A little time passed. It was perhaps around the third quarter of the hour of the Tiger?
At that moment, the dawn light and rosy clouds on the horizon finally seemed to come alive, beginning to surge and roll slowly.
"!!"
Though Yue Lingshan still had her eyes closed, she keenly sensed the change.
And so!
Under the crewmen's furtive glances and astonished gazes, she immediately formed the "Dawn Seal" with her fingers. Her slender fingers danced like nimble paintbrushes, tracing mysterious, unfamiliar patterns in the air. No one knew what she was drawing.
Then, quite miraculously, a point of purple light between her brows flickered in time with her breathing, like a star twinkling in the night sky.
The sight naturally drew cries of astonishment from the crewmen. Some even whispered that she was an immortal maiden.
But their cries were quickly hushed by the pigeons. It seemed even they knew they absolutely mustn't disturb Yue Lingshan while she was practicing her art.
What the sailors and crewmen didn't know was that this was the first stage of the New Purple Mist Divine Skill: "Sounding the Heavenly Drum." It was the portent of the "Heavenly Gate" about to open—the moment when "purple-mist true qi knocks upon the Jade Pillow, opening the Heavenly Gate to receive the starlight."
Though the "Heavenly Gate" had yet to open, a mysterious force had already begun quietly awakening within her.
The sea breeze seemed to sense that mysterious presence, too. It suddenly fell still, the sails gradually drooping limply as the ship slowed, as if even the vessel were quietly waiting for something.
"..."
Yue Lingshan remained completely unaware. She continued to cultivate, silently reciting the Song of Essential Purple Mist Immortal Cultivation in her heart.
And so it was:
Purple qi comes from