In a cave, one knew neither the cycles of time nor the passing of years.
Li Wuyang sat cross-legged on a cushion beside the Green Lotus Pool, palms, soles, and crown facing heaven as his mind sank completely into the profound realm of the Huang Ting Jing.
Within his sea of consciousness, the Great Dao Imprint circulated with a faint purple radiance, echoing the Dao patterns of the Huang Ting Jing and making his comprehension twice as effective with half the effort.
As a supreme foundational cultivation technique, the core of the Huang Ting Jing lay in the "Yellow Court" and the "dantian." The Yellow Court was where the spirit resided, while the dantian was the sea of qi. Its teachings explained how to calm the mind and gather the spirit, commune with heaven and earth, draw innate qi to irrigate the dantian and nourish the Yellow Court, and ultimately achieve the union of spirit and qi, becoming integrated with the Dao.
Following the scripture's guidance, Li Wuyang guided the immense yet chaotic true qi within his body along profound pathways, slowly circulating it, continuously purifying and compressing it before gathering it into his dantian. At the same time, he visualized the Yellow Court, focused his spirit, and sensed the most fundamental strand of innate qi between heaven and earth.
The process was slow and delicate, requiring immense patience and concentration.
At first, his progress was sluggish, and he often failed to grasp the right approach. But as time passed, with the Great Dao Imprint's aid, he gradually found his way in.
The true qi within his dantian became increasingly condensed, gradually transforming from a gaseous state into liquid, like a tiny spiritual spring. Within the Yellow Court, his divine sense also grew clearer and more focused.
The cave abode's spiritual qi was inexhaustible, and the aura emitted by the Green Lotus Pool in particular was of tremendous benefit to his cultivation.
He completely forgot the passage of time.
Huaihuai, Little Fire, Yingying, and Treasure-Seeking Mouse Jinbao also found places within the cave abode suited to their cultivation or rest. Huaihuai absorbed the qi of wind and clouds, Little Fire breathed in and out fire spirit energy, Yingying flew around the Green Lotus, and Jinbao happily gnawed on several spirit stones. The cave abode was tranquil and peaceful, like a paradise beyond the world.
Who knew how much time had passed? Perhaps a year, perhaps ten...
Then one day, a soft hum came from within Li Wuyang's body!
Within his dantian, the spring-like pool of true qi finally reached its critical point. It abruptly contracted and condensed, transforming into a flawless, rice-grain-sized golden core with golden light contained within!
The golden core spun rapidly, releasing pure and powerful energy fluctuations!
The bottleneck at the peak of Qi Refining to Spirit Transformation broke through as naturally as water flowing into a channel!
He had officially entered the realm of Spirit Refinement and Void Return! Equivalent to the cultivation of an Earth Immortal in the Primordial World!
At the same time, his physical body was continuously tempered by dense spiritual qi and the cultivation technique, greatly increasing its strength. The range covered by his divine sense also expanded severalfold!
Li Wuyang slowly opened his eyes. Divine light shone within them, while his aura had become increasingly calm and profound. He was utterly unlike the impetuous rookie he had once been.
"Finally... I made it!" Feeling the surging power within his body and his incomparably stable foundation, his heart brimmed with joy.
Only then did he notice the changes in his companions.
Huaihuai had grown a full size larger, its horn more crystalline as cloud qi coiled around it. Little Fire's injuries had long since healed; its crimson scales burned like fire, and its fierce aura suggested it could break through to a higher realm at any moment. The patterns on Yingying's wings had become more intricate and beautiful, and the glowing dust she scattered carried even greater vitality. Even Jinbao had grown rounder, its fur sleek and glossy.
"How long have we been in seclusion?" Li Wuyang rose to his feet, somewhat puzzled.
He walked near the entrance of the cave abode, where a spiritual spring dripped onto a smooth stone wall, leaving behind a faint water mark.
He remembered that when they had first entered, the water mark did not seem so deep.
He carefully examined the depth of the mark, then sensed the exceedingly faint difference in the flow of time transmitted from outside through the spatial turbulence...
A startling speculation surfaced in his mind.
"One day in the cave, a thousand years in the world? No, it's not that exaggerated... But time here definitely flows much slower than outside!" After making a rough calculation, he said, "We may have... been here for no less than fifty years?!"
Fifty years! To the Primordial World, it might have been the flick of a finger, but for a transmigrator like him, it was practically half a lifetime!
"Oh no, oh no! Could the outside world have changed beyond recognition? Has the Witch-Demon War already ended? Has the Dao Ancestor finished his lectures?" Li Wuyang began to panic. He did not want to emerge from seclusion only to discover that the entire story had already reached its ending!
He had to get out and take a look immediately!
(End of Chapter 23)
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