Innate Realm

From that day on, Zhou Yi became Chi Xiaozi of the Kunlun Sect on Peach Blossom Mountain.

He tempered his body and meditated, growing both flesh and spirit, while waiting for the fated one to take the bait.

Truth be told, meeting Gu Yu and Jiang Xiaozhai had already been a stroke of luck.

Peach Blossom Mountain had passed its blooming season, and though hundreds or even thousands of tourists came daily, not one possessed a spiritual root.

"Not one in ten thousand" was no empty claim.

Fortunately, nourished by Peach Spirit Qi, his body-tempering progressed rapidly. Within two months, he would break through the Eight Extraordinary Meridians and achieve a Flawless Physical Body.

The A Chinese Ghost Story world had taken him four months. Now, with experience, his speed had more than doubled.

In the first month, Zhou Yi spent ten points of Origin to condense Internal Qi once more, then used the secret method of the Purple Sun Sword Qi Scripture to transform it into sword qi.

"Finally, I have a means of self-preservation. If I encounter strange arts again, I won't need to dodge—sword qi can break them!"

Drawing on his experience condensing Innate True Essence, Zhou Yi found that this Purple Sun Sword Qi rivaled True Essence in density.

Pity that True Essence and Internal Qi were fundamentally different—the former refined from Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy, the latter transformed from a martial artist's blood vitality. In potential, True Essence far surpassed Internal Qi.

While expanding his Internal Qi and breaking through the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, Zhou Yi didn't neglect external body-tempering.

Unlike condensing Internal Qi, external tempering couldn't be rushed—it required time and accumulation.

Take the Iron Head Skill, for example. With long, steady practice, a single headbutt could topple a wall or snap a tree.

But Zhou Yi, despite having perfected experience, still lacked a hard enough skull.

Beyond his own cultivation, Zhou Yi also guided his parents in stance training every morning.

In the first few days, they were full of enthusiasm, diligently holding their stances for an hour each day. But after a while, they found training too tedious and cut it down to half an hour.

Now, his parents even tried to negotiate with Zhou Yi: could they train five days and rest two, treating Saturday and Sunday as legal holidays?

Zhou Yi flatly refused.

"Dad, Mom, when I was little, you always told me that mastery comes from diligence and waste from play. Now, it's my turn to teach you."

His mother, Yi Wan, shot her son a glare, then turned to scold his father. "It's all your dad's fault—he's the one dragging me into slacking off!"

Zhou Dayou shrugged helplessly, taking the blame.

Zhou Yi's strictness wasn't without reason. With the Spiritual Energy Revival and the great changes in heaven and earth, more of the Demon Race would emerge in the future.

Humanity numbered seven billion, which seemed vast, but Blue Star's rat population alone was around fifteen billion!

And that wasn't even counting the 70% of Blue Star's surface covered by oceans—who knew how many demons would be born there?

While the overall environment remained stable, he had to work hard to build strength. If a sudden upheaval came, every bit of power meant a greater chance of survival.

A month and a half later.

Zhou Yi broke through the Ren and Du Meridians, his Internal Qi flowing through his entire body, cycling through the Minor Circulation.

"Only spiritual perfection remains!"

From then on, Zhou Yi devoted himself to sitting meditation and chanting Daoist scriptures.

Blue Star's advanced technology and open information made it easy to access countless Daoist texts that would have been rare in the A Chinese Ghost Story world.

Yan Chixia once told him that he had traveled through the six prefectures of the southwest, visiting every Daoist temple, and spent ten years reciting thirteen hundred volumes of Daoist scriptures—a feat he was immensely proud of.

Zhou Yi simply bought all three thousand volumes of Daoist scriptures available online, reciting dozens each day, and his soul's progress accelerated rapidly.

After all, Zhou Yi already had perfected soul experience. Now, he was merely recovering quickly.

It was the fifteenth of the month.

The jade mirror of the moon hung in the sky, bright and clear, with sparse stars. It was already the dead of night.

Zhou Yi sat cross-legged on the mountaintop, wide awake.

With his current strength, going days without sleep left him untired.

But tonight was different. A restless urge had been stirring in him since noon.

His soul felt like it was leaping, yearning to break free.

This was perfection.

"It's time to return to the Innate Realm!"

Zhou Yi took out the Crimson Flame Fruit and swallowed it in one gulp.

The spiritual fruit dissolved on his tongue, and a scorching torrent washed through his internal organs, surging into his limbs and bones.

Fire Elemental Spiritual Energy was normally violent, but tempered by the Crimson Flame Fruit, it became extremely gentle.

Guided by his soul, the spiritual energy entered his Dantian, where it continuously merged with the Purple Sun Sword Qi.

"Once the Dantian is full of spiritual energy, I'll compress it further, condensing qi into liquid—that is True Essence."

Having done this once before, Zhou Yi was already skilled at it, calm and unhurried, slowly experiencing the changes in his physical body.

Fire Elemental Spiritual Energy scoured and tempered his flesh, subtly different from Earth Elemental Spiritual Energy.

The former made his body brim with vitality, while the latter gave it a deep, steady solidity.

A flash of inspiration struck Zhou Yi: "If I could condense the Five Elements Spiritual Energy to temper my body, combining the sharpness of Metal, the vitality of Wood, the resilience of Water, the vigor of Fire, and the weight of Earth..."

At this moment, the spiritual energy contained in the Crimson Flame Fruit gathered entirely in his Dantian, continuously compressing.

The mist formed into a fog mass, which compressed further until it was only a tenth of its original size.

"Condense!"

With a soft shout, the densely concentrated spiritual energy in his Dantian transformed into a single drop of liquid True Essence.

The True Essence circulated, constantly tempering his body. In a short time, his physical strength surged dramatically, and layers of deep impurities were expelled from his pores.

Zhou Yi's body gave a slight tremor, and the impurities turned to ash, leaving him spotless once more.

The Bell Striking Skill, a brutal Hard Qigong technique.

Under Zhou Yi's execution, it instantly vibrated and struck the air, becoming a method akin to a cleansing spell.

Whoosh—

He let out a long breath, a white arrow of air shooting more than three feet from his mouth.

Sensing the wonders of the Innate Realm, Zhou Yi felt an immense joy in his heart and couldn't help but let out a long roar.

Once you set foot on the path of immortals, The world from then on is no longer the same.

Everything Zhou Yi saw could be categorized into the Five Elements.

The mountain was Earth, the peach grove was Wood, the wind was Wood giving rise to Fire, and the Earth contained all Five Elements...

All things in heaven and earth, Earth Water Wind Fire, were now crystal clear in Zhou Yi's eyes.

"So this is what it means to see heaven and earth!"

Zhou Yi clasped his hands and said, "Fellow Daoist Fangfei, I'll be back shortly..."

With that, he leaped over ten zhang through the air, gliding down the mountain atop the peach grove.

Fortunately, it was late at night and the scenic area was empty, or else people might have wondered if they'd seen an immortal or a ghost.

The Peach Spirit's branches swayed, revealing a hint of envy.

Grass and tree spirits had long lifespans, but they couldn't move for centuries. Having witnessed endless changes and the fickleness of the world, they instead yearned for freedom and ease.

Tree Demon Granny had operated for a thousand years, rapidly advancing her cultivation by devouring Yang energy, yet she still couldn't leave the bounds of Black Mountain.

The Peach Spirit had encountered the Spiritual Energy Revival on Blue Star, an incredible stroke of luck, but by the time it could roam freely, who knew how many generations of humans would have come and gone.

The Peach Spirit had gone from driving Zhou Yi away with disdain to becoming obedient and attached, mainly thanks to hearing the Daoist scriptures recited daily.

The sage taught without discrimination, and the great chapters of the Dao he authored benefited not only the human race.

Grass and tree spirits, Demonic Monsters and Ghosts—all could strengthen their souls and comprehend Dao and principles by reciting the scriptures.

The Peach Spirit listened to the scriptures daily, and in just two months, its intelligence grew from that of a toddler to an elementary school student—remarkably fast.

A quarter of an hour later.

Zhou Yi returned under the moonlight, carrying several bottles in his hands.

Cloud Province's wine always carried a hint of the mountains and waters.

Zhou Yi opened one first and poured it gurgling over the Peach Spirit's roots.

Yiya yiya...

A slightly tipsy fluctuation of divine thought indicated that the Peach Spirit was thoroughly delighted.

This was the second reason for taming the Peach Spirit.

She was naturally born with a love for alcohol!