The King of Black Fog

The two lay on the grass, slowly separating after a long time, filled with longing in their hearts.

"I lost out." In the midst of relishing the moment, Yang Qinglan suddenly said.

"Lost out?" Li Changzhou was puzzled.

"Kissing me is your responsibility and duty..." She paused, then continued, "Of course, it's also your right, so it doesn't count as gratitude at all."

Li Changzhou laughed and said, "Then it's troublesome, what's mine is yours, how can I thank you then?"

"That's your business." Yang Qinglan placed her finger on his lips.

Li Changzhou thought for a moment and really couldn't think of anything, then suddenly remembered something: "You said that after returning from the Daoist Palace, you could summarize new Daoist techniques. How's the summary going?"

Yang Qinglan sat up, picked a piece of grass at her feet, and gently blew it toward the lake.

The grass leaf fell on the lake, which quietly parted, forming two walls of water without any ripples, even the diamonds at the lake bottom split in two.

"What spell is this?" Li Changzhou asked in amazement, half sitting up.

He couldn't sense any mana fluctuation, nor any familiar strength. In his perception, it was just a piece of grass that flew out, yet the effect was astonishing!

This was a lake 1,500 meters deep, not some small stream in front of the house.

"I call this move 'Heavenly Blade.'" Yang Qinglan explained, "Heavenly Will as a blade, but now I can only transform the 'Heavenly Will within the grass leaf' into a blade, and I must have a real grass leaf at hand."

"I remember the Thorny Skill you first exchanged for, that skill also required seeds, and you couldn't find any in the desert."

Recalling those times, Yang Qinglan also smiled.

She said, "Because I couldn't find them, I focused intently on mastering the skill, figuring out ways to not need grass seeds, which led me to today. And the reason I'm the first to transform the Heavenly Will of grass into a blade is because I'm most familiar with grass-type plants."

"Truly, every chance has its predestined reason." Li Changzhou nodded.

"Didn't you say you don't believe in Heavenly Destiny?"

"I believe in it only if it's beneficial to me."

"And if it's not beneficial, it's not Heavenly Destiny?" Yang Qinglan asked with a smile.

"At least, it's not my Heavenly Destiny." Li Changzhou held her and with a smile, once again pressed his lips to hers.

Yang Qinglan tilted her head back a bit, that playful evasion was irresistibly adorable.

The two giggled softly and kissed again.

"I plan to evolve grasslands and forests in the Constant Sand Mini World, so that when I enter an instance, I will have leaves to use."

Li Changzhou laughed: "Next time I'll call out, 'Yang Qinglan, quickly use Quick Leaf Blade, and you'll—' No, wrong, wrong! I'm wrong! Hahaha!"

Yang Qinglan raised her Ruyi, like a classmate rolling up a book, ready to hit someone.

Li Changzhou laughed heartily, looking as mischievous as pulling a girl's hair in the front row.

At sunset, the two were enjoying a rare dinner for two when Li Qianxia returned from the Mercury Dao Palace.

"You two look quite happy." No surprise, women always express things in such similar phrases.

"How was the harvest?" Li Changzhou asked.

"I burned quite a few brain cells, but I should be able to advance to Earth Immortal in a couple of days." Li Qianxia sat down and started eating.

"Didn't you pick a new item? Let's see it." Yang Qinglan said.

Li Changzhou had no idea what Li Qianxia had picked; he had been busy clearing the Five Great Stars.

Yang Qinglan didn't ask out of curiosity, but because understanding what allies have is part of 'know yourself' in 'know yourself, know your enemy.'

"Haha, it'll scare you to death!" Six black spheres appeared behind Li Qianxia.

Each sphere was only the size of a glass bead.

[Name: Antimatter-Antihydrogen]

[Type: Item]

[Quality: S-]

[Special Effect: Destruction, Energy Reserve]

[Minimum Use Conditions: Ability above 2000]

[Introduction: 1. One sphere equals one gram of antihydrogen, replenishes one sphere every hour, can store up to six;

2. Explosion—One antihydrogen black sphere explodes, releasing energy equivalent to the explosion of 43,000 tons of TNT, over three times more than the Hiroshima atomic bomb, but produces no radiation;

3. Absorption—The antihydrogen black sphere transforms into pure energy, continuously restoring the holder's ability, up to 500 points;

4. Enhancement—The black sphere can be embedded into equipment, providing kinetic energy to cold weapons, energy to energy weapons, and propulsion to spacecraft;]

[Notes: Explosion is art!]

One gram of antihydrogen can destroy a Song City; it's stronger than many spells and skills, undeniably making science a power system as well.

In fact, cultivators, upon reaching a certain realm, also absorb 'antimatter' as a form of essence, and the Chaotic Qi Sea within the Daoist Palace is the most potent energy in the universe.

A sliver of Chaotic Qi contains energy tens of trillion times that of a gram of antihydrogen.

Such powerful energy can become the "air" and "food" of a Saint, supporting the body capable of creating Virtual Time, Void Space, and Virtual Universe.

Almost only a Saint can extract Chaotic Qi from the universe.

"Pretty good." Li Changzhou commented, "Able to deal with many situations."

"I chose it, of course it's good!" Li Qianxia evidently forgot about the "Wild Rice that Comes Without Effort," "Is everything on Earth solved?"

"Solved."

"Did the Pope leave anything good?" Li Qianxia blinked expectantly.

"Yes, but I destroyed them all. The Pope's things are things of the Lord of Radiance; keeping them, I can't be at ease."

"Hmm... alright." Li Qianxia nodded approvingly, "We're not lacking items or skills now. Better to destroy risky things."

After dinner and some idle chatter and rest, the three began their cultivation.

Li Changzhou was not in a hurry to expand the Constant Sand Mini World, focusing instead on the bone forging of the "Eight-Nine Mysterious Technique."

With a mantra, he crushed inch by inch of his bones, then used his newly regenerated organs and blood to stimulate new bones.

After replacing all the bones, he would crush them from the beginning and continue stimulating new bones until the newly born ones could no longer become stronger, marking the completion of bone forging.

Every tiny bone crushed brought pain that could make one want to give up.

The stimulation of bones came with intense itching, making one want to tear oneself apart and scratch the bones out!

When the entire skeleton was shattered, the thought of ending one's life and giving up on recovery could arise.

This was a tremendous torture.

Li Changzhou had to enter his Constant Sand Mini World, screaming like mad with each bone crushed; with every new bone stimulated, he pressed his hand hard on the corresponding part, digging five holes in his flesh with his fingers.

[Hold on!] Guanyin urged nervously, [Your foundation is too deep, the pain exceeds that of any "Eight-Nine Mysterious Technique" cultivator, but the more pain, the stronger you become!]

"Ah!!" Li Changzhou roared like a beast.

Even with his mighty will, at this moment all he could think of was: give up right after this bone forging! Focus on cultivating mana!

But once the pain passed, he began bone forging again.

Within her Constant Sand Mini World, Yang Qinglan did not encounter pain, but her strength grew much slower compared to Li Changzhou.

Even with the highest natural talent, it was difficult to swiftly evolve a single blade of grass in the mini world.

Without vitality, the mini world couldn't form a cycle, unable to preserve mana, no matter how many Flat Peaches, eating them was like inhaling an "oxygen tank," rather than having a forest that continually generates oxygen.

Li Changzhou's physical body strength, however, rose unobstructed amidst the pain.

Yang Qinglan did not give up either, deep in thought, trying again and again, and whenever her mana was exhausted, she would take out a Flat Peach and take a bite.

In the "Honey-jar World," Li Qianxia, under the shade of a branch of the giant tree, replaced with Flat Peaches in the "Evaporator," continued to break through supported by infinite capability.

By the Eternal Spring, beneath the Flat Peach Tree, the wind carried petals from afar, landing on the Eternal Youth Spring Water, on top of the "Yin Qi Coffin" where the Turquoise Pool lay inside.

They could enjoy all that the Five Great Stars offered, but they chose not to, instead cocooning themselves like caterpillars, striving for further transformation.