Yu Feiyan let out a cold snort and strode forward. Zhong Yue had already vanished into the darkness, and if she continued chasing him, she might end up pursuing him all the way into the Men's Court. She stopped at once, turned around, and walked back, saying coolly, "You have some skill..."
Nearby, Tao Daier said angrily, "Junior Sister Ting, how could you bring a man in here? And your little man is a lecher—he peeked at us while we were bathing!"
Ting Lanyue hurriedly said, "Junior Brother Zhong only entered the Upper Court recently, so he doesn't know the rules here. He didn't mean to watch you bathe, either. Senior Sister Tao, please don't tell your father. Last time in the Demon Ruins, we only escaped thanks to Junior Brother Zhong. He wandered into the Women's Court by mistake, so of course I had to protect him, lest you lot beat him to death..."
Tao Daier burst out laughing. "Look how nervous you are. Don't worry, he didn't see me bathing, so I certainly won't tell my father. Only someone who's been seen completely naked would be so enraged."
Ting Lanyue smiled and secretly glanced at Yu Feiyan.
Yu Feiyan's face was icy. She said coldly, "Junior Sister, call your man out. Compete with me one more time, and I'll let him off for seeing me bathe!"
Ting Lanyue was caught between laughter and tears. She knew that because Yu Feiyan had failed to hold Zhong Yue back, her competitive spirit had been stirred. After all, the Senior Sister of the Women's Court had failed to gain the upper hand over a male disciple for the first time. With her proud and fiery temperament, how could she swallow this humiliation so easily?
She blinked and thought, Junior Brother Zhong's abilities are becoming more and more astonishing. His progress is practically advancing a thousand miles a day—he's hardly any slower than Junior Sister Shui Qingyan! The two of them really do make a good match. No wonder they took a fancy to each other. But why did Junior Sister Shui quarrel with him? And why did Junior Brother Zhong look so awful when he left...
Zhong Yue strode through the darkness, weaving through the dense forest. His Sea of Consciousness erupted with towering waves. The fact that Shui Qingyan had been harmed still shook his heart, leaving his Sea of Consciousness unable to calm down!
"Kindling, about this matter..."
"You plan to tell the Qi Practitioners of Sword Gate about it?"
Kindling Child stood in midair, surrounded by the endlessly surging waves of the Sea of Consciousness. He shook his head and said, "The key is, why would anyone believe you? What identity do you have? You're merely a lowly disciple of Sword Gate's Outer Sect Upper Court. Who would believe you? Besides, if you spread those words, your death won't be far away!"
Zhong Yue shuddered inwardly and immediately came to his senses. "You're right. I failed to consider things carefully. The fact that the Heavenly Phenomenon Mother was able to leave the Demon Ruins means there's a traitor among Sword Gate's higher-ups. Senior Sister Ting said Junior Sister Shui was summoned by Qi Practitioners from the Shuitu Clan, so the Shuitu Clan's Qi Practitioners are highly suspicious. The Shuitu Clan is one of the Ten Great Clans of the Great Wilderness. If they've allied themselves with the Heavenly Phenomenon Mother, not only will no one believe me, but it will also be incredibly easy for the Shuitu Clan to kill me."
As soon as he said this, the waves in his Sea of Consciousness gradually calmed, growing quieter and quieter.
"Very good. Although your state of mind was thrown into chaos just now, you regained clarity very quickly. You've already surpassed ordinary mortals by countless times."
Kindling praised him, then said, "However, I still sense killing intent from you. Are you planning to kill the Heavenly Phenomenon Mother?"
Zhong Yue slowly nodded. Then he thought of the girl who always called him Brother Yue, and a wave of melancholy filled his heart. "Shui Qingyan" still existed, but that girl was no longer the same person she had been.
"If I can kill the Heavenly Phenomenon Mother, I'll at least have avenged Junior Sister Shui. Then my meeting with her won't have been in vain!"
"Then you'll need to work hard! Although the Heavenly Phenomenon Mother is merely a backwater demon god, even a backwater demon god is no small matter. Her soul still exists, and after possessing this body, she can be said to have been born with a spirit. Even if she were a Qi Practitioner, a hundred versions of you as you are now wouldn't be her match!"
Kindling Child continued, "The reason she hasn't become a Qi Practitioner yet is mainly because she hasn't fully merged with this body. Once she fuses with this physical form, becoming a Qi Practitioner will be as natural as water flowing downhill! As for you, your soul is still too weak. There's an enormous gap between it and a demon god's soul. Even if you cultivate a spirit and achieve Soul Unity, you'll still be inferior to her!"
"Kindling, you must know how I can defeat the Heavenly Phenomenon Mother, right?" Zhong Yue's heart stirred, and he hurriedly asked.
"Of course. The Heavenly Phenomenon Mother is ultimately just a backwater demon god. Once you possess enough strength to become a Qi Practitioner, I'll tell you."
Kindling Child said solemnly, "However, you're a backwater creature too—a backwater creature of the Fuxi Divine Clan. So not only do you need to work a hundred times harder, you also need to build a foundation more solid than anyone else's! I have a set of training methods that can let you cultivate with twice the results for half the effort and make your foundation incomparably sturdy! I just don't know if you can endure the hardship..."
Kindling yawned. "I've been awake too long and need to sleep again. Wake me once you have the Feather Spirit Pills. I'll guide your cultivation..."
His form gradually changed, becoming a pure flame. Then he fell silent.
"Hm? Kindling isn't going back to sleep inside that Bronze Lamp this time?"
Zhong Yue was somewhat puzzled. The little flame floated quietly above his Sea of Consciousness and did not leave. The last time Kindling had fallen asleep, he had been inside that battered Bronze Lamp.
"I wonder when I'll be able to become a Qi Practitioner, leave the Great Wilderness, and accompany Kindling in searching for a pure-blooded Kindling inheritor?"
Zhong Yue closed his eyes and visualized the Dragon Totem Body Coiling Art. Thunder rumbled lowly, transforming into a lightning dragon that coiled around his body. "Sword Gate seems to be faintly revealing signs of disorder now. It gives me the feeling of a storm-tossed world, with dark clouds pressing down on the city, as though some monster is hiding in the darkness, waiting to devour people..."
The area beneath Sword Gate Mountain had already sunk completely into gloom, yet the Golden Summit of Sword Gate still blazed with light. The afterglow of the setting sun illuminated the summit. After a while, the sun's radiance gradually faded, and Sword Gate's Golden Summit also sank into darkness.
This sacred ground of the Great Wilderness was completely shrouded in darkness.
Two days later, Ting Lanyue hurried excitedly to the Men's Court. Standing outside the entrance, she called for Zhong Yue, drawing a crowd of male disciples out to watch enviously. Male disciples were strictly forbidden from entering the Women's Court, but female disciples could enter the Men's Court freely, and women often came to visit the men they favored.
"Junior Brother Zhong, here are nine hundred and twenty Feather Spirit Pills."
Zhong Yue invited her inside. Ting Lanyue took out ten jade bottles and said with a smile, "There are a hundred pills in each large bottle, and twenty in this small one. You, Senior Brother He, I, and the others each received nine hundred and twenty Feather Spirit Pills. That's enough to cultivate for a long time."
Zhong Yue was overjoyed. He hurriedly thanked her and thought, At last, I can continue cultivating the Fire Epoch Palace Suihuang Visualization!
Ting Lanyue left. Only after walking out of the Men's Court did she suddenly remember something. "Oh no! I forgot to tell Junior Brother Zhong that Senior Sister Yu and Senior Sister Tao are looking for him and that he shouldn't go out... Hmm, Senior Sister Yu and the others plan to find Junior Brother Zhong and see whose abilities are greater. If I tell Junior Brother Zhong, he'll definitely ask how Senior Sister Yu and the others found out that the person that night was him. Then he'll realize that I sold him out..."
Ting Lanyue blinked and hurried away. "It has nothing to do with me, nothing to do with me!"
In the courtyard, Zhong Yue visualized his Sea of Consciousness and awakened Kindling.
"To build a foundation sturdier than everyone else's, first you need a tyrannical body, second a tyrannical soul, and third tyrannical spiritual power!"
Kindling Child spoke at length. "Cultivating the Fire Epoch Palace Suihuang Visualization can strengthen your soul and spiritual power, while cultivating the Dragon Totem Body Coiling Art can strengthen your body. But these methods merely improve you; they don't make your body, soul, and spirit tyrannical!"
"To become tyrannical, you need explosive power. Visualize the Fire Epoch Palace Suihuang while unleashing an eruption!"
"Your courtyard is too small and can't withstand the commotion. Go outside, to the edge of the cliff. I'll tell you how to unleash your body, soul, and spiritual power without holding anything back!"
Zhong Yue left the courtyard and headed toward Drinking Horse Terrace in Sword Gate's Upper Court. Drinking Horse Terrace was a stretch of cliff, with a lake before it where some strange beasts came to drink.
Zhong Yue looked down and felt somewhat dizzy. The cliff was incredibly steep, as though a peerless giant had cleaved the mountain apart with a single axe!
The canyon below was probably a thousand zhang deep. Faintly, he could see clouds drifting through it.
"Good. This place is excellent."
Kindling Child said, "To forge a tyrannical body, soul, and spirit, you'll need to do exactly as I say. Now, swallow three Feather Spirit Pills."
Zhong Yue did as instructed and swallowed three Feather Spirit Pills. At once, he felt the powerful medicinal energy erupt, making his body, soul, and spiritual power sear with heat!
A single Feather Spirit Pill's medicinal power was already extremely potent, let alone three taken together.
Too much of a good thing could be harmful. If he couldn't digest the medicinal power of the three Feather Spirit Pills, it would place an enormous burden on his body, soul, and spirit, causing his cultivation to regress instead of advance and perhaps even leaving hidden injuries!
"Now, jump down," Kindling said coldly.
"What?" Zhong Yue cried out.
"Jump down!"
Kindling's voice seemed utterly devoid of emotion as he said icily, "After jumping, immediately visualize the Fire Epoch Palace Suihuang. Between life and death lies great terror, but also a great eruption. I want you to unleash your potential in the instant between life and death! Once I give the command for you to erupt, you'll unleash your physical strength, spirit, and soul with everything you have, so you won't be smashed to death!"
Cold sweat poured down Zhong Yue's forehead as he looked at his feet. Kindling sneered, "What? You don't dare? That's right. After all, you're not a pure-blooded member of the Fuxi Divine Clan. I was right not to choose you as a Kindling inheritor. With your ability, you still want to defeat the Heavenly Phenomenon Mother?"
Zhong Yue leaped forward and jumped off Drinking Horse Terrace!
His body immediately lost control and plummeted toward the bottom of the cliff. His speed grew faster and faster, while the wind howled beside his ears, becoming increasingly shrill.
At that moment, Zhong Yue suddenly felt an endless terror surge over him and seize his mind!
His Sea of Consciousness also began to tremble. The instant he leaped off the cliff, his Sea of Consciousness actually twisted, and the seawater formed from spiritual power changed with his thoughts into one terrifying demon after another. They harassed his soul, leaving him unable to keep his spirit in his body!
Inner Demons!
The great fear between life and death would take form as Inner Demons within the Sea of Consciousness, invading one's self, while that great fear would transform into great terror.
"Visualize immediately!" Kindling shouted, his voice deafening.
Zhong Yue clenched his teeth until his gums bled. He struggled to steady his spirit and soul, suppress the trembling of his body, and began visualizing!
Rumble—
It was as though thunder exploded beside his ears. Then all sound vanished, and all sensation disappeared. Only the towering Suihuang in his Sea of Consciousness remained.
He did not visualize the Fire Epoch Palace or the Fire Tree. He visualized only Suihuang, exhausting everything he had to make Suihuang perfect!
The instant this towering Heavenly Sovereign and Heavenly Emperor appeared, all the Inner Demons in the Sea of Consciousness melted away like snow.
Before you continue