Half a month later.
Qing Yao returned, but weariness tinged her fair, lovely face. Flecks of blood stained her white dress, and she looked somewhat haggard.
Clearly, her expedition to explore the Phoenix Nest in the Uninhabited Zone had been far from peaceful. She had encountered danger and fought a bloody battle.
Otherwise, how could someone at the Cultivator Leader level look so exhausted?
"Beautiful big sister, what happened? Are you all right?" Lin Fan stepped forward and asked worriedly.
"I'm fine. I obtained a few drops of Divine Phoenix True Blood this time. Make your preparations. In a few days, I'll give you a baptism to help you open Ten Heavenly Passages."
Qing Yao stood apart from the mortal world, her voice ethereal. She seemed different from her usual self. Perhaps because she had just fought a great battle, her breathtaking face now carried a trace of vulnerability that stirred pity.
Lin Fan briefly fell into a daze, but there was no irreverence in it. More than anything, he was moved. The opportunity she had spared no effort to seize was meant solely for him.
"Beautiful big sister, I've already opened Ten Heavenly Passages. Why don't you keep it for yourself?" As he spoke, ten brilliant Heavenly Passages appeared behind him, like ten suns spanning the sky, their radiance dazzling.
Qing Yao was startled, then offered sincere praise with a gentle smile. "You're remarkable. To think you reached the Heavenly Passage Extreme Realm on your own, without a baptism."
Without question, Lin Fan possessed the finest talent she had ever seen. Without relying on outside assistance, he had always progressed at an astonishing speed, leaving others awestruck.
Generally speaking, even other First Generation beings found it difficult to open Ten Heavenly Passages. They needed the aid of heavenly materials and earthly treasures; otherwise, reaching that point in a short time was exceedingly difficult.
"Make your preparations anyway. For most people, Ten Heavenly Passages truly is the Extreme Realm, but some have broken that rule and gone further in this realm. For example..."
At this point, Qing Yao's voice abruptly faltered. A peculiar emotion appeared in her eyes, holding both longing and sorrow.
"For example, what?" Lin Fan was puzzled. Why had she stopped halfway through?
Qing Yao came back to herself. Looking at him with eyes as limpid as water, she continued, "For example, I once met someone who had only one Heavenly Passage, yet he was stronger than anyone else. It could also devour things. It was extraordinarily powerful."
"Really?" Lin Fan was astonished. Someone had already merged Ten Heavenly Passages into one.
But on second thought, that made sense. Several million years, at the very least, had passed since Immortal Ancient. Someone would surely have attempted it. Milk Baby could not have been the only one to reach that step.
"Beautiful big sister, do you know how he did it?" Lin Fan asked next, hoping to learn from that experience and prepare for the road ahead.
After all, he had only read the novel. He knew Heavenly Passages could be merged, but the specific method had never been described.
Qing Yao shook her head, her tender red lips parting slightly. "I don't know how he did it either. You'll have to comprehend that yourself, but I believe you can do it too."
"Ah..." Lin Fan looked surprised and scratched his head.
I don't even have the slightest idea right now, and I'm not sure I can make it work. How are you more confident than I am?
Qing Yao smiled without answering. She gave him a pile of Bone Scriptures to study on his own, then returned to the Bamboo House to recuperate in seclusion.
"How should I do this?" Sitting on a large rock, Lin Fan pondered and repeatedly examined the Bone Scriptures. They recorded paths walked by those who had come before.
He did not want to tread someone else's old path. He wanted something uniquely his own within the Heavenly Passage realm.
But if he followed Milk Baby's path and first opened a Heavenly Passage within his flesh, he could accomplish that too. A Supreme Bone had likewise grown in his chest. But what came afterward?
Wouldn't he simply be copying Milk Baby's path without any difference? And he might not even be able to pull it off.
"No, if merging the Heavenly Passages into one is the destination, then the process can be different." Lin Fan suddenly thought of the abilities a merged Heavenly Passage would possess.
According to the example his beautiful big sister had given, that person's Heavenly Passage had gained the power to devour after the merger. Like a black hole, it could swallow all tangible matter, and even laws.
But as far as he knew, Milk Baby's sole Heavenly Passage was different. Sacred and brilliant, as peaceful as an Immortal Domain, it could sacrifice living beings alive and form a special field that restrained them.
At that moment, it was as though a new avenue of thought had opened for Lin Fan. He began studying earnestly, poring over the Bone Scriptures and focusing particularly on the Primordial True Explanation.
For this purpose, he even went to the Spirit World to play the robber, capturing several vicious beasts as experimental subjects and destroying their Heavenly Passages to see what happened.
Another month passed.
On this day, Lin Fan finally decided to attempt to break beyond the Extreme Realm and undergo the baptism.
"Are you ready?" Qing Yao was very calm. She stood in the Purple Bamboo Forest, a thin veil of mist swirling around her, like a fairy above the Nine Heavens, transcending the mortal world.
Lin Fan nodded, earnest and solemn. Bringing his essence, energy, and spirit to their peak, he leaped into a great cauldron billowing with mist.
Saint Medicine had been added to it. The golden liquid shimmered with myriad colors and emitted dazzling, precious light. Its essence was so dense it seemed impossible to disperse; a single breath felt as though it could let one sprout wings and ascend.
Then Qing Yao added more precious medicines, well over a hundred varieties, brewing them together in the cauldron. The entire vessel shone with ever more brilliant colors, and the fragrance of medicine filled the air.
Without question, this baptism was extraordinarily extravagant, its medicinal potency astonishing.
More than one Saint Medicine had been added-at least ten varieties. She had even brought the sect's most precious Divine Medicine sap and dripped it in. Within the Heaven Mending Sect, only its successor was entitled to enjoy such treatment.
Of course, the final "stroke that brought the dragon's eyes to life" was none other than the Divine Phoenix True Blood.
The instant it appeared, auspicious radiance erupted in every direction, as though an entire universe were blossoming. Its divine might was unrivaled, and it exuded an aura that terrified the heart and seized the soul.
However, Qing Yao held back all those supremely powerful fluctuations and refined them until they became gentle. Otherwise, this place would surely have been destroyed.
Hum!
Qing Yao added a drop of phoenix blood, vividly red as a blood-red brick, to the cauldron. The golden vessel actually began to rumble, as though the gods were chanting. The sight was deeply awe-inspiring.
Clang, clang...
Suddenly, a fiery-red Divine Phoenix flew out of the great cauldron and let out a piercing cry. It dyed the heavens and earth red, raising the medicinal potency to its utmost limit.
This was a wondrous spectacle, a supernatural manifestation. The Divine Phoenix danced through the air as though the immortal realm had opened wide. Wisps of radiant light descended, pouring over Lin Fan and nourishing his flesh.
Yet all of this was merely assistance. What truly mattered still depended on him.
With a boom, Lin Fan unleashed his full power. Runes densely covered his body, brilliant golden light illuminated the void, and ten Heavenly Passages resembling blazing suns appeared.
At this moment, his eyes shone with keen light. Precious radiance flowed over his body, and rosy clouds rose around him. Every inch of his skin was flawless, as perfect as a smooth piece of immortal gold.
Most striking were the Ten Heavenly Passages encircling him from behind. They swallowed and refined the divine essence within the cauldron, like ten rivers of stars flowing backward, shimmering with starlight.
Among them, the Heavenly Passage above his head was the most immense and absorbed the fastest. Its oppressive force was overwhelming, beyond compare.
At last, the Ten Heavenly Passages rumbled and grew even more brilliant. They joined into a continuous expanse, swelling violently until they could hold no more divine essence.
By then, each Heavenly Passage resembled a vast ocean, its aura surging as it radiated tumultuous divine power.
"Open!"
Seeing that the moment was nearly right, Lin Fan roared. He expanded the Ten Heavenly Passages to their utmost, making them rotate and collide.
At once, essence surged like a divine waterfall, pouring fiercely over his body and gathering toward the Supreme Bone in his chest.
At that moment, Lin Fan sensed that his chest seemed to resonate with the Heavenly Passages, undergoing a strange transformation.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Bone in his chest also began to glow. It shot out brilliant runes like strands of Order Divine Chains, which wound around the Heavenly Passages and concentrated their auspicious energy at a single point.
"Using the Heavenly Passages to nourish his body in return-is he... trying to open a Heavenly Passage within his flesh?"
Before you continue