps it was because he had transcended the limitations of dimensions and arrived in this semi-high-dimensional world, but the faint sense of energy he had cultivated over thirty years in his previous life now flowed like a gentle stream within him, cleansing his body.
Under Ma Lang's guidance, golden energy swiftly traversed his body, as if an invisible force was combing through his physique.
His internal organs seemed to be penetrated by the five elements of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, his entire body becoming "crystal clear," with distinct elemental attributes. When the last trace of black impurity detached from his flesh, Ma Lang felt as if his connection with the world had become more harmonious.
Suddenly, a strong sense of transparency emanated from his forehead, as if an intangible vertical pupil had grown before his eyes. This vertical pupil seemed to perceive everything, with surrounding elemental particles and folded spaces laid bare under his gaze. Ma Lang was startled; could this be the secret realm?
He withdrew his gaze from his forehead and saw the golden energy in his consciousness surging, forming a slowly rotating vortex. Ma Lang's consciousness attempted to envelop it, as if time and space were connected at this moment. He saw a majestic and magnificent scene, shrouded in clouds, like a sacred immortal's land.
"Huangshan Realm, Lotus Peak," a message clearly entered his consciousness. Ma Lang's heart stirred; could this be the vision after his successful spiritual awakening?
However, before he could explore this mysterious wonderland, a powerful suction instantly pulled him back into his consciousness. Ma Lang thought to himself, "This must be because I have just awakened, my strength is too weak, so I cannot stay here for long."
He focused his attention on his consciousness again, covering the second illuminated nebula on the edge of the Gigantic Eye Nebula. "Passing through the secluded" two ancient seal characters leaped into his consciousness, followed by a simple message: "Can pass through the heavenly realm, can connect with the netherworld, can respond to the supplicants."
Ma Lang's heart stirred; could it be that every time a nebula is illuminated, a divine ability awakens? He excitedly tried to infuse his consciousness into it, and at that moment, only "can respond to the supplicants" was lit up, while the others remained dark, possibly because he did not yet have the ability to use them.
With the influx of golden energy, hundreds of spiritual power connections from the sources transmitted various prayers and wishes, along with the emotional fluctuations of the suppliants. Ma Lang found that these spiritual powers almost all came from the "Lost Ones" he had helped in the past two days, and their wishes were mostly for spiritual awakening.
Ma Lang remembered his grandfather once said that many scriptures and Buddhist texts could enlighten wisdom. He decided to try this method. Thus, he silently recited the Taoist "Jinhua Zhiyi" he was most familiar with in his consciousness: "Nature is called the Dao, the Dao has no name or form, it is only one nature, one original spirit..."
As he silently recited, golden lotuses and auspicious qi suddenly surged in his consciousness. Many spiritual powers gathered within, and with the continuous churning of golden energy, the other ends of the spiritual powers all transmitted clear consciousness and joyful emotions.
Ma Lang guessed that these might be beneficial to the "Lost Ones" who provided the spiritual power, but he did not know how much and what kind of opportunities his operations had brought to these contributors.
On the other end of the spiritual powers, the "Lost Ones" all fell into a state of sudden enlightenment, as if at this moment they understood many things they could not comprehend before, and their state of mind was washed and sublimated as never before.
They also felt the source of the recent enlightenment and prayed more devoutly with their hands folded, thus gathering more spiritual power into Ma Lang's consciousness.
However, it was a pity that Ma Lang's strength was limited at this time, and he could only persist for a few minutes before he had to stop practicing.
Even so, those "Lost Ones" benefited immensely, and at the same time, they were more grateful to Ma Lang, even beginning to form the rudiments of faith, and many devout beliefs also invested spiritual power back into his consciousness.
After calming down from the meditation for a while, Ma Lang slowly opened his eyes and stopped practicing, just thinking about whether he needed to ask his sister for the specific details of the secret realm.
At this moment, he heard familiar footsteps outside the door.
The door was pushed open with a "bang," and the refreshing laughter of his elder sister, Ma Qing, came again: "Haha, have you missed your sister?"
A graceful figure of a woman came into view, and Ma Lang helplessly rubbed his temple: "Sister, can't you knock before entering?"
Ma Qing directly leaned beside her brother and said coquettishly, "Come with your sister to the Qingyun Banquet."
"I don't want to go," Ma Lang just started to speak and was interrupted by his sister: "I've already told my girlfriends that I'm bringing my handsome brother. How can I explain if you don't go? You don't want your sister to lose face, do you?"
Saying that, she grabbed Ma Lang's arm and shook it, dragging him out the door without waiting for a refusal.
Unable to resist, Ma Lang was dressed up by Grandma Yi Lan, little Yimi, and his sister Ma Qing in a grand vintage costume. When he reappeared in front of everyone, he was transformed, as if he had crossed over from ancient times as a noble young master.
Without giving him a chance to regret, a golden light flashed, and Ma Lang was teleported by his sister to the front of the Alliance Banquet Hall.
In front of the grand and magnificent banquet hall, Ma Lang was surprised to see the massive building that combined Chinese and Western styles. The hall was enveloped in a huge array, and a majestic and grand atmosphere rushed over.
In front of the hall's array, a team of guards was strictly checking invitations, and many young people dressed in luxury were entering in an orderly manner.
Following his sister, Ma Lang was somewhat curious and expectant. This was his first real appearance in this world and his first step into the upper class of the AiQin Alliance.