Upon breaking through, Ling Xiao immediately used his template to conceal his cultivation at the half-step master level.
He wasn’t ready to enter the inner sect yet.
The Guanghan Heavenly Venerable had mentioned that if an outer sect disciple succeeded in the Moon Advent Festival’s Tower Climbing Ceremony, there would be extra rewards.
For those rewards alone, he was willing to hold off.
It was just a few months, after all.
Hm?
Just as he finished applying the template and began consolidating his hard-earned cultivation, he noticed something.
The fusion between his Mountains and Rivers Martial Soul and his soul, previously stalled at ninety-nine percent, had reached one hundred percent.
Boom~~
Boom~~
A sound like an earthquake rumbled within him, and he could feel the Mountains and Rivers Martial Soul undergoing some extraordinary change.
He had no idea what this change was.
He was both expectant and fearful.
Back in Yunkong City, Ling Xiao knew his martial soul was no ordinary one, and each change brought phenomena unlike those of typical martial souls.
Inspecting his Mountains and Rivers World inwardly, he found it transformed into an apocalyptic scene.
Floods!
Earthquakes!
Meteor showers!
Volcanic eruptions!
Terrifying phenomena unfolded one after another, as if some force was relentlessly venting.
“Ah~~”
Suddenly, an excruciating pain shot through his soul.
It was worse than the agony of regenerating broken bones.
He nearly lost consciousness entirely.
Drenched in sweat, his face pale, he might have collapsed if he hadn’t endured such pain before.
Endure!
He had to endure!
He vaguely sensed that the violent changes in his Mountains and Rivers Martial Soul weren’t harmful.
To rebuild, one must first destroy!
Perhaps this destruction was paving the way for a new birth.
Gritting his teeth, blood seeped from his gums and lips, his hands bleeding from nails digging into his palms.
The torturous pain lasted nearly an hour before gradually subsiding.
Ling Xiao took a deep breath. The path of cultivation was indeed arduous; without a strong will, he’d have been done for.
Reexamining his Mountains and Rivers World, he found it calm but barren, a frozen wasteland.
Yet within the thick ice, something seemed to be gestating, as if he could hear the heartbeat of the earth.
The pain was gone, but was that it?
Ling Xiao wasn’t convinced.
The rebirth after destruction hadn’t occurred; it was merely post-destruction, in an ice age.
He assessed his current state.
For ordinary martial artists breaking through to the Mortal Realm:
– Soul potential forms a “Spirit Sea” in the mind.
– Inner force potential forms a “Qi Sea” in the dantian.
– Physical potential opens all acupoints, connecting with the nine martial veins and meridians to absorb spiritual energy, making the body itself akin to a Spirit or Qi Sea.
The first type’s true essence comes from the Spirit Sea, converted from soul force.
The second type’s true essence comes from the Qi Sea, refined from inner force.
The third type’s true essence comes from external spiritual energy, refined through meridians and martial veins.
Ling Xiao was different.
He advanced with all three potentials, so all three existed.
This made his true essence sources more abundant and voluminous—over three times that of a single-potential martial artist.
The quality was also superior due to the fusion of three types of true essence.
All three types ultimately flowed into his martial veins for storage, serving as the energy source for his techniques.
His inner force techniques and defensive martial arts were comparable to top-grade gold-level martial arts.
Thus, the true essence from his Qi Sea and acupoints was greater in quantity and quality.
However, the true essence from his Spirit Sea lagged behind.
He lacked a soul cultivation method comparable to <Celestial Phenomenon> or <Nine Dragons Divine Art>.
He needed at least a precious-grade gold-level soul cultivation method, ideally top-grade or even peak-grade gold.
Checking his body, Ling Xiao felt the Mountains and Rivers Martial Soul’s changes weren’t complete.
A greater transformation might occur once the ice melted, likely bringing even more pain.
It probably wasn’t over.
Though he thought so, the martial soul showed no further activity, so he decided to rest and bathe.
The earlier sweat left him sticky and uncomfortable.
Leaving his cave mansion to bathe in a secluded spring, he encountered a bizarre phenomenon: the moment he jumped in, the entire spring froze into thick ice, unyielding even to a ten-thousand-ton beast.
“What, I can’t even bathe now?”
Oddly, the terrifying cold didn’t affect his body; his sweat didn’t freeze.
But anything external froze instantly.
This chilling aura surpassed even the Guanghan Heavenly Venerable’s cold.
Ling Xiao suspected that with this chill alone, he could easily defeat a Mortal Realm first-level martial artist—not as a technique, but stronger than many gold-grade techniques.
Hm?
It’s starting again!
Breaking through the ice and dressing, Ling Xiao sprinted deeper into the mountains.
The Mountains and Rivers Martial Soul’s changes might cause noticeable phenomena, and staying in the Yuehua Sect could raise suspicions.
He wasn’t yet capable of concealing it completely.
He had to get far away.
If anyone detected his Mountains and Rivers Martial Soul, even if he survived, it might be forcibly stripped.
With his speed, he could cover dozens of miles in an instant.
He ran for half an hour, leaving the Yuehua Sect’s range and entering the edge of the Fulong Mountain Range.
As mentioned before, the Fulong Mountain Range was vast, with Tianfeng City at its edge.
The Yuehua Sect was deep within, but his current location was closer to Tianfeng City.
The area teemed with terrifying demonic beasts, including ninth-level ones, but upon seeing Ling Xiao, they cowered like they’d seen a fiercer predator, too scared to move.
Strength commanded respect and fear everywhere, even among beasts.
