Chapter 2: The Skies Beyond the Sky
High in the sky of the Third World, a green divine bird spread its wings and flew swiftly through the sky like an immortal spirit.
As Pang Lin sat atop the Green Condor's crown, she was wrapped in a bright magical light, but she was still frightened by the Green Condor’s terrifying flying speed.
Sun Bin sat with Yin Hai and Yin Shan on the upper part of the divine bird's neck, and they lowered their heads to look at the lands below. Northern Qi appeared to shrink rapidly as the Green Condor flew higher and higher into the surging clouds until it gradually turned into a large floating stone.
Fragmented lands like Northern Qi were numerous and widespread in the Fourth World.
Compared to the territories that the seven major clans occupied, Northern Qi was nothing special. Moreover, the Fourth World was situated close to the northern boundary wall, which meant there was a higher risk of the bizarre mist entering it. Thus, very few high-level cultivators set foot there.
Originally, Sun Bin’s trip to the Fourth World had been to see whether the bizarre mist would permeate Northern Qi's Solitary Mountain Range. However, he had not had a chance to survey the Solitary Mountain Range. Upon arriving in Northern Qi, the first thing that Sun Bin noticed was the sky above Pang Lin, which had been filled with thunder and lightning as if drawn by some kind of strong magnetic field.
In observing her, Sun Bin realized that Pang Lin had a naturally formed lightning vortex within her navel region, which could spontaneously pull in lightning from severe thunderstorms.
As Pang Lin had not formally embarked on the road of cultivation, she lacked the ability to guide the lightning into her navel region. Consequently, more and more thunderclouds and lightning continued to gather and linger overhead.
If Sun Bin had not used the Green Condor's divine light to shield Pang Lin, her life could have been in danger, as the thunderstorm had continued to worsen and persist for a long time.
His meeting with Pang Lin had been a pure coincidence.
"Elder Sun, why did you give him a cultivation method?" Yin Hai asked. He could not figure out Sun Bin’s intention. "The boy doesn’t have any cultivation talent, and it would be extremely hard for him to make his way to the upper world. Why did you waste it on him?
"Even if he does not encounter any mishaps, he’ll die of old age by the time the girl reaches the Profound Abode Realm. After all, living beings in the lower worlds have a limited lifespan. If he can't live past a hundred years, he won't be able to wait for Pang Lin's return."
There were very few people in the lower worlds who could live past the age of seventy, and of those, only the ones who knew how to cultivate could have a lifespan longer than a hundred years. In Yin Hai’s eyes, Pang Jian's limited cultivation talent would make it difficult for him to advance to the Marrow Cleansing Realm, even with the cultivation manual, and he would ultimately still die of old age before Pang Lin's return.
"What if, by chance, Pang Lin is recognized by the sect, and the sect spares no expense in helping her cultivate? Would it still be hard for her to reach the Profound Abode Realm within a hundred years then? And what if the boy can endure the passing of time and wait for Pang Lin's return?" Sun Bin said coldly.
Turning his head to glance at the petite figure atop the crown of the divine bird, Sun Bin continued, "Just these two possibilities are worth the cultivation manual that I gave the boy. It can be regarded as building good karma. Furthermore, the manual that I happened to acquire only contains the cultivation methods for the first six realms."
After listening to Sun Bin's explanation, Yin Hai and Yin Shan lightly nodded and accepted Sun Bin's scolding with humble expressions.
The divine bird continued to fly upward and gradually crossed over the boundary of the Third World.
A moonlit scene unfolded beneath them—lakes, mountain ranges, halls of hidden sects and families, as well as the ancient and magnificent cities spanning across the two continents in the Third World, slowly unfurling like a picture scroll.
There were no howling winds and severe thunderstorms in this world.
As the divine bird continued to soar higher, it attracted the attention of the experts on the two continents. Some of them looked up at the Green Condor from the peaks of the magnificent cities, while others watched silently from the ancient temple.
Sun Bin laughed and said, "The forces in the Third World seem to be developing quite well in recent years. Several of them noticed us. It seems that I have underestimated them."
"Aren't the big shots in the upper worlds still the ones who determine the leaders of the forces in the Third World?" Yin Hai said arrogantly.
"Numerous leading authorities of our world also originated from the lower worlds. All of whom fought their way up," Sun Bin said respectfully.
Several towering figures suddenly appeared in Yin Hai's mind, and the arrogance in his gaze disappeared instantly.
It was at this moment that lightning suddenly flashed, thunder roared, and winds began to blow fiercely in a restricted area near the bizarre mist in the Third World.
Sun Bin was astonished and hastily gathered lightning into his eyes to investigate.
He discovered that numerous boulders were exploding in the restricted area, an extremely dilapidated area of the Third World. Rocks shaped like dragon scales and turtle shells rained down in all directions, revealing the large skeletal remains of a Celestial Phoenix.
Under the moonlight, the Celestial Phoenix's skeletal remains, which were several times larger than the Green Condor, were emitting a sparkling radiance like that of white jade.
Suddenly, many mysterious runes whizzed out from the remains, resembling the countless stars in the sky. The runes flew around as if each had a separate mind and surrounded the skeletal remains of the enormous Celestial Phoenix.
Whoosh!
A bone shot out like lightning. In the blink of an eye, it crossed the void and headed straight for the Green Condor beneath Sun Bin.
The Green Condor seemed to sense how terrifying the bone was. Lifting its head high, it cried out in fear as its broad wings shook. Countless of the Green Condor's feathers radiated with a dazzling, multicolored magical light before it ascended higher with all its might.
"A fallen Celestial Phoenix!"
Shocked, Sun Bin turned pale and immediately flew to Pang Lin. He extended his hands that were hidden in his sleeves. Dazzling lightning appeared between his fingers, which he used to wrap around Pang Lin.
Then, Sun Bin shouted, "Let's go!"
He realized that the target of the Celestial Phoenix’s skeletal remains was the Green Condor. Understanding that remaining with the Green Condor would inevitably lead to losses, he ignored its anguished wails and flew away from it.
"The Celestial Phoenix has reappeared!"
"The skeletal remains of the fallen Celestial Phoenix have shown themselves!"
In the Third World, from the peaks of the top sects, deep within their ancient holy temples, earth-shattering roars erupted one after another. Multiple Spirit Condensation Realm experts set aside their tasks and emerged from closed-door cultivation to rush desperately toward the restricted area where the skeletal remains had appeared.
***
Northern Qi, the Fourth World...
Watching the divine bird's departure, Pang Jian looked toward the sky with a longing expression and made up his mind about what he would do next.
Just as he was about to lose sight of the divine bird, he noticed a sudden change in Sun Bin's demeanor as he picked up Pang Lin and flew away from the crown of the divine bird.
At the very next moment, he saw a huge bone that had been ignited by a magical fire rune suddenly pierce through the divine bird like a world-destroying spear. The divine bird pitifully flapped its wings while its exceptionally strong and robust body and wings were engulfed in a raging, apocalyptic fire.
Within an extremely short amount of time, the divine bird whose overwhelming aura had left Pang Jian breathless was reduced to ashes. Likewise, the two bodyguards failed to escape in time and were annihilated, vanishing in a puff of smoke.
At this moment, the residual lightning energy in Pang Jian's eyes that enabled him to gaze at the divine bird was completely exhausted.
Pang Jian was left dumbfounded, his body chilled to the core.
The divine bird, such an enigmatic and extraordinary creature, had unknowingly disturbed a terrifying being as it was flying out of the Third World, leading to its tragic end.
The upper world was truly dangerous and frightening.
***
After some time, the torrential rain gradually waned.
The sky in the Fourth World was dark and dull, a characteristic that had persisted through the ages. Beyond the dense clouds in the sky lay the upper worlds, worlds that the common folks of the lower world yearned for. Many residents of the Fourth World, including Pang Jian, dreamed of rising up and stepping into the upper worlds.
Pang Jian raised his head and stared at the black clouds in the sky, seemingly in a daze.
The leftover lightning energy in Pang Jian's eye had been completely exhausted before the torrential lightning subsided. Now, he could only see the numerous small pieces of land suspended motionlessly in the sky like bricks and tiles.
He could no longer see the two continents located in the cloudy depths of the distant Third World. However, he had long known of the two continents and their names—Cosmic Skies and Dark Abyss.
These two continents in the Third World were well-known to the residents of the lower worlds.
After a long time of staring, Pang Jian’s neck grew stiff. Lowering his head, he muttered a string of words to himself, "Little Lin, bright moon, a vast sky full of stars, and the upper worlds."
He wondered if Sun Bin and his little sister, Pang Lin, had made it to safety or if they were still being chased by the terrifying bone that had killed the divine bird.
Worried for his little sister's safety, Pang Jian continued to stare at the sky for a while. However, in the end, he still could not find the answer to his questions. The scene of the divine bird soaring through the sky and then being abruptly struck down by the bone replayed in his mind, shocking him to his core.
"Qi practitioner. Cultivator."
Pang Jian knew very well that formidable experts like Sun Bin were addressed as such by the commoners in his world.
The Fourth World's scattered lands were divided into seven larger areas, and those areas were under the firm control of Qi Practitioner clans. This was true for both the upper world and the lower world, where he was situated.
Qi Practitioners were always held in high regard, and ordinary people like Pang Jian rarely had the chance to interact with them. The high requirements for becoming a cultivator meant Pang Jian never even had the opportunity to make contact.
Therefore, he regarded the cultivation method left behind by Sun Bin as a precious treasure. He considered it a key item that would allow him to meet his sister again in the future.
Pang Jian pushed the oil paper aside, took out the tattered and ancient manual that Sun Bin had given him, and stared at the letters on the manual.
“Qi Nurturing Divine Cauldron Art.”
Before his father went missing in the Solitary Mountain Range, he would teach Pang Jian and Pang Lin to read and write in his spare time. Thus, Pang Jian was able to read the manual.
In the following days, besides tending to his daily needs, Pang Jian spent all his energy reading and analyzing the Qi Nurturing Divine Cauldron Art. As a result, he gradually gained an understanding of the cultivation method.
According to the cultivation method, a cultivator had to visualize a cauldron in their navel region. They had to guide external spiritual qi into their body and then gather it in the cauldron for purification and refining.
Despite having been judged by Sun Bin as having a poor cultivation aptitude, Pang Jian refused to believe that his fate had already been set by the heavens. Therefore, he spent all his time pondering on the Qi Nurturing Divine Cauldron Art, striving to visualize the Spirit Cauldron and set out on the path of cultivation.
"Every living thing that exists between heaven and earth requires qi to survive. Where qi gathers, life is born. Where qi dissipates, living beings die. In the early stages of Qi Nurturing Divine Cauldron Art, one needs to calm their mind and focus their attention on sensing the existence of qi."
Pang Jian recited the content of the manual numerous times. However, even the beginning stage of calming his mind and concentrating to sense the presence of qi caused Pang Jian to feel agitated and restless.
After several days, Pang Jian realized that this calming of the mind and concentrating to sense the presence of qi was divided into three steps: concentration, relaxation, and awakening.
Concentration involved keeping one's consciousness in the present and preventing their imagination from running wild. During this process, one had to wait for their body to achieve a state of complete relaxation.
Once they achieved complete relaxation, they would be able to attain a clear mind and gain insight into the subtleties of their body.
Finally, they would awaken and be able to properly sense the existence of qi.
Although it sounded simple, Pang Jian realized just how difficult the process was when he tried to put it into practice.
He sat down with his legs crossed and breathed slowly while trying to focus.
However, his mind remained restless.
Numerous thoughts and ideas flickered like will-o'-the-wisps, darting around erratically in his mind. One moment, he thought about his little sister's whereabouts, and the next, he wondered whether his father was still alive. He also pondered about where Sun Bin came from, mulling over what he should do next.
Pang Jian could not control the many distracting thoughts in his mind.
"If the mind is restless, the spirit will be scattered."
If Pang Jian were unable to keep his mind focused, he would not be able to achieve the crucial first step in the Qi Nurturing Divine Cauldron Art. Consequently, he would not be able to officially start his cultivation process.
Nevertheless, Pang Jian was not discouraged. He continued to practice, and when distracting thoughts appeared in his mind, he would immediately stop and start anew. He would silently recite the words "Divine Cauldron" to regain control of his thoughts.
He repeated this process again and again.
After many days of practice, Pang Jian was gradually able to collect his disorderly thoughts, settle down, and let his consciousness stay in the present moment.
When he was able to control his mind and prevent unrestrained, distracting thoughts from influencing his state of mind, he finally achieved a state of complete relaxation while sitting in meditation.
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