Li Dao sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion, the faint light radiating from his body flickering as it illuminated the cave.
With his palms, soles, and crown facing heaven, the lotus dao patterns between his brows flashed with golden light. A pure white lotus suddenly bloomed beneath him.
Seated on the lotus dais, he sank into deep secluded cultivation.
Strange ripples spread from his body. Wherever they passed, tender green shoots broke through the stone walls and ground, spreading toward Li Dao.
Golden dao patterns surfaced on his skin, slowly and steadily linking together, as though they meant to enclose Li Dao within a seed.
Li Dao turned a deaf ear to the clamor outside. Images of his battles flashed through his mind, frame by frame.
The blood furnace inside him radiated a crimson glow, blood-colored dao patterns naturally emerging across its surface.
Hum, hum, hum-
The four cave heavens behind him continuously absorbed the yin and yang qi drifting through the world.
Li Dao slowly raised one hand and touched the empty air. The Law-Suppressing Stele appeared in midair before him.
The next moment, the Law-Suppressing Stele landed heavily on the ground in front of him.
Hum-
There was no deafening crash. As the Law-Suppressing Stele descended, the earth melted rapidly, like the first snow beneath a blazing sun.
It revealed two surging underground rivers beneath it, one black and one white.
At the ends of these rivers stood the two pillars of this Pocket World: the volcano and the snowy mountain towering on opposite sides.
Their source was the Yin-Yang Flood Dragon's corpse.
They had formed from the yin-yang essence contained within the Yin-Yang Flood Dragon's corpse, and they were gradually drying up as that essence approached exhaustion.
When Li Dao had broken through to four cave heavens, a sweep of his divine sense had revealed everything.
It was also because that essence was running out that this hidden realm had emerged into the world.
Li Dao knew full well that the hidden realm might collapse before long. All he intended to do was hasten that process.
The suction radiating from the four cave heavens behind him was directed toward the two yin-yang rivers flowing underground.
Rush, rush, rush-
Streams of yin and yang qi poured into the cave heavens, entered his body, and were refined by the blood furnace.
Under this orderly absorption, the dao patterns emerging on the blood furnace inside Li Dao grew increasingly distinct.
The power it radiated also grew stronger, and the vital essence it refined became increasingly concentrated.
Hum, hum, hum-
In the empty space behind Li Dao, a fifth cave heaven slowly began to emerge.
At first, it was a reddish-white speck. As the vital essence within his body accumulated, the white speck behind him grew larger.
Gradually, that white speck became a cave heaven the size of a well's mouth, with volcanic lava churning inside it.
As yin and yang qi continued pouring in, however, that cave heaven grew larger and larger.
Although it was not as large as the other four cave heavens, its size was still considerable.
The next step was to reshape it, raising its strength, hardness, and power to another level.
Fortunately, the yin and yang qi in the underground rivers remained fairly abundant, enough to sustain his cultivation.
While Li Dao drew energy from the underground yin-yang rivers to cultivate, the world outside also began to feel the effects.
The once-scorching streams of crimson lava slowly blackened and solidified.
Snowflakes continually melted on the snow-covered mountain, while ravines slowly emerged across the ground.
Beside the Taiyin River, Purple Snake had already kept watch for several months. Ferocious Beast corpses lay scattered around the serpent.
These were all Ferocious Beasts the serpent had brutally slaughtered. Apart from Purple Snake, nothing remained nearby.
Savage fury filled those slit pupils, and the serpent's mountain-sized body lay coiled.
The serpent's tongue flicked in and out, pointed straight toward the hidden realm's entrance.
Boom, boom, boom-
The next moment, violent tremors spread from the hidden realm's entrance, and the light shining from within dimmed somewhat.
Purple Snake abruptly raised its head, knowing that something must have happened inside. A vicious gleam immediately flashed through its eyes.
With a flick of its tail, an arcing blade of lightning flashed past, severing a towering ancient tree and concealing the serpent's form.
Another month passed, and Li Dao slowly awakened within the hidden realm's cavern.
The five great sun cave heavens behind him radiated brilliant golden light, illuminating the entire cavern.
Within the great hole smashed into the ground before him by the Law-Suppressing Stele, the yin-yang rivers had already dried up.
The lotus dao dais beneath him slowly dissipated.
During this seclusion, Li Dao had not only opened another cave heaven, but also sorted through his battles in the Void God Realm, turning those experiences into his own foundation.
He put away the meditation cushion and took a single step, instantly appearing beneath the membrane of light.
With a light leap, he plunged straight into the Yin-Yang Pool and soon returned to the Medicine Garden.
"This..."
The moment Li Dao emerged, the sight before him left him stunned.
Deep ravines spread across the earth, and the distant mountains that had once towered into the clouds had toppled.
The once-lush ancient trees were now reduced to trunks as black as ink.
Waves of desolation and decay washed over him.
Heaven and earth were dark, presenting the very image of a world's end.
Rumble-
As he watched the crisscrossing ravines race toward where he stood, the divine power within him surged.
-Whoosh!
Golden wings unfurled behind him. He leaped into the air and immediately headed toward the hidden realm's exit.
He reached the deep vortex suspended in midair and looked back at the Pocket World shattering like a glass marble.
His expression remained utterly calm. He stepped into the vortex, and the familiar tearing sensation swept over him.
Behind him, the point of interwoven black and white light gradually receded, until it released a ripple and vanished within a dazzling radiance.
-Swish!
Li Dao stepped out of the vortex and appeared on the raised platform before the hidden realm's entrance.
The blood-colored ice crystals had not melted. As Li Dao set one foot down, the blast of air he unleashed pulverized every last one of them.
-Tap!
He took another step, his figure flickering as he appeared directly over the Taiyin River.
The might erupting from his body instantly startled the birds and beasts resting in the treetops into flight.
-Whizz!
Yet the moment he settled into place, a serpent's tail swept toward him, thick as divine iron and densely covered in dark scales.
The serpent's tail tore through the air
with unmatched force-even a mountain would have been blasted apart beneath that strike.
Feeling the fierce wind sweeping toward him from the side, Li Dao's expression did not change in the slightest. He lightly tapped the ground with his right foot, and streaks of black-and-yellow light burst forth in an instant.
Bang-
The thick serpent's tail struck Li Dao, only to be stopped by the Black-and-Yellow Furnace rising around him.
Terrifying force poured into the Black-and-Yellow Furnace, making it shudder incessantly and ring with the clangor of metal striking metal.
-Rumble, boom!
The Taiyin River beneath his feet erupted. River water scattered through the air, instantly turning into clusters of ice crystals that fell back down.
Several gouges had also been carved out behind him, revealing just how vicious Purple Snake's attack had been.
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