"Hmph."
Chu Lingyue gave a cold snort.
That single sound made the black hand, which was about to reach farther inside, abruptly freeze.
Then Chu Lingyue coldly pointed her seal-forming hand at the enormous black hand and said:
"When all sensation and its continuance cease, it is called Without Shadow; it is called Oblivion."
As these words fell, a terrifying aura of destruction, like the sudden stench of a rotting corpse, surged toward the black hand in waves with Chu Lingyue's imperious gesture.
Boom!
A muffled blast of air followed. The enormous black hand wreathed in black mist suddenly recoiled, tiny sparks flaring along its fingers.
"Oblivion Without Shadow, or crawl back to the Demon Domain. Choose."
Chu Lingyue's voice was as cold as ice.
The black hand drew back its fingers, slowly curling them into a fist, as though hesitating.
"Roooar!..."
Just then, Dragon Roar suddenly rang through the deathly silent world, followed by an aged voice roaring in fury:
"What foul creature dares trespass upon my Azure Profound Sect!"
At these words, the black hand formed by the otherworldly heavenly demon hesitated no longer. It jerked back through the window, then vanished outside as though it had never appeared.
The thunder, wind, and rain abruptly returned to the world.
"The little black dragon guarding the Azure Profound Sect could actually sense this otherworldly heavenly demon? I underestimated him. Still, it seems he only sensed it, rather than truly discovering its presence."
Her figure now much more transparent, Chu Lingyue glanced toward the Azure Profound Sect's Mountain Gate. Then her lips curved slightly, and she turned toward Xu Taiping, who remained lost in selfless absorption, continuing to murmur:
"Still, I owe him my thanks today. Without that roar, I'm afraid I really would have had to use the Oblivion Karmic Flame Curse. Then it would have been at least thirty years before I could see this little fellow again."
Although thirty years was no more than a flick of the fingers to her, after spending this time together, she truly felt reluctant to part with the little fellow before her.
"I'd planned to help the little fellow deal with that Tiger Demon, but now the spirit is willing and the flesh is weak. If I don't return to the earth fruit and sleep, something may happen to this wisp of remnant soul. Never mind. I'll leave him a letter explaining the Frost Breath Art. With that art and his gift for comprehension, he'll surely be able to handle that Tiger Demon."
Muttering softly, Chu Lingyue controlled a writing brush on the table with her divine sense and began writing on a sheet of white paper.
That brush was one of the few things her current remnant soul could lift.
"I'll sleep for a month at the least, half a year at the most. Little Taiping, take care of yourself. If anything interesting happens, be sure to remember it, and tell me when I wake."
After writing the final line, Chu Lingyue exhausted the last of her strength. She turned into a wisp of smoke and drifted out of the room, finally slipping into the withered earth fruit branch buried in the Medicine Garden.
Meanwhile.
Xu Taiping finally broke through the invisible wall surrounding his Dantian with his crimson dawn true qi.
He had successfully broken through to the Gate Opening Realm.
So this is the Qi Sea?
The moment he broke through to the Gate Opening Realm, Xu Taiping gained the ability to look within himself. With a mere thought, he saw the "Qi Sea" revealed after his Dantian's barrier broke.
With his vision immersed in the Qi Sea, he felt as though he stood in a vast, gray world, occasionally seeing clusters of condensed true qi drifting past.
Even this cursory look allowed him to clearly perceive the difference between the Qi Sea and the Dantian-as vast as the gulf between clouds and mud.
No wonder Daoist Ziyang said that. No wonder the Cultivation Transmission Jade Slip said you can only practice Daoist arts after reaching the Gate Opening Realm. A tiny Dantian simply can't hold the true qi needed to cast them.
Filled with awe, Xu Taiping marveled inwardly.
Right, I need to hurry and tell Sister Lingyue the good news.
He suddenly remembered Fairy Lingyue, who had been guarding him beside his bed, and immediately gathered his awareness and opened his eyes.
"Hm?"
To Xu Taiping's bewilderment, Fairy Lingyue was not in the room. The window stood wide open, and an aura that made his heart tremble inexplicably lingered inside, as though something extremely dangerous had just entered.
"Sister Lingyue?"
Growing increasingly uneasy, Xu Taiping sprang out of bed and called through the doorway.
Still, no one answered.
Just as he wondered whether he should check the Medicine Garden, he caught sight of a letter held beneath a paperweight on the table out of the corner of his eye.
He hurried over, picked it up, and read-
"Little Taiping, by the time you read this letter, I will have returned to the withered earth fruit branch to sleep. I've left this letter because there are several things I need to tell you."
The first thing Xu Taiping saw was a line of graceful, free-flowing handwriting.
The writing reflected its writer. One glance told him Fairy Lingyue had left it.
But as Xu Taiping read on, the joy that had just welled up from his breakthrough vanished like smoke-
"When you broke through just now, you attracted an otherworldly heavenly demon. This was very likely connected to the innate quality of your divine soul."
"An otherworldly heavenly demon?"
Xu Taiping had never imagined that such a being, which he had encountered only in the Azure Profound Sect's records and legends, would appear beside him.
A little while later.
Xu Taiping finally finished reading the entire letter.
Although there was still much he did not quite understand, such as the "illuminated Dao heart" and the "otherworldly heavenly demon," he understood why Sister Lingyue had suddenly fallen asleep again-
Just when I thought I'd successfully broken through, Sister Lingyue was risking her life to drive away that otherworldly heavenly demon for me.
At that thought, he folded the open letter, the delight and astonishment in his eyes receding like the tide.
He closed the window and solemnly placed the letter inside the Wooden Box his grandfather had given him. Then, without a word, he returned to his bed, sat cross-legged, and began circulating his cultivation.
Everything that had happened that night gave the young Xu Taiping his first glimpse of the perils along the path of cultivation.
Without Sister Lingyue, even if I'd broken through to the Gate Opening Realm tonight, that Sky Demon would probably have devoured my divine soul. The road ahead is long. I can't always rely on Sister Lingyue. Now that I'm qualified to cultivate, I must train a hundred times harder and put in a hundred times more effort than other cultivators, so that this mortal bone body can also tread the Path to Heaven! If that Tiger Demon blocks my path, I'll slaughter him. If that Sky Demon blocks my path, I'll cut it down!
Xu Taiping silently made his resolve.
In truth, perhaps even Fairy Lingyue had failed to see that Xu Taiping's greatest support along the path of cultivation was not some illuminated Dao heart, but the unyielding will forged since childhood under his grandfather's guidance.
That same night.
Inside the Tiger Demon's cave in Green Peak Gorge.
"Roooar!..."
The Tiger Demon stood atop the gorge and roared with all his might. Ripples of power stirred by his voice spread from the peak like ripples across water, frightening the fierce beasts throughout the mountains into prostrating themselves.
"My wounds have finally all but healed. In another month, I'll recover completely!"
The Tiger Demon gave a savage grin, then touched the long blade scar on his face. A vicious gleam blazed in his eyes as he looked toward the red maple forest outside the cave and said:
"Mo Jun of the Fifth Peak, you want to make this king your mount? As if you were worthy! Once my wounds heal, if you dare return to Green Peak Gorge, I'll make you taste the Northwind Tiger clan's secret treasure, the Cloud-Devouring Pearl."
As he spoke, he suddenly reached into his mouth and pulled out a silvery-white pearl.
Boom!
The instant the Cloud-Devouring Pearl appeared, violent gusts suddenly swept through the red maple forest outside the cave. Several maples so thick that two people together could barely encircle them were sliced straight through by Wind Blades.
Watching the raging winds outside his cave, the Tiger Demon swallowed the Cloud-Devouring Pearl again in satisfaction. Then his smile faded, and he turned his gaze toward Green Bamboo Abode, his voice turning icy:
"And you, little bastard of Green Bamboo Abode. You dared hurt this king's Tiger Wraith, so I'll turn you into a Tiger Wraith and torment you for life after life!"
Before you continue