Sunlight pierced the gradually dispersing clouds and fell gently over me, while the wind quietly died down.
Supporting the spirit beast, I slowly made my way forward. My legs were still stiff, and every step required me to brace hard against the ground. The spirit beast was not much better off; its body swayed slightly as it walked, but it could still follow me. The two of us inched toward the valley step by step.
Day had broken, the clouds had scattered, and all the floating stones on the wasteland had fallen back to the ground. The storm from before seemed as though it had never happened, but I knew otherwise. My meridians still carried the sensation of being torn apart, and my spiritual power flowed poorly, like water clogged with sand.
By the time we returned to the valley entrance, the sun was slanting into the valley floor. The cultivation site was still where it had been; the stone platform had not collapsed, and the vines had not snapped. I leaned against the stone platform and sat down, letting the spirit beast lie beside me. The moment it settled down, it closed its eyes, its breathing steadier than before.
I began regulating my breathing as well.
First, I used the Turtle Breath Absorption Technique to gather the remaining spiritual power bit by bit. It was difficult at first. My dantian felt as though it were being pressed down, unable to let air flow in or out. I could only take it slowly—draw in a breath, guide it through a short path inside my body, then release it gradually. Again and again.
The system interface reappeared then, faint as a lamp that had just been switched on. There were no answer choices and no mission prompts, only a line of small text: "Spiritual veins are undergoing turbulence. Please guide your spiritual power in circulation."
I did as it instructed.
I stopped thinking about recovering quickly and no longer rushed to raise my cultivation. I simply focused on every breath, sensing the slow path spiritual power took through my meridians. Gradually, the feeling of blockage began to lessen.
I remembered what had happened in the Chaos Wind.
In the instant before the shield activated, the entire world had gone still. Not quiet—truly motionless. The wind did not move, the stones did not fly, and even my heartbeat seemed to pause for half a beat. At the time, I had not thought much. I only knew that I had to protect the spirit beast. I could not let go.
Looking back now, that state had actually been very similar to entering meditation during cultivation. But before, I had always meditated in safe places, relying on cultivation formulas to draw spiritual energy into my body bit by bit. That time had been different. It had come suddenly, forced out of me in the space between life and death.
I tried to find that feeling again.
Closing my eyes, I stopped actively driving my spiritual power and instead let myself sink into stillness. There was wind outside and birdsong, but I ignored it all. I focused only on the warmth in my dantian and allowed it to spread naturally.
Before long, my body responded.
The spiritual power that had originally been scattered began gathering on its own, no longer needing my guidance. Like streams that had found their course, it flowed through the meridians toward the main channels, growing faster and faster. I barely had to control it before one full circulation was complete.
The second circulation was even faster.
By the third, spiritual power was already accelerating on its own through the greater circulation. I did not dare relax and continued guarding my mind against losing control.
The spirit beast moved then.
It did not open its eyes, but the runes on its horn lit up, flashing at roughly the same rhythm as the fluctuations of spiritual power within me. After noticing this, I tried adjusting my breathing to match the flashes of the runes. To my surprise, doing so made the circulation of spiritual power even smoother.
It was as though it was helping me.
When the fourth circulation was complete, the swelling pain in my meridians vanished. In its place came a sense of fullness, like a dried riverbed finally welcoming the spring flood. The fifth and sixth followed one after another, and I did not stop.
At the seventh, the system suddenly displayed a new prompt: "Abnormal spiritual power increase detected. Initiating safety calibration procedure."
A gentle current of light seeped out from my sea of consciousness and traveled down through my meridians. It did not feel like an outside force. Instead, it was like a pair of invisible hands helping me sort out the overly rapid flow. Several places on the verge of clogging were gently opened, while excess spiritual power was guided into storage nodes.
I let out a breath of relief and continued circulating it.
At the start of the eighth minor circulation, the pressure in my dantian clearly increased. My spiritual power was no longer a thin stream, but rolling clusters growing denser with every turn. I could feel them compressing, their density rising higher and higher.
Halfway through the ninth circulation, a problem arose.
A torrent of heat suddenly surged toward my chest as though it were about to explode. I clenched my teeth, pressed both hands against my knees, and used my will to forcefully suppress that mass of spiritual power. It could neither scatter nor explode. I had to stabilize it.
Just then, the spirit beast opened its eyes.
The light from its horn intensified abruptly. A silver line shot from the runes, tracing an arc along the ground and connecting directly to where I sat cross-legged. Immediately afterward, the spiritual power within me seemed to be drawn by something, and the part that had been raging instantly calmed down.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, I focused all my will on my dantian.
Compress, then compress again.
The mass of spiritual power first shrank to the size of a fist, then contracted violently until it was no larger than a fingernail. At the instant it was about to collapse, it expanded with a boom.
A force far beyond anything before erupted from my dantian and surged through my entire body.
My arms, my legs, the Baihui point atop my head—every inch of my meridians was filled. My whole body seemed to light up, and a faint glow appeared beneath my skin. My breathing became incredibly light, yet every breath drew in a vast amount of heaven and earth spiritual energy.
The system's voice sounded then: "Spiritual power level increased. Current cultivation has entered a new stage."
I did not open my eyes immediately.
I was still completing the final circulation. This time, spiritual power flowed as smoothly as drifting clouds and running water, without the slightest obstruction. Places that had once required deliberate guidance could now complete the cycle automatically. Even several meridian nodes that had always felt awkward were now opened.
By the time I fully withdrew from cultivation, the sky had grown darker.
The light of the setting sun shone in through the valley entrance and fell across the stone platform. I sat there with my body relaxed and my mind clear. I was no longer as groggy as when I had first returned, nor as tense as I had been during the breakthrough. There was only a calm sense of fullness.
The spirit beast had not moved the entire time.
It lay to my right, its head resting on its front paws, its eyes half-closed. The runes on its horn had already gone dark, but I could still sense faint energy fluctuations within it, matching my current rhythm.
I reached out and touched its back.
Its fur was still cool, but its body temperature had risen somewhat. One of its ears twitched. It neither avoided me nor raised its head, merely letting out a soft hum.
I was tired too.
Too much had happened over the course of the day. We had set out from the valley, encountered the Chaos Wind, nearly been swept to our deaths, and then been affected by that silver shadow. My mind had been taut the entire time. Now that I had finally relaxed a little, exhaustion began to rise.
But I could not sleep.
The realm I had just broken through to was still unstable. If I passed out now, it might leave hidden dangers behind. I had to sit for a while longer and let my spiritual power settle completely.
I lowered my head and looked at my hand.
A faint glow flowed around my fingertips. It was not especially bright, but I could see it clearly. This had never happened before. It showed that not only had the quantity of spiritual power in my body increased, but its quality had changed as well. It was no longer mere energy, but something more like a force carrying certain laws.
The system interface was still there, but aside from basic monitoring, there was nothing else. The quiz function remained grayed out and would probably need some time before it could recover.
I was not in a hurry.
That sudden increase had come unexpectedly, but it also made sense. Insights gained at the brink of life and death were more useful than ten years of ordinary cultivation. My control over spiritual power was no longer based solely on cultivation techniques or system rewards. I truly understood how it should flow now—when it should be fast, and when it should be slow.
The valley was very quiet.
There was only the sound of wind brushing through the vines and the distant trickle of a stream. Several spirit herbs around the cultivation site swayed gently, a faint green light glimmering along the edges of their leaves. They must have sensed the change in my aura and were instinctively absorbing the spiritual power leaking from me.
I glanced at the cliff wall above.
There was a protruding platform there that I had discovered a few days ago. It was high up and offered an open view, making it suitable for trying something new. For example... ascension.
But now was not the time.
I was still one step short. Although my spiritual power had increased greatly, I had not fully mastered this state. Acting rashly could cause problems.
I closed my eyes again and began regulating my breathing for a second time.
This time, it was to consolidate my gains. I compressed the power I had just acquired bit by bit, turning it into something truly mine. The spirit beast lay beside me, breathing steadily. I could feel its body temperature slowly rising.
Time passed bit by bit.
Night was approaching, and the light in the valley grew dimmer and dimmer. The shadows on the stone platform stretched long, reaching all the way to my feet. I remained seated without moving. The spiritual power within me continued circulating, round after round.
Suddenly, the spirit beast raised its head.
It looked toward the valley entrance, its ears standing upright. I did not open my eyes, but I extended my senses along with its gaze. There was nothing unusual outside. The wind direction was normal, and the flow of spiritual energy had not changed.
Yet it continued staring.
A few seconds later, it turned back and gently nudged my wrist with its nose.
I opened my eyes.
Its gaze was clear. It did not seem frightened, nor was it warning me. It was simply... as though it was confirming something. I looked at it, and it looked back at me.
Then it lowered its head and lay down again, resting its head on its front paws.
I reached out and held a corner of my sleeve.
The fabric was slightly wrinkled, still bearing marks from where the wind had torn at it. I slowly smoothed it out, my fingers stopping at my wrist.
The night wind blew in, carrying a hint of chill.