Chapter 144 Making an Example of You

At this moment, vitality was gradually returning to Bai Qi's body. His breathing became in-and-out, slowly turning steady and lingering. The functions of all parts of his body recovered rapidly. His originally withered hair now regained its suppleness, elasticity, and luster. His complexion, which had blackened due to the invasion of death aura and even suffered some decay and rot from the loss of life force, was now restored. The decaying flesh gradually receded, and newborn blood and flesh slowly filled his entire body. His meridians, previously lax, now became full, resilient, and much stronger.

Looking inward at his Dantian, the spiritual Qi that had previously dissipated and vanished now resembled flower buds on the verge of blooming, bursting into "full bloom" all at once like flowers vying for beauty in the height of summer.

A tumultuous upheaval was taking place within Bai Qi's body, and this state persisted. The cyan Qi inside his body refined the gray gas as if distilling it, purifying its primal source to perfection. The tremendous benefit brought by this perfection was that it raised the compatibility between the primal source force, his own body, and his soul to one hundred percent. Such an effect could never be achieved by ordinary treasures or artificial means.

Plunged into an indescribable state, Bai Qi felt as though he were curled up within the wrapping of a chaotic Qi source, his body both inside and out embraced and nourished by this mysterious Qi.

At this moment, the spiritual Qi within Bai Qi was abundantly rich. For Profound-rank cultivators, spiritual Qi exists in liquid form within the body—some like fine drizzle, others like mountain rivers. The gaps between them depended on numerous factors. Aside from cultivation levels, techniques, and personal attributes, the most crucial difference lay in the robustness of one's foundation, a disparity that created an insurmountable chasm in strength.

Looking through his physical form into Bai Qi's interior, it no longer resembled a vast lake as before. Having undergone a sublimation, all the spiritual Qi had transformed into pure crystalline entities, which in turn morphed into core structures.

Do not underestimate these changes merely in volume and quantity; imbued with the essence of life and death, they no longer required incantations or prolonged periods of settling. Instead, with a mere thought, they responded instantly. It could be said that this had evolved into an inherent ability, growing stronger the stronger the opponent was. Bai Qi's hundreds of meridians and flesh-and-blood physique had become even sturdier; purely with physical strength, he could beat a cultivator below the Earth-rank to death with his bare hands. This was not about crudeness, but rather a display of brute, overwhelming force where absolute strength subdues ten thousand techniques.

His cultivation realm also broke through the Profound-rank at this moment, firmly reaching the first layer of the Earth-rank. While such a realm might seem ordinary compared to the figures from the Nine Provinces and Eight Desolates gathered in this grand gathering of winds and clouds, this was merely a manifestation of Bai Qi's individual cultivation, without even unleashing the power of his inner core.

Ordinarily, for Earth-rank cultivators from the first to the third layers, there is only a single inner core, which is relatively youthful. From the fourth to the seventh layers, the core matures, resembling a youth. Upon reaching the final three layers, the power of the Earth-rank realm is fully manifested, akin to an adult—more formidable and more perfect.

The Earth-rank realm consists only of nine layers. However, beyond the ninth layer lies a threshold of realms, requiring one to break the inner core and then rebuild it. The inner core shatters, ultimately transforming into a nebula-like miniature star cluster, resembling the brightest one hundred and eight constellations in the night sky, forming a celestial chart. Of course, this is merely an analogy; it requires profound accumulation to break through the Earth-rank and attain the Heaven-rank.

In the Heaven-rank realm, the spiritual power within the body has transformed into its root essence. There is no longer any need to store ambient spiritual Qi to convert into spiritual power, as one can share and utilize the spiritual Qi of heaven and earth concurrently. Therefore, it is said that Heaven-rank masters can "soar" through the sky for extended periods, unlike Earth-rank cultivators who can only hover briefly.

Of course, from this moment on, the inner core within Bai Qi's body had mutated, enabling him to linger in the sky for a long time. Such an ability was undoubtedly a manifestation of overwhelming suppression over an opponent's strength.

The snow had stopped at some point, and the sky grew slightly brighter. However, the howling wind remained biting and bone-chilling, causing people to involuntarily shrink their bodies to conserve warmth.

At this moment, Bai Qi also awoke. Lying on the ground and gazing at the sky, feeling as though a heavy burden had long been lifted from his heart, he let out a long breath. Overwhelmed with profound emotions, this sensation of an alternative rebirth altered Bai Qi's state of mind, making him more restrained and introverted, like a sharp blade sheathed in its scabbard, with a single glance revealing an infinite depth of meaning.

Bai Qi slowly propped himself up, looked at the surrounding scenery, and reached out to press his palm against the ground to push himself up. Unexpectedly, his hand brushed against the grey ashes left behind by those vultures earlier. Bai Qi stared at them for a long time, unable to figure out why such things had appeared by his side, and eventually dismissed it.

After standing up, Bai Qi looked around and noticed that the snow on the ground was slowly beginning to melt. Although the sun was currently hidden behind the clouds, the energy filtering through still felt warm compared to the freezing winter day.

*Crunch, crunch.*

Faintly, the sound of footsteps treading on snow drifted from the snowy ground.

Bai Qi followed the sound with his gaze and vaguely caught sight of a familiar figure. Because the person was wearing a white robe, he blended seamlessly with the snow on the ground. As the figure drew closer, Bai Qi saw that the newcomer was none other than that "doddery old man" who had previously held him in the palm of his hand and toyed with him like a puppet.

At this moment, the old man halted. His gaze remained lifeless and devoid of any human warmth, but his wrinkled cheeks still could not conceal his playful smile. He looked coldly at Bai Qi and said, "You really are a strange fellow. I didn't expect you to survive once more. It seems this old man needs to exert some effort to ensure you die completely."

With that, the doddery old man prepared to move his stance and rush toward Bai Qi. However, just as he lifted his right foot to move forward, he found himself seemingly trapped inside an invisible "glass bottle" barely large enough to contain his own body.

The old man seemed to realize something. His eyelids widened, though his dead-fish eyes remained unmoving. With a deeply shocked expression, he blurted out, "Hmm? Brat, have you also mastered the art of sealing? I never expected you to possess such talent. It seems I must pry open your skull and extract your soul to see what on earth is hidden inside."

Bai Qi's facial expression showed no ripples; he merely watched quietly as the doddery old man was immobilized by him, preparing for his next move.

This sudden turn of events was fiercely abrupt, and Bai Qi had already formulated a rapid plan in his mind. This old man had undoubtedly been spying on him in secret, and naturally could not have known about the changes that had occurred within Bai Qi's body prior to this.

Utilizing the Art of Life and Death, one could rapidly sense the life activities of every blade of grass and tree in the vicinity, as well as the surging death aura of lifeless objects. Bai Qi had shockingly discovered that the doddery old man before him was actually a living corpse, half-dead and half-alive. As to why he had survived within the interior of this altar for so long, he had no way of knowing.

What could be certain was that the weakness of this "doddery old man" had been locked onto by him. The moment the opponent stepped into his domain, the Art of Life and Death had silently unfurled like flowing air, without attracting the slightest bit of attention.

In an instant, Bai Qi slowly raised his right hand, looking coldly at the doddery old man with eyes full of hatred. This doddery old man had tortured him mercilessly from the very beginning, treating him like a puppet. If not for the fortunate protection of the mysterious cyan Qi within his body, which allowed him to acquire the aura of life and death hidden in this world and vastly increase his strength, his death would have been utterly grievance-laden.

Immediately afterward, Bai Qi slowly raised his right hand, his five fingers spreading out like an unfolding lotus blossom, before fiercely clenching them into a tight fist as if crushing an object held tightly in his palm.

Accompanying this action was the doddery old man trapped within the "glass bottle," who felt the crushing pressure coming from the invisible glass. Against ordinary pressure, his own defense would naturally have been enough to withstand it; however, Bai Qi was not going to give this detestable old man any more chances this time.

Within this narrow space, Bai Qi activated the Art of Life and Death. Toxic Qi seemed to be released inside the glass bottle, and the doddery old man reacted as if he had encountered his nemesis, his face contorting into a hideous grimace as he gritted his teeth and glared at Bai Qi. Yet, he could not endure even a few breaths of time before he collapsed, attempting to kneel and beg for mercy. However, because the space was too cramped, he could not move a single fraction of an inch, while the death aura inside the bottle enveloped his body like a hunter.

Gradually, gray spots—similar to those that had previously appeared on the bodies of the vultures—began to emerge on the old man's face, spreading continuously at an extremely rapid speed to engulf his entire body. The doddery old man clawed frantically at the bottle, scraping blood from the gaps in his fingernails. Yet that lingering blood seemed to stimulate the gray gas, which rushed forward instantly and devoured it completely. Immediately following that, those wisps of gas burrowed into the flesh around his fingernails, feeding on the flesh and blood of the doddery old man's four limbs.

"Ah! Ah! Ah! What is this thing? How can this be... Could it be..." The doddery old man's series of agonizing screams echoed only within the bottle—heart-rending cries that plunged straight into despair.

After a bout of violent thrashing, the space was enveloped by gray mist, and the doddery old man was completely obscured by these gases. After a short while, Bai Qi recalled the gases, and what was revealed before his eyes was a heap of gray ashes, with nothing left behind, not even his clothing.

Bai Qi felt not a shred of mercy in his heart; this hatred dissipated completely along with the old man's utter demise.

Bai Qi muttered to himself, "I wonder if I can find the 'key' within this altar world. I always have this pressing sense that a storm is coming. Did something happen to the external sects?"

Just as Bai Qi was harboring these suspicions...

The Night Alliance and the Sand Alliance—two major factions—began issuing battle declarations, solely for the purpose of vying for a greater right to speak.

With the spread of this news, the entire Quicksand Mountain Range became an observation post for various factions. Apart from the two major alliances, other influential factions merely adopted a spectator's mentality of "the snipe and the clam grapple, while the fisherman profits," while minor factions swayed like reeds in the wind, watching the shifting tides.

At this moment, within the Wusha Sect, the First Elder was anxiously awaiting news from the Third Elder, Wuyun. Because the Third Elder had been sent out to investigate the Binhe River incident and had yet to reply, he was naturally worried whether they had been intercepted by the forces of the Night Alliance.