The entire space compressed and folded in on itself, eventually dissolving into points of light, all entering the Palace Pearl.
The little girl transformed into a streak of light as well, entering the Pearl. In an instant, they all appeared on Luoyun Mountain. The Palace Pearl floated in the air, radiating a dazzling white light.
The next moment, they vanished from sight.
After a brief dizziness, Di Xiao looked around, his expression complex. He had returned to the Spirit Beast Forest. This was the Divine Palace he had waited for over thousands of years.
The little girl emerged from the Palace Pearl. "To fully complete the contract, the Palace Pearl must first merge with the Celestial Divine Palace."
"I'll do it." Yuan Yuan eagerly took out a control console.
No one knew exactly how he operated it, but in an instant, the entire Celestial Divine Palace became a vast white space. At its center was an extraordinarily intricate formation. The Palace Pearl floated up and settled quietly at the heart of the formation. The formation seemed instantly activated, and the Celestial Divine Palace trembled slightly. Yuan Yuan manipulated the console, quickly suppressing it.
"After so many years, the Celestial Divine Palace finally has a new master," a trace of emotion flashed in Yuan Yuan's eyes.
Celestial Divine Palace.
Di Xiao's gaze flickered. Only at this moment did he realize the true name of the Divine Palace. He glanced at Yun Jin and could not help but sigh internally.
The world's logic was truly unreasonable. He had waited thousands of years, yet he had not even glimpsed the Palace Pearl, let alone controlled the Celestial Divine Palace.
Yun Jin, by contrast, had only visited once. By sheer fortune, she found the Pearl, contracted the Celestial Divine Palace. For her, the entire process had been effortless.
For anyone else, even a thousand years would not suffice. Even ten thousand, one hundred thousand years, and they might never reach its threshold. Truly, human comparison can be maddening. Di Xiao pondered as the Palace Pearl's color shifted to pure transparency at the formation's center.
"Come to the formation's center quickly!" the little girl's voice sounded.
Yun Jin leapt to the center of the formation. The Palace Pearl became streams of light, entering her brow.
Yun Jin's expression shifted, and she quickly sat cross-legged. The power of the Palace Pearl exceeded her expectations. Even just contracting it sent torrents of overwhelming energy surging into her body, making her feel as if she might explode at any moment.
Fortunately, her sea of consciousness was strong enough to barely endure it.
Yuan Yuan stood by, alert, ready to intervene at any moment.
A quarter of an hour passed.
Half an hour passed.
An hour passed.
Yun Jin's expression grew increasingly strained, yet her soul showed no sign of collapse. She endured. Yuan Yuan tilted his head in confusion, letting out a questioning sound.
The Palace Pearl's power was immense. Now returned to the Celestial Divine Palace, it was in its complete form. The magnitude of this energy was beyond what Yun Jin's cultivation could fully absorb.
Yuan Yuan was prepared to act when needed. That was his mission.
Yet.
Yun Jin did not even seem near her limit. The Palace Pearl poured energy into her. Her cultivation had already reached the peak of Tribulation. If she had undergone Tribulation, Yuan Yuan suspected she might have instantly reached Mahayana.
Having not undergone Tribulation, Yun Jin could not absorb the excess energy. She clenched her teeth, compressing it desperately.
Fortunately, her Primordial Soul was strong. She first compressed the energy into solid form, then into liquid. Finally, her sea of consciousness contained a vast ocean of energy. The ocean raged as Yun Jin struggled to contain it.
"This energy will inevitably waste some of it. Relax your mind, I will channel the excess out of your body," the little girl's voice sounded.
The Celestial Divine Palace, moving through the small world, was still bound by the Heavenly Dao. In a small world, cultivation had a limit.
The little girl's energy had reached that limit. This explained her shock after encountering the Tower Spirit. She had reached her maximum.
And the Tower Spirit? It had clearly exceeded that limit.
A divine artifact like the Trial Tower could not be contained even in a small world.
Even in the God Realm, she had never heard of such a thing. It seemed the Tower Spirit had broken free of the Heavenly Dao's restrictions.
Remember: even the five supreme beings of the God Realm were bound by the Heavenly Dao. Without restrictions, the supreme being would have already descended to the lower realms.
The Trial Tower's fearsome power was why the little girl decisively chose Yun Jin.
Her energy was maxed out; after contracting with Yun Jin, her cultivation could not exceed Yun Jin's. Her strength would inevitably drop, and the excess energy could only temporarily dissipate.
Yun Jin gritted her teeth.
What? Some energy must be wasted?
Impossible.
This energy alone could bring her cultivation to the peak of the mortal realm!
Only fools would waste it.
"I can handle it," Yun Jin bit her teeth. Energy continued to surge into her. Yun Jin's body seemed ready to collapse at any moment. Yet she managed to stabilize it.
Di Xiao watched her bleed all over, now a blood-soaked figure. His heart trembled slightly. The energy flooding Yun Jin's body had already instilled fear in him.
She endured it, even though much of the energy was stored rather than absorbed. But to suppress so much energy meant her Primordial Soul potential was unfathomable.
Di Xiao's expression grew complex. A faint sense of frustration arose. Though the Wan Dao Saint had been stronger than him, he had not despaired. He believed that with more cultivation, he might surpass the Wan Dao Saint.
Yun Jin, in front of him, had a lower cultivation than him. Yet Di Xiao felt awe akin to looking up at a mountain. She was destined to reach the pinnacle of the world. At this moment, he could barely glimpse her back.
In ten years?
In a hundred years?
She would become a legend, while he could only watch.
"Her body… has not reached its limit?" Di Xiao said solemnly. "With such massive energy, a single mistake and she might explode."
Yuan Yuan stammered nervously. "I… I do not know."
He remained ready to intervene. Yet, every time he thought Yun Jin had reached her limit, she surpassed it again, enduring once more. This process repeated many times.
Yuan Yuan grew increasingly confused. Should he intervene or not?
Three full days and nights passed.
As time went on, Yun Jin's expression grew ever more agonized. Her white hair had streaks of red. Yet she endured. The Palace Pearl's energy could not yet be absorbed. Yun Jin condensed a vast ocean in her sea of consciousness to store it.
From now on, as long as her soul's level kept up, she would not need pills. She could use this stored energy to immediately boost her spiritual power.
This energy was enough to carry her all the way to the peak of the Mortal Realm.
Compared to the Palace Pearl itself, this energy was merely an unexpected bonus.
At this moment, a crystal-clear Pearl appeared in Yun Jin's sea of consciousness.
This was the Palace Pearl.