The space behind Shi Qingyun twisted incessantly, as though something terrifying was about to break through the spatial barrier and manifest in the world.
Gusts of wind rose around Shi Qingyun, stirring his hair.
Time slowly passed. The essence of heaven and earth flowing in from outside formed a whirlwind centered on Shi Qingyun, gathering around him. The dense essence was on the verge of condensing into liquid.
Finally, three inches behind Shi Qingyun's back, an utterly dark cave heaven slowly emerged. It looked as though it had been cast from black wood buried underground for ten thousand years without decaying.
Its exterior was pitch-black, with a faint, imperishable metallic luster lurking in the darkness. Runes were branded across its black surface, exuding an ominous, icy aura.
This black cave heaven was enormous. Apart from black mist drifting everywhere, nothing existed within it; it was a desolate expanse of deathly silence.
Just as this icy cave heaven appeared, a contrasting cave heaven emerged alongside it with a thunderous boom.
Unlike the first, this new cave heaven, though equally enormous, was brilliantly lit inside. Immortal treasures and celestial blossoms could be seen everywhere, giving it every appearance of an immortal's abode.
Its exterior, white as immortal gold, radiated a sanctity that invited admiration from afar but forbade profaning touch. The sacred runes upon it shone brilliantly beneath the converging essence of heaven and earth.
As the runes on the white-gold cave heaven began to flicker, the dim runes on the ebony cave heaven seemed to respond. The two showed faint signs of merging.
"So these are the cave heavens unique to the yin-yang Dao body!"
Shi Qingyun slowly stood, and a white robe embroidered with the sun and moon appeared upon his body.
His previous clothes had been destroyed, so Shi Qingyun could only weave a new robe from his own divine power. Truth be told, it was quite good-and comfortable.
Shi Qingyun examined the results of his cultivation. Although he had not opened several cave heavens at once, he was already very satisfied. Still, he discovered that his cave heavens appeared in pairs.
"To maintain balance?"
He would have to pay attention next time. Had his physique's transformation not left behind so much energy, he might not have had enough to support the emergence of these two cave heavens!
Still, the precious technique that came with this Dao body was truly powerful. Something was also gestating in his forehead, something that should already have emerged.
But after he transformed into the yin-yang Dao body, the Meaning of Yin and Yang had permeated it, leaving it still evolving. Shi Qingyun could sense its power and had begun to look forward to this precious technique's emergence.
He sank his awareness into his mind, where an enormous Dao diagram hung amid the energy.
This Dao diagram was another important gain from his breakthrough. It contained all the laws it had absorbed.
Because Shi Qingyun's cultivation was too low for him to absorb so many laws himself, the Dao diagram had absorbed them instead. Now it lay hidden within his mind.
As the Dao diagram revolved, wisps of the Meaning of Yin and Yang drifted down from it, merging little by little into Shi Qingyun's mind.
As the Meaning of Yin and Yang merged into him, his understanding of the Yin-Yang Dao would grow as well. Though this Dao diagram could not raise his cultivation realm,
It offered tremendous help in his comprehension of the Dao. Shi Qingyun had never imagined that he could deepen his understanding while walking, sitting, or lying down.
Chapter 32: A First Test of His Abilities
Within the vast underground space, a strikingly handsome youth hovered in midair, two enormous yin-yang cave heavens suspended behind him.
A faint, pure glow shimmered over the youth, making him look like a heavenly god descended to earth within this dim subterranean space.
The two utterly different cave heavens behind him further accentuated his extraordinary charm.
Shi Qingyun stepped upon the void. Ripples spread beneath his feet, and the lingering Yin-Yang Qi slowly gathered before him.
Before long, an intangible staircase formed from Yin-Yang Qi appeared in front of Shi Qingyun.
Shi Qingyun stepped onto it and slowly descended, one step at a time. Each stair vanished the instant his foot left it, and soon he reached the edge of the blood pool.
Although Shi Qingyun could not yet fly through the air like a Spirit Transformation cultivator, he could still remain aloft through his own methods.
The experience of flying felt wonderfully novel to Shi Qingyun. A bold spirit of roaming the northern sea at dawn swelled within his chest, leaving him unable to calm down for a long time.
The yin-yang cave heavens remained open behind Shi Qingyun, flickering incessantly.
The two enormous cave heavens ravenously swallowed the essence of heaven and earth like whales, drawing it toward Shi Qingyun's back in oceanic surges.
After absorbing it for a while, Shi Qingyun stopped. If he wished, he could have sucked every last trace of the surrounding essence dry in moments.
But Shi Qingyun did not do so. He no longer needed that little bit of worldly essence, and his body was already brimming with divine power.
Even within his flesh and blood, the divine radiance of his blood energy seemed ready to overflow.
As for the essence he had previously lost, in those brief moments, the two cave heavens had already replenished everything he had expended on his breakthrough.
Slowly withdrawing the two cave heavens into his body, Shi Qingyun sensed the exceptionally distinct laws and order of the Dao between heaven and earth.
After opening his cave heavens, Shi Qingyun sensed that a certain connection had formed between him and the world. Those so-called laws and that order seemed to lie right beside him.
His perception of those laws and that order was so clear and distinct. Yet as Shi Qingyun contemplated them, he also discovered that they were in a sluggish state.
Shi Qingyun suspected this had something to do with the damaged state of this world. He immediately stopped dwelling on it; such matters were still rather distant from him.
They were not something he could intervene in now. That could wait until he had sufficient strength.
He turned his attention back to himself.
After experiencing the wonders of the Cave Heaven Realm for the first time, Shi Qingyun felt as though he had come to know the world anew.
Within his heart, Shi Qingyun experienced the wondrous sensation of parting clouds and mist to behold the clear sky, leaving him somewhat intoxicated.
Perhaps this was the profound meaning of cultivation: discarding falsehood to preserve truth, seeing one's true self and heaven and earth amid this tangled world.
Shi Qingyun swept his sleeve, dispersing the essence of heaven and earth still lingering around him. At last, the underground world returned to its former tranquility.
Only now, this place no longer held the danger of dense death energy, nor the temptation of the vitality in the churning blood pool.
Shi Qingyun shook his head somewhat helplessly. He felt that his breakthrough had brought greater acceptance to his understanding of things, along with a touch more "sentimentality."
Gathering his somewhat tangled thoughts, he suppressed the complex ideas in his mind and kept his inner awareness clear.
Shi Qingyun walked to the spot where he had collapsed and picked up the storage pouch lying on the ground. With neither its cord securing it nor his divine power sustaining it,
Almost all the blood-red Treasure Liquid he had collected inside had spilled out and flowed back into the blood pool.
Combined with the Treasure Liquid he had taken to replenish himself, the blood-red Treasure Liquid in the storage pouch was now completely exhausted.
Still, Shi Qingyun felt no regret. He had collected that Treasure Liquid to transform his physique in the first place.
Now that his physique had transformed into the yin-yang Dao body, that Treasure Liquid had served its purpose.
Shi Qingyun slowly condensed his own unique rune mark above his right hand. The rune flashed in his palm, then flew out.
He sent it into the storage pouch, where it rapidly merged. A gleam flashed across the pouch before quickly vanishing.
Shi Qingyun was refining the storage pouch. Although he had previously washed it with his blood energy and left his mark, he still wanted to make it more secure.
After all, a law rune condensed in the Cave Heaven Realm was far more durable than a blood-energy mark.
He tied the storage pouch's cord and manifested the yin-yang cave heavens behind him. Shi Qingyun tossed the precious pouch into a cave heaven and left the cave heavens open.
Cave heavens could also nurture treasures. At present, Shi Qingyun possessed only two treasures, and he had already placed his fan inside a cave heaven.
Two cave heavens and two treasures, one treasure in each. Perfect, Shi Qingyun thought.
Shi Qingyun looked around and knew it was time to leave. He had no idea how long he had spent in this underground world.
Please don't tell me the spatial rift has already opened. If it has, I'll be trapped here.
Shi Qingyun stepped onto the ground with his right foot. In the next instant, he appeared beneath the fissure through which he had fallen.
Shi Qingyun raised his head. Strands of light spilled across his face, giving his sharply defined features a healthy flush.
"Light at long last!"
Shi Qingyun spoke languidly, his clear, pleasant voice echoing underground. Unfortunately, no one heard him.
During this transformation, Shi Qingyun had felt as though he had fallen out of step with the world. His consciousness drifting through endless chaos had left him weary.
In particular, that experience of ecstasy mingled with agony had left a deep impression on Shi Qingyun.
Shi Qingyun stepped forward with his left foot, and his entire body shot skyward.
Shi Qingyun's figure vanished from the spot, leaving only a few wisps of rising dust to tell of his departure.
Shi Qingyun burst through the miasma shrouding the Death Swamp, leaving a circular opening in the canopy it formed.
In midair, Shi Qingyun's entire body basked in sunlight. As the warm rays spilled over him, he felt streams of warmth flowing through his body.
An extra chapter for the brothers who cast monthly votes. There'll be another chapter this afternoon. Back to writing.
Chapter 33: Yin Tianzong
The long-missed sunlight fell upon Shi Qingyun, filling his heart with ease and contentment. It felt so comfortable that he could not help narrowing his eyes.
Just as Shi Qingyun was enjoying the warm sunlight, bursts of clamor shattered the tranquility, rapidly dispelling his contentment.
Shi Qingyun immediately grew alert and hurriedly turned toward the source of the noise.
Divine power rapidly circulated through Shi Qingyun's body. A trace of Yin-Yang Qi flashed in his eyes, and in the next instant, runes surged within them.
Shi Qingyun's gaze pierced the layers of miasma and black mist obstructing his view, instantly revealing the situation where the sounds originated.
A fierce battle was taking place within the Death Swamp.
An octopus-like Ferocious Beast burst from the Death Swamp. Its thick, powerful tentacles kept thrusting out of the ground, binding several people in an instant.
Judging by their appearance, they were probably members of the Feather Clan from the Primordial Divine Mountain. Enemies really do meet on narrow roads, Shi Qingyun thought. He had already killed several members of the Feather Clan earlier.
Now, the moment he emerged, he encountered more of them. Shi Qingyun cupped his chin, wondering whether his ties with the Feather Clan ran a little too deep.
Shi Qingyun hovered beneath the sun, examining the battle below. Sunlight draped him in a hazy halo, making him look like a deity.
At the center of the battlefield, a youth fended off the Ferocious Beast's attacks while spewing curses.
"Idiot! Who told you to attack the swamp? I told you to be careful, to be careful, and you still made a mistake like this!"
"Useless trash! If you don't want to die, get your Treasure Artifacts ready! We've provoked this thing, so none of you should even think about running!"
"Damn it, how is this Ferocious Beast so strong? At this rate, we're going to die here!"
From the air, Shi Qingyun immediately spotted a youth wearing a crown and magnificent ceremonial robes, currently hurling abuse without the slightest decorum.
The youth's words echoed in Shi Qingyun's ears. Seeing how utterly his noble bearing clashed with his current behavior, Shi Qingyun could not help sighing.
Only when faced with the threat of death could people truly see themselves clearly. No matter how upright and gentlemanly they usually were, no matter how measured their conduct, their true nature would emerge once their lives were in danger.
Shi Qingyun did not find this contemptible. Human nature was simply like that, and even he did not know what he would be like when facing death.
Still, although the youth looked utterly exasperated, under this noble youth's command,
The group unleashed their attacks in an orderly fashion. Dazzling strikes rained down on the monster, barely holding the Ferocious Beast at bay.
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