A Month of Seclusion, a Heaven-Shaking Transformation

When that extravagantly lavish, dreamlike "Reward Ceremony," said to be the most luxurious in Cloud Creek Academy's history, slowly drew to a close amid the boundless excitement and fervor of every member of the "Reverse Mortal" class, a mad seclusion destined to be recorded in Cloud Creek Academy's annals officially began within this isolated paradise—Tingzhu Pavilion!

Time slipped away silently, like a clear stream flowing through the bamboo forest.

One day.

Five days.

Ten days.

Half a month...

For an entire month, that exquisite ancient bamboo building stood quietly amid the sea of purple bamboo like an ancient god cut off from the world, without a single sound emerging from within.

It was as though the thirty youths who had stirred up the entire outer academy not long ago had completely vanished from the face of the earth.

Yet only the academy's upper echelons, those truly qualified to approach this cultivation holy land designated as a "forbidden zone," knew—

What kind of mad, unimaginable, terrifying transformations were unfolding within that seemingly tranquil bamboo building!

First floor of the bamboo building, Gravity Training Room.

This was one of Tingzhu Pavilion's unique cultivation facilities. The gravity formation inscribed within was far more advanced and profound than the public cultivation tower in the outer academy!

Not only could it steadily raise gravity to a terrifying fifteenfold level, enough to drive any Body Refinement Realm cultivator into despair—

It could also freely alter how gravity acted according to the cultivator's needs!

At times, it descended like Mount Tai crushing one's head, impossible to resist!

At other times, it seeped in like mercury pouring across the ground, slipping through every crack!

At this moment, in the center of this terrifying cultivation room, capable of instantly crushing thousand-pound boulders into dust, a burly figure wearing only beast-hide shorts stood beneath the horrific crushing pressure from all directions. Beneath his bronze skin, his muscles knotted and bulged like the gnarled roots of ancient trees. His eyes were bloodshot!

It was Shi Lei!

"Roar—!"

He let out a crazed beastlike roar, no longer sounding human!

A yellow-brown Spiritual Energy radiance, heavy and tyrannical beyond measure, suddenly burst from his body, already thoroughly soaked in sweat and blood!

Within the radiance, a lifelike phantom of an ancient savage bull, formed entirely from Spiritual Energy, slowly emerged behind him!

It raised its head and unleashed a silent roar that seemed capable of shattering the heavens!

—Great Earth Savage Bull Strength!

With the support of this supreme body-tempering divine art, tailored specifically for him by Lin Xiao and infinitely close to Profound Grade Middle Rank!

And through a month of crazed, cost-free piling up of massive quantities of third-order pills and middle-grade spirit stones!

Shi Lei's cultivation had long since surged forward like a rocket, breaking through everything in its path as it soared from the initial stage of Body Refinement Fifth Level to the peak of Body Refinement Seventh Level!

The strength of his physical body had reached a terrifying realm that even ordinary Body Refinement Ninth Level cultivators could only gaze upon from afar!

"Open... for me!"

Shi Lei's eyes were instantly flooded with a fearless, blood-red madness!

Under twelvefold gravity, enough to instantly crush an ordinary Body Refinement Eighth Level cultivator into pulp, he actually began to slowly straighten his steel-like spine, already pushed beyond its limit!

Then, with a posture full of rebellion and unyielding will, he fiercely raised the Profound Grade Middle Rank artifact—the "Savage Bull" tower shield, which had long become one with his heart and mind—above his head!

As if he intended to forcibly punch a massive hole through the invisible heavens pressing down upon him!

Second floor of the bamboo building, Sword Intent Visualization Room.

An extremely rough yet incomparably sharp and ethereal mysterious sword-mark diagram was inscribed upon the wall!

It was said that this was an unparalleled treasure of calligraphy casually left behind after drinking by Tingzhu Pavilion's first master, the legendary dean who had long since ascended to the upper realms!

If ordinary people took even one glance at it, they might suffer spiritual collapse and qi deviation; at worst, they would be shredded into a cloud of blood mist by the invisible, terrifying Sword Intent on the spot!

Yet at this moment, beneath that sword-mark diagram capable of driving any sword cultivator mad, an incomparably beautiful figure in a blue dress sat cross-legged with her eyes closed.

She tightly held the Profound Grade Middle Rank artifact, the "Flowing Wind" spirit sword, thin as a cicada's wing and peerlessly sharp.

Her entire being seemed to have completely merged with the surrounding air, entering a mysterious state of enlightenment where self and world were both forgotten!

It was Su Yue!

"Hum—!"

No one knew how much time passed.

A soft, clear sword cry brimming with boundless delight suddenly rang out from the "Flowing Wind" spirit sword in her hand!

Then, unseen by anyone, an extremely faint silver sword-shaped mark slowly appeared upon Su Yue's smooth, jade-white forehead, filled with endless sharpness and piercing intent!

—Clear Sword Heart!

This was the legendary supreme sword talent every sword cultivator dreamed of possessing!

Once awakened, it meant that her future path of the sword would be smooth and unobstructed, with no bottlenecks left to hinder her!

"Whoosh!"

Su Yue suddenly opened her brilliant starry eyes, so radiant that they seemed to contain the birth, destruction, and reincarnation of billions of stars!

She did not even rise to her feet!

She merely flicked her wrist slightly!

A deep-blue sword light, so swift that even afterimages could not be seen, tore through the air before her in an instant like a streak of lightning descending from the Ninth Heaven!

It left a terrifying sword mark on the incomparably hard obsidian wall, bottomless and smooth as a mirror!

Initial stage of Body Refinement Eighth Level!

—Star Mark Phantom Sword, Initial Glimpse!

At the same time.

Within Tingzhu Pavilion's illusion formation trial ground, suffused with cryptic and murderous intent.

Within the earthfire pill room, where spiritual qi was rich enough to drive any alchemist mad.

Within the scripture chamber filled with countless ancient accounts of strange phenomena and bizarre tales.

One heaven-shaking, dreamlike transformation after another was unfolding madly at the same time!

With the elusive Ghost Shadow Maze Steps and the ever-changing illusion formations, Monkey honed his movement technique and assassination arts to a terrifying realm that would make even true ghosts and gods tremble in fear! His cultivation had also soared all the way to the middle stage of Body Refinement Seventh Level!

As for the other members of the "Reverse Mortal" class, under the dual support of massive resources enough to make anyone green with envy and supreme divine arts tailored specifically for them, every one of them underwent an earth-shattering transformation, as though they had swallowed ten complete tonics at once!

The weakest among the entire team had already reached the peak of Body Refinement Sixth Level!

They were only one step away from Body Refinement Seventh Level, a realm sufficient to become the backbone of the academy!

If word of this spread, the entirety of Cloud Creek Academy would go completely mad!

Yet while every member of the "Reverse Mortal" class was undergoing hellish, frenzied cultivation for the final assessment arriving one month later—

Lin Xiao, their Chief Instructor, did not rush to increase his cultivation realm.

Instead, he sat alone on the stargazing platform atop the bamboo building, completely immersing his mind in two Profound Grade Upper Rank arts that any outer academy student would crack their skull open fighting to obtain!

—Great Sun Burning Heaven Art!

—Rushing Thunder Swordplay!

He did not attempt to cultivate them.

Rather, like the most rigorous and demanding scholar, he relied on the system's heaven-defying analytical and deduction abilities to dissect, deconstruct, and deduce these two supreme arts—arts that would have been called "myths" on Earth in his previous life—word by word, eventually forcefully swallowing their most core and essential True Meaning of Martial Dao!

"So... that's how it is..."

Lin Xiao's eyes remained closed, yet within his vast consciousness sea, as boundless as a starry ocean, a terrifying deduction was unfolding—one enough to make any martial dao grandmaster ashamed of himself!

At the center of his consciousness sea, two golden figures formed entirely from spiritual power were continuously practicing those two profound and unfathomable peerless divine arts at a terrifying speed beyond that of light!

One golden figure was wreathed in tyrannical golden flames capable of burning mountains and boiling seas! Every fist and kick contained the supreme Imperial Dao majesty of one who stood alone above all, sweeping through the six directions!

It was the Great Sun Burning Heaven Art!

The other golden figure gripped a sword of judgment formed entirely from violet lightning! Every move and stance contained a destructive Sword Intent that was both swift to the extreme and violent to the extreme!

It was the Rushing Thunder Swordplay!

Lin Xiao was like an absolute god standing apart from the world!

He calmly observed and analyzed these two martial dao truths, entirely different yet equally powerful to the extreme!

Then he discarded their dross and took their essence, gradually blending their brightest and most fundamental elements into his own unique martial dao system, one that had long since formed its own school!

—All paths return to one!

What he wished to create was a supreme divine canon that surpassed every cultivation art in this world, one that belonged solely to Lin Xiao!

No one knew how much time passed.

When Lin Xiao had thoroughly comprehended every mystery of "explosive power" and "overwhelming momentum" within the Great Sun Burning Heaven Art, perfectly integrating them into his improved Heaven-Turning Seal—

When he had completely absorbed every essence of "speed" and "piercing power" within the Rushing Thunder Swordplay, perfectly combining them with his already masterful One Finger Annihilation—

Only then did he slowly open his exhausted eyes, already covered in alarming bloodshot veins from excessive spiritual exhaustion.

"Whew..."

He slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air, and at last, a smile of heartfelt satisfaction appeared on his usually somewhat pale face.

Although this brief half-month of secluded deduction had not improved his cultivation in the slightest—

His understanding of "battle" and his true combat strength had already undergone a tremendous transformation, even more terrifying than directly advancing into the Spiritual Movement Realm!

He possessed absolute confidence!

If he were to face Wu Tianxiong again at his peak—

Then even without using a forbidden killing move like Reversing the Mortal World—

He could defeat him head-on within a hundred moves!

This was the power brought by knowledge!

After finishing all this, Lin Xiao finally withdrew his exhausted mind from that vast martial dao world, like a boundless sea of smoke.

He turned his gaze toward the two strange items he had kept hidden in the deepest part of his Storage Bag, items filled with endless mystery and uncertainty!

—The Profound Iron Token!

—And the blood-colored map discovered in Zhao Wuji's storage ring!

He first picked up the mysterious Profound Iron Token, cold to the touch and filled with endless iron-blooded, murderous intent.

He tried slowly channeling his already incomparably condensed Spiritual Energy into it.

Yet that seemingly ordinary token was like a bottomless black hole. No matter how much Spiritual Energy he poured into it, it showed no reaction whatsoever.

"Strange..."

Lin Xiao frowned slightly. He then bit open his fingertip and let a drop of crimson blood, brimming with majestic life essence, fall onto the token.

Yet the result was still like a stone sinking into the sea—without a trace or reply.

"Looks like, with my current strength, I still cannot uncover the secret hidden behind it."

Lin Xiao shook his head helplessly and could only put this token, filled with the unknown, away for now.

Only then did he slowly unfold the strange map drawn upon some unknown pale beast hide.

His gaze fell once more upon the three strange locations heavily marked in blood-red cinnabar.

Black Wind Mountain Range...

Repentance Cliff...

And the Black Stone Great Desert...

"What secrets are hidden within these three places?"

"Why is that mysterious organization, so strange in its actions and cruel in its methods, so concerned with these three places that seem to have nothing to do with one another?"

"And what tangled, inseparable connection do they have with my parents' deaths?!"

One enormous mystery after another, shrouded in endless fog, pressed heavily upon Lin Xiao's heart like invisible mountains.

They made him feel an unprecedented, enormous pressure!

He knew.

Although his current strength was sufficient for him to dominate this tiny outer academy of Cloud Creek Academy—

Looking across the vast and boundless cultivation world, he was likely still as insignificant as an ant!

That terrifying mysterious organization, which could suck his parents—whose strength had also been far from negligible—into dried corpses overnight!

The forces and influence hidden behind it were certainly far beyond his imagination!

He wanted to avenge his parents!

He wanted to uncover the layers of fog shrouding his origins!

Then he had to become stronger!

Stronger than anyone else!

"Strength..."

"I need even greater strength!"

An unprecedentedly brilliant light instantly erupted from Lin Xiao's eyes!

Without another moment of hesitation, he directly took out from the mountain-like pile of cultivation resources the supreme treasure he had coveted for a long time!

—The beast core of a Third-Order Lower Grade Ironback Wolf King!

And the only ancient strange pill of the fourth order found in Wu Tianxiong's storage ring!

—The Dragon Blood Body Tempering Pill!

He would use these two supreme treasures, enough to drive any Spiritual Movement Realm expert completely mad—

To push his physical body and cultivation in one breath to an ultimate peak without precedent and without successor!

Then, in his most perfect state, he would face the coming trial filled with endless opportunities and challenges...

—The Bloody Trial!