Li Qingshan stood some distance away, his hands clasped behind his back.
He looked back at the sundial ruins, now completely collapsed and buried beneath dust and rubble, and his heart surged with emotion.
Their former splendor and sanctity had ultimately been unable to withstand the erosion of countless ages.
Reduced to broken walls and ruins, they silently told of time's cruelty and the Great Dao's ruthlessness.
He composed himself and gently placed Xiaobai, who had been coiled around his wrist, on the ground.
The little creature had barely touched down before excitedly circling him several times.
The scales covering Xiaobai's body shimmered with a luster different from before in the lingering sunlight, and faint golden patterns flickered across the jade horn atop Xiaobai's head.
[Though the restriction was destroyed, the ancient presence it contained benefited Xiaobai greatly!]
A clear, jubilant thought entered Li Qingshan's sea of consciousness.
Then Xiaobai opened their mouth and breathed out, releasing a slender yet incomparably pure strand of golden radiance.
Though it lasted only an instant, it revealed some potential awakened deep within Xiaobai's bloodline.
Understanding and relief flickered in Li Qingshan's eyes.
"It seems this encounter was a stroke of fortune for you as well."
He turned his gaze to the sundial fragments scattered across the ground and bent to pick one up.
The instant his fingertips touched the cold piece of stone, a faint yet incomparably pure strand of Solar Sacred Force flowed into his meridians.
It resonated faintly with the divine power of the Sun True Scripture in his Bitter Sea.
"The Sun Sacred Clan. Could they be a surviving branch that migrated from the Ziwei Emperor Star to the Primordial Ancient Star in some distant age?"
He rubbed the blurred ancient markings on the stone fragment, his thoughts drifting into the depths of the starry sky.
He tried to piece together those fragmented inherited memories with what he knew from his previous life.
The Dao Palace Secret Realm involved cultivating the five organs and nurturing the five gods; it was fundamental to building a supreme Dao foundation and strengthening the source of life.
The Four Extremes Secret Realm, meanwhile, connected heaven and earth, using the four limbs as bridges to draw in the essence of the myriad Daos and temper the body. It was a leap in the level of life.
To break through to this realm, drawing down lightning to temper the body was a grand and direct path. One could either rely on favorable timing and terrain or use a profound lightning mark to actively draw down heaven's might.
"I wonder where in this vast Kunlun there is a place where lightning naturally gathers, one that I can use?"
He asked himself softly, his gaze sweeping across the unbroken mountain ranges.
As if sensing his thoughts, Xiaobai raised their head and gave a soft hiss, sending him a thought:
[On Kunlun's western slopes, there is an ancient crater where dark clouds gather year-round and lightning pours down like waterfalls. All living things flee from it!]
Along with the thought, a rough map outlined by divine sense appeared in Li Qingshan's mind.
The location it indicated was a region rarely visited by people, where yin and yang underwent changes.
"So it's there."
Li Qingshan recalled the faint impressions he had gained during his earlier exploration. That region was covered in formation patterns, and its Qi was chaotic; it was indeed a place where heavenly lightning frequently struck.
"If that's true, it would be an excellent place to undergo tribulation."
Yet he immediately suppressed the urge to set out at once and slowly shook his head.
"The time isn't right."
He had just obtained part of the Sun Sacred Clan's inheritance, whether it was the profound Lightning-Attracting Mark
or the laws of space and time contained within the fragments of the Nine Yang Sundial, he needed to calmly comprehend them, fully digest them, and make them his own.
In particular, the imprint of the Lightning-Attracting Divine Mark that had branded itself onto his wrist contained the true essence of lightning, which was key to his cultivation from here on.
Xiaobai quieted down and coiled around his shoulder, the radiance of their jade horn subdued.
[Xiaobai will comprehend it with you.]
Li Qingshan nodded slightly and said no more. He turned and strode away, his figure disappearing into the vast ancient forest.
Mottled sunlight filtered through layer upon layer of branches and leaves, casting flickering patterns of light and shadow over him.
"The Dao Palace holds five gods, the roots of the body; the Four Extremes connect heaven and earth, the pillars of the Great Dao."
The old man's words before he dispersed still echoed in his ears.
He silently examined his own condition. His cultivation in the Dao Palace Secret Realm had reached perfection, the gods of his five organs shone brilliantly, and divine power surged within him.
He had already reached the threshold of the next realm.
"Breaking through to the Four Extremes concerns my future path on the Dao. It could trigger strange phenomena in heaven and earth, or even bring a heavenly tribulation down upon me.
I must make every possible preparation. Nothing can be allowed to go wrong."
His gaze was resolute, and the five gods of his Dao Palace responded with a low Dao resonance, echoing his unwavering heart set upon the Dao.
Xiaobai, on his shoulder, seemed to sense the gravity of the moment as well. No longer playing around, they curled up quietly.
The figures of the man and snake gradually receded into the dense forest. Only the sundial fragments scattered across the ground
and the ancient Sacred Force that had yet to fully dissipate from the air bore witness to the extraordinary past of this place.
Li Qingshan walked with steady steps. His perfected cultivation in the Dao Palace gave him deep, sustained breaths, and his figure seemed faintly attuned to his surroundings.
He did not hurry on his way. Instead, he sought out a hidden cave that had once served as Xiaobai's temporary nest.
With a wave of his hand, he laid down several simple but effective concealment and protective formation patterns.
The cave was somewhat dim, but exceptionally peaceful.
Li Qingshan sat down cross-legged and first placed the imprint containing the mysteries of the Lightning-Attracting Mark before him, then arranged several sundial fragments containing Solar Sacred Force around himself.
He closed his eyes, and his divine sense flowed like a gentle stream, slowly sinking into the incomparably intricate lightning Dao patterns.
Every stroke of the Sun Sacred Clan's divine mark subtly accorded with the ultimate principles of heaven and earth, corresponding to the paths of lightning's birth and extinction and the transformations of yin and yang. It was extraordinarily profound.
Within his sea of consciousness, the Divine Seed hung high and radiated a clear light, helping him rapidly deduce and analyze the fragments of law contained in the patterns.
At the same time, the heart's fire god repository in the Dao Palace Secret Realm burned fiercely, simulating the path of power through the Lightning-Attracting Mark.
An unknown length of time passed before he suddenly opened his eyes and lightly raised a fingertip.
A faint but pure arc of electricity appeared out of thin air, leaping and flickering at his fingertip with a soft crackle. Even the surrounding air warped slightly.
"I've made a start at drawing upon the power of lightning. Though it's still far from heaven's might, I've glimpsed the way in."
A trace of joy flashed in his eyes, then faded. This was only the first step; he was still a thousand miles from truly drawing down divine lightning from the nine heavens for his own use.
He closed his eyes again, immersing his mind not only in the Lightning-Attracting Mark but also cross-referencing it with the Sun True Scripture.
The Sun Sacred Clan's inheritance was vast and profound. Besides the method of controlling lightning, it included deductions concerning the stars across the heavens, perceptions of changes in space and time, and subtle applications of the primordial Qi of heaven and earth.
All of these required time and mental effort to digest and absorb.
Night deepened. Outside the cave, the winds of Mount Kunlun howled, and the long roars of unknown ancient beasts occasionally rang out.
Inside the cave, however, all was quiet. Only the pale golden divine radiance that occasionally flowed around Li Qingshan and the faint sounds of the Dao showed that he was immersed in deep contemplation of the Dao.
He set aside his intention to immediately attempt a breakthrough to the Four Extremes, deciding first to thoroughly integrate and master what he had gained.
His divine sense cycled repeatedly between the Lightning-Attracting Mark, the Sun True Scripture, and his own Dao Palace Secret Realm, constantly refining his understanding of and plans for his path on the Dao.
He could clearly feel that the invisible barrier between the Dao Palace and the Four Extremes was becoming clearer and clearer. The chance to break through lay in the near future.
Several hours later, he opened his eyes again, his gaze seemingly able to pierce through the mountain rock and reach the deep night sky outside the cave.
The sky was now filled with stars, and the Milky Way hung overhead. It was the perfect opportunity to observe the stars and their signs and deduce the workings of the heavens.
He took out a larger fragment of the Nine Yang Sundial and infused it with a strand of divine sense.
A hazy glow appeared on the fragment's surface. The ancient markings remaining on it seemed to come alive, faintly resonating with the star chart he had observed outside the cave.
Though its damaged state made the results of his deduction indistinct, with the Divine Seed's assistance and the resonance of Solar Sacred Force, he still managed to catch a clear trace of the workings of heaven.
"Nine days from now, on Kunlun's western frontier, lightning Qi will gather and surge forth. That will be the perfect time to break through!"
His eyes shone as he murmured to himself. He had determined the best time and place to break through to the Four Extremes Secret Realm.
After putting everything away, Li Qingshan closed his eyes once more, the Qi around him growing ever more calm and profound.
The five gods of his Dao Palace gave off resonant sounds of the Dao within his body, intimately connected to the essence Qi of heaven and earth as he made his final preparations and built up his reserves for the coming baptism of lightning.
Kunlun's night was nurturing a storm in its silence, and he would be the one to ride the lightning and undergo tribulation, seeking entry to the Four Extremes.