Mystic Crystal Sea Eye!

Red Dust Immortal Mansion.

Ou Huang lay prone on a red lotus, gazing into the flower pond from afar.

The stone platform of the Chaos Star Fragment, where the statue of Loose Immortal Hongchen stood, was now shrouded in countless starlight.

A massive Taiji diagram, formed by the condensation of endless water and fire forces, loomed like a towering, colossal wheel, nearly touching the Weiyang Palace suspended above.

"This monster. When he said it would take a year or two, I assumed he was already at the late Xiantian stage, with the sixth level of the Chiming Nine Heavens Map nearing perfection."

"Damn it, he actually meant it would take a year or two to go from just entering the fifth level to perfecting the sixth."

Ou Huang felt its feline heart suffer a heavy blow.

Yesterday, when Zhou Hao attempted to circulate the Chiming Nine Heavens Map, the sheer amount of Lunar and Solar power he drew down had startled Ou Huang.

This seemingly dim-witted boy was actually a legendary physique capable of sensing the two Supreme Stars, manifesting Lunar power in one hand and Solar power in the other. To then encounter a Chaos Star Fragment that boosted star-sensing capabilities a hundredfold—it was practically cheating!

Of course, having been a high-level spirit beast in life and becoming an Immortal Mansion Spirit in death, Ou Huang didn't know what "cheating" was, but that did not diminish the shock in its heart.

Even the original Loose Immortal Hongchen, who possessed a supreme physique for cold-attribute techniques after clearing his Nine Yin Severed Meridians, could never have attracted such a massive influx of star power while at the Xiantian stage.

"And this is the Chiming Nine Heavens Map, known for being the slowest and most difficult technique to cultivate. If it were an ordinary star-power body-refining technique, wouldn't this monster of a boy be able to step into the Purple Mansion in just a few days?"

Ou Huang shook its head.

The Chiming Nine Heavens Map was not so easily advanced across major realms.

Small breakthroughs, such as from the first to the third level or the fourth to the sixth, relied on slow, steady accumulation through daily cultivation.

However, the transitions from the third to the fourth level and the sixth to the seventh were major leaps; they required more than just sufficient Lunar and Solar power to cross.

"The convergence of Yin and Yang, the blending of water and fire" was the bottleneck for the transition from the third to the fourth level, the threshold from Post-Heaven to Xiantian lifeform.

As for the sixth to the seventh level, one had to comprehend "the transformation of Yin and Yang, and their endless mutual generation" to cross it.

"Once the Chiming Nine Heavens Map reaches the Xiantian peak, his body should be strong enough to withstand the cold energy of the Cold Fiend Vein. If I use the mansion's Five Elements Array to help protect his body, he should succeed," Ou Huang mused silently.

Though it didn't show it in front of Zhou Hao, it had been the only inhabitant of the mansion for fifty thousand years since Loose Immortal Hongchen left, and that loneliness was hard to bear.

Having finally waited for a boy who seemed agreeable and had inherited the unique secret techniques of Loose Immortal Hongchen, it naturally hoped Zhou Hao would grow strong enough to take it out for a romp in the future.

"Boom~~" "Boom~~~"

The Red Lotus Flower Pond suddenly began to tremble. Amidst the dense mist of starlight, the flames and water currents that had been burning and flowing in the void underwent a sudden change.

A wisp of Lunar True Water and a wisp of Solar True Fire crossed endless worlds and infinite voids, descending directly to envelop Zhou Hao completely.

The bronze statue of Loose Immortal Hongchen emitted a hazy red glow, as did the ten thousand acres of red lotuses in the pond. They formed a barrier of red light around the stone platform where Zhou Hao sat, preventing the endless water and fire unleashed by the Lunar True Water and Solar True Fire from affecting the rest of the pond.

"This freak!" Ou Huang was dumbstruck. "The bottleneck from the sixth level to the Purple Mansion... he just crossed it like that?"

How were those cultivators who had been trapped at this bottleneck for over a decade, or even several decades or a century, supposed to feel!?

"Whoosh!"

The icy Lunar True Water and the scorching Solar True Fire flowed around Zhou Hao like water. These two majestic, diametrically opposed, and conflicting forces were now incredibly docile, forming a Taiji diagram of Yin and Yang fish. As it rotated, Yin and Yang transformed and generated each other endlessly; everything was so natural.

Yes, natural!

Since childhood, Zhou Hao had followed his master, True Person Daoyi, in practicing the Innate Taiji Fist. This martial art, centered on the dialectical concepts of Taiji and Yin-Yang from traditional Chinese Confucian and Taoist philosophy, contained the wisdom of countless sages regarding the transformation and mutual generation of Yin and Yang.

While Zhou Hao dared not claim to match the realms of those sages, he possessed his own unique understanding of Yin and Yang and Taiji, built upon the foundations of his predecessors' research and the teachings of True Person Daoyi.

The sixth-level bottleneck of "Yin-Yang transformation and endless mutual generation" posed almost no obstacle to him; when the sixth level reached perfection, he crossed it naturally.

Whoosh~~~~ The Taiji diagram rotated.

Driven by the Lunar True Water and Solar True Fire, a massive amount of Lunar and Solar power surged into Zhou Hao's body.

Guided by the two Divine Patterns on his back, Zhou Hao's Innate God and Devil Body began its natural metamorphosis.

Every bone, every muscle fiber, and even every cell in his internal organs was frantically devouring the Lunar and Solar power.

A small portion, as if drawn to bait, darted directly toward the Blue Flower in Zhou Hao's Mud Pill Palace sea of consciousness. Naturally, it was swallowed without hesitation by the Blue Flower Boss, transforming into wisps of blue flower mist within its own space.

Whoosh~~~

As the last trace of Lunar and Solar power was absorbed into his body, the Taiji diagram formed by the Lunar True Water and Solar True Fire dissipated, revealing his naked form.

His perfect physique, which had previously made Shangguan Yu's heart flutter like a fawn, now radiated an incredibly crystalline, jade-like luster. Feeling the surging divine power within his body and the infinite vitality contained in every fiber of his flesh, a smile appeared on Zhou Hao's face.

"The Chiming Nine Heavens Map has entered the seventh level. From now on, this body can be called a Divine Body; it has no vital points, and I can regenerate from a single drop of blood!"

Once God and Devil Body Refining reached the Purple Mansion level, the leap in strength would be transformative.

If both were at the Xiantian stage, a Qi Refining cultivator could still deal with a God and Devil Body Refining expert of the same rank using unique Dharma Treasures, provided they kept their distance to ensure their safety.

But once they reached the Purple Mansion level, the God and Devil Body Refining path began to truly display its might. Not only could divine power be projected for attacks like True Essence, but they could also largely ignore attacks from the Dharma Treasures of peers.

Even if your Dharma Treasure was powerful, unless it could completely destroy his Divine Body, he could be hacked into a dozen pieces and recover instantly as his divine power surged.

Therefore, a God and Devil Body Refining expert at the Purple Mansion realm, even one who had just entered it, could cross ranks to deal with a mid-stage Purple Mansion Qi Refining cultivator.

If a God and Devil Body Refining expert reached the Purple Mansion realm and possessed a divine ability, it would be even more terrifying.

A monster-level talent could even cross a major realm to fight a Myriad Phenomena True Person head-on.

The Chiming Nine Heavens Map that Zhou Hao cultivates is the premier method for God-Devil Body Refining. Although he has only just stepped into the seventh level, he is already no less powerful than a God-Devil Body Refining expert at the late Purple Mansion stage.

If he could cultivate even one divine ability, such as Law of Heaven and Earth or Three Heads and Six Arms, he would be confident in facing a True Person with a Starlight Dharma Image like True Person Muxuan head-on. Even if he could not win, he would be able to retreat with ease.

It is a pity that I lack any divine ability techniques, Zhou Hao sighed.

However, thinking that he would soon be able to cultivate a secret technique no less powerful than a divine ability, his heart surged with excitement once more.

"Zhou Hao," a voice drifted into his ears, "how much longer do you intend to stay naked? I am a male, you know."

Who asked you to look...

Zhou Hao's Origin Power surged, and a set of green cloth robes quickly manifested over his body. This was a Human-Rank Magical Treasure he had obtained from Shang Ren's storage treasure; while its defensive capabilities were nothing to boast about, it was convenient.

"Ou Huang, now that my body refining has also reached the Purple Mansion stage, can you take me to the Mystic Yin Cold Sha Vein now?" Zhou Hao tapped his foot, his robes fluttering as he flew toward the red lotus where Ou Huang was sprawled.

Watching Zhou Hao's ethereal, immortal-like figure after his breakthrough, Ou Huang felt a momentary trance, as if Loose Immortal Hongchen had not perished under the Heavenly Tribulation but had returned once more.

"Of course," Ou Huang nodded. "Now that you have entered the Purple Mansion stage and your divine body is formed, it saves me the trouble."

With that, Ou Huang flicked a cat paw, and a red light appeared out of thin air, wrapping around the man and the cat before vanishing from the flower pond.

...This was the bottom of the sea.

The temperature was far lower than the waters surrounding Crouching Ox Island; even the seawater, which seemed incapable of freezing, had formed countless shards of ice in the surroundings.

The seabed was a world of ice crystals, with thick layers of ice visible everywhere one looked.

Zhou Hao gazed at the seafloor rift that resembled a giant eye, and even with his Purple Mansion-stage divine body, he could not help but shiver.

That massive seafloor rift was the Sea Eye for the surrounding ten thousand miles of ocean. The area around the rift was covered in thick ice, and the Red Dust Immortal Mansion was hidden within the ice layer beside that Sea Eye.

It is fortunate that Ou Huang used the Immortal Mansion's array to temporarily suppress the undercurrents erupting from the Sea Eye; otherwise, even if I were at the Myriad Phenomena stage, I would never have made it here, Zhou Hao thought, recalling the scene he had witnessed at the exit of the Immortal Mansion's water curtain.

Countless tons of seawater erupted from the Sea Eye rift, and countless whirlpools pulled at one another, turning this stretch of the seabed into a chaotic void.

That Mystic Yin Cold Sha Vein is about a thousand feet beneath the solid ice of the Sea Eye. Zhou Hao's divine sense permeated through the ice layer, and he quickly sensed a power fluctuation that was extremely yin and cold, faintly sharing similarities with the Lunar Power he had been absorbing.

"There!" Zhou Hao's eyes lit up. He summoned the Zhuan Mountain Seal, a high-grade Human-Rank Magical Treasure he had refined after his Qi cultivation reached the Purple Mansion stage, and slammed it down heavily toward the location he had sensed.

BOOM! CRACK~~~~

A thunderous sound accompanied the shattering of ice, and a rift over ten feet long appeared at the spot struck by the Zhuan Mountain Seal.

Zhou Hao moved, swimming directly down into the rift.

First update.

Thanks to 'Xi Xi' for the 500-point tip.

Thanks to 'Fate's Mad Ramblings' for the 200-point tip.

Thanks to 'Ku Rui' for the 1500-point tip.

Thanks to 'Breeze Brushing Face' for the 100-point tip.

Suifeng bows in gratitude for your support!