The shock of successful Spirit Transformation and the storm sweeping through the Three Realms did not overly disturb Tang Xiaoqi. After brief reunion with the excited Mu Xue, Senior Brother and other core confidants, accepting their sincerest congratulations, he returned to the back mountain forbidden area—that place bearing his final transformation.
At this moment, though the forbidden area appeared scarred—scorched earth and ice marks everywhere, ruins making it more desolate—under the nourishment of this newborn Spirit Transformation Honorable's aura, it faintly revealed an indescribable Dao resonance, as if every inch of soil, every wisp of air here had been branded with the traces of that earth-shaking transformation, becoming extraordinary.
Xiao Qi did not handle the influx of congratulatory messages and invitations from outside, nor immediately go the demonic entity's traces. He deeply understood that his newly-broken realm was like a newborn baby—though with infinite potential, needed careful nurturing and familiarity before this power could be wielded like his own arm, truly transforming into the foundation of protection.
The first thing he did was "consolidate."
Finding a relatively intact cliff, he sat cross-legged. He did not deliberately operate any cultivation method, merely naturally entered deep meditation. The newborn chaotic-hued Divine Soul within him—replacing the Nascent Soul's former position—hovered in the center of his dantian, constituting with his physical body and divine soul a perfectly circulating, more advanced energy system.
He needed this new system to completely stabilize.
His mind sank into his body, meticulously sensing that mysterious connection between the Divine Soul and heaven and earth laws. The biggest difference between Spirit Transformation and Nascent Soul realms lay in the initial control and utilization of heaven and earth laws. He could clearly "see" the fundamental laws of gold, wood, water, fire, earth, wind, thunder, ice constituting all things in the surrounding space, as well as deeper-level, more mysterious law threads concerning space, time (extremely faintly), life, destruction, and such.
He carefully guided his Divine Soul power—like the most dexterous fingers—to touch, understand, attempt to draw these law threads. Initially somewhat clumsy, the Divine Soul power's output sometimes too strong, triggering small-scale spiritual energy upheavals; sometimes too weak, unable to pry even a fraction of law. But his patience was excellent, trying again and again, adjusting output strength and frequency—like a craftsman polishing jade, pursuing precision.
At the same time, he also needed his physical body to completely adapt to this brand-new core of power. Spirit Transformation's spiritual power (perhaps no longer simply called spiritual power, but closer to primordial ) quality far exceeded the past, the burden on meridians, acupoints, even every cell completely different. He guided gentle waves of , slowly scouring, nourishing throughout his body, repairing the final trace of hidden damage from the heavenly tribulation, allowing his physical body under this higher-level energy's infiltration to subtly transform toward a true "Dao body."
This process lasted over a month.
When he opened his eyes again, the overwhelmingly overflowing aura that had originally caused heaven and earth phenomena due to his initial entry into Spirit Transformation had completely condensed inward. He sat there, as if merging with the surrounding cliff, the passing breeze, the falling sunlight, becoming one—if not deliberately, nearly imperceptible. This was a sign of initial realm consolidation, returning to simplicity and truth.
After consolidation came "familiarization."
His thought moved, spiritual sense like a formless tide, spreading from him in all directions.
Unlike Nascent Soul realm where spiritual sense scanning required mental effort and had range limits, Spirit Transformation's spiritual sense seemed like his natural extended "sense." Wherever spiritual sense reached, all things were revealed in minute detail.
Easily covering the entire Qingxu Temple mountain range, tens of thousands of disciples practicing, talking, living, presented like a scroll clearly before his "eyes." He could even vaguely sense some disciples' inner emotional fluctuations—their longing for the Dao, or their distress when encountering cultivation bottlenecks.
Spiritual sense continued spreading outward.
Passing over the prosperous Central Plains towns, seeing the common people's mortal smoke and bustle, seeing border armies' solemn drills; passing over the East Sea shore, perceiving the glory of the Dragon Palace beneath the vast blue waters and the of sea tribes; passing over the boundless sandy sea of the Western Desert, catching the caravans' camel bells' melody and ancient ruin aura hidden beneath sand dunes; passing over the Northern Frontier snow territory's tribes, feeling their resilience in harsh environments; passing over the mysterious Southern Frontier rainforest, comprehending that primitive yet overwhelming vitality...
His spiritual sense range—even without fully exerting himself—already covered half the cultivation world! And this was merely his ability after initial familiarization!
He attempted more delicate operations. Spiritual sense condensed into threads, crossing ten thousand li, precisely "touching" the Alliance headquarters, Second Senior Brother Luo Feng's special soul fluctuation.
"Second Senior Brother." He transmitted a gentle thought through spiritual sense.
The data-processing Second Senior Brother's virtual image abruptly froze, then showed delight: "Xiao Qi?! Your spiritual sense... can so clearly penetrate the headquarters' multiple protective formations? This... this is Spirit Transformation power?"
"Progressing nicely." Xiao Qi responded, then inquired about the Alliance's recent situation and investigation progress on the three suspicious areas. This kind of remote, nearly instantaneous precise spiritual sense communication was previously unimaginable.
Beyond spiritual sense, his utilization of heaven and earth laws was also rapidly familiarizing.
He raised a finger, gently cutting toward the before him. A fine spatial rift quietly appeared, though vanishing in an instant, but it showed he could already initially interfere with spatial structure—far beyond what Nascent Soul realm could do even relying on treasures or secret techniques for short-distance teleportation.
His thought moved again, surrounding water vapor quickly gathering, condensing above his palm into a lifelike ice lotus constantly changing form, containing pure water and ice laws. This was not a simple technique, but direct manifestation through drawing heaven and earth laws—extremely small consumption, yet power far exceeding same-rank techniques.
He could even vaguely feel the "earth" law's heaviness contained within the ground beneath his feet, feel the warmth and intensity of "light" and "fire" laws contained in sunlight...
Heaven and earth, all things, in his perception were no longer merely surface appearances, but composed of countless interlaced law threads. He seemed to have promoted from a chess player to one who could see part of the chessboard's rules.
Of course, he also understood Spirit Transformation was merely a beginning. Understanding and utilizing laws still had an infinitely long road ahead; higher spatial traversal, time interference (even if just extremely faint acceleration or deceleration), even great divine abilities like "words become law" all required future exploration and cultivation.
But in any case, he had successfully consolidated his initial Spirit Transformation realm and initially familiarized the Divine Soul power's various mysteries.
When he concluded this months-long consolidation closed-door cultivation and appeared before Mu Xue and Senior Brother again, what they sensed was no longer the initial terrifying vast pressure, but an unfathomable and profundity like the starry sea.
"How do you feel?" Mu Xue looked at him, concern and curiosity in her eyes.
Xiao Qi smiled faintly, a flash of understanding in his chaotic-colored eyes: "Heaven and earth... seem different now. Many things previously unclear are now much clearer."
He raised his head, his gaze seeming to penetrate once more, toward those three marked areas where the demonic entity might be lurking.
The time had come.
Consolidation complete, power initially mastered. Next, it was time to completely resolve that lurking threat, bringing true peace and hope to this Three Realms he had sworn to protect.