Chapter 32: Heavenly Dao Qi Refining! Begin

Meanwhile, thousands of miles away.

Tianyue Palace.

Yue Qingshuang’s moon-white streak of light landed before an ice-crystal palace.

“The Saintess has returned!”

The gatekeeping disciples hurriedly bowed.

Yue Qingshuang nodded. Just as she was about to step into the palace, a voice came from behind her:

“Qingshuang.”

Yue Qingshuang stopped and turned around.

A middle-aged woman in a moon-white robe stood not far away, watching her.

The woman’s features were exquisitely beautiful, her bearing cold and detached, faint moonlight shimmering around her.

She was none other than the Palace Master of Tianyue Palace, Saint Yuehua.

“Master.” Yue Qingshuang bowed quickly.

Saint Yuehua looked at her, her brow furrowing slightly.

“The Taiyin Origin within your body… someone suppressed it?”

Yue Qingshuang blinked, then nodded.

“Yes. On this journey, I encountered… an expert.”

“An expert?” A strange look flickered in Saint Yuehua’s eyes.

“Who could suppress the backlash of the Taiyin Origin?”

Yue Qingshuang fell silent for a moment, then said softly:

“Chen Ping, the Peak Master of Luoxia Peak of the Qingyun Sect.”

Saint Yuehua’s brow furrowed deeper.

Qingyun Sect?

Luoxia Peak?

She searched her memory but could not recall a single figure like that in the entire Southern Region.

“What is his cultivation realm?”

Yue Qingshuang shook her head.

“I couldn’t tell. But he… is very strong.”

She paused, then added:

“He broke the Blood Sea Grand Array in Blackstone City. He killed the Blood Shadow Hall Master, Li Cang. And he saved both me and Aunt Liu.”

Saint Yuehua fell silent.

The Blood Sea Grand Array.

Blood Shadow Hall Master Li Cang, at the Divine Ability Realm.

To break the array and kill him, one had to be at least at the Grotto-Heaven Realm or above.

Then why would someone like that remain completely unknown, tucked away in a minor place like the Qingyun Sect?

“Did he ask for anything?”

Yue Qingshuang shook her head.

“No. I gave him resources to repay the life-saving grace. But he said… the debt is settled.”

Saint Yuehua studied her and suddenly asked,

“Qingshuang, your complexion is far better than when you left. Did he leave something inside your body?”

Yue Qingshuang startled and carefully examined her inner state.

That purple-gold power had already merged completely into her meridians, vanishing without a trace.

All that remained was a stabilized origin and fully restored meridians.

“I… don’t know,” she said softly.

“But that power was very gentle, very… pure.”

Saint Yuehua remained silent for a long moment before finally nodding.

“Very well. Since he bears you no ill will, we shall let this matter rest.”

She paused, then added,

“But Qingshuang, you must remember: do not reveal too much about the Taiyin Sacred Body to outsiders. Especially… someone who can suppress the backlash of the origin with such ease.”

A chill ran through Yue Qingshuang’s heart, and she nodded respectfully.

“I understand.”

Saint Yuehua waved her hand, and her figure vanished into the night sky.

Yue Qingshuang stood rooted in place, staring blankly toward Luoxia Peak.

Peak Master Chen…

Who exactly are you?

*

The next morning.

Luoxia Peak.

Sunlight streamed through the window paper. Lin Xiaoyu sat up in bed and rubbed her eyes.

She had not slept well all night, yet her spirit was surprisingly vibrant.

Perhaps it was nerves, or perhaps anticipation.

She dressed and pushed the door open.

In the courtyard, Chen Ping already sat beneath the old locust tree, teacup in hand, watching the sun rise in the distance.

“Good morning, Master.”

Lin Xiaoyu walked over and sat down beside him.

Chen Ping glanced at her and smiled.

“Nervous?”

Lin Xiaoyu nodded, then shook her head.

“A little… but I am ready.”

Chen Ping set down his teacup and stood.

“Then let’s go.”

With a wave of his hand, the Map of Mountains and Rivers unfurled, and the two of them vanished from the courtyard.

*

Inside the Map of Mountains and Rivers.

It was the same familiar rocky desert.

Jagged stones jutted from the ground, vegetation was sparse, and a vast desolation stretched between heaven and earth.

But this time, Lin Xiaoyu could feel that the spiritual Qi concentration here was countless times higher than before.

The spiritual Qi was so dense it had nearly solidified, forming a faint spiritual mist that drifted through the entire space.

A single deep breath, and she could feel spiritual energy circulating through her body.

“Master, this is…”

“Ten times the spiritual Qi concentration of the outside world,” Chen Ping said evenly.

“Combined with those resources of yours, it is more than enough to break through the barrier of the ninth layer of Qi Refining.”

He paused and looked at Lin Xiaoyu, his expression turning serious.

“But you must understand: this path is extremely difficult. A hundred, a thousand times harder than ordinary cultivation.”

“And I cannot say for certain whether this path holds any great dangers.”

Chen Ping had asked the system many times. The system always gave the same answer:

Cultivation is never smooth sailing.

Whenever he pressed further, the system would play dead and fall completely silent.

So Chen Ping himself was unsure just how dangerous this path truly was.

“Are you certain you wish to walk this path?”

Without the slightest hesitation, Lin Xiaoyu nodded firmly.

“I am certain!”

Chen Ping looked at her, approval flashing in his eyes.

“Good.”

He raised his hand and retrieved the mountain of resources from his storage ring.

Spirit stones, medicinal pills, spiritual herbs, spiritual materials…

One by one, he laid them out across the rocky desert, arranging them according to some profound and mysterious pattern.

Lin Xiaoyu could not understand it, but she could feel that as the resources were placed, the spiritual Qi throughout the entire space began to flow in a strange manner.

The trajectory of that flow resonated faintly with the Heavenly Dao Divine Art within her body.

An hour later, Chen Ping withdrew his hands.

“It’s ready.”

He looked at Lin Xiaoyu.

“This formation is called the Heavenly Dao Spirit-Attracting Formation. It can draw upon the Heavenly Dao Power to help you break through the limits of Qi Refining.”

“Now, what you must do is enter the formation and circulate the Heavenly Dao Divine Art with everything you have.”

“No matter what happens, do not stop.”

Lin Xiaoyu took a deep breath and stepped into the formation.

At the center of the formation lay a massive bluestone.

She sat cross-legged upon it, closed her eyes, and began to circulate the Heavenly Dao Divine Art.

In the next instant—

Boom!

The grand formation roared to life!

That mountain of resources erupted with brilliant light all at once.

Spirit stones shattered, pills dissolved, spiritual herbs melted into pure essence…

A vast ocean of energy, like a hundred rivers surging to the sea, crashed wildly into Lin Xiaoyu’s body!

Lin Xiaoyu’s entire body convulsed!

She could feel it clearly: the energy scouring her meridians, tempering her flesh and blood, fortifying her origin.

Pain.

Terrible pain.

It felt as if every bone were being shattered and recast, every inch of flesh torn apart and rebuilt.

But she clenched her teeth and made not a single sound.

The Heavenly Dao Divine Art raged through her body, refining, absorbing, and condensing that colossal energy, bit by bit.

Then, she heard it.

A voice.

Faint, distant, yet impossibly clear.

As if descending from the highest heavens, yet also rising from the depths of her own heart.

“Heavenly Dao… Qi Refining…”

Lin Xiaoyu opened her eyes.

Deep within her pupils, a spark of golden light quietly ignited.

*

Outside the formation, Chen Ping stood with his hands clasped behind his back.

With his Grand Dao Divine Eyes active, he could clearly see the earth-shattering transformation underway inside Lin Xiaoyu’s body.

Of the embryonic Thirty-Six Heavenly Dipper Meridians, only three had been faintly visible before.

Now, under the onslaught of that colossal energy, the fourth, the fifth, the sixth…

One after another, they were slowly taking form.

“It’s begun…”

Chen Ping murmured softly to himself.

He clenched his fists, his eyes brimming with anticipation.

Thirty-Six Layers of Heavenly Dao Qi Refining.

Just how far could this girl go?

And what kind of feedback would he receive?

*