Bi Ji's Distant Gaze
--
The canopy of trees deep within the Star Dou Great Forest is tinged with a dark gold at dusk.
Bi Ji stood atop a branch of an ancient cedar tree. Her Emerald Swan Martial Soul spread its wings behind her, its emerald feathers reflecting the setting sun.
Her gaze pierced through layers of trees, past the edge of the Sunset Forest, and landed in the direction of Jialing Pass.
She had been standing there for three days. The wind had been constantly blowing her clothes around her.
Three days ago, a burst of Immortal Power suddenly erupted from the direction of Jialing Pass. The cyan-gold light could be sensed even from a great distance.
Bi Ji knew what that light meant.
She had lived for 100,000 years and witnessed countless Soul Master break through. She had never seen such a level of Immortal Power fluctuation. Bibi Dong did not possess such power when she became a god.
She was waiting for news. From the day she first met Nan Feng and Xiao Wu deep in the Star Dou Great Forest, from the day she plucked that Cultivation Leaf and gave it to Nan Feng, she had been waiting until today.
She waited a long time.
The evening breeze blew from the direction of Jialing Pass, carrying with it a bluish- Golden Immortal.
Bi Ji closed her eyes. The bottleneck of 100,000 years was still stuck at the deepest part of her Martial Soul Core. It had been pressing on her soul since the day she took human form, for tens of thousands of years.
Then she sensed a presence.
The aura rapidly approached from the southern horizon. Golden celestial light drew an arc above the sea of trees, traversing thousands of miles of forest, and appeared behind her.
Bi Ji turned around.
Nan Feng stood on a branch three steps behind her. The nine-story bronze pagoda spun in his palm, its azure-gold Immortal Mark flowing with golden immortal light, and the Nine Heavens Treasure Pearl at the top of the pagoda emitted a tri-colored interwoven immortal radiance.
A faded red ribbon was tied around his left wrist, fluttering in the wind.
The branch beneath his feet didn't sway; it was as if he had always been standing there.
Bi Ji stared at that branch for a moment.
Bi Ji looked at him and remained silent for a moment.
She sensed that the Immortal Power emanating from Nan Feng was more than a hundred times stronger than when they first met. That golden Immortal Power flowed through his meridians, more ancient than the origin of Soul Power and even more ancient than Divine Power.
A Primordial World Imprint swirled deep within his soul, emanating an ancient aura she had never sensed before.
"You've succeeded," Bi Ji said.
Nan Feng nodded. He held the tower to his chest, its azure-gold Immortal Mark shimmering with golden immortal light.
He sensed that Bi Ji's 100,000-year-old origin had solidified to the extreme, and that bottleneck was still firmly stuck, having remained unmoved for tens of thousands of years since the day she took human form.
"To fulfill my promise," Nan Feng said.
The emerald pupils reflected the azure -Golden Immortal light emanating from the tower.
Tens of thousands of years ago, when she met the young man wielding the Bronze Tower, he wasn't even Titled Douluo. She broke off a Cultivation Leaf and gave it to him in exchange for a promise. At the time, she didn't expect him to keep it; the bottleneck of Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast was something even God Level expert might not be able to overcome.
"You remember," Bi Ji's voice was very soft.
The Nan Feng suspends the tower above the tree canopy.
The 100,000-year-old origin solidified like jade, and the bottleneck was like a layer of transparent amber encasing the Martial Soul Core, preventing it from growing any longer.
"Your Emerald Swan," Nan Feng said, "I'll help you break through."
Bi Ji looked down at her hands. Emerald-colored Soul Power condensed into a feather in her palm, with emerald green patterns unique to Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast.
The lines were cut off at the end by a transparent barrier.
It has been suppressing her since the day she took human form, suppressing her for tens of thousands of years.
Will it hurt?
Nan Feng shook his head. "There will be a little, but it won't last long."
Bi Ji leaped from the top of the ancient cedar tree, landing on a moss-covered platform in the canopy. She placed her hands flat in front of her, her Emerald Swan Martial Soul fully unfurled, its wings covering the entire canopy.
Her emerald green feathers shimmered in the twilight. Soul Power swirled around her.
"Bring it on."
Nan Feng leaped down from the branch and landed in front of her. He poured his Primordial World Immortal Power into the Martial Soul Core. Golden immortal light surged from the tower, flowing from her fingertips into Bi Ji's palm, and directly into the core of her Emerald Swan Martial Soul.
Bi Ji shuddered. Emerald-colored Soul Power erupted from her body, dyeing the entire canopy a vibrant emerald green.
The moss beneath her feet was scorched and curled at the edges, emitting a burnt smell.
Nan Feng saw the bottleneck clearly. The Martial Soul Core was wrapped in a layer of transparent amber, a chasm for Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, and a dead end that would prevent further progress after transformation.
Golden light poured in through the cracks in the amber, peeling away the barriers layer by layer.
Bi Ji dug her fingers into the moss, her knuckles turning white.
Bi Ji looked up. Something inside her Martial Soul Core had been ignited. The essence of the Emerald Swan surged, and its emerald green feathers turned from the roots to a bluish-gold color.
The first crack shattered. Bi Ji's Soul Power surged even higher.
The second one shattered. The Emerald Swan let out a clear cry, and leaves from the canopy fell one after another.
The third one shattered. The following ones shattered one after another, the sounds so dense they blended into one. Golden immortal light poured into the cracks, completely swallowing the transparent barrier.
Then the bottleneck broke.
The final barrier vanished in the celestial light. Bi Ji's soul suddenly felt lighter; the insurmountable barrier that had followed her for tens of thousands of years was gone.
Emerald green feathers turned from the base to a bluish-gold hue, golden Immortal Mark spread across the wings, and each feather shone with a bluish-gold light. The phantom of the Emerald Swan unfolded to its fullest extent behind her, its wings covering a hundred paces of trees.
Bi Ji looked down at her hands. A cyan-gold Soul Power condensed into a feather in her palm, the feather bearing Immortal Mark and burning hot to the touch.
Her Soul Power broke through a bottleneck that had lasted for tens of thousands of years, climbing all the way up until it stopped at a height she had never reached before.
"This is..." Bi Ji's voice trembled, "... the feeling of breaking through ten thousand years..."
Nan Feng retrieved the tower into his palm. The Emerald Swan Martial Soul had stabilized at a cyan-gold color, with Immortal Mark flowing within its Martial Soul Core.
Her Soul Power has reached the threshold of God Level.
Bi Ji stared at the cyan-gold feather in her palm, remaining silent for a long time. The twilight light filtered through the gaps in the tree canopy, illuminating the feather's wings, making each feather glow.
She raised her hand, and a warm breeze was stirred up as her wings flapped.
Tears rolled down her cheeks.
"I've broken through..." The voice was very soft, almost drowned out by the wind in the sea of trees. Tens of thousands of years of waiting, tens of thousands of years of bottlenecks, shattered under the divine light.
She sensed the cyan-gold feather spinning within the Martial Soul Core, like a migratory bird that had finally found its home.
The Nan Feng held the tower close to its chest. The Nine Heavens Treasure Pearl emitted a steady, azure -Golden Immortal light.
That bottleneck completely dissipated, replaced by something else. That thing broke free from its shell after tens of thousands of years of waiting, rising from the ashes of its former self that had been trapped within the bottleneck of transformation.
"Come find me when you break through," Nan Feng said. "I'll protect you."
Bi Ji looked up at him. Her emerald pupils reflected the azure -Golden Immortal light emanating from the tower, her eyes shining brightly, like a migratory bird that had waited tens of thousands of years for spring.
She reached out and caught a blue-gold feather that fell from a branch. The feather lay in her palm, its Immortal Mark swirling in the twilight.
"Good."
Nan Feng tucked the tower into his palm and looked up at the eastern horizon. The sea of trees stretched to the horizon, and the cries of Soul Beast echoed from the edge of the Sunset Forest in the distance.
He sensed the Golden Core rotating in his dantian, indicating that the second realm of Immortal Dao had been stabilized, and the Nine-Layer Cycle was continuously regenerating within the tower.
"Bi Ji."
"Um."
"I will come when you break through."
Bi Ji looked at him. She didn't say thank you, but simply clenched the cyan-gold feather in her palm, the Immortal Mark flashing between her fingers.
She knew Nan Feng would come. He always kept his promises.
Nan Feng turned and walked deeper into the sea of trees. The technique of Shrinking the Ground to an Inch with each step unfolded beneath his feet, and golden fairy light drew an arc in the canopy.
His figure receded into the distance, the azure -Golden Immortal light emanating from the tower scattering in the twilight.
Bi Ji stood atop the ancient cedar, watching the golden arc disappear into the southern horizon. She looked down at the cyan-gold feather in her palm, its celestial Immortal Mark glowing in the darkening sea of trees.
She pressed the feather to her heart. The Primordial World Immortal Power within her Martial Soul Core flowed, like a promise spanning tens of thousands of years.
"I will come to find you," Bi Ji said to the southern horizon.
The sea of trees rustled in the night breeze. Emerald Swan spread its wings behind her, its lapis lazuli feathers covering the entire canopy.
At the edge of the Sunset Forest in the distance, Soul Beast were howling.
She withdrew her gaze and turned to walk deeper into the forest. A bluish-gold light moved through the sea of trees.