In the Southern Wilds, at the Warrior Administration's compound in the Southern Suburbs of the Azure Cloud Sect Headquarters.
Fang Qianyuan stood alone in the middle of a quiet courtyard, his long, jet-black hair cascading like a waterfall, his Black Garment fluttering without a breath of wind.
Ring after ring of almost tangible mist swirled around him. It was crimson spirit essence of the utmost purity, vibrating slowly according to an extraordinarily profound and abstruse pattern.
Suddenly, the crimson spirit essence seemed to take on a layer of magnificent purple and gold.
This purple-gold layer had appeared out of nowhere, tightly enveloping the crimson spirit essence. Yet as Fang Qianyuan controlled and circulated it, it seemed to begin merging into it.
"So this is spirit essence with properties approaching the Heaven Tier... but it still seems far from enough!"
Fang Qianyuan quietly sensed the differences between this spirit essence and that of an ordinary Earth Rank cultivator.
He suddenly discovered that once Spirit Tamers reached the higher realms of the Earth Rank, their essence, energy, spirit, and intent fused into one. They could reflect the heart of heaven through their own hearts, spreading their spiritual intent into every thread of origin energy within their bodies and every inch of heaven and earth.
When advancing from the Human Rank to the Earth Rank, this was called the bridge between heaven and earth. It was the key to breaking through the barrier between heaven and humanity, linking the inner and outer worlds, and drawing upon heaven and earth essence.
However, advancing from the Human Rank to the Earth Rank only established a few such bridges, granting one or perhaps several channels through which to draw upon heaven and earth essence.
As cultivation rose to more profound levels, these bridges would grow ever