Chapter 295 - 279: Breakthrough! Realm Heaven
He completely reorganized and reshaped the entire Huangli Island, from the inside out, from its Earth Veins to its Spiritual Mechanism.
Laying down layer after layer of interlocked Grand Arrays cost Qi Yun a full seven days.
When the final Array Pattern disappeared into the core of the mountain’s belly, seamlessly integrating with the Earth Vein, the entire island hummed faintly before falling completely silent.
The already abundant Spiritual Qi became even more vibrant and orderly. The natural, light-blue halo of light above the island seemed to thicken.
Qi Yun stood at the summit of the main peak, looking down at the secluded Pure Land he had personally crafted.
On the island, streams murmured, spiritual mist coiled, and vegetation flourished. Beyond it, an invisible barrier hid it from sight amidst the vast, boundless sea and sky.
He let out a long breath, and the slight fatigue from days of Array Formation vanished without a trace.
In his eyes, only a profound tranquility remained, along with the sharp glint of do-or-die determination.
"Everything is ready; all that’s missing is the final push," he muttered. With a flicker of his body, he appeared in the cave-abode that had long been prepared deep within the mountain.
The cave-abode was not large, and its furnishings were simple.
On the surrounding rock walls, countless Array Patterns were now emitting a soft, steady glow, purifying the Spiritual Qi within the cave to its absolute limit and isolating it from all external disturbances.
Seated cross-legged on the Warm Jade Meditation Mat, Qi Yun closed his eyes and focused his mind, first adjusting his own state to its absolute peak of Perfection.
His vital energy was like mercury, his Magical Power was like the sea, and his Divine Soul was as clear as a mirror.
Deep within his Purple Mansion, the Daluo Ten Thousand Laws Dao Foundation revolved quietly, emitting a vast and profound Dao Rhyme that was all-encompassing and supremely noble.
A moment later, he abruptly opened his eyes. Within them, it was as if chaos itself was being sundered.
With a flip of his palm, four clusters of light, each with a different form but all emitting a mysterious Dao Rhyme, flew out from his Daluo Heaven and hovered before him.
Above his left palm were two wisps of Qi Mechanism, one black and one white, entangled and endlessly flowing like the eyes of the Yin Yang fish. This was the Yin Yang Spiritual Mechanism.
Above his right palm was a mass of air where a clear light rose and Muddy Qi sank. The boundary was distinct, yet they formed a harmonious whole. This was the spiritual essence of purity and turbidity.
To the left of his chest, a four-colored radiance cycled, demonstrating the wonders of origin, apex, suspension, and Returning Ruins. This was the wondrous object of the Four Seasons.
To the right of his chest was a strange crystal the size of a pigeon’s egg, containing chaos within and emitting an indescribable light. This was the Innate spirit from his own being.
The Realm Heaven Four Spirits were all gathered here!
Qi Yun silently gazed at these four wondrous objects, crucial to the future of his Dao path. His eyes were calm, but held an immense gravity.
Next, he would cast everything he had accumulated through bitter cultivation and meticulous planning into the great furnace of the Dao for the most critical tempering and sublimation.
There was no hesitation, no delay.
His hands formed a circle as if embracing the universe, and then he gently pushed outward!
"Go!"
The four Spiritual Objects moved at his command, transforming into four streams of Flowing Light, each a different color but all dazzlingly brilliant. Like birds returning to their nest, they shot straight into the spot between Qi Yun’s eyebrows, entered his Purple Mansion, and headed directly for the endlessly revolving Daluo Heaven!
The instant the Four Spirits entered—
BOOM!!!
The deepest part of Qi Yun’s Dao Foundation trembled violently!
The Four Spirits—Yin Yang, purity and turbidity, Four Seasons, and Innate—were like four primordial "Dao Seeds" falling into the fertile soil of the Daluo Heaven.
Instantly, the originally calm and revolving Daluo Heaven began to boil violently!
The chaotic airflow accelerated madly. The light from the phantoms of the sun, moon, and stars within it surged. The evolution of earth, water, fire, and wind became extremely violent, re-enacting the terrifying scenes from the dawn of creation.
Billions of fine rays of light burst forth from the pores all over Qi Yun’s body.
His entire being was like the embryo of a god about to be born, his aura beginning to climb and expand at an incredible speed!
In the Foundation Establishment Realm, the Dao Foundation’s phenomena mostly manifested externally as illusions, projections of one’s own Dao Insights.
But for the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage, one had to temper, elevate, and solidify this ephemeral "phenomenon."
It was a process of turning illusion into reality, of transforming a phenomenon into a heaven.
It would become a Realm Heaven Domain, a space truly under one’s absolute control, filled with one’s own "Dao" and "Law."
Qi Yun’s Daluo Heaven phenomenon was already magnificent and vast, far surpassing his peers.
Now, nourished by the Four Spirits and triggered by the opportunity for a breakthrough, it began to undergo a fundamental transformation!
HUMMM—!!!
With Qi Yun’s seated form in the cave-abode as the center, the void behind him suddenly collapsed inward and then expanded.
A hazy "region," its edges flowing with a Chaos-Colored halo, was slowly breaking free from its illusory shackles, transforming into a true and real "Realm Heaven."
The scenery inside this region was similar to the Daluo Heaven phenomenon, yet distinctly different.
This Initial Heaven Realm was only about a hundred feet across, but it was incredibly heavy and solid, like the prototype of a real world, sheltering Qi Yun within.
Within the Realm Heaven, Qi Yun was the master. His will was the Law, and the power of his Daoist Skills would receive an unimaginable boost.
The manifestation of the Realm Heaven was not the end, but the beginning.
Qi Yun needed to completely merge his Daluo Ten Thousand Laws Dao Foundation with this nascent Realm Heaven and "anchor" it to a higher "plane" between himself and the external Heaven and Earth.
This process required the Realm Heaven to be half-rooted in his own Dao Source and half-reaching into the depths of the external Heaven and Earth.
This would allow him to absorb the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Mechanism more efficiently and operate the principles of the Great Dao.
Qi Yun’s Heart and Spirit sank into the deepest part of his Dao Foundation, guiding its boiling power like an invisible giant hand, lifting his own Dao Foundation’s Status.
He slowly "ascended" toward a higher, more mysterious level in the unseen world.
With every sliver of ascent, Qi Yun could feel his connection with the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Mechanism grow tighter. His perception of the laws of the world around him became clearer, and the quality and quantity of his Magical Power underwent a quantum leap.
His Divine Soul also sublimated, allowing him to "see" more of the world’s true fabric from a "higher" perspective.
The process was slow and arduous, like sailing against a current or ascending to the heavens while carrying a mountain.
The vital energy in Qi Yun’s whole body roared, his Magical Power surged like a celestial river bursting its banks, and his Divine Soul endured immense pressure and purification.
Outside the cave-abode, all the Spiritual Qi on Huangli Island was drawn in, forming visible vortexes of energy that converged madly on the mountain’s belly, disappearing into the ever-expanding and solidifying Chaos Realm Heaven.
The sea around the island churned without wind, and the light-blue halo in the sky flickered erratically.
It was as if it were responding to the brand-new "small world" being born within the island.
...
「At the very same moment that Qi Yun, on the secluded Overseas island of Huang Li, began his breakthrough to the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage, triggering the ascent of his Dao Foundation and the initial appearance of his Realm Heaven.」
On the Central Earth Continent, in the Imperial Capital of the Nanyin Dynasty, at the peak of the Astronomical Observatory’s Observatory Platform.
This place soared into the clouds, as if one could reach out and pluck the stars from the sky.
The platform’s surface was paved with black Star Meteorite, smooth as a mirror, arranged in a mysterious formation. Engraved upon it was the Circulation Star Chart and a set of Inference Array Patterns of extreme complexity.
Beneath the night sky, starlight fell unimpeded, flowing across the Star Meteorite surface and shimmering in concert with the Array Patterns.
The black-robed Supervisor had already changed into a more solemn Magic Robe and stood at the center of the Observatory Platform.
Before him hovered an ancient Primordial Heaven Star Disc. It was over thirty feet in diameter, made of a material that was neither metal nor jade, as thin as a cicada’s wing yet as heavy as a mountain.
On the Star Disc, countless tiny points of light, like real stars, slowly moved according to a Star Map. Phantoms of countless, infinitesimally fine Cause and Effect Threads flickered in and out of view among them.
The Crown Prince of Nanyin stood quietly to the side, his expression serene.
But within his deep eyes, a blazing fire danced.
He once again released that wisp of pure and vast "Venerable" Qi Mechanism.
This time, however, it was more condensed, transforming into a single point of violet-gold primordial Spiritual Light that hovered before the Supervisor.
The Supervisor’s face was as stern as iron. He first bowed deeply to the Primordial Heaven Star Disc and the starry sky, chanting an ancient and abstruse prayer.
Then, he raised his hands and instantly formed hundreds upon thousands of Seal Techniques. Each Seal Technique drew the Star Power from the Observatory Platform, funneling it into the Primordial Heaven Star Disc.
"With stars as eyes and qi as the guide, trace the stream to its source and reveal the truth!"
The Supervisor roared, slamming the point of violet-gold Venerable Spiritual Light from the Crown Prince into the center of the Primordial Heaven Star Disc!
HUMMM—!!!
The Primordial Heaven Star Disc erupted with a blinding starlight.
All the star-like points of light on its surface began to spin madly. The phantoms of the Cause and Effect Threads trembled violently and stretched out, constructing an evolving, miniature web of causality of extreme complexity within the Star Disc.
The space around the Star Disc began to warp, with only starlight and threads of causality flickering within it.
The Supervisor’s hair and beard floated without any wind, and his eyes completely transformed into a brilliant Star River, reflecting all the changes on the Star Disc.
His Divine Sense had already connected with the Primordial Heaven Star Disc and the river of heavenly secrets in the unseen world.
He was using the "Venerable Qi Mechanism" provided by the Crown Prince to forcefully deduce the location of the other "Venerable" aura—one that was of the same origin yet mutually repulsive, fated to be entangled!
On the Star Disc, the light of causality spread and searched frantically.
At first, it was a field of chaos, with countless streams of jumbled information flashing past.
But these traces were quickly interfered with, covered, and confused by a layer of grayish-white power.
It was the Array of Cause and Effect at work!
The Supervisor’s brow furrowed. His withered fingers repeatedly tapped the Star Disc, sending surges of Star Power in an attempt to pierce through that layer of gray-white confusion.
Because the Supervisor was divining Qi Yun, not the God of Wealth.
The effects of the Array of Cause and Effect could not provide complete coverage.
The light of causality struggled to penetrate a little, catching a few wisps of an even fainter residual Qi Mechanism, and... a minuscule thread of causality pointing toward the distant Overseas!
"Overseas... chaos... hidden..." the Supervisor’s hoarse voice was grave. "There are extremely sophisticated means of celestial concealment at play!
This person has an expert well-versed in celestial mechanics and causality by their side!"
He pushed the Primordial Heaven Star Disc with all his might. The light of the disc flared again as he tried to forcefully trace the thread of causality—one so faint it could snap at any moment—that pointed Overseas.
The starlight and the thread of causality extended and explored, reaching toward the endlessly distant southeast seas.
Gradually, they drew closer to that barren stretch of sea...
...
「Overseas, on Huangli Island, inside the mountain cave-abode.」
It was the most critical moment of Qi Yun’s breakthrough. The ascent of his Dao Foundation was halfway complete.
The Chaos Realm Heaven had expanded to two hundred feet across, and its internal rules were becoming more and more perfect.
Suddenly, within his Heart and Spirit, the Avoiding Tribulation Curse, which had been lying dormant, pulsed with a faint yet clear warning!
The Ink Flood Dragon hidden in his sleeve also manifested, transforming into a thousand-zhang-long body that coiled around Qi Yun, protecting him firmly at its center.
Its pair of crimson eyes glanced around, faintly reflecting a few weak glimmers of starlight.
Almost simultaneously, a message came from God of Wealth Cai Shen, who was guarding outside:
"Kid! A top-tier causality divination technique is looking for you!
It’s using another Venerable’s Qi Mechanism as a guide, its power is immense, and it’s about to reach the periphery of this sea region!
It’s an expert hired by that fated enemy of yours!"
...