After two months, Lu Shang inspected the waters around Nameless Island several more times before returning to the cliffside cave abode he had prepared.
"My aptitude is exceptional, and I have the system's assistance. There shouldn't be any bottlenecks."
Upon returning, Lu Shang set up the formation and personally tested its effects before putting his mind at ease.
The formation could indeed conceal the aura released before his breakthrough.
Lu Shang also spent considerable time visiting the nearby islands and discovered that demon beasts were being drawn toward the formation he had set up.
Since Lu Shang had cleared the area beforehand, not a single high-rank demon beast had appeared here, even after all this time.
"Next comes the breakthrough!"
Lu Shang immediately sat cross-legged in his cave abode and began attempting his breakthrough.
As Lu Shang began cultivating, thunder instantly surged around him.
Threads of lightning darted incessantly through the cave abode. Had Lu Shang not set up a barrier inside beforehand, they would likely have burst out.
When Lu Shang awoke, he found himself in the form of a soul, watching the scene of himself starting work just after graduation.
Floating in midair, Lu Shang looked at his transparent hands. "What happened to me?"
"What on earth is going on..."
"I... wasn't I attempting a breakthrough? What's going on..."
Lu Shang stared in bewilderment at the version of himself before him and his own current state.
Lu Shang tried to move, only to discover that he could not go more than a hundred zhang away from the version of himself before him.
No matter how Lu Shang shouted, nobody noticed him.
"This..."
"Could it be..."
"An illusory realm?"
Ten years later...
During those ten years on Nameless Island, a thin layer of ice had begun forming outside