Innate Realm

From that day onward.

On Peach Blossom Mountain, Zhou Yi was Chi Xiaozi of the Kunlun Sect.

He tempered his body and meditated to strengthen his physique and spirit, all while waiting for destined people to take the bait.

It had to be said.

Meeting Gu Yu and Jiang Xiaozhai had already been a stroke of luck.

Peach Blossom Mountain's flowering season had passed. Though hundreds or thousands of tourists visited every day, not a single one possessed a Spiritual Root.

One in ten thousand was no exaggeration.

Fortunately, nourished by Peach Spirit Qi, his body-tempering progressed rapidly. In less than two months, he would be able to open the Eight Extraordinary Meridians and attain a Flawless Physical Body.

It had taken four months in the world of A Chinese Ghost Story. Now that he had experience, his speed had more than doubled.

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

"At last, I have a means of self-preservation. If I encounter strange abilities again, I won't need to flee. Sword qi can break them!"

Zhou Yi had experience condensing Innate Realm True Essence. This time, the Purple Sun Sword Qi he condensed was no less solid than True Essence.

Unfortunately, True Essence and Internal Qi differed fundamentally. The former was refined from Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy, while the latter was transformed from a martial artist's vital energy. In terms of potential, True Essence far surpassed Internal Qi.

While strengthening his Internal Qi and once again breaking through the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, Zhou Yi had not neglected external body tempering.

External body tempering differed from condensing Internal Qi. It could not be rushed and required time to accumulate.

Take the Iron Head Skill, for instance. After long years of training, one headbutt could topple a wall or snap a tree.

Zhou Yi only possessed complete experience; his head was not hard enough yet.

Besides cultivating on his own, Zhou Yi instructed his parents in stance training every morning.

For the first few days, the two elders had been full of enthusiasm, diligently standing in their stances for two hours every day. After some time, they realized cultivation was truly too boring, and two hours became one.

Now, his parents were even discussing whether they could train five days and rest two, treating Saturdays and Sundays as statutory holidays.

Zhou Yi sternly refused.

"Dad, Mom, when I was little, you taught me every day that diligence perfected one's craft while idleness ruined it. Now it's my turn to teach you."

His mother, Yi Wan, rolled her eyes at her son and turned to rebuke, "It's all your father's fault. He insisted on dragging me into slacking off!"

Zhou Dayou shrugged helplessly and took the blame.

Zhou Yi could not be blamed for being strict. With the Spiritual Energy Revival and the great changes in heaven and earth, there would be more demon clans in the future.

Humanity numbered seven billion, which seemed enormous, yet there were roughly fifteen billion rodents on Blue Star!

Not to mention that seventy percent of Blue Star's surface was ocean. No one knew how many demon clans it would breed.

While the world remained stable, they had to work hard to accumulate strength. If drastic changes came one day, every additional bit of strength meant another bit of hope for survival.

A month and a half later.

Zhou Yi broke through the Ren and Du Meridians. Internal Qi flowed through his entire body, circulating in a Minor Circulation.

"Only the perfection of my spirit remains!"

From then on, Zhou Yi focused on seated meditation and contemplation, reciting Daoist classics.

Blue Star's technology was advanced and information flowed freely. Compared with the world of A Chinese Ghost Story, numerous Daoist scriptures could be obtained with ease.

Yan Chixia had once said that, in his youth, he traveled through Daoist temples large and small across the six southwestern prefectures, reading thirteen hundred volumes of Daoist scriptures over ten years. It was one of the accomplishments he had been proudest of in his life.

Zhou Yi simply purchased three thousand available volumes of Daoist scriptures online. He read dozens of volumes every day, and his soul advanced rapidly.

After all, Zhou Yi already had the experience of a perfected soul. He was merely recovering at high speed now.

It was the fifteenth of the lunar month.

The moon hung in the sky like a jade mirror. Bright moonlight shone amid sparse stars; it was already the dead of night.

Zhou Yi sat cross-legged on the mountaintop, utterly without sleepiness.

With his current strength, he would not feel tired even if he went several days without sleep.

Today, however, was different. An urge had been present ever since noon.

His soul stirred restlessly, wanting to leave his body.

This was called perfection.

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

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

The spiritual fruit melted upon entering his mouth. A scorching torrent washed through his five viscera and six bowels before rushing into his limbs and bones.

Fire Elemental Spiritual Energy should have been violent, yet after being condensed within the Crimson Flame Fruit, it became exceptionally gentle.

Guiding the spiritual energy with his soul, Zhou Yi sent it into his dantian, where it continuously fused with the Purple Sun Sword Qi within.

"Once the dantian is filled with spiritual energy, continue compressing it. Condense qi into liquid, and it becomes True Essence."

Having done this once before, Zhou Yi was already practiced. Unhurried and unflustered, he slowly sensed the changes in his body.

Fire Elemental Spiritual Energy scoured and tempered his body, but it differed subtly from Earth Elemental Spiritual Energy.

The former filled the body with vigorous vitality, while the latter made it solid and steady.

As though enlightenment had struck him, Zhou Yi thought, If I were to condense the Five Elements Spiritual Energy to temper my body, it would possess metal's sharpness, wood's vitality, water's resilience, fire's vigor, and earth's heaviness...

At this moment, all the spiritual energy contained within the Crimson Flame Fruit gathered in his dantian and underwent continuous compression.

Mist turned into a cloud, and the cloud compressed again and again until only one-tenth of its original size remained.

"Condense!"

With a soft shout from Zhou Yi, the spiritual energy in his dantian, dense to the extreme, transformed into a single drop of liquid True Essence.

True Essence circulated and continuously tempered his body. In a short time, his physical strength increased dramatically, while layer after layer of impurities deep within his flesh were expelled through his pores.

Zhou Yi's body trembled slightly. The impurities turned to drifting ash, and he became spotless once more.

The Bell Striking Skill was an overbearing hard qigong technique.

When Zhou Yi used it, it instantly shook and struck the air, becoming something akin to a cleansing art.

Huff—

He exhaled deeply, and a white arrow of breath shot more than three feet from his mouth.

Feeling the mysteries of the Innate Realm, Zhou Yi felt utterly refreshed and could not help releasing a long howl.

In a single day, he had set foot upon the path of immortals.

From then on, heaven and earth were no longer the same.

Everything Zhou Yi saw could be encompassed within the Five Elements.

Mountains were earth, peach groves were wood, while wind nourished earth and wood, and the land contained the Five Elements...

All things under heaven—Earth Water Wind Fire—were now completely clear in Zhou Yi's eyes.

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

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

With that, he crossed the air in a leap of more than thirty feet, gliding down the mountain atop the peach grove.

Fortunately, it was already late at night and the scenic area was empty. Otherwise, no one could say whether they would have seen an immortal or a ghost.

The Peach Spirit's branches swayed, unable to hide her envy.

The spirits of grass and trees had long lifespans, but unfortunately could not move for hundreds of years. Having watched storms rise and fall and the world's fortunes shift, they instead yearned for freedom.

Tree Demon Granny had cultivated for a thousand years, rapidly advancing by devouring yang energy, yet she still could not leave the lands of Black Mountain.

The Peach Spirit had encountered Blue Star's Spiritual Energy Revival, an extraordinary opportunity. Yet if she wished to roam freely beneath heaven and earth, who knew how many generations of humans would pass before then?

The Peach Spirit had gone from driving Zhou Yi away in disgust to being obedient and attached to him, mainly because he recited Daoist scriptures every day.

Sages taught without discrimination. The magnificent works they wrote on the Great Dao benefited more than just humankind.

Spirits of plants and trees, Demonic Monsters and Ghosts—all could strengthen their souls and comprehend the Dao and its principles by reciting Daoist scriptures.

After listening to scriptures every day for just two months, the Peach Spirit's intelligence had grown from that of a toddler to that of an elementary school student. It could not be called slow.

A quarter of an hour later.

Zhou Yi returned beneath the moon, carrying several bottles in his hands.

The liquor of Cloud Province often carried the flavor of mountains and waters.

Zhou Yi opened a bottle first and glugged it onto the Peach Spirit's roots.

Eeya, eeya...

A slightly tipsy ripple of divine sense spread out. Clearly, the Peach Spirit was extremely delighted.

This was the second reason Zhou Yi had tamed the Peach Spirit.

She was actually a born lover of alcohol!