Fire filled everything from the ground to the sky. It wasn't ordinary fire... its temperature had gone beyond the realm of burning matter. The fire here was itself an expression of the Dao.
Farther on.
A land of extreme cold. The temperature dropped below absolute zero... something impossible under normal physics.
But the world of the Dao didn't obey physics. What froze wasn't molecular motion, but the flow of time.
Inside the Guixu Pearl, each region corresponded to a different approach to body tempering. Whatever extreme environment a cultivator needed to hone their flesh, they could find it here.
Chen Hao chose the boundary between the lightning plains and the deep sea.
Here... lightning struck down from above, while the pressure of the deep sea squeezed in from every side... it was the ideal place to temper his body.
He closed his eyes.
That evening.
Chen Siyao and Yang Wanqing came home.
Yang Wanqing kicked off her shoes the moment she stepped through the door.
"I'm exhausted... we had a pop quiz in advanced spiritual botany today, and I almost didn't finish..."
She glanced around the living room.
No one was on the sofa. The Gaming Room was dark. The kitchen was cold and unused.
"Where's Master?"
Chen Siyao put down her schoolbag and checked each room. Finally, she went to the balcony... and saw the Guixu Pearl floating in midair.
A note lay on the floor beside the pearl.
It was in Chen Hao's handwriting. There wasn't much on it.
"Gone into the Guixu Pearl to cultivate. Don't worry."
Chen Siyao picked up the note and read it, then looked up at the pearl. Blue-green light flowed slowly across its surface.
She watched it for a while.
"Yaoyao... Master went inside that pearl?" Yang Wanqing came over and circled