At Kunlun Mountain's Jade Void Palace, Meng Qi sat cross-legged beneath the statue of Yuanshi Tianzun. His eyes were half-open and half-closed, faint divine light hidden within them—impossible to catch, impossible to fathom.
Inside and outside his Dharma Body, his acupoints, organs, and viscera surged ceaselessly with every breath. At times they rumbled like thunder; at times they roared like tides. When he exhaled through his nose, a hazy, chaotic radiance flew out, with a galaxy faintly hanging upside down within it. It was brilliant and vast, surrounded by the distinct features of different universes, such as the Golden Crow and Jade Rabbit.
When he inhaled, the dreamlike galaxy contracted, and the hazy radiance slipped back into Meng Qi's nostrils. The vastness filling the room vanished without a trace, leaving behind only extreme darkness, blurred directions, and disordered spacetime.
With every breath, the world was created and then returned to chaos, transforming this little Daoist temple into a true dwelling of immortals and gods.
After an unknown amount of time, everything calmed. The Glazed Lamp before the statue of Yuanshi Tianzun cast a dim yellow glow, illuminating the room with warmth. Meng Qi slowly opened his eyes. They were as clear as black and white, crystalline and deep, without any other sign of the supernatural.
This retreat had lasted half a year. He had refined the world within and connected with the rhythm of the Dao without, pushing the Nine Yuanshi Seals and Eight-Nine Arcane Art—his two primary cultivation techniques—to a level matching his current Dharma Body realm, so that his methods would not lag behind his cultivation.
"From now on, my periods of cultivation will only grow longer. Once I reach the Legendary or Creation realm, perhaps a single retreat will be enough for the mortal world to have