Impacting Qi Gathering

Wang Ding made up his mind. Delaying no longer, he turned and walked into the bedroom, beginning the turning point of his life.

Wang Ding sat cross-legged on the meditation mat in the bedroom and entered meditation to regulate his breathing, striving to restore himself to his best condition. About two hours later, he finished. By then, both his spirit and body had returned to their peak state.

Wang Ding took out his storage bag and solemnly removed three items from it, placing them one by one before him: two bottles of pills and a jade box. He carefully picked up one of the pill bottles. Written on it were the large characters "Imperial Heaven Infinite Pill." "First I'll take the Imperial Heaven Infinite Pill to increase my accumulation, then the Boundary Breaking Pill to experience the actual state of the Heavenly Gate. After that, I'll take the Mystic Yin Yang-Resolving Flower and formally assault the Heavenly Gate."

Wang Ding opened the pill bottle and took out the "Imperial Heaven Infinite Pill." The pill was golden yellow, thumb-sized, crystalline and translucent, with waves of medicinal fragrance assailing his nose. Wang Ding merely sniffed it and felt his physical body strengthen by a fraction.

"As expected, it's good medicine. It wasn't a waste of my six thousand mid-grade spirit stones."

Wang Ding adjusted his mood and thought no further. He swallowed the "Imperial Heaven Infinite Pill" in one gulp. The pill entered his mouth and immediately turned into medicinal liquid, sliding automatically into Wang Ding's stomach like a spirit snake.

Surges of heat instantly spread from his abdomen, traveling along the channels of qi and blood throughout his entire body. Then a heart-drilling agony passed through Wang Ding's nerves and into his brain.

Wang Ding's will had been tempered by the baptism of the River of Fate, and had long since become as firm as a boulder, unshakable. Forcing himself to endure the intense pain, Wang Ding began arduously circulating the heavenly circuit, driving the only thread of magic power in his body as he started to digest and absorb the medicinal strength of the Imperial Heaven Infinite Pill. Waves of medicinal power kept spreading out. The muscles throughout his body were twitching, and bursts of golden light continually shot from Wang Ding's fleshly body, turning him into a transparent man. Under the effect of the medicine, Wang Ding's bones gradually changed from white jade to bright yellow, their density becoming compact, as if they were metal. His flesh, blood, and five viscera were also cleansed, and countless black impurities turned into black smoke that drifted out from Wang Ding's body.

The bone marrow and blood that had been remolded by the "Pure Yang Creation Fruit" were cleansed once more. Every drop of marrow became crystalline as water, his blood-producing function greatly strengthened, and the power output of his qi and blood grew even mightier.

Finally, two hours later, Wang Ding had completely digested the power of the "Imperial Heaven Infinite Pill." His entire person had become even more dazzling. Beneath his snow-white, transparent skin flowed crystalline blood, gleaming like mercury. Bright yellow bones, muscles strong and solid like vajra, and clean, refined, developed organs all proclaimed the terrifying power contained within his body.

Wang Ding looked at his right hand and clenched it hard. Gathering all his strength, he casually swung it through the air, and twelve miniature flying dragons could immediately be seen spiraling around his fist, producing bursts of explosive air blasts.

"Good. As expected of a pill refined from the Infinite Sarira Flower, which shares its fame with the Pure Yang Creation Fruit. It actually increased my physical strength, which had already reached its limit, by another two flying dragons of power."

After Wang Ding tested his current strength a little, he did not continue. "Next, it's time to assault the Qi Gathering Stage. But my accumulation right now is truly too deep. Breaking through to Qi Gathering will definitely be a hundred times harder than for others. This one Boundary Breaking Pill likely won't be enough to let me break through my realm, but it should still be enough to accumulate experience."

Wang Ding took the pill bottle containing the Boundary Breaking Pill and removed the pill inside.

Wang Ding did not delay either, directly stuffing the pill into his mouth in one gulp. However, what Wang Ding had not expected was that as soon as the pill entered his abdomen, it instantly turned into countless streams of vital energy that rushed into his dantian. The vital energy was violent. If not for his invincible fleshly body, which had undergone several rebirth-like transformations, he might truly not have been able to withstand it. But Wang Ding came back to himself and immediately circulated his magic power to begin refining the medicinal strength. A mysterious aura permeated all of Wang Ding's magic power, causing it to undergo a mysterious change. Time slowly passed. Wang Ding's magic power continuously strengthened, and the transformation also reached its limit. Yet at this moment, quite a bit of residual medicinal strength was still entrenched in his dantian, extremely restless, ready to rebel at any time. Wang Ding knew it was time to begin attempting to assault the Heavenly Gate.

Wang Ding stirred the thumb-thick thread of magic power in his dantian and, mixed with the remaining medicinal strength, charged toward the Heavenly Gate. The golden-yellow magic power passed through the Yellow Court, ascended the Twelve-Story Tower, and arrived directly at the Heavenly Gate. A thunderous boom rang beside Wang Ding's ears, instantly making his vision blur. When Wang Ding's consciousness recovered, he had already appeared in a strange world.

The Heavenly Gate was an uncanny place. It was not inside the human body, but at a singular point one inch above the head, where it connected with heaven and earth—seeming illusory yet real.

Wang Ding's consciousness now appeared here. His consciousness had taken on substance in this place, while his magic power transformed into a streak of flowing light that surrounded him. Wang Ding raised his eyes and looked around, only to see gray, hazy emptiness on all sides. Only in the sky above was a great gate hanging there.

Upon that great gate, the cosmic starry sky, the warp and weft of space and time, mountains, rivers, birds and beasts, the earth and its lands and waters flashed from time to time. Every instant, it changed; not a single moment was the same as the last.

Protected by his magic power, Wang Ding saw all of this. However, Wang Ding keenly sensed that his magic power was being constantly consumed. Although the medicinal strength of the Boundary Breaking Pill replenished it, it would not last long.

Wang Ding knew that now was not the time for him to assault the Heavenly Gate. He had heard that there was only one actual chance to assault the Heavenly Gate. If one charged through, longevity would be within reach; if one failed, one would die on the spot. His purpose this time was merely to accumulate experience and carefully understand what sort of situation the Heavenly Gate truly was. Now that his goal had been achieved, Wang Ding felt the intention to retreat. Under the protection of his magic power, he rushed toward the void beneath his feet. With another tremor, Wang Ding's consciousness returned to his body.

"Is the Heavenly Gate about the same as what's recorded in the Daoist books?" Wang Ding and the four others, including Long Lingyu, had obtained many Daoist books in the Heavenly Void, and Wang Ding had indeed seen quite a bit of useful knowledge in them.

Wang Ding now had a concrete impression of the Heavenly Gate, and calculations immediately formed in his mind. He took the jade box before him, opened it, and removed two petals of the "Mystic Yin Yang-Resolving Flower." Wang Ding swallowed both petals together in one gulp. At once, a horrifying surge of pure yin qi rushed into Wang Ding's dantian, almost freezing his magic power into powder in an instant. But after the pure yin qi came another surge of pure yang qi that rushed into his dantian, resolving Wang Ding's crisis. Between this freezing and heating, Wang Ding's magic power instantly became much purer. Wang Ding hesitated no longer and directly stirred his magic power, carrying the yin and yang qi as he charged toward the Heavenly Gate above his head.

With a boom and a tremor, Wang Ding arrived at the Heavenly Gate once more. At this moment, Wang Ding's will had condensed into form. He beckoned in midair, drawing into his body the magic power that had already turned into a golden ribbon of light. Drawn in along with it was the vast yin and yang qi contained within the Mystic Yin Yang-Resolving Flower.

After Wang Ding finished absorbing the magic power and vital energy, his eyes snapped open. He kicked off empty air with both feet and charged toward the Heavenly Gate in the sky above.

Wang Ding threw out his right fist, and a terrifying pressure instantly filled the void. Twelve flying dragons appeared from the emptiness, solid as reality, shaking their heads and swaying their tails as if they had gained life. With this punch, Wang Ding unleashed all his strength.

A chain of explosive boom, boom, boom rang out as Wang Ding's fist struck the Heavenly Gate. But the Heavenly Gate merely trembled for a moment before reflecting Wang Ding's tremendous force back at him.