Qi Chu had hard committed himself to studying how to refine his sound system.
From the day Gu Mian introduced the 100 Qi refinement technique, something inside him shifted. He realized that sound was not just vibration in air—it was vibration in mana, vibration in spiritual Qi, vibration in the mind. If Qi could be refined into a strand as thin as hair, then sound too could be sharpened, compressed, purified.
He learned to listen to everything around him.
Not just the obvious—the rustle of leaves, the distant stomping of pegasi, the hum of villagers cultivating at night—but the layers beneath. The tremor in someone's breathing that hinted at internal instability. The faint ripple in mana that signaled a concealed attack. The subtle difference between wind striking a tree trunk and wind striking a body.
He studied what would cause physical damage and what would trigger mind attacks.
He tested frequencies on stones, watching them crack. He adjusted vibrations until water trembled into patterns. He practiced shaping sound into barriers that could soften impacts. Other days he tried dissolving sound entirely, making his presence silent enough that even birds did not react when he passed.
He practiced diligently every day.
Three years passed since they came to the forest.
Time in the isolated dimension felt both swift and abundant. The outside world moved at its own pace, but within their village, seasons seemed gentler, more forgiving. Children grew taller. Crops ripened faster. The villagers' eyes grew sharper and calmer.
Everyone—excluding little Leng Rui, who was level 9—was now level 12.
Level 12 was a threshold.
At this stage, flight was no longer a luxury but a natural extension of control over energy. Spiritual Qi and mana could solidify beneath one's feet like invisible platforms. To rise was as instinctive as stepping forward.
Gu Mian and the other space ability users could now isolate space for extended periods of time.
What had once required exhausting concentration could now be maintained steadily, almost effortlessly. The air itself seemed to yield before them.
Therefore, today, together with the others, they wanted to isolate their village in a different space.
There were fifteen space ability users in the group.
At level 12, everyone could fly. They stood in a circle around the village in the air, robes fluttering, hair streaming behind them. Beneath them lay the carefully cultivated lands, the wooden houses, the central courtyard mansion, the training fields, and the ranch where enormous pegasi grazed.
They spread their mana outward to isolate the place.
Threads of translucent light extended from their palms, weaving together like a net. The sky shimmered faintly. The air grew dense.
Ten minutes later, they succeeded in creating a separate dimension that overlapped the real one.
From the outside, nothing seemed different.
Birds could fly through. Leaves could drift past. Even if someone walked across the location where the village stood, they would feel nothing unusual—only an empty stretch of forest.
Others could pass through the village and even through their bodies without feeling them, thinking it was a normal walkway.
The keys to the dimension became the jadeite from Gu Mian's space.
They specially carved winged horses on the jade pendants—symbols of their evolved herd and their freedom.
When activated, the pendants resonated with the spatial layer, allowing entry.
Everyone clapped at the success.
Now it was Gu Bai's turn.
At level 12, he could now speed up time over a large area.
He stepped forward, palms open, eyes closed in concentration. Time was far more delicate than space. One wrong fluctuation could cause imbalance.
Slowly, carefully, he sped up the time of the dimension to be twice that of the real world.
The air hummed briefly—and then settled.
Initially, they had six years remaining to stay in the forest.
With the sped-up time, they now had twelve years.
The excitement was impossible to suppress.
Twelve years meant twelve harvest cycles doubled. Twelve years of cultivation. Twelve years of strengthening foundations before facing whatever awaited outside.
Gu Mian and Gu Ruisheng were scheduled to marry in four months—on the 5th of May.
Tang Guo and Xiao San were invited.
Over the past three years, they communicated often. Especially when the four technology gurus gathered together, their creativity exploded.
They quickly created a phone that used jade as a battery and spiritual and magic signals.
There was no longer need for signal towers.
The SIM cards were made of gold and fixated like decorations—intricate, patterned discs that shimmered when mana flowed through them.
They were exquisite and beautiful.
After the successful creation, they quickly packaged the devices with copies of research and sent them to GuoSan Base via eagles they had domesticated two years ago.
Those eagles were no longer ordinary birds.
Fed with refined energy and carefully guided cultivation, their wingspans had doubled, their feathers gleaming with faint silver light.
Their horses had now evolved into pegasi.
Originally intelligent, they were taught how to refine spiritual Qi or mana in their bodies. The horses only possessed one type of energy naturally—but refinement strengthened it tremendously.
If, like in novels, they could one day gain human form, perhaps they could cultivate the other energy type. If not, it did not matter.
Now no horse was less than ten meters tall.
The herd leader stood twelve meters high.
Gu Mian's horse followed closely behind by only a few centimeters.
They named the big black horse XiaoHua.
Gu Mian's horse was XiaoTang.
When the pegasi ran across the fields, their hooves no longer dented the ground; they glided, wings unfurling with thunderous grace.
The dimension was going to be open during the wedding and closed again afterward.
During the years, Gu Mian stopped bringing food from her space. Instead, they relied fully on planting and harvesting.
Because of the revival of spirituality after the Storm, crops now only took fourteen days from planting to maturity.
It was discovered that crops grown with magic mana tasted different from those grown with spiritual Qi—but equally amazing.
Mana-grown vegetables carried a crisp brightness.
Spiritual Qi-grown grains felt richer, deeper.
So they alternated between magic and spiritual Qi to grow food.
By the end of February, they had already prepared the venue for the wedding and decorations.
They wanted a natural-looking wedding venue, so they prepared it early so it would grow in and look organic in three months.
Vines were guided to arch over pathways. Flowering shrubs were planted strategically. Trees were encouraged to bend just enough to create a canopy.
They decided it was going to be a big celebration.
Five days.
The last day would be the wedding ceremony.
On the first of May, they sent eagles to the GuoSan Base to pick up one hundred people to attend.
When the guests arrived, their astonishment at the hidden dimension was unrestrained.
After settling the guests, that evening they held a welcome party.
Lanterns floated in the air. Music drifted across the fields.
The next day was a barbecue party.
Gigantic cuts of meat from mutated beasts roasted slowly over controlled flame arrays. Laughter rang out as old allies reunited.
The third day was movie day and night.
Using refined projection arrays, they displayed films and recorded memories on vast light screens under the stars.
The fourth day was the bridal shower and bachelor's party.
Gu Mian was a little nervous and anticipating.
The only thought in her head was that her soon-to-be husband was finally going to sleep with her.
She did not know what kind of godly self-restraint that man possessed. For years, he had kept both of them in line—never crossing boundaries, never rushing, even when they were alone.
It angered her at times.
It also made her love him deeply.
After the wedding, they would separate their villa into a different space for their honeymoon.
By 11:00 a.m. on May 5th, everyone gathered at the wedding venue.
Qi Chu used his sound ability to create music as Gu Ruisheng entered.
The melody was clear, resonant, and layered—vibrations refined to perfection.
Gu Ruisheng wore a handsome red robe in ancient Chinese style.
It was made with magic silk produced by mutated silkworms, butterfly filaments, and spider threads.
A dragon was embroidered on the back of the robe.
As he walked, the dragon seemed to sway like a living creature, scales shimmering in the sunlight.
When he reached his position, silence fell.
Then Gu Mian entered.
Her face was covered with transparent gauze.
She looked stunning in her flowing robe.
Her figure was perfectly accentuated, a red sash tied at her waist overlapping with the tail of the phoenix embroidered across her back.
The phoenix's feathers seemed to ripple with each step.
As she reached her spot, Gu Ruisheng took her hand and walked with her to the altar.
Gu Yunchen served as the wedding official.
They said their vows clearly, voices steady.
They bowed three times.
They kissed.
Cheers erupted.
They cut the cake, laughter filling the air.
As thanks for attending the wedding, the Gu family had the eagles expand their sizes and carry tons of supplies for the base.
Under the bright May sky, with flowers in bloom and refined energy humming gently through the air, the Gu village celebrated not just a marriage—
—but twelve years of preparation, unity, and an unshakable foundation for whatever future awaited them.