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Night.

Moonlight, like water, spilled across the wilderness.

Inside the stone statue, Qi Yun’s eyes, which had been shut for a year, suddenly snapped open in the absolute darkness.

No divine light escaped his pupils. There was only a darkness as profound as an ancient well, and a hint of serenity born from a long silence finally broken.

CRACK—

It wasn’t the sound of subtle fracturing, but of an entire outer shell peeling away!

The grayish-brown "stone skin" broke off in large chunks along the pre-existing fine cracks, crumbling as it hit the ground and turning into ordinary rubble and dust.

In its place, a person was revealed.

His deep blue Daoist robe was just as it was, unstained by a single speck of dust.

His face was still youthful, his complexion pale from a long absence of sunlight, but beneath his skin, his qi and blood surged like a tidal wave.

Qi Yun slowly, somewhat stiffly, turned his neck, his bones letting out a faint "CRACKLE."

He raised a hand, spreading his fingers wide before slowly clenching them into a fist. He felt power refilling his body, and also the faint, almost imperceptible repulsion and pressure from the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Mechanism of the Cangque Realm.

He gently exhaled a breath of muddy qi.

The breath dissipated quietly three feet from his body, not stirring the slightest ripple of Spiritual Qi.

’Success.’

’I’ve deceived the heavens and set down roots.’

’The first step has been taken.’

For the past year, the will of Heaven had been constantly monitoring and probing this area.

It came once every three days on average, right up until two months ago, when its surveillance finally began to recede, giving him a chance to awaken.

Instead of leaving immediately, Qi Yun sat down cross-legged on the spot. Closing his eyes, he spread out his newly recovered Divine Sense with the utmost caution, extending it with extreme slowness like the most delicate of spiderwebs to cover a radius of several miles.

He was sensing, confirming, adapting.

The direction of the wind, the breathing of the grass and trees, the rustling of insects, the faint clamor of the distant county town... and the latent pressure of the "will of Heaven," which hung high above, temporarily silent but still terrifying.

One hour later, he opened his eyes again.

His gaze fell upon the city walls several miles away, their silhouette hazy in the faint light of dawn—Qingyuan County.

...

Qingyuan County wasn’t large. Its rammed-earth walls, faced with brick, were only about twenty feet high and showed signs of repair in many places.

The city gates stood open, and the people passing through were mostly farmers with shoulder poles and peddlers pushing wheelbarrows. Occasionally, a better-dressed member of the local gentry would pass by in a donkey cart.

The guards at the gate held their long spears, leaning lazily against the base of the wall to sunbathe, not bothering to check anyone coming or going.

Qi Yun blended into the crowd entering the city, utterly inconspicuous.

He had changed into a set of coarse, gray clothes "borrowed" on the road. He had also made some slight adjustments to his face, darkening his skin and making his features appear more ordinary.

He looked like an ordinary traveler or a down-on-his-luck scholar, his face slightly haggard and travel-worn.

The scene inside the city was not much different from that of a mortal city in the Profound Yellow Realm.

The bluestone-paved road was worn smooth by time, flanked by tiled-roof storefronts of varying heights. Wine and tea banners swayed gently in the wind.

The air was a mixture of cooking smoke, food, livestock manure, and the unique, bustling scent of a marketplace.

Qi Yun walked at a steady pace, his calm gaze sweeping over the streetscape, the pedestrians, and the shop signs, while his ears caught snippets of conversation.

"The blades from Zhang’s Iron Shop have gotten brittle again lately..."

"That Wang Po gave me half a spoonful less of sauce on my tofu pudding this morning..."

"Did you hear? Scholar Li from East Street had another ’soul wandering’ episode last night. The whole house was filled with Yin Wind, bowls and chopsticks were flying around on their own. They had to call a Healer from the West City God Temple to get things under control..."

"Tsk tsk, scholars have unstable Divine Souls. They attract things easily..."

"Master Sun in the North City hired a Mage of the ’Night Travel Realm’ to watch over his estate. Said there’s some trouble with his ancestral tomb..."

"The Night Travel Realm? That’s incredible! Their Divine Soul can leave their body at night and patrol for a hundred miles! Master Sun must have spent a fortune this time..."

Qi Yun stopped at a stall selling baked flatbread, ordered two, and began to eat slowly, striking up a seemingly casual conversation with the stall owner.

"Brother, I overheard people talking about ’soul wandering,’ the ’Night Travel Realm,’ and ’Healers’...

Is this place not very peaceful? Is it haunted?"

The stall owner was a dark, wiry, middle-aged man. He deftly collected the payment and lowered his voice.

"You’re from out of town, aren’t you, sir?

Our Qingyuan County is right next to Cang Mang Mountain. The mountains are heavy with Yin Qi, so we occasionally have incidents with Yin Souls, wandering ghosts, and Spirit Monsters.

But you don’t need to be too scared. There’s the City God Temple in the west of the city, and the Healer masters there have some real skill. They can communicate with the Yin and Yang and pacify restless spirits.

For anything more serious, you’d have to hire a real ’Cultivator’ master."

"A Cultivator? Is that the ’Night Travel Realm’ you mentioned?"

"That’s just one of the Realms." The stall owner seemed to warm up to the topic. He glanced around and lowered his voice even more.

"I hear those Cultivator masters cultivate the ’Divine Soul’! The powerful ones can have their Divine Soul leave their body for Night Traveling and Day Traveling, even achieve Manifestation to take human form, and use Exorcism for Magical Combat!

As for what’s beyond that... well, that’s not something we common folk would know.

Anyway, if you see someone with a special air about them and eyes that are frighteningly bright, they’re probably a Cultivator master. You don’t want to cross them."

Qi Yun nodded, thanked him, and continued on his way with the flatbread.

’Divine Soul cultivation?’

’Night Traveling, Day Traveling, Manifestation, Exorcism... So this is the cultivation system of this world? It’s certainly different from the Profound Yellow Origin Realm.’

Over the next few days, Qi Yun moved about Qingyuan County, silent and unseen, like a drop of water merging into the ocean.

He went to the West City God Temple and observed the people known as "Healers" from a distance.

Most of them wore plain or dark-colored robes and carried themselves with a unique sense of calm and detachment. A faint scent, like incense or sandalwood, clung to them. They could preside over small rituals to pacify the dead and dispel yin filth.

But in Qi Yun’s perception, their auras weren’t strong, roughly equivalent to the Qi Cultivation Early Stage in the Profound Yellow Realm.

Moreover, they focused on "communication" and "pacification," showing no trace of any formidable power.

’If it came to a real fight, one Profound Yellow Cultivator could probably take on seven or eight of them without a problem.’

Afterward, Qi Yun visited Wenmo Studio, the only shop in the county that sold miscellaneous books and a few old texts. He spent a few silver coins on several rather ancient, yellow-paged volumes: the *Cangque Chronicles of Strange Phenomena*, a *Collection of Brief Explanations of the Spirit and Soul*, and an *Investigation of Rural Strange Tales*.

He also "conveniently" "borrowed" a damaged, partial copy of the *Record of Nourishing the Spirit and Calming the Heart* with frayed edges and blurry script from the bottom of the shopkeeper’s personal chest.

However, most of its contents were pure speculation, with many passages contradicting each other.

Casually burning these worthless booklets, Qi Yun then snuck into the private libraries of two local squires who were rumored to have had Cultivator ancestors.

Under the cover of night, he quickly scanned through dusty clan genealogies, personal notes, and some transcribed copies of basic Divine Soul visualization Dharma Gates.

Through these various channels, Qi Yun gradually pieced together a rough outline of this world.

...

「Seven days later.」

Outside Qingyuan County, inside a dilapidated Mountain God Temple.

Qi Yun sat cross-legged on the dusty altar, the textual materials he had gathered over the past few days spread out before him, his mind organizing the information.

The cultivation system of Cang Que revolves around the "Divine Soul."

The entry level is called Stabilizing the Spirit. It requires one to focus the mind and calm the qi, perceive one’s own soul, and achieve preliminary mental stability to resist the invasion of external evils. This realm offers no special abilities, other than making one’s spirit tougher than that of an ordinary person.

Next is Out-of-Body Experience. The Divine Soul becomes stable enough to temporarily leave the body in a quiet room, at midnight, or with the aid of incense and Talismans. However, it is extremely fragile, fearing wind, light, and vigorous Yang Qi and blood, and can only travel a limited distance.

Then comes Night Traveling. The Divine Soul grows stronger, allowing it to leave the body at night to roam the surroundings, perceive yin-aspected energy, and make initial contact with the Netherworld. At this stage, one gains some ability to influence others’ dreams or frighten ordinary people. The "Mage" hired by Master Sun in Qingyuan County is of this realm.

After that is Day Traveling. The Divine Soul becomes condensed, no longer fearing ordinary sunlight or Yang Qi, and can leave the body during the day. The range of movement increases dramatically. One can more clearly perceive and manipulate a certain energy between Heaven and Earth, and can cast some crude Illusion Techniques and levitate light objects.

This is followed by Manifestation. The Divine Soul solidifies to a point where it can manifest a blurry form visible to mortal eyes, like a ghost appearing. It can more directly interfere with reality to intimidate, confuse, or even lightly harm mortals. A Cultivator of this realm is already revered as a "grandmaster" in the secular world.

Then, Exorcism. The Divine Soul becomes powerful enough to attach to and control physical objects for extended periods, such as flying needles, small swords, or Command Flags. It gains tangible physical Attack Power and marks the true beginning of Magical Combat capability.

Cultivators of this realm are often treated as honored guests by worldly powers, or they establish their own temples to collect Incense and Wish Power to aid their cultivation.

Higher still, the records become vague, and folk legends are fragmented and contradictory.

They only vaguely mention terrifying terms like "Thunder Tribulation" and "Yang God."

That seems to be a domain involving deeper mysteries, greater dangers, and more formidable power, far beyond what mortals can easily glimpse.

As for the methods of cultivation, they are mostly related to visualization, spirit preservation, breath control, sacrificial rites, and Incense and Wish Power. Some also use aids like External Elixirs, Talismans, and Arrays.

But the foundation remains the strengthening and purification of the Divine Soul.

Qi Yun closed the partial copy of the *Record of Nourishing the Spirit and Calming the Heart*. It recorded a most basic technique: the Bright Moon Shining on God Visualization Method.

It was crude and simple, but its principles were clear.

He closed his eyes and, following the Dharma Gate within, focused his Heart and Spirit, concentrating on his Purple Mansion.

A moment later, he opened his eyes, a flash of understanding in their depths.

’As I thought... The cultivation in this world prioritizes spirit over qi. Or rather, their qi is more of an external manifestation and condensation of spiritual energy. It’s different from the path in my Profound Yellow Realm, which starts with absorbing Celestial Essence and comprehending the Dao to establish a foundation.’

’Though I am restricted by the will of Heaven and cannot use my Profound Yellow Technique or Divine Techniques, my Dao Foundation from Daluo Heaven is of the highest quality. It encompasses the Ten Thousand Laws, and nurturing and controlling the Divine Soul is one of its cornerstones. Using this realm’s Dharma Gates as a guide... should be feasible.’

’Furthermore, the Fruit Position left behind by Desolate Halberd True Monarch must be deeply connected to this world’s cultivation system. To ultimately obtain it, I’m afraid I will have to delve deep into this world’s path of cultivation, and perhaps even reach a considerable Realm...’

He gazed out of the Mountain God Temple at the deepening night, his eyes profound.

His investigation of Qingyuan County was over.

The information here was too superficial, with the highest level mentioned being only rumors of the "Exorcism" realm.

He needed to go to a more prosperous place with a more complete cultivation heritage, obtain higher-level Cultivation Skills, and make contact with higher-level Cultivators. Only then could he truly grasp the cultivation network of this world and prepare to seize the Fruit Position.

It was time to leave this remote little city.

...