Volume 1, Chapter 207 – The Overcompetitive Disciples of the Immortal Palace

On the third floor of the Myriad-Phenomena Tower, starlight cascaded like a waterfall.

Gu Han sat cross-legged where the starlight was thickest, her eyes gently closed.

With time flowing thirty times faster, all the clamor of the outside world was shut away, allowing her to immerse herself completely in cultivation.

Every insight felt like the creation of a new world, a reconstruction of the very foundations of the Great Dao.

Her cultivation had long since stabilized at late-stage Immortal Ascension. Now, she was climbing toward even greater heights.

As her cultivation advanced, her understanding of the true nature of “chaos” continued to deepen.

It was not mere disorder, but the primordial state before the myriad Daos had diverged, before yin and yang had separated.

“A pocket world… It means creating a realm of chaos within my body, then evolving heaven and earth from that chaos…”

Understanding gradually dawned in Gu Han’s mind.

This would be far from easy.

When ordinary cultivators developed inner realms or created cave abodes, they generally borrowed the laws of heaven and earth and followed an existing model.

The Chaos Scripture, however, required its practitioner to create “something” from “nothing,” independently evolving a complete pocket world from “chaos.”

This demanded not only vast spiritual power but also extraordinarily profound insight into the essence of the Great Dao.

Fortunately, she had the System to assist with her deductions, thirty times as much time, and her previous experience refining the Donghuang Bell.

Time slipped quietly by during her deep seclusion.

Meanwhile, outside the Myriad-Phenomena Tower, everything in Yaochi Immortal Palace continued to run in perfect order, though the entire place was suffused with an unusual vitality.

Working in seamless coordination, Yun Yun and Li Hanyi translated the Palace Master’s order to “relocate the entire palace” into a series of concrete preparations.

Consolidating their resources was the first priority.

Reаⅾ οո ΚatReаⅾіոɡCafe

The first floor of the Myriad-Phenomena Tower had practically become another Danxia Peak. Yun Miaoyi, the Pavilion Master of the Alchemy Pavilion, kept her furnaces burning almost day and night.

Foundation Establishment Pills, Core Formation Pills, Nascent Soul Formation Pills, Spirit Transformation Breakthrough Pills…

Medicinal pills of every grade were refined in batches, sorted by category, and placed in the sect storehouse.

The spirit stones, spiritual materials, and artifacts in the storehouse were also inventoried, appraised, and repacked.

“Elder Yun, the Deputy Palace Master asked me to deliver one hundred sets of ingredients for refining Nascent Soul Formation Pills. Please inspect them.”

A female disciple at the Golden Core stage respectfully presented a Storage Pouch.

A trace of fatigue showed on Yun Miaoyi’s gentle face, but her eyes remained bright.

She accepted the Storage Pouch and swept it briefly with her divine sense. Every ingredient was of superior quality.

“Excellent. Tell the Deputy Palace Master she can begin preparing the ingredients for the next batch of Spirit Transformation Breakthrough Pills.”

“Yes!”

Elsewhere, the whistle of sword qi rang across the martial practice ground from dawn to dusk.

Li Zhiwei continued to practice her sword every day, from first light until sunset.

Her sword intent grew purer and more concentrated by the day, and every stroke carried an unwavering resolve to sever anything in its path.

Over the past four months, she had fully consolidated her cultivation at the middle stage of Golden Core.

Murong Xue had chosen a different method: actual combat.

Besides cultivating in the Myriad-Phenomena Tower, she frequently entered Lingxu Blessed Paradise to hone her blade in life-and-death battles.

Just moments ago, she had faced two early-stage Nascent Soul Windshadow Panthers alone.

Reαⅾ oո ΚаtRеαԁіnɡCаfе

Driven into desperate straits, she had successfully broken through her bottleneck and officially entered the middle stage of the Nascent Soul stage.

Aside from the four personal disciples, she could be considered the leading figure among Yaochi Immortal Palace’s core disciples.

At that moment, she sat cross-legged beneath a waterfall with her eyes closed, allowing the torrent to pound against her body.

Under that extreme pressure, she contemplated the transition between softness and hardness.

Inside the Formation Pavilion, Xiao Ya’s Thousand Mechanisms Disk hovered in midair, projecting a complex formation diagram of light and shadow.

Her brow furrowed slightly. Spiritual light flickered at her fingertips as she continually adjusted the course of the formation patterns.

“The spiritual energy isn’t flowing smoothly through the ‘Dui’ position. It needs to be redirected… No, that would conflict with the ‘Li’ position…”

She murmured to herself, utterly absorbed in her work.

Ever since she had become Elder Die Wu’s disciple and witnessed so many formidable formations, she had grown almost obsessed with studying the Dao of formations.

Meanwhile, Zhao Ling’er and Wang Zhaojun led the disciples of Danxia Peak through Lingxu Secret Realm and the Wanjue Mountain Range each day, gathering spiritual herbs for alchemy.

One was cheerful and lively, the other calm and meticulous. They complemented each other perfectly and had become Yun Miaoyi’s most capable assistants.

Wang Teng had entered seclusion on the second floor of the Myriad-Phenomena Tower to attempt a breakthrough to the Nascent Soul stage.

He had completely refined the Gengjin Ore he had obtained from Lingxu Blessed Paradise and perfectly integrated it with his cultivation technique.

Within his secluded chamber, razor-sharp golden light flickered in and out of view.

Yet among all the disciples, the four personal disciples continued to make the most remarkable and conspicuous progress.

Even while helping Yun Yun handle the palace’s many affairs, Liu Ruyan’s cultivation continued to rise steadily.

The mysteries of the Samsara Dao Scripture had deepened her understanding of “life and death” and “samsara,” making her aura increasingly clear, harmonious, and complete.

Rеаⅾ οո КatRеаԁinɡСαfе

From time to time, she would gaze eastward, toward Qingyang City, a trace of longing flashing through her eyes.

Gu Luoli’s double pupils had grown increasingly profound, as though they could pierce through all illusions and look directly upon the source of all things.

She spent more time cultivating on the second floor of the Myriad-Phenomena Tower than anyone else. With time flowing twenty times faster, her comprehension of the Lingxu Heavenly Eye advanced by leaps and bounds.

By now, she could vaguely perceive the circulation of spiritual power within cultivators of the same realm and even anticipate changes in their spells.

Her silence and intense focus inspired awe in many disciples.

The changes in Ye Ling’er were somewhat subtler.

She still cultivated diligently, pushing herself even harder than before.

In just four months, she had broken through to the middle stage of the Nascent Soul stage and was already showing signs of advancing toward the late stage.

However, many of the disciples who cultivated alongside her noticed that Senior Sister Ye often stared blankly toward the third floor of the Myriad-Phenomena Tower.

Whenever anyone approached, she would quickly snap out of her daze.

Only Ye Ling’er knew that the embrace that day, that brief, intimate contact, had been branded into the depths of her heart.

The softness of her Master’s body, her cool, pure fragrance, and that moment of stiffness followed by silent acquiescence…

Every detail replayed itself over and over in the dead of night, quickening Ye Ling’er’s heartbeat and setting her cheeks aflame.

But the most astonishing of them all was First Senior Sister A-Yao.

The little girl seemed completely unaffected by the palace-wide relocation and retained all her childlike curiosity and innocence.

Yet her enthusiasm for cultivation had not diminished in the slightest. In particular, she had developed a keen interest in formations.

“Elder Die Wu! Why won’t the seventh node of this ‘Minor Heavenly Cycle Star Formation’ light up?”

Rеαⅾ оո ΚаtRеаԁіnɡСafе

Clutching a formation tome larger than her face, A-Yao ran into the Formation Pavilion and tipped her little face up at Elder Die Wu, who was instructing Xiao Ya.

Elder Die Wu patiently explained:

“This node requires you to use your divine sense to guide three strands of star power with different attributes at the same time, then channel them along the trajectories of the three stars Tianxuan, Yuheng, and Yaoguang.”

“Here, look…”

She tapped a fingertip lightly, and a miniature formation diagram of starlight appeared, clearly displaying the trajectories of the three stars.

A-Yao’s eyes widened, and she nodded vigorously.

“Oh! So that’s how it works! A-Yao understands now!”

Unable to suppress a smile, Elder Die Wu rubbed her little head.

“Go on, then. Try it again.”

A-Yao pattered away. Before long, a faint fluctuation of spiritual power came from the direction of her secluded cultivation chamber.

A moment later, a small illusion of starlight rose into the air. Though faint, its structure was complete, and its three stellar nodes shone brilliantly.

Besides improving her cultivation, A-Yao had also become increasingly adept at controlling the Flowing-Light Lotus Platform.

She could even shrink the lotus platform to the size of a hairpin and wear it in her hair.

Or she could enlarge it and take several disciples she knew well on low-altitude flights around the Immortal Palace, drawing envious cries wherever they went.

And so, in this tense yet orderly atmosphere filled with hope, Yaochi Immortal Palace passed the first six months of Gu Han’s seclusion.