Some time had passed since he returned from the Dragon and Snake World and condensed this Divine Seed.
Li Qingshan sat cross-legged on his bed, his mind long since immersed in a vast, indistinct void.
Deep within his sea of consciousness, the chaos-colored Divine Seed slowly revolved, its faint light hazy, as though it had existed since the primordial age,
drawing in and releasing sparse but pure energy, its light mingling with that of his own life origin in a wondrous way beyond words.
Day and night, he nurtured it with his spirit, drawing on the nearly exhausted spiritual Qi of heaven and earth as a supplement,
but primarily using the life essence refined through his Primordial Breathing realm to carefully nourish this supreme foundation for his future path.
Tonight, the moonlight was exceptionally clear. It poured through the glass like quicksilver spilling across the floor, clothing him in a layer of silvery radiance.
All of a sudden, the Divine Seed in his sea of consciousness trembled slightly, and an extremely ancient, indistinct runic mark flashed across its surface and vanished,
as though stirred by the moonlight.
The presence surrounding Li Qingshan grew ethereal in response. It was not energy spilling out,
but a deeper, indescribable harmony and resonance with the little world around him.
He slowly opened his eyes.
There was no piercing brilliance in them. Instead, they were gentle and restrained, reflecting the starry river outside the window, deep enough to seemingly hold the entire night sky.
"When the water flows, a channel forms."
He murmured softly, with a trace of understanding and anticipation.
The Divine Seed had only just stabilized. After being nurtured for all these days, some of the mysteries it contained were finally about to make their first appearance in the world.
This was no simple increase in power, but a fundamental transformation, following a leap in his level of life,
in the way he perceived the world and operated its laws.
It was the beginning of divine abilities arising of their own accord.
With a slight thought, he neither stirred his Qi and blood nor roused his true force, yet his body seemed to lose its weight,
rising lightly until he floated three feet above the bed, standing in midair.
He was not being lifted by a violent wind, nor was energy bursting forth.
Rather, the laws of heaven and earth within a foot or so of him seemed to be harmonized by the presence he naturally exuded,
temporarily "ignoring" the earth's hold on him.
This was the first extraordinary ability to emerge from the Divine Seed: Crossing the Void in Midair!
An indescribable exhilaration welled up in Li Qingshan's heart.
Soaring through the nine heavens was a great longing rooted deep in the origins of living beings, a symbol of breaking beyond the cage and pursuing freedom and infinity.
In the Dragon and Snake World, he had reached See the Gods, Indestructible, with terrifying physical abilities. He could leap dozens or even a hundred zhang at a time, and gliding by borrowing momentum was no difficult feat either,
but that was not true flight after all.
Now, with the slightest thought, his intent and spirit united, and he naturally cast off the earth's fetters.
Like a fish entering water or a bird returning to the sky, it was a freedom as natural as a living instinct.
As his thoughts flowed, his figure drifted soundlessly through the cramped bedroom like a ghost,
weaving around the table and chairs, brushing the ceiling, turning at will without meeting any resistance, his speed entirely subject to his thoughts,
with a smoothness and natural ease in harmony with the rhythms of the Dao.
He hovered before the window, gazing at the sleeping city and the boundless night sky beyond.
An impulse arose in him.
He pushed open the window, and the night wind rushed in, carrying the dust and clamor of the city and a chill from afar.
The next moment, his figure had merged into the deep night, appearing in the boundless void beyond the high-rise.
The fierce high-altitude wind stirred his hair and the hems of his clothes, but its sharp edge naturally faded within three inches of him, growing gentle.
Standing on empty air, he looked down.
The lights of countless homes dotted the black curtain like stars, streams of traffic wove ribbons of light, and the city's clamor became a distant background hum.
A feeling of aloofness and freedom filled his heart, as though he stood high above the mortal world, quietly watching its affairs unfold.
He slowly spread his arms, as if embracing the entire universe.
The night wind swirled around him, yet he was freer than the wind.
Wherever his thoughts led, his figure became an elusive, faint shadow, darting freely among the rooftops of skyscrapers.
At times he was like a great roc spreading its wings, spiraling straight upward into the frigid clouds to touch the solitude of the high heavens;
at times he was like a swift skimming the water, diving at breakneck speed,
then pulling up lightly at the breathtaking instant before he reached the ground, sending several fallen leaves spinning in his wake.
Soundless and without a trace.
If anyone happened to look up, they would at most think their eyes were playing tricks on them, or that they had seen a lone bird flying at night.
They would never imagine that someone could ride the wind through empty air, without relying on anything external, and roam the skies above their own city.
The feeling of completely controlling himself, directing heaven and earth with his will, and gaining an unprecedented perspective
brought a shock and delight to his heart that far surpassed a simple increase in strength.
Only after a long while had he enjoyed himself to the fullest. His figure landed soundlessly on his balcony like a feather, stirring not a speck of dust.
Crossing the Void in Midair did not consume vast amounts of True Qi, but relied more on the power of his mind and the Divine Seed's subtle interference with the laws.
Returning to the quiet room, Li Qingshan sat cross-legged again and closed his eyes, experiencing another transformation brought about by the Divine Seed.
His mind sank into his own body.
It was unlike the inward spiritual illumination of the Crystal Visualization Method in the past,
and unlike the control he had at See the Gods, Indestructible, when he knew every acupoint in his body like the back of his hand.
This was a more fundamental, deeper True Illumination of Inner Vision, one that came close to the "Dao."
With a slight thought, he "looked" into himself.
His blood rushed through him, no longer merely a red river.
In his perception, it was a magnificent, surging river of endless vital essence Qi.
Every drop of blood contained vast vitality and power, surging and roaring as it nourished his entire body.
He could even perceive the subtle resonance between the void and his blood Qi as it circulated,
and a certain ancient and noble quality hidden deep within his bloodline, slowly awakening.
His internal organs were no longer simple outlines.
They had become five masses of energy, each a different color and nature, operating ceaselessly according to a wondrous pattern.
His heart was like a scarlet divine furnace, bursting with vigorous flames of life;
his kidneys were like a deep, cold pool, holding innate essence;
his lungs drew in and released sharp metal Qi;
his liver radiated vigorous vitality;
his spleen and stomach produced the essence of rich earth.
They intertwined with one another, forming a star map of the little universe within his body.
At a deeper level, his perception touched upon the mysteries at the origin of life.
It was not that he saw tangible things such as cells and genes, but that he gained an intuitive understanding of the "imprint of life" and the "grotto-heaven of the flesh."
He could sense the immense "shackles" hidden deep within his body.
They sealed away vast and terrifying divine treasures.
The shock brought by inner vision at this level was beyond imagination.
See the Gods, Indestructible meant knowing that there were "gods" within the body and being able to draw upon their power.
Now, relying on the Divine Seed's true illumination, he was beginning to understand why the "gods" existed and the principles behind their workings.
This would play an enormous and irreplaceable role in helping him delve deeper into his own divine treasures and make his way along this unique path of seeking inward in the Dharma-ending age.
This was not merely a divine ability, but a supreme method that led straight to the great Dao of the flesh!
Li Qingshan immersed himself in the wonderful process of continually exploring and perfecting the grotto-heaven and blessed land of his own body, unaware of time passing.
At last, a pale streak appeared on the horizon outside the window, and a pure, vast hint of innate purple began to form in the east, about to burst forth.
Sensing it, he took one step and stood at the highest point of the balcony, facing east.
In his sea of consciousness, the Divine Seed rang softly of its own accord, responding in a wondrous way to the mighty solar power about to sweep across heaven and earth.
This was Heaven-Human Resonance.
It was not divination or prediction, but the use of transcendent spiritual perception to sense the workings of the laws of heaven and earth and the rise and fall of energy tides.
The morning sun had yet to rise, but its magnificent will, supremely yang and unyielding, giving life to all things, had already passed through the endless void and filled the space between heaven and earth.
In his perception, this world shrouded in "silence" and "scarcity" revealed another face to him for the first time.
Spiritual Qi was thin, nearly exhausted, but heaven and earth were not devoid of all things.
The profound meaning of the earth's weighty power to bear all things,
the patterns contained in the breeze's flowing course,
the nourishing rhythm of the Dao brought by the misting water vapor,
and the sun's true intent in the east, about to erupt and rule the starry sky-
countless intangible, immaterial yet genuinely existing "Daos" and "principles" intertwined into a vast net covering heaven and earth and all things.
In the past, he had only been able to sense "silence."
Now that the Divine Seed had begun to take shape and his spiritual perception had been elevated, he could finally "touch," albeit vaguely, the traces of laws flowing beneath that outward silence. They were real, not illusory.
At last, a red sun leaped suddenly over the horizon. In an instant, ten thousand golden rays and a thousand auspicious colors illuminated the world!
At that very moment, inspiration struck Li Qingshan. Following the natural response conveyed by the Divine Seed, he reacted instinctively.
He did not breathe through his mouth or nose. Instead, the pores and acupoints all over his body opened naturally, harmonizing with heaven and earth and resonating with the vigorous vitality of the newly risen sun!
"Buzz."
A thread of golden radiance, as fine as could be yet incomparably pure and filled with supremely yang vitality,
was precisely caught and separated from that vast torrent of sunlight, then drawn in a trickle through the pores all over his body!
The thread of Solar True Force entered him, warm and vast, yet without the slightest violence.
It instantly merged into his limbs and bones and his internal organs, nourishing his Qi, blood, and flesh.
Part of it flowed into his sea of consciousness and was quietly absorbed by the chaos-colored Divine Seed.
The Divine Seed's glow seemed to grow a little more lustrous as a result.
Li Qingshan's body trembled slightly. He felt a soothing comfort throughout his body, as though wrapped in the warmth of his mother's womb.
The mental strength he had expended the previous night was replenished in an instant, and had even improved somewhat.
Though it was only a negligible trace, its significance was enormous!
He had a faint sense that his body possessed a natural affinity for and receptiveness to the various forms of energy and the principles of the Dao between heaven and earth,
as though it had been born for this very purpose.
He stood quietly for a long time. Only when the sun had risen higher, its light turning fierce and ordinary, and that thread of innate Qi had vanished without a trace did he slowly conclude his practice.
After this night's experience, Li Qingshan had gained a clear understanding of the divine abilities that had begun to emerge within him.
Crossing the Void in Midair,
True Illumination of Inner Vision,
Heaven-Human Resonance,
and Gathering and Refining Solar True Force.
These were not techniques acquired through cultivation, but instincts that had naturally arisen alongside the condensation of the Divine Seed and the elevation of his life origin,
a superficial manifestation of the "Dao" within his body.
What they primarily consumed was mental strength and spiritual perception; their reliance on his own energy was comparatively slight.
At the heart of it all was the chaos-colored Divine Seed, floating in his sea of consciousness, constantly revolving and in true accord with the Dao.
It was the source of countless divine abilities and the foundation of his future path.
Li Qingshan could clearly feel that as he used his various divine abilities with ease and grew familiar with them,
the Divine Seed was growing in tandem, becoming ever more closely integrated with him until there was no distinction between them.
Given time, once it grew stronger, it would surely give rise to even more wondrous and inconceivable great divine abilities.
Moreover, if he had the opportunity to travel to a world where laws manifested and spiritual Qi was abundant,
or obtained a supreme inherited cultivation method, then using this Divine Seed as a foundation to condense a Sacred Embryo would be far from an empty dream!
Though the road ahead was difficult, a glimmer of light was already in sight.
A faint, serene smile involuntarily appeared at the corner of his mouth.
The slight regret he had felt over failing to condense a Sacred Embryo now vanished like smoke in the wind.
The path of the Divine Seed was wondrous and inwardly restrained.
Perhaps it was precisely the best fit for this unique road to the heavens, a road he had embarked upon in the Dharma-ending age.
In the days that followed, Li Qingshan's life appeared no different to outsiders.
School, family, reading-it all seemed ordinary.
But beneath that ordinary surface, transformation was taking place at every moment.
The Divine Seed had brought him not only divine abilities, but also a fundamental elevation in the way he understood heaven, earth, and all things.
In his spare time after class, he would often "disappear" for a while.
Sometimes he flew above the sea of clouds to hone his ability to travel through the air, and used Heaven-Human Resonance to experience the unique, oppressive rhythm of this world's laws;
sometimes he ventured deep into nature, feeling the flourishing and withering of vegetation and the lives of all things among the mountains and forests, using the eye of true illumination to discern the traces of the Dao in another form of life's evolution;
every day, he naturally gathered and refined Solar True Force to nourish the Divine Seed and temper his body.
At the same time, he did not stop using his own energy to gradually and imperceptibly improve his parents' health.
He used true illumination to discern the subtlest wear deep within their bodies and the ailments accumulated with age,
then quietly nourished and repaired them with pure, gentle life essence.
The results were remarkable.
His father, Li Guoqiang, felt the chronic ailments and old illnesses he had suffered for years disappear without his noticing, and his vigor grew day by day;
his mother, Su Wan, had a rosy complexion and felt comfortable in body and mind, as though time had turned back.
Their home was warmer than ever, and Li Qingshan was happy to see it.
He also began to reveal just the right amount of his "talent," according to his own plans.
Another night, Li Qingshan stood once more atop the city, with brilliant lights beneath his feet and the river of stars hanging overhead.
The Divine Seed glowed softly in his sea of consciousness, resonating faintly yet mysteriously with the stars spread across the heavens.
He pushed the power of Heaven-Human Resonance to its current limit, and his spiritual perception seemed to transform into invisible tendrils,
spreading into the deep, cold void of the universe.
He stood with his hands behind his back, gazing up at the starry sky, his robes snapping in the fierce winds of the nine heavens.
His divine powers had manifested, and his path of cultivation was clear.
Next, he would continue to cultivate diligently and wait for the mysterious stone gate in his mind to open again.
To go to an unknown world.
His figure shifted slightly, becoming a faint streak of light that plunged into the vast mortal world below.
The mortal world was also a place of cultivation, and cultivation never ceased.