The days passed one after another.
Slowly, but steadily.
A hundred years later.
For mortals, it was the cycle of life and death across three or four entire generations.
For ordinary cultivators, it was enough time for a Foundation Establishment cultivator of middling talent to attempt a breakthrough into the Golden Core Realm, or for an old Nascent Soul Realm monster to enter seclusion once.
For high-level cultivators, a mere hundred years was no more than a page torn from a calendar.
But Xu Changqing did not even feel its passing.
Ji Chen had not returned.
He had gone to investigate Senior Brother Yin's affairs, yet a hundred years had passed without a single word from him.
Still, Xu Changqing was not worried.
With Ji Chen's attainments in the Sword Dao and the strength of the Body Integration Realm, the dangers of the Endless Starfield were not enough to claim his life.
Besides, sword cultivators had always traveled alone. Going several centuries without contact was perfectly normal.
Meanwhile, the Life-and-Death Sword Orchid in the Grade-Five Spirit Field continued growing quietly.
Everything remained as it had been.
Until the one hundred and third year, Xu Ping'an finally broke through.
He advanced from the Void Refinement Phase to the Body Integration Realm.
At that point, his empty Divine Kingdom evolved into a complete small world.
Mountains, rivers, wind, rain, thunder, lightning, and even primitive "spirits" were born within it.
He no longer needed to sustain the Divine Kingdom with his own mana. Instead, he adjusted the "Heavenly Dao" of the small world and allowed it to operate on its own.
Not only that, his method of battle changed from summoning the lord of the Divine Kingdom to having the entire small world invade outward—one could also call it a collision.
It was